December 28th, 2007
Acceptable Risk
The murder of Bhutto, a horrible tragedy which does not bode well for the area, or us as a matter of fact, but surely not a total surprise to anyone. Bhutto knew of the dangers, almost reveled in them or so it seems.
Three men at a zoo, in a country where people often mistakenly believe rules and regulations will keep them safe. Surprise, there are no real regulations, though sixteen and a half feet is the recommended height for enclosures recommended by the Zoo association, no one can really say how high a tiger can jump, and when an animal escapes no one has to report it to the federal agency which inspects zoos? Not to mention that the Tiger involved in this attack, an attack which killed one man and seriously injured two more, mauled a worker last year unbeknown to the zoo visitors, most who go in expecting that the zoo is a safe place, with vigilant
zookeepers, and proper security.
Zoo’s may be as safer than Pakistan, at least former a Prime Minister returning to seek political redemption, but zoo’s in this country are not as safe as we might think.
While political candidates take advantage of this fact of Bhutto’s murder to plea their case, remember we are not safe here, life is a gamble and there are no guarantees, but should the death of a former Prime Minister in an area historically known for political wars and assassinations concern us any more than the deaths at a zoo?
And what of what uninspected tractor trailers with drivers running on caffeine, uppers, and one hour of sleep a day, hospitals performing surgery on the wrong side of your brain, the rising cost of health care, the substandard education, and the cooperate rip off taking place in New Orleans.
Bhutto took a risk, she was a risk taker. The risk was huge, but she was aware of it, as was the world.
The three men who were visiting the zoo on that day did not sign up for their risk.
postscript:
Kind of a dead week in blog land. I’ve been busy with guests, and as fortune would have it I left something in D.C. which I now much drive in to the city to recover. Woe is me, my scheduled internet time for the week is shot to hell. Hope to be back later to catch up on my blog scrolling.
Yeah Amazing how the Media TV Channels + the Viewing Public were consumed by that Tiger Zoo Story*
sigh……
Hope U had a Great Christmas Coop!
Happy New Year + All the Best to U + yer Family + Friendz in 2008!
Cheers! Billy ;)) xoxo
Peace*
p.s. It’s my New Year’s Resolution to have less “Hummm” Blog Posts but I’m not even sure that will be possible*
;))
Well, zookeepers are continually amazed that these things don’t happen more often rather than less, given the propensity for the customers to pull stunts like jumping into the lion enclosure or throwing Jack in the Box hamburgers at the gorillas. Not to mention the perpetual gap between income and expenditures experienced by most zoos. Besides, the zoos I’ve visited have tried to inform their patrons of the risk. They could go to the extent of having those customers sign a waiver (the idea has crossed their minds, often), but see “income”, supra. Yes, Pogo, you’ve heard this message before.
I’m sure that the same people who think that 9/11 was an inside job will have a field day with the Bhutto assassination. Might could even be … Quilly just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, about the forces of revolution and counter-revolution in Afghanistan. The last paragraph speaks of a naming game practiced by lead character Laila, for her newly-conceived child. The book ends:
“But the game involves only male names. Because, if it’s a girl, Laila has already named her.”
Need I say more.
Happy New Year anyway, Cooper.
I just saw something in the Bhutto case. She sent an email to CNN saying she would blame Musharraf if anything happened to her because he wouldn’t give her the security she asked for. She sent it in October.
I thought this only happened in bad spy movies :(
As for the tiger . . . I have mixed thoughts about zoos. I can see them as good for keeping some species from disappearing forever, but caged wild animals are still wild animals and all of them have killing instincts.
and on that note . . . Happy New Year!!!
When I first saw the tiger story on the news, I was amazed that a 350 lb tige could jump over a 20 foot moat on the way up’n'over a 18 foot fence.
Then the height of the fence was reduced to 16′.
Then it came out that the moat was a bit wider than earlier reported but dry as a bone. Some good that does.
Then the news changed to “one of the 3 was taunting the tiger.” The interview with the father was priceless. To him, it mattered not that his son may have taunted the tiger, only that the tiger should not have escaped.
The inconsistent stories with the tiger was repeated during the coverage of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. First one thing, then another, then yet another, back to an earlier thing now revised, and so on. The shock of her being killed is magnified when the news media cannot get the facts straightened out prior to airing their stories. When did these half-complete and half-assed stories become acceptable ways of presenting news stories?
I feel tremendously for the three children of Mrs. Bhutto. And a pox on those idiots who take the opportunity to rehash the old rumors and innuendo about Mrs. Bhutto and her husband.
I spent the afternoon with my 17 year old kind of godchild–would be had she been baptized. She didn’t even know about Bhutto or who she was. That was the truly sad thing to me
Though I agree with her that America is no longer a democracy I found it heartbreaking that she has no desire to help change the USA, but will spend winter break in Costa Rica working on an ecological mission–I totally agree with that but to just assume that America is going to further slide and not try to help fix it, I don’t know about that
She didn’t know about the tiger either and of course felt more for it than for the people
I just found this all incredibly sad
You make an interesting point about tigers and Bhutto. I guess that’s why they make a distinction between innocent bystanders and willing participants because there is always a risk in putting your face, your name, and your reputation out there.
Great points cooper. It’s not like Pakistan wasn’t a hot bed anyway, and the way we messed up in Afghanistan…
The woman knew the score. The result won’t be pleasant, but this isn’t a surprise’s but it’s great fro some presidential candidates because Americans are so gullible.
The tiger thing though, that had to come as a surprise to those there. Why not just make the fences high enough? A hundred feet should do.
I’ve missed it here, trying to catch up. Starting at the top.
Happy New Year as well.
both stories are sad.. Cooper !
and always there is the question…”if only”
here in Australia we heard news of a nine month old baby being mauled to death by the family pet dog….
I have no answers for these tragedies…. it just shows that we as intelligent human beings can make huge errors in our judgements and decisions…and often others pay the ultimate price…because of those human errors…
a peaceful and happy New Year to you …..
Nice job putting Pakistan and the San Francisco zoo together. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Welcome to the Monkey House.
Billy: Cheers to you as well Billy and Happy New Year. Don’t drink and drive.
OC: A fence or enclosure should at least be expected to be the height suggested by the association to which zoo’s belong or why even have a suggested height. Lordy.
I read a “A Thousand Splendid Suns” and you need not say more.
Happy New Year to you, suffering as you are in that climate.
Coyote: Happy New Year. I’m sure we’ll here something every day such as ” nope it was definitely a bullet which killed her” ,,,
SK: The fence was less than thirteen feet high, the moat was dry, there was no food around so they weren’t taunting it with food.
I imagine if you are taunting an animal in what is basically a cage in a zoo you still shouldn’t expect the animal to be able to jump out no matter how stupid the taunting is.
I can’t honestly say I feel a whole lot about Bhutto, herself or her family, why would I feel anymore than I do for a stranger down the street . The situation is alarming and sad
and scary though.
Pia: You know though, it’s kind of like Oprah who found it too hard or too unappealing to try to help kids here with a school. It’s harder and more complicated to help here.
MOJO: exactly
jacob: I have no idea but as that tiger had
mauled someone before even if it was taunted it surely should have been observed more carefully.
Kim: same to you and yes it’s all very sad.
Doug: The monkey house is where I belong.
C-
*jumps into tiger cage for protection*
C-
*jumps into tiger cage for protection*
;)
Excellent, excellent points, Coop…no need to say more…
Happy New Year!
We’ve been to that zoo… it’s the “in” thing for kids here as the kid’s zoo is great… and the tigers are not too far.
That same tiger, Tatiana, mauled its keeper last year. My close girlfriend/honorary godmother of my children was there with her two girls and they saw it all and they were traumatized beyond words and needed counseling and now it’s happened again, only worse, the damn tiger was out and for a while they thought all 4 tigers were out. The incompetency of the zoo has come to light in a major way and I, for one, do not plan on returning. One death was tragic, it should never had happend but my god what if there had been kids around? This has been huge and heartbreaking and shocking and terrifying and anger-inducing news here in SF and I am not the only one who plans to boycott the zoo. SF is NOT the place to be killed by a damn tiger!
As for Benazir Bhutto, the tragedy of it all leaves me speechless but not at all surprised.
Have a safe drive back to DC…
And as a sidenote with regards to the zoo, I would have no problems with it being shut down as I am not one to support zoos to begin with. The couple of times I have gone has entailed my swallowing my views for the sake of the kids though we have used it as a platform for animal rights and how inefficient zoo setups are for the animals and their true welfare and what their “true welfare” entails. Wildlife sanctuaries? Now they have my full blessing…
I too,am amberdextrous.I always thought that it meant the ability to use both arms equally well.I can pitch a baseball with both arms.I wasn’t aware it had anything to do with handwriting but what do I know,I’m a grade nine dropout.
protagoras: Show yourself.
Marvalus: Happy New Year to you as well.
Mizzy B: Oh to see you alive and I assume breathing is a treat. Yes funny how I hear very little about that part.
I actually dislike zoo’s and those traveling animal carnivals make me sick. We will all be in cages one day.
Hugs Mizzy B.
Colin: ?
It is not that one life is necessarily more valuable than another (I don’t believe all are equally valuable, but also don’t believe I can judge which are), but that Bhutto’s death may have a much wider impact than that of the man at the zoo.
weirsdo: Worldwide it will have greater impact, but here in this country where most people couldn’t find Pakistan on a map it won’t.