Are the bird & fish die-offs a new phenomenon? Or is this just the media focusing on something that always happens?
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Kraigmo (
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January 5th, 2011
Mainstream news is reporting of mass bird and fish die-offs throughout the world.
Are they reporting on a new and potentially dangerous phenomenon?
Or are they focusing on something that has always occurred?
I remember when mainstream media tried to convince us that shark attacks were on the rise.
Anyone who looked at the statistics that year, however, realized shark attacks were at a rate that was average for the year. The media at the time was hyper-focusing, causing a skewed view of reality to the general public.
I’d like to know if anyone has read any articles or knows any statistics that would put some light on this subject.
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9 Answers
I’m not going to worry about anything the mainstream media reports on…there’s a tendency to report in a manner more like fearmongering…
And lo a plague of deceased birds shall descend from the heavens
Four & twenty blackbirds to be precise
And ye shall go forth & baketh them in a pie
What a dainty dish to serve before the king of kings.
A few examples from a quick Google:
The Australian – January 10, 2007 – Mystery as thousands of birds fall from sky
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/mystery-as-thousands-of-birds-fall-from-sky/story-e6frg6nf-1111112807484
The Seattle Times – March 18, 2008 – USDA poised caused dead starlings to fall out the sky at Moxee
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004290101_apwapoisonedstarlings.html
The New York Daily News – December 22, 2007 – The cause of death of the dozens of birds that fell out of the sky on Staten Island remained a mystery Saturday
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/23/2007-12-23_dead_birds_no_threat_city_insists.html
The New York Times – Nov. 25, 1976 – SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif – (AP) Scores of blackbirds and pigeons fell from their roosts and died today for the second consecutive day, and the state authorities are searching for a cause.
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40E15FD395C137B93C4AB178AD95F428785F9
The Rock Hill Herald – Sep 27, 1971 – Prince Rupert, BC – Birds continued to fall dead from the sky Monday as wildlife experts tried to figure out what killed hundreds of small birds late last week.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4UQtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Sp8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7039,3112769&dq=dead+birds+fall+from+sky&hl=en
And RE:media exaggeration – here’s a fact you would never know if you watch TV news – crime has plummeted in the US in the past 30 years.
For example:
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate per 100,000 population
1980 10.2
1981 9.8
1982 9.1
1983 8.3
1984 7.9
1985 8
1986 8.5
1987 8.3
1988 8.4
1989 8.7
1990 9.4
1991 9.8
1992 9.3
1993 9.5
1994 9
1995 8.2
1996 7.4
1997 6.8
1998 6.3
1999 5.7
2000 5.5
2001 5.6
2002 5.6
2003 5.7
2004 5.5
2005 5.6
2006 5.7
2007 5.6
Link
Fish kills are common enough and can usually be easily explained.
I loved the CNN Anderson Cooper360 interview with an expert about the birds mysteriously falling from the sky in Arkansas…actor Kirk Cameron. I suppose Cooper thought the former “Growing Pains” star and Chrisitan who played roles in the “Left Behind” movies, knew what was happening. Cameron suggested that perhaps Cooper should call a veterinarian, not him, to explain. “You know, I’m not the religious-conspiracy-theorist go-to guy, particularly. But I think it’s really kind of silly to try to equate birds falling out of the sky with some kind of an end-times theory,” Cameron said.
Now that is investigative reporting at its best-on CNN anyway.
^^^ Hahahahaha, oh man.. that is just dumb and really funny.
This is totally normal. These things always happen just before a Godzilla sighting.
I find stories about fish falling from the skies in the thousands to be far more intriguing than the birds and the fish in the river. This type of story has been around for centuries.
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