And the pardons have officially begun ...
On Monday, President Bush granted pardons to 14 people and shortened the prison terms of another two, which will probably be the first round of many. No big names on the list, but three are of interest for environmental reasons, including:
• Daniel Figh Pue III, of Conroe, Texas, who was convicted of illegal treatment, storage, and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.
• Leslie Owen Collier, of Charleston, Mo., who pleaded guilty in 1995 to unlawfully killing three bald eagles in southeast Missouri. Apparently he was putting pesticide in hamburger meat in order to kill coyotes, but that killed a bunch of other animals, like these three bald eagles. He was convicted of "unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act."
• Milton Kirk Cordes, of Rapid City, S.D., who was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act prohibiting importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.
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Comments
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Biodiversivist Posted 8:01 am
25 Nov 2008
The eagle killer
should be removed from society on the grounds that he is so stupid he's a hazard to all other life forms. W probably empathizes with him.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Bob Wallace Posted 8:14 am
25 Nov 2008
Collier...
The guy screwed up. He intended to kill some coyotes that were giving him trouble.
He unintentionally killed three eagles.
He plead guilty. He received two years probation and paid a $10,000 fine. There's no indication that he's broken any laws in the intervening 13 years.
Do we really want to be a society that does not practice forgiveness to those who have acknowledged their guilt and paid their dues?
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Biodiversivist Posted 8:21 am
25 Nov 2008
Why pick the eagle killer to pardon?
There must be tens of millions of people who have plead guilty, paid fines, and got a period of probation for doing something illegal. What makes this guy so special?
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Pangolin Posted 8:48 am
25 Nov 2008
Follow the money.....
This is a group of people with NO morals. Somewhere a payment was made or a favor done to the Bush family. There's no political profit to be made pardoning the paroled killer of Bald Eagles. The guy wasn't even in jail fer dogsakes.
Put the Carbon Back
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Bob Wallace Posted 11:34 am
25 Nov 2008
My post was not about Bush...
and why or why not he chose this particular person to pardon.
It was about this "off with their heads", "one strike and you're out" attitude that I far too often on green/left-leaning discussion forums.
In another discussion in the last day or two a potential Obama appointee was roasted over a letter he had written 15-20 years ago. There was, as far as I recall, no discussion over whether this was a continuing pattern with this person or something that happened 'back then'.
I'm suggesting that we need to give people an opportunity to change their ways, to become someone better.
And I want to extend that opportunity to companies/corporations as well.
I'm just not an anarchist. I do not believe that the way to get to a better place is to destroy everything we have today and start over.
Rather let's take what we have. Look for the parts of it that are good and worth saving and start working on making the rest better.
It's a reuse/recycle sort of attitude....
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tlabadie Posted 12:53 am
26 Nov 2008
re: My post was not about Bush...
As opposed to the "off with their heads," "one strike and you're out" attitude we see far too often on non-green/right-leaning forums about other forms of crime?
Ignorance is no defense for breaking the law, particularly environmental law. Left or right.
- The truth always sounds like what you already believe.
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Bob Wallace Posted 2:13 am
26 Nov 2008
Did you miss the part...
about the guy pleading guilty, receiving two years probation, and paying a $10,000 fine?
He did not get away with breaking the law. He paid for his mistake.
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