I was reminded by a reply that I should probably emphasize this: the Big Cat Public Safety Act literally has an exemption specifically for state colleges and universities. Why? Because there’s two schools with live mascots who live in habitats on campus, and their representatives absolutely would not have supported the bill if it had taken away their college’s cats.
Meet Mike VII at Louisiana State University:
And Leo III at the University of North Alabama:
(Leo III’s mate, Una, passed away a few years ago).
It’s tradition for these schools to have a live mascot, so the bill that *checks notes* is meant to end unethical commercial of big cats had to ensure that they’d still be allowed to have a big cat living next to their stadiums. Luckily neither school takes their mascots to the sidelines of football games anymore, but LSU actually only just stopped that practice in 2017.
These mascot cats have consistently been part of the commercial trade in big cats, although it’s unclear if they will continue to be (even though it’s still legal for these schools to buy their next mascot). Una and Leo III came from a wildlife park in New Hampshire as young cubs, and Mike VII is ostensibly a rescue but the story of the facility he came from doesn’t quite pass the smell test.
Here’s the wild thing. Under the new law, right, most entities that want to keep big cats - like sanctuaries and zoos - have to follow certain rules regarding fencing and breeding restrictions and preventing public contact in order to be allowed to do so. But state schools? Nada. They can buy, sell, and breed without any limits. They could, quite literally, run a tiger puppy-mill or start a cub petting franchise across multiple state universities and it wouldn’t be illegal. Obviously that’s a worst case scenario that’s super unlikely, but it goes to show just how odd it is that these entities have a totally unrestricted exemption. Credible zoological facilities and sanctuaries have to comply with much stricter regulations to prove they’re not exploiting the cats in their care, but for the sake of football, state colleges and universities can do whatever they want!! (sigh). It’s amazing how really specific political interests, such as the culture around football mascots, can result in carve-outs in even bills promoted specifically to create consistent regulations for animal welfare.
ATNMBL, 2009, by Mike and Maaike. The San Francisco-based design practice created this proposal for an autonomous electric vehicle that functioned as room you entered standing up, stated your destination and then sat down and relaxed while it took you there. There was no forward view, no steering wheel nor controls of any kind beyond your voice. The name is an abbreviation of autonomous automobile. There was seating for up to 7 passengers
"Did BJ and Hawkeye ever get together when they went home?"
MASHCAST podcast - Rob Kelly (@robkellycreative) & Mike Farrell || Full || Airdate: Sept 29 2021
----(Transcript under the cut)----
Rob: Alright, I'm apologising for asking you this question—
Mike: —no, go ahead—
Rob: —because it's so nerdy, but I— what other opportunity am I gonna have to do this?! And maybe you don't think like this, maybe actors don't think like this, but— in your mind— have you ever extrapolated— did BJ and Hawkeye ever get together when they went home? In your mind?
Mike: Oh, for me— for me, it was an absolute. An absolute. Sure, of course they did. You know... BJ would walk across the country to spend— spend time in Hawkeye's company. And it probably... wouldn't have been as wonderful as he— as he'd hoped it was because, you know, lives had gone in—
Rob: —right! Sure—
Mike: —different directions, but. Yeah, no, I don't think there's— for me, there is no question but that they saw each other again—
Rob: —right—
Mike: —made a point. Made a point of seeing each other again.
my thesis advisor asking me to send them my current draft, and me suddenly realizing I somehow haven’t written a single fucking sentence in 2 weeks, dudes it’s a pr nightmare (been hella unproductive the past weeks idk what tf happened)