Making Kind Choices…

Thanks Chiru, But No Thanks – Says CM

Mr Chiranjeevi of Praja Rajyam Party formally offered support to the Congress party in case there is some trouble because of Mr Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. He said that he didn’t want another election so soon: which is commendable. He also made allegations, which we have seen in the main opposition newspaper, about Jagan accumulating thousands of crores. It is now official: Chiranjeevi is going to be the front runner for the CM’s job if the Congress comes back to power. However, there is a catch: The Congress party has to create a separate Telangana state to keep its existence in that region. And Chiru is loathe to splitting the state.

Be that as it may, the Chief Minister Mr K Roasaiah has welcomed the support offered by Chiru gracefully, but stated that the government is stable, that there is no threat to its existence. The offer of support Chiru made has to be seen in the context of Jagan’s camp followers writing letters to the high command of Congress. The high command wisely countered all the noise from the Jagan camp with an oblique statement from Chiranjeevi. It means two things: “You (Jagan) cannot take out more than 20 – 25 MLAs with you; and that shortfall will be made up by the PRP MLAs. Go take a walk now!”

In the meantime, Jagan is going ahead with plans for his consolation trip in Prakasam district. By the time he starts on his third phase of the consolation, he would have severed his links with the Congress party. That should happen on his own accord. I do wish the high command keeps its cool and lets him go, rather than push him out. The high command’s moves so far indicate that it is going to be Jagan’s choice and not the high command’s push.

PETA and Pest Control…

On the surface of it, the business of pest control seems to be at loggerheads with the cause of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty towards Animals (ASPCA). There is no room for critters that spread diseases and cause no end of trouble for humans. Flies and mosquitoes are on top of that list. Recently, Barack Obama – reports said – was criticized by PETA for swatting a fly during a television interview: it appeared unreasonalble. I thought it was ridiculous to protest against a trivial matter like this. However, here is what PETA had to say on the matter:
“As we all know, human beings often don’t think before they act. We don’t condemn President Obama for acting on instinct. When the media began contacting us in droves for a statement, we obliged, simply by saying that the president isn’t the Buddha and shouldn’t be expected to do everything right—if not for that, we would not have brought it up. It’s the media who are making a big deal about the fly swat—not PETA. However, we took the opportunity, when asked, to point out that we do offer lots of ways in which to control insects of all kinds without harming them. There is even a chapter in PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk’s book, Making Kind Choices, about how to rid your home of “uninvited guests.”

A friend of mine in the business of pest control threw some light on this: “The ethics underlying pest control are based on the distribution of the species - rats and mice are aplenty; so there is no restriction on killing them. Mosquitoes and flies breed prolifically: Try as you might, you cannot exterminate them. But you should not touch honeybees (you can relocate them) because honeybees help pollination of flowers. So also, snakes of various types have to be captured and set into the wild but cannot be killed. In India, we have a tradition of snake charmers. Wild animals of various types – including tigers and panthers, deer and antelopes, have to be protected: if they endanger people, you should trap them and let them into the wild once again.”

Recently, we had a case of a panther that strayed into the path used by pilgrims going up the Tirumala hills. It was promptly captured and sent back into the Abhayaranya.

Bottomline: If there is one species that needs to be exterminated, believe the folk at voluntary human extinction movement, (www.vhemt.org/ecology.htm), it is homo sapiens.