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dr_pretentiousI laughed myself sick over this article in the New York Times. Environmental crimes are serious, and serious business, but the implementation can get very, very silly:
In 2002, a Palm Springs man was arrested on charges related to the smuggling of two Asian leopard cats into the airport in a backpack. His traveling companion was arrested when large birds of paradise came flying out of his luggage; also in the luggage were other birds stuffed into women’s stockings and 50 rare orchid bulbs. Two lesser slow lorises, also known as pygmy monkeys, were stuffed into his underwear.
The whole article is well worth your perusal. The gentleman from the environmental crimes unit at the LA attorney's office is a master of understatement.
Meanwhile, the big American pharmaceutical companies are trying to flood the Chinese market with Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra--all drugs, by the way, whose names include phonemes that most Chinese speakers can't pronounce. I never thought I'd be rooting for Pfizer, but if Viagra works better than, say, bear bile and powdered tiger penises, it could be a good thing for biodiversity.
In 2002, a Palm Springs man was arrested on charges related to the smuggling of two Asian leopard cats into the airport in a backpack. His traveling companion was arrested when large birds of paradise came flying out of his luggage; also in the luggage were other birds stuffed into women’s stockings and 50 rare orchid bulbs. Two lesser slow lorises, also known as pygmy monkeys, were stuffed into his underwear.
The whole article is well worth your perusal. The gentleman from the environmental crimes unit at the LA attorney's office is a master of understatement.
Meanwhile, the big American pharmaceutical companies are trying to flood the Chinese market with Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra--all drugs, by the way, whose names include phonemes that most Chinese speakers can't pronounce. I never thought I'd be rooting for Pfizer, but if Viagra works better than, say, bear bile and powdered tiger penises, it could be a good thing for biodiversity.
