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November 21, 2005
Dutch Grieve Dead Sparrow
Last week some Dutch people with way too much time on their hands broke their own record by arranging 4,155,476 dominoes and knocking them over. Their efforts were almost ruined by a common house sparrow that got loose in the exhibition center and knocked over 23,000 dominoes on its own. Left with little choice, the domino people called in an exterminator, who blew away the little pest with an airgun.
As the BBC reports,
Not since Cock Robin has the death of a tiny bird caused such emotion. The shooting of a sparrow on the set of a Dutch world record domino-toppling attempt sparked outrage among animal lovers and led to threats to staff. ... The head of a bird protection agency appealed for calm. ... [T]he Dutch animal protection agency threatened to investigate, and radio stations offered bounties for anyone who could knock down more of the dominoes before the event.
People were so broken-hearted over the sparrow that they set up a commemorative website that I'm sure the dead bird would have appreciated. Unfortunately the feathered pest's memory has not been held in high honor by everyone. Hackers put explicit porn on the site, which has since been removed.
The dead bird's website includes a condolence register, where the bereaved can leave messages. As Expatica reports,
Some contributors showed great empathy for the bird and even wished its "relatives" the courage to get on with their lives. Others took the time to compose poems in memory of the fallen sparrow.
But one cold-hearted commenter had this to say:
It was only a stupid bird. Go and do something useful with your lives instead of mourning for this bird... Get a life.
How heartless.
Hat tip: Varla
Posted by Van Helsing at November 21, 2005 10:03 AM
Comments
Just goes to show that there are way too many people with too much time on their hands.
Posted by: ex-expat at November 21, 2005 10:33 AM
And Theo Van Gogh's murderer is treated with kid gloves. What is wrong with this picture?
Posted by: Anna at November 21, 2005 11:33 AM
A great, great, deal is wrong.
Posted by: ex-expat at November 21, 2005 11:57 AM
Moonbat Chris Matthews: 'Al Qaeda Is Not Evil."
"The period between 9-11 and (invading) Iraq was not a good time for America. There wasn't a robust discussion of what we were doing," Matthews said."If we stop trying to figure out the other side, we've given up. The person on the other side is not evil. They just have a different perspective.
Posted by: V the K at November 21, 2005 12:46 PM
Ironically, one of the holy mantras that the Dutch have become accustomed to use to describe themselves is _nuchter_ (meaning sober, rational). The incidence of that word's use is in inverse proportion to the presence of that quality.
Posted by: William at November 22, 2005 6:02 AM
