it's come to this?!?!?

first I get an email from the NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation telling me that killing baby geese is acceptable ... see, here on Long Island, there is a major problem with Canada geese and all of their droppings all over our playing fields and beaches (soccer moms do not like goose poop all over their shoes and those of their children!)

so NYS DEC issues a press release about how to deal with this problem ... there is a brand-new late-winter hunting season authorized if you live further upstate; for others, "egg-addling" might be the way to go (this is where the killing babies part comes in). I quote:

"Egg-addling includes various techniques of treating goose nests or eggs so they will not hatch, including coating the eggs with corn oil or puncturing the eggs with a small skewer. These techniques prevent further development of the embryo without causing the adult birds to immediately abandon the nest. The geese will eventually abandon the nest when it is too late to re-nest (usually by mid-May), so there should be fewer goslings produced and the adult birds may leave the area for the remainder of spring and summer."

Lovely, right? I mean where are the pro-life people? the PETA people? I have to admit that I am one of those who cannot fathom the passion (and compassion) humans have toward animals ... all of the homeless pet things from natural disasters, saving wolves in Yellowstone, whales in Japanese waters ... it all leaves me a bit cold ... I sign a petition here and there but I truly do not understand people's connections with their pets -- or the animal kingdom at large.

But reading about how to kill goslings?!? It made me nauseous. Now, don't get all carried away! You need authorization to do this egg-addling murderous stuff ("Property owners, local officials, homeowner’s associations and others may addle eggs so long as they have authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and DEC.") Consider yourself warned.

not to be outdone, the FOXNews.com home page (yes, amazingly enough, my home page is set to the evil Murdoch empire courtesy of my Greta-loving husband; I decided not to fight it, partly out of my noble desire to know what "the other (dark) side" is saying and thinking ... same reason I read the New York Post, although I have really come to love that paper, especially its new Page Six magazine! FAB!) has this gem: If you spank your kids, they will have sexual problems later in life. Yup, 80 years of spanking research and a report presented today appears to be the first to link spanking and sexual problems such as masochistic sex ...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333551,00.html

I am endlessly amazed at how people spend their time. I'm sure it's all helps to make the world go 'round, but seriously? (yes, I was affected by Grey's Anatomy) I just shake my head in wonderment.