According to the sources I've seen about the incident with Steve Irwin and his child (like the one linked above), he never dangled the kid over a crocodile pit; he had him tucked snugly in one arm while tossing some food to a croc with his other. Irresponsible? Maybe, but seemingly not from his point of view and certainly not to a point where it could be construed as "dangling" his infant son over any crocodile pit. If you take your child out to play in the fenced-in back yard with the sometimes ill-tempered but much loved family dog, would a bystander be accurate in saying that they saw you shove a kid into a frenzied dog pit? That may seem like a leap; but is it really, for a man who seemed to feel as comfortable and confident around crocs as the average canine expert would be with dogs?
Most of us have never had experience with crocodiles in the wild; compound that with the mental image that they bring to mind for many, of a traditional reptilian monster from any given horror flick, and his perceived "offense" tends to look much worse than it may be. With all of his experience with dangerous wildlife, I doubt Steve Irwin felt he was putting his child in any danger. I mean, how many Crocodile encounters do you need to walk away from before you feel like you can handle them in a given situation? 50? 100? 1,000? The point is, Steve had a lot more insight into the nature and capabilities of crocs than most of us do.
All of that being said, I concede that he was likely a bit overconfident when dealing with nature's wild critters. I guess that's part of what I liked about him. He made things like crocodiles and scorpions seem much less monstrous and was always eager to show us the beauty and simplicity of nature. It's ironic though, that it was a freak accident that killed him in the end, especially considering how rare a lethal Stingray attack is. There are what, one or two stingray deaths each year? So says the news media, if I recall correctly. Considering his daily lifestyle and career, his eventual death always had a strong likelihood of being caught on film, so it could easily have been a whole lot more painful and graphic than it was.
Personally, I thought the man was a pioneer, in that he was able to make nature shows interesting AND entertaining, guaranteeing that I would watch the show longer than the typical 5-10 minute period that I would usually allow for something like National Geographic. My college roomates and I watched the show regularly, back when it first started on TV.
Sorry for the long-winded reply. I guess I needed to pay a final tribute to the Crocodile man.
Hopefully the people at PetSmart will handle the...application...of the aforementioned 'protection', because I know I'm not.
Imagine the Want Ad...
PetSmart, Inc is now seeking a full-time Canine Fornication Specialist. 1+ year(s) previous CFS experience preferred. Dust off your rubber glove and drop off your application today!
Drivers licenses and social security numbers are not implanted on or under your skin, such as I *think* the bible hints the 'mark of the beast' would be. Besides, if you want to go down that road, why not mention the "names" we are all assigned at birth.:P
I haven't heard of any people complaining that social security numbers or drivers licenses are giving them cancer, either. That's just what I need, my company forcing me to get a chip under my skin, and then nursing a basketball sized tumor on my wrist when I'm 70 years old.
Unless I had a hot nurse wearing one of those swedish nurse outfits...then maybe the tumor wouldn't be so bad. Except that I'd have to learn to use my left hand.
I can understand Microsoft's concern about this gentleman's "breach" of security. I myself work in the R&D department of a major automotive manufacturer. In most cases, new employees must sign a non-disclosure form upon being hired, which outlines the do's and dont's of security, photography, etc. Being a temp just makes it that much easier for them to let you go. If, on the other hand, this guy had been an exec, I'm sure the issue would have been buried. This may be rightfully viewed as favoritism or contrastly just plain logical on the part of Human Resources. After all, temps are pretty expendable.
Bias against Microsoft of course plays a big part in people's judgement as to whether the action was right or wrong in a moral sense as well since a large part of the masses is either anti-MS or hears so much anti-M$ propaganda, that they believe it must be so.
The bottom line is, read all the papers you sign, and know the policies of your company before taking actions that you are unsure of. This story should never have gotten press from Slashdot in my humble opinion, and stories like this cannot create an unbiased atmosphere for discussion, when the very essence of this story leans toward anti-MS propaganda.
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/01/02 /australia.crocodileman/index.html
/salute
According to the sources I've seen about the incident with Steve Irwin and his child (like the one linked above), he never dangled the kid over a crocodile pit; he had him tucked snugly in one arm while tossing some food to a croc with his other. Irresponsible? Maybe, but seemingly not from his point of view and certainly not to a point where it could be construed as "dangling" his infant son over any crocodile pit. If you take your child out to play in the fenced-in back yard with the sometimes ill-tempered but much loved family dog, would a bystander be accurate in saying that they saw you shove a kid into a frenzied dog pit? That may seem like a leap; but is it really, for a man who seemed to feel as comfortable and confident around crocs as the average canine expert would be with dogs?
Most of us have never had experience with crocodiles in the wild; compound that with the mental image that they bring to mind for many, of a traditional reptilian monster from any given horror flick, and his perceived "offense" tends to look much worse than it may be. With all of his experience with dangerous wildlife, I doubt Steve Irwin felt he was putting his child in any danger. I mean, how many Crocodile encounters do you need to walk away from before you feel like you can handle them in a given situation? 50? 100? 1,000? The point is, Steve had a lot more insight into the nature and capabilities of crocs than most of us do.
All of that being said, I concede that he was likely a bit overconfident when dealing with nature's wild critters. I guess that's part of what I liked about him. He made things like crocodiles and scorpions seem much less monstrous and was always eager to show us the beauty and simplicity of nature. It's ironic though, that it was a freak accident that killed him in the end, especially considering how rare a lethal Stingray attack is. There are what, one or two stingray deaths each year? So says the news media, if I recall correctly. Considering his daily lifestyle and career, his eventual death always had a strong likelihood of being caught on film, so it could easily have been a whole lot more painful and graphic than it was.
Personally, I thought the man was a pioneer, in that he was able to make nature shows interesting AND entertaining, guaranteeing that I would watch the show longer than the typical 5-10 minute period that I would usually allow for something like National Geographic. My college roomates and I watched the show regularly, back when it first started on TV.
Sorry for the long-winded reply. I guess I needed to pay a final tribute to the Crocodile man.
Hopefully the people at PetSmart will handle the...application...of the aforementioned 'protection', because I know I'm not. Imagine the Want Ad... PetSmart, Inc is now seeking a full-time Canine Fornication Specialist. 1+ year(s) previous CFS experience preferred. Dust off your rubber glove and drop off your application today!
Drivers licenses and social security numbers are not implanted on or under your skin, such as I *think* the bible hints the 'mark of the beast' would be. Besides, if you want to go down that road, why not mention the "names" we are all assigned at birth. :P
I haven't heard of any people complaining that social security numbers or drivers licenses are giving them cancer, either. That's just what I need, my company forcing me to get a chip under my skin, and then nursing a basketball sized tumor on my wrist when I'm 70 years old.
Unless I had a hot nurse wearing one of those swedish nurse outfits...then maybe the tumor wouldn't be so bad. Except that I'd have to learn to use my left hand.
I can understand Microsoft's concern about this gentleman's "breach" of security. I myself work in the R&D department of a major automotive manufacturer. In most cases, new employees must sign a non-disclosure form upon being hired, which outlines the do's and dont's of security, photography, etc. Being a temp just makes it that much easier for them to let you go. If, on the other hand, this guy had been an exec, I'm sure the issue would have been buried. This may be rightfully viewed as favoritism or contrastly just plain logical on the part of Human Resources. After all, temps are pretty expendable.
Bias against Microsoft of course plays a big part in people's judgement as to whether the action was right or wrong in a moral sense as well since a large part of the masses is either anti-MS or hears so much anti-M$ propaganda, that they believe it must be so.
The bottom line is, read all the papers you sign, and know the policies of your company before taking actions that you are unsure of. This story should never have gotten press from Slashdot in my humble opinion, and stories like this cannot create an unbiased atmosphere for discussion, when the very essence of this story leans toward anti-MS propaganda.
Good call. This was an underrated movie that always stuck in my head. :)
I am Godzilla!! You are Japan!! I was going to post this movie, but you beat me to it!