From the Litter Pan

Spoilt Western Cats...

...are starvin' poor people.

Now y'all know my opinion of fe-lyings, but even I think the reference to "spoilt western cats"—as opposed to eastern cats—is a bit much. Some people will go to any lengths to spread the "hate USA" meme.

Deakin University scientist Dr Giovanni Turchini has discovered an estimated 2.48 million tonnes of forage fish—a limited biological resource—is consumed by the global cat food industry each year...

Wild forage fish, which includes sardines, herrings and anchovies, are an important link in the marine food chain, as part of the diet of larger fish like tuna and swordfish. Overfishing of marine resources is a concern to conservationists and the fishing industry.

"While much of the criticism has been on the grounds that forage fish could be better used for human consumption directly, particularly amongst the poorer nations of the world, rather than in the production of food for farmed fish, little attention has been paid to the amount of forage fish used by the pet food industry," Dr Turchini said.

Movin' on to the most interestin' part of this story—the comments:

We should blame the corporations that supply seafood for pets
andy robbins [sic], Sydney

But not the humans buyin' the fancy food for fe-lyings, right? Guess Australians never heard of the law of supply and demand.

This is outrageous that precious natural resources should be wasted on unnecessary pets. Ludicrous to the point of stupidity. Someone should pass a law making pet owners pay higher taxes to compensate. We should be feeding the needy people, not some rich white guy's cat!
Steve Vance, Los Angeles

I'm takin' a wild guess he won't be votin' Republican.

And from Bar-ack!'s hometown…

WASPS. Love animals, hate people
Ron TOugh [sic], chicago

Cats! Why did it have to be cats?

The Pentagon's crash program to create an artificial brain is just about up and running. And, if it all goes as planned, we could see an electronic chip that mimics the "function, size, and power consumption" of a cat's cortex some time in the next decade.

Function=none; size=pea; power consumption=? How much power does it take to sleep and eat, with one little surge in response to a can opener.

The goal: Build a chip with a "neuroscience-inspired architecture that can address a wide range of cognitive abilities—perception, planning, decision making, and motor control,"

Fe-lyings and congnitive abilities. Now that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

We can thank the dog God the deal with the company actually doin' the work hasn't been finalized yet (seems the press release was sent out accidently) so the world's still safe from an artifical cat brain—unless ya' count Bar-ack!

How many howlers can ya' find in this:

A cat show and feline agility competition will be held [at] Maryland State Fairground [in September]… A sign-language interpreter will be available for signing events and for individual communication.

Feline agility? Are they gonna' get awards for stickin' a hind leg in the air and lickin' their butts? Or maybe there's a special event for creative hairball hackin' and another for the dirty litter bits toss.

And what, pray tell, are those sign-language interpreters gonna' do? In case no one noticed, those of us with paws have an opposable thumbs issue. Besides, does anyone think those fe-lyings will pay attention?

posted by Harrison at 10:57 PM