Guess whose regal boots?
Posted on 09/30/2006 12:27:09 PM PDT by SmithL
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't hold a lavish ceremony to sign legislation Friday legalizing the importation of crocodile and alligator products until 2010.
But perhaps Schwarzenegger felt he'd given enough love to dead animal skin, considering its frequent placement on his own two feet.
Case in point: The Republican governor wore conspicuous green leather boots at a Capitol ceremony Friday to sign prescription drug legislation -- though the Governor's Office would not define the animal source.
Starting next year, Senate Bill 1485 by Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula, will exempt alligator or crocodile products from a statewide ban on commercial importation of products made from 24 animals. Ocelots and free-roaming feral horses are among those still protected.
In January, Schwarzenegger toed the legal line by showing off a pair of boots he sent in a losing bet with Texas Gov. Rick Perry when USC lost to the University of Texas in the Rose Bowl. The boots had the governor's specially crafted emblem -- an unofficial variant of the state seal -- stitched into footwear made of hornback crocodile.
The Governor's Office said the boots were custom-made in Texas for Schwarzenegger, thereby sidestepping the law because he did not import them for sale in California.
Perry's neighbor, Gov. Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, was the source of SB 1485. Blanco argued in a letter that the state has maintained a sustainable alligator harvesting program for the $30 million industry. She also cited the state's flagging economy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
What a croc! :-)
I am from Hollywood!
Do as I say... Not as I do.
That sentence might not make any sense outside of Florida. My apologies if that's the case.
There are a couple of football fans around here.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Import ban on alligator goods lifted?? What is the point of that? What is the point of having alligator boots when alligators aren`t raised for consumption?? Is alligator meat now a main course on the menu?
I really didn`t understand it when Steve Irwin said "If we can touch people about wildlife then they want to save it" or "Humans want to save things that they love"... Now I do understand..He was right.
Before Irwin I wouldn`t have given two flying fecks about someone having alligator boots, now I don`t see the point of them. If they are raised solely to make boots then that is one thing, but if not, lifting this ban is only going to send every 3rd world mutt with a gun or machete into a frenzy of slaughter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is04wKBDzYA
Excellent.
One other thing, alligators are farmed just like cattle here.
When the 'gators mature, he sells the meat, and since the hides have a lot fewer blemishes than nature's own,
the leather commands a higher price.
I was at a restaurant in Shreveport that had alligator tail on the menu. It tasted like snake meat according to one of my dining companions (I didn't eat it).
Alright, that`s cool with me, but what I don`t understand is why there was a "ban" in the first place if it was inside the US? I have no problem whatsoever with animals raised solely for food, my cousin used to raise pigs in Pennsylvania and on a few occasions I participated in the slaughter of a few (for our own consumption... I am far from a vegan, believe me!), but once you lift an INTERNATIONAL ban, unless I am reading this article wrong (but note that it does say "importation") on anything related to animals, that animal is going to get absolutely freggin` slaughtered in the wild because that animal now equals $$$.
Once you lift an international ban on anything, all hell breaks loose, especially when it comes to animals, as that animal is no longer seen as an animal but is now seen as money growing form a tree. If this is what Arnold is doing, then he is completely insane.
Remember, Steve Irwin was a meat eater as well. He wore leather Timberland boots, fed his crocs chickens, and not once in his life ever promoted anything ever related to a vegan diet, but his whole message was to prevent this kind of slaughter that happens when money gets involved, when bans are lifted and I completely agree with the guy.
It tasted like snake meat if one knows what snake meat tastes like. To everyone else it tastes like chicken. If you think that is out there, consider my brother once visited a family in Cambodia who he thought were serving rabbit. Only after he ate it did he realize after talking to them some more that he was eating rat. What did it taste like to him? Chicken of course. I think it all depends on sense of smell and whether one smokes or not...If you have a good sense of smell and don`t smoke, you can tell the difference, to those who lost those senses or have dulled them, it`s all chicken meat with different texture, tough, tender etc etc.
There are limited hunting seasons to keep them under control here in Louisiana. The farmers are the one's who provide the main ones for consumption.
http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/ans/HTMView.asp?parItem=S031000340A
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/aquaculture/alligator/Links+to+Alligatorrelated+Information.htm
That`s cool but some of these countries you have to watch out for..It really all comes down to politics and messages you send out.. There are countries out there especially the asian ones, that if they get any inkling whatsoever that any kind of cash can be made on an animal, they will not hesitate for a second, not one single solitary second to absolutely butcher the living `effin hell out of these animals.
Not saying alligators exist in China, but daaamn, if you ever have the stomach, take a look at Ogrish.com. They have videos on that sick website that shows how the Chinese deal with animals, how they make fur coats out of dogs of all things.
What they do is club the dog a few times over the head then literally rip it`s skin off while it`s still alive, then throw the skinless dog in a wheel barrow, and the damn thing just wretches in absolute agony, it`s just one mass pile of wriggling skinless dogs, and that is just dogs!! They do the same to cats! Imagine what they would do if some country like the US would suddenly say it`s OK to send in alligator skins or bear skins? THey would literally rip the skin right off the bears while they are still living. I`ve SEEN these videos, they are sick beyond belief, and these Chinese do this while huffing cigarettes, all non-chalant, joking around, all in a days pay.
For Arnold to do this is sending an incredibly irresponsible message. The Chinese for all we know can assume "Alligators" means all reptiles. Put it this way, the Chinese kill bears just for their gall bladders because they believe it`s an aphrodisiac. Imagine what they would do for US bucks! The US has to put a ban on ALL animal imports, otherwise this psycho crap will never end.
Animals products are not oil, there is no shortage of animals in the US and there is absolutely no need to import any of that crap into the US. I absolutely 100% support raising animals for consuption, even raising the bastards to make shoes, but to give a message that the US is "lifting a ban" on animal imports is incredibly insane. You`ll have the Chinese killing them off by the millions and they will not be raising them but doing it in the wild. THe poor will be trapping them like they do cats, throwing them in tight cages and skinning them alive.
You want to know how insane they are, this is what they applaude....
http://www.porkolt.com/funny/cool/horrible/chinese/singer/cool-chinese-singer-647.html
I know that here the Wildlife and Fisheries stay on top of this matter. They are um, shall we say very diligent in making sure that the laws are adhered to. Not only that where the folks would have to go to hunt gators are not too fond of the foreigners at all.
We have several wildlife preserves where there is absolutely no hunting. Of course thanks to Rita they got beat up pretty badly.
http://www.creolenaturetrail.org/what/index.html#
You ought to get out more. You've never had alligator meat? The better restaurants serve tail meat. If you are getting fried alligator strips at the fair, you may be getting one of the lesser cuts.
And to specifically answer your question, yes, it is a main course as well as an appetizer.
I was going to ask you a question in return, "Are you some sort of yankee?", but I clicked on your screen name, and see a New York flag flying.
I gather that you either think residents of Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas are "third-world nuts," or you're just ignorant of the habitats of the reptiles you profess to worship.
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