The 2013 Python Challenge - simply a shame !!!

Some days ago I watched the news on television and one topic caught my attention. I want to share some of my thoughts with you about it.
Maybe some of you have already heard of “The 2013 Python Challenge” introduced by the responsible local authorities of Florida. 

Basically the whole challenge is about solving the snake problem. You might ask yourself which problem I am talking about. Well, over the last couple of years the colonies of Burmese pythons have taken over the Everglades. They spread rapidly and they are eating their way through a fragile ecosystem. These snakes can grow more than 17 (!!) feet long and produce over 35 eggs at a time. But they are not poisonous and are typically not considered a danger to humans. While browsing through the internet, I read that earlier this year there was found a 76-pound deer in the stomach of a 16-foot python. Must have been pretty hungry ;)

To sum it up, Burmese pythons aren’t poisonous but annoying.
So this mysterious challenge should solve the problem. It is about killing all Burmese pythons that might cross your way. And I have to say, I find that terrible!

The challenge started on January the 12^th and will last for one month. It takes place on the state’s public hunting lands and is separated into distinct contests: one for the general public (!!!) and one for state-licensed python hunters (cause there are professional python hunters in Florida). 

There is even a price for catching the longest serpent (rewarded with $1,000) and for catching the greatest number of snakes ($1,500).
All you have to do is completing an online training course of about 20 minutes and attending an open house about pythons and other invasive species. And then, just let the hunting game begin!

I can’t believe how it can be possible to set up such a challenge. I get the impression that people consider it to be a funny game. Everyone can take part in this contest. Nearly 800 people signed up and the vast majority — 749 — are members of the general public who lack the permits usually required to harvest pythons on public lands. That’s simply incredible!! 

For these people it is fun to sift armed through the lands and try to kill. I even saw pictures of fathers putting a gun in the hand of their sons. That’s ridiculous.
Hunting is something that should be taken seriously. Normally you need special permits. I would never ever let my child carry a gun and shoot at animals just for fun!
There has to be another way to solve this problem. Killing can’t be the appropriate method and I think it is a bad example of how to deal with difficult situations. Killing should never be a solution! Some Americans tend to forget this. 

the Chinese 2-minute toilet break

Just some minutes ago a news report of one of our local radio stations caught my attention.
It was said that about 1.000 workers at Shanghai Shinmei Electric Company held their ten Japanese nationals and eight Chinese managers inside the factory in Shanghai from Friday morning until Saturday night. It said the managers were released uninjured after 300 police officers were called to the factory.

But why were these workers so angry?

In fact they had gone on strike to protest the company's issuing of new work rules, including time limits on bathroom breaks and fines for being late. They should only have two minutes to go to the toilet and they should be fined 50 yuan (€8) if they are late once and even fired if they are late twice. 

Well aren’t these requirements ridiculous?!

Factories are operating in highly competitive markets and try to get more productivity from their labor force. More and more they are trying to introduce inhuman and absurd regulations as the one mentioned above. 

As workers are getting better connected by mobile phones and the Internet so that they are becoming more aware of their rights, strikes have become omnipresent in China.
I consider it to be a good and important change for the Chinese society. I guess the majority of the Chinese population longs for being treated fairly by the government and not to be oppressed and hold back in uncertainty of their rights – of all human rights.
Going on strike is the best option people have to shout out loud that they are not at all satisfied with a certain situation. Public outcries are good ways to strengthen a population’s voice. 

It’s a right everyone should be able to exercise. If you have it, please make use of it if you are unhappy with political conditions in your city, country or whatever!