That Fucking Trump

Written 11 January, 2018

Under the sea at Whimsy, near Mr. Tiki, there's a lionfish infestation. It's horrible. The invading bastards have almost killed off the population of 13-prim (7 with Physics Shape Type set to Convex Hull) freebie Delilah fish I picked up at New Citizens, Inc. I grabbed them back in October, 2006, when I was only a couple of days old.

Freebie Delilah Fish (13 Prims, 7 With Tweaking), Swims in Circle

I once had thirty or forty Delilah's swimming in the waters of Whimsy and Whimsy Kaboom. In a quick tour of Whimsy today I found only one. It has grown quite large over the years, and is, paradoxically, close to the invading lionfish. I fear for it.

This Deilila Fish Was Once Tiny

Lionfish (genus Pteroid) are native to the Indo-Pacific region. They are venomous, which accounts for their colorful appearance (poisonous species are often brightly and distinctively colored). For this reason, they have few natural predators. Two species, P. volitans and P. miles (red and common lionfish) have recently invaded the Caribbean, West Atlantic, and Mediterranean seas.

Red Lionfish near Gilli Banta Island. Photo by Alexander Vasenina, Wikimedia Commons 

Abby Dawson's Red Lionfish on Whimsy

Splash Aquatics Lionfish

Although they can grow to a foot-and-a-half in length, lionfish are popular aquarium fish-- in fact, according to Sailors for the Sea,

It is speculated that the root of the problem [in U.S. waters] was only 6 lionfish accidently (sic) released from an aquarium during hurricane Andrew in 1992. Genetic research supports this finger pointing but it is likely that many more have been intentionally released by "retired" aquarium enthusiasts. With no natural enemies and an extremely high reproductive rate of 2 million eggs a year from one female, unsurprisingly they've taken over rapidly (NOAA).

That quote was taken from the website of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, a scientific agency of the government of the United States.

For nearly a decade the Whimsy historic marker sign shown above provided a link to a NOAA page calling attention to the lionfish problem. The other day I happened to click upon the sign, and guess what? The link was broken; I got a 404 message. A search for lionfish on the NOAA site returned no results. The page was just gone.

Now why ever would NOAA remove a relavent and important web page warning of the negative impact of an invasive species upon native wildlife? Why?

Oh, yeah. That fucking Donald Trump.

Trump's administration has mounted a full-scale assault on the environment. Within minutes of his inauguration on January 20, 2017, all material related to climate change was scrubbed from the White House web page. For a year now his administration has been systematically purging language about climate change from governmental website, gutting environmental protections and safety regulations, walking away from treaties, pissing off our allies, sucking up to brutal dictators like Vladimir Putin of Russia and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, and courting nuclear armageddon with North Korea. Trump is a champ, he is.

Even Mr. Tiki is Pissed

I attribute the broken link to Trump's efforts to remove science from our governmental scientific agencies.

The sign now points to this non-governmental page about lionfish invasion.

I am pissed. Mr. Tiki is pissed. Fuck you, Donald Trump, you scumbag.