Wednesday 25 September 2019

What Do Polar Bears Eat?

It's an unusual topic and I spent around 90 minutes today reading up on Polar Bears and their 'dinners'.

So lets start with an odd fact which few people grasp....Polar Bears don't eat Penguins.  Why?  You'd think some type of relationship thing?  Well....no.  Penguins only frequent the South Pole region.  Polar Bears only frequent the North Pole region (to include the US, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and Finland).  So they never meet up.  However if a couple of Penguins did meet up Pete, the Polar Bear....they'd likely be a mid-day snack.

Polar Bears do like the taste of Seals, along with various Whales and Walruses.  Geese and bird eggs?  Yes....that's on the list as well.  Fish?  Yep, and various types.  Rabbits and mice?  That's on the menu as well.  The various berries that might grow in the northern 'circle'?  Polar Bears will go for that, but it's not worth the low calorie count.

So here's the thing, if you go and read summaries by guys who spend weeks out in the wild and observe Polar Bears....their primary source of food is Seals (adults and pups).  If you subtract Seals or hunt them out of existence....then you got a problem.  Whales and Walruses, down on the list?  You are mostly talking about the caucus of Whales, that might accidentally end up on some beach.  The Walrus thing is a good number two source of food for Polar Bears. 

So if you have a Polar Bear standing in front of you and looking 'sickly'?  Well....it's fairly good odds that he's in the same age group as those old sickly lions that you occasionally see on Mutual of Omaha shows, and toward the last year of his life. 

If you wanted to wipe the Polar Bears out?  You'd have to go and hunt the Seals and Walrus populations down to nothing.  Presently, no one seems to have that agenda on their list. 

Bernie and His Registry

I tried to make sense out of this....Bernie Sanders came out yesterday and said that America needs is a “national wealth registry.”  You make over X-amount....you'd be on this registry.

What's the purpose of the IRS?  Well....no matter what amount you make, you kinda have to fill out paperwork and let them know how things are. 

Is Bernie even aware that the IRS exists?  I don't know.

But after thinking over this....I have this better idea.....a national nutcase registry.

When the cops or some judge says you are a certified nutcase....your name goes on this registry.  No matter where you move, or live.....folks could look you up and feel good that you aren't on the list, or bad if you are on the list.

But I guess that my registry idea won't take off. 

Greta and Evangelist 'Kids'

After watching the UN clips of Greta Thunberg, I turned off the sound and watched the animation of the speaker.

If you've ever been in the south of the US for an extended period....particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.....especially in the heat of the summer, there are revivals.  Around one-percent of these will include Evangelist 'Jimmy Joe' who was typically 12 to 14 years old, and some teenage kid who'd gotten all Jesus-energized, and started quoting scripture (mostly all from the New Testament). 

After he'd impressed his parents and relatives....some minister would hear about 'Jimmy Joe' and come over.....getting some hyped-up feeling over this kid's minister actions.  Then he'd convince 'Jimmy Joe' to come to a revival one evening to preach.

They'd put out the word in the community, dozens of extra folks would drive five to ten miles out of their way, to hear this 13-year-old evangelist to preach to them.  Maybe a two or three dozen young teens would show up....who typically wouldn't be at some revival. 

'Jimmy Joe' would put the emphasis into his speech....slaming the Bible down, talking trash on Satan, praising John the Baptist as if he were a uncle, describing angels as if they were from the Dallas Cowboys, and trying to touch people (usually the adult minister would try to correct him and avoid that fakeness) to rid them of demons. 

A dozen folks would come forward at the end of the 'show'....confessing their sins, and they'd all hustle on Sunday to be baptized. 

Most 'Jimmy Joes' would last around five years, and half the time....they'd get burned out or emotionally strung up to such a degree that they needed to be sent off to a rehab unit in Bessemer or Ozark Springs.

I look at Greta and I basically see the same behavior, and the same 'saving' at work.  'Jimmy Joe' characters always believed they were doing God's work, and Greta believes she's saving the Earth. 

At some point, she'll go over the line, and say something that will bother the social folks of Sweden, and they will come to suggest to the parents that she's either burned-out, or emotionally unstable.  My guess is that they will swiftly remove her from Sweden and find some country where they don't grab folks for forced rehab. 

But I'll say this.  There's nothing wrong with 'Jimmy Joe' people being evangelists and carrying on this 'save-your-soul' business.  If it makes them happy.....fine.  I generally believe the same for Greta, and her save-the-Earth business.  If it makes her happy, fine.  But there is this fine line where you are burned-out, and I would suggest Greta is about half-way there.