The Lion, the Dentist, and the Villagers

Like many, I was appalled at the cruel death of Cecil the lion and my first reaction was to get in touch with Guido and put out a contract on the smiling dentist who appears to have lured a half-tame lion to a lingering death.

But Guido was already booked up (so many bad guys, so little time) and I contented myself with signing a petition or two and watching the internet villagers gather with their torches and their calls for retribution.

Once the dentist was thoroughly threatened, doxxed (his personal info published on-line -- the same thing those bakers got in trouble for doing to the lesbian couple) and his office forced to close (at least for the moment,) there came a second wave -- a flurry of posts taking people to task for getting all upset over one lion when there were so many elephants/rhinos/wolves/(fill in the blank) being hunted for trophies.

"And what about the pigs and chickens and cows and wooly lambs?" the vegans chimed in. "Don't their  lives matter too?"

"And all the aborted babies!" 

"And Sandra Bland!"

"And Black lives!"

"And children dying from hunger -- 30,000 daily!"

"And the Marines in Chattanooga!" (This post forgot the sailor but I haven't.)

"And all the people suffering in Sudan! What about them?"

Good questions. I've been pondering on this as I deal with transforming garden produce into food for now and later. 

One answer is that people just naturally like some animals better than others. Big animals -"charismatic megafauna" as THIS ARTICLE calls them. You wouldn't get this kind of uproar over one spotted owl. Or one rare toad. 

 The answer I arrived at before reading the article was that, unlike so many of the other causes, this had a specific face -- well, two specific faces.  The majestic lion (who had a name as well) and the smug, smiling, rich-guy dentist. Suddenly we villagers had a focus for our anger.

It's hard to find one person to blame for world hunger, trophy hunting in general, or any of the other above-mentioned cases (except, perhaps, that of Sandra Bland -- and Chattanooga -- but that shooter is dead.) Here it's easy -- the wealthy, entitled American who has a history of bending/breaking laws to secure his "trophies." What's not to hate?

"And," the mob shouts, "he needs to be brought to justice. If he escapes the courts, we'll make his life hell."

I really want to see justice done. I hope the whole truth of this incident comes out and that, if he is guilty,  the wealthy American can't buy his way out. I hope that the massive outcry leads other trophy hunters to consider changing from guns to cameras. (Yes, I know about the monetary contribution of game hunting to poor economies and to conservation programs. Camera safaris do the same thing.)

But I find the mob justice of the internet a little scary. Particularly when the mob is composed of nice people. Particularly when I find myself reaching for a pitchfork.

It reminds me of a kids' soccer game many years ago. I was sitting beside a friend who, I happened to know, attended Quaker services. And who was quite anti-gun. 

But when one of the players on the other team had the ball, my sweet friend was shouting at our boys, "Kill him! Kill him!" 

No answers here . . . just observations.

Nigerian Millionaires and Stranded Travelers Need Your Help!

I had my spam filter off for a while and received these heartfelt pleas. I find them kinda fun. Not sure what that says about me...

I AM JEAN ABBAS,THE ONLY CHILD OF LATE CHIEF PETER ABBAS MY FATHER WAS A VERY WEALTHY GOLD MERCHANT BASED IN ABIDJAN, BEFORE HE WAS POISONED TO DEATH BY HIS ASSOCIATES. 

BEFORE THE DEATH OF MY LATE FATHER IN A HOSPITAL HERE,HE TOLD ME OF HIS (US$15.5M)THAT HE DEPOSITED IN A ONE OF THE SECURITY COMPANY IN EUROPE.I WAS ALSO MADE THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE MONEY.HE DECLARED THE TRUNK BOX THAT CONTAINS THIS MONEY AS A "FAMILY VALUABLES" TO THE SECURITY COMPANY.BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT THEM TO KNOW THE REAL CONTENT OF THE BOX,JUST FOR SECURITY REASONS.

I WANT YOU TO ASSIST ME IN RETRIEVING OF THIS MONEY AND LOGDGED IT INTO A LOCAL ACCOUNT OVER THERE IN EUROPE FOR AN ONWARD TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.PLEASE,YOUR URGENT RESPONSE IS HIGHLY NEEDED.PLEASE THROUGH THIS EMAIL ADDRESS FOR MORE DETAILS (

k

I'm sorry for this odd request and I'm not joking. I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my Family and I traveled to Cardiff Wales for a short vacation and we were mugged at gun point last night at the park of the hotel where we lodged all cash,credit cards and cell phones were stolen from us.

Right now we are owing the hotel $3,000 and the hotel manager won't allow us leave until we settle the hotel bills. We are freaked out and we have limited access to emails for now because am using the hotel receptionist computer to contact you for help,please we need you to lend us some money so we can make arrangements and return back we are full of panic now,the police only asked us to write a statement  about the incident and directed us to the embassy,we have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively, we will refund the money back to you as soon as we get home, we are so confused right now and thank God we weren't injured because we complied immediately.

Waiting to read from you so we can let you know how to get the money sent to us.

Greetings !

Dearest one, Please with Due respect and humility, I got your contact from the (International web site directory) We know that this is not the normal way to contacts someone because of the too much scam in the internet but we did it because of its confidenciality.

I am Lucky Johnson, the only Son of late Mr. Wilfred Johnson. My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast before he was poisoned to death by his business associates, my mother died on the 28 November 1998 according to my father he took me and my younger Siter so special because we are motherless. Before the death of my father on 29th April 2006 in a private hospital here in Abidjan. He secretly called me on his bedside and told me that he has the sum of $5.000.000 (Five Million Dollars) left in a suspense account in a Bank here in (Abidjan),the economic capital of (Ivory Coast) that he used my name as his only Son for the next of kin in deposit of the fund. He also explained to us that it was because of this wealth and some huge amount of money his business associates supposed to balance him from the deal they had that he was poinsed, that I should seek for a God fearing foreign partner in a country of my choice where we will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose, (such as real estate management) for our future hope.

Please We are honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways.

To provide a Bank account where this money would be transferred to and also promise us that you will remain honest and serve as the guardian of this funds with the investment since we are too young to handle such project, untill we finishes our education we will now take over. We have every legal evidence to proove about this funds. Moreover we are willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for effort input after the successful transfer of this fund into your designate account in your country. As soon as you comfirm the money in your account, you will be sending us a sufficient ammount to get our visa to come over and continue our studies in your contry.

We are waiting to hear from you.

Thank you.