Tagged: Margaret Waterman
Don’t fear your domesticated feline
By Margaret Waterman, Associate Campus Editor
@mw_journalist
Vindicating dog-lovers and cat-haters all over the world, the BBC World Service dropped this bombshell Tuesday Jan. 29:
Free-ranging cats on islands have caused or contributed to 14% of the modern bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions, according to a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. PHOTO BY Lilliam Adan of domestic cat Onyx
Cats are responsible for between 1.4 and 3.7 billion bird and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion mammal deaths annually.
The BBC article went on to claim that our furry feline friends are not only vicious killers, but cumulatively are responsible for more animal deaths than road related accidents, animals’ collisions with buildings or animal poisonings.
Don’t worry, though–the article, while harshly critical of kitties, offered deeply insightful solutions to this furry flurry. An expert from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute suggested keeping domesticated cats indoors as opposed to letting them roam free out in the wild. A spokeswoman from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said putting a bell on your cat’s collar would decrease its chance of success while hunting by at least 33%.
However, the article also said feral and stray cats were by far the leading cause of mammal and bird deaths. The American Robin, in particular, is most at risk of all birds, while mice, shrews, voles, rabbits and squirrels were most likely to be kitty-killed.
After some (probably too much) thought, I suddenly had an epiphany and, amazingly, the answer to the problem.
Which leads me to believe there is only one solution, and it does not involve the disownment of your little Garfield, Crookshanks or Sylvester: instead of giving up our pets, we must get MORE cats.
It only makes sense that, if feral or stray cats are the leading perpetrator in bird and small mammal murders nationwide, that we domesticate them all and stick bells on their collars.
This solution, while stunningly brilliant, only caused me to demand answers to other questions. Why a study about the negative impacts of cats? More specifically and more importantly, what’s so wrong with your cat protecting you from rodents?
Either way, we should all take a minute to reflect upon the needless, tragic deaths of billions and billions of bird and small mammal deaths across the country by bowing our heads in a moment of silence.
Macklemore tops the charts by “poppin’ tags”
By Margaret Waterman, Associate Campus Editor
@mw_journalist
If there’s any song from 2012 that’s going to keep getting stuck in your head all throughout 2013, it’s Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” from his debut album, “The Heist.”
I was first introduced to this song when my friend sent me a Facebook message with the link to its video, which follows Macklemore as he runs around a dingy thrift shop with his friends, rocking hand-me-down fur coats, reindeer sweaters and onesies.
Macklemore, or Ben Haggerty, just recently joined one of the music industry’s most exclusive clubs–Thrift Shop has officially hit #1 on the iTunes Top Singles list. Haggerty, who hails from Seattle, is the second independent artist ever to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Perhaps what is most remarkable about Macklemore’s hit is not just its popularity, but its message. While the song follows a traditional hip-hop/R&B format, it does not have a traditional hip-hop/R&B message.
Throughout the song, Macklemore consistently rejects materialism, rapping about how he would much rather buy something unique for 99 cents from a thrift shop than pay extra for a designer limited edition piece of clothing.
Fifty dollars for a t-shirt, that’s just some ignorant b–tch sh–t,
I call that getting swindled and pimped
I call that getting tricked by a business
That shirt’s hella dope
And having the same one as six other people in this club is a hella don’t
Peep game, come take a look through my telescope
Trying to get girls from a brand, then you hella won’t”
Macklemore has consistently resisted conformity, constantly coming up with new ways to break the mold in the hip-hop industry. His music video for another hit song, “Same Love,” features footage from 1960s civil rights protests and follows a gay couple throughout their relationship. His song “Jimmy Iovine,” not-so-lovingly named after the producer credited with helping Eminem reach stardom, takes a stab at the music industry today, using breaking into Iovine’s office as a metaphor for how artists today don’t necessarily work for their success.
If I get past security, the secretary, the cubicles
But it’s weird, it’s like this room I’ve walked into is unusual
Thought it would be shiny and beautiful
Thought it would be alive and like musical
But if feels like someone died, it’s got the vibe of a funeral”
The theme laid out in “Jimmy Iovine” seems to be Macklemore’s motto. Unsigned, he has defied expectations and kept his success all his own all the while. His debut album, ‘The Heist”, follows its title to the letter–he and Ryan Lewis have stolen the music industry and made it their own. I’m excited to see what Macklemore has waiting for us up his sleeve.
In the meantime… Let’s go thrift shopping.
