Word: python
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...would have renounced the principles of European democracy. Self-censure means the end of the debate. Imagine how many museums it would be necessary to close, how many musical groups it would be necessary to silence; Galileo and Darwin would have had to abandon their research, and Monty Python would not have been able to film The Life of Brian. The EU must most vigorously defend individual freedoms, and human rights are not there to shield religions against criticism and debate." - Interview with EUdebate2009.eu, November...
...python problem started in the 1990s, when many Americans decided that big constrictor snakes like pythons and boas, often imported from Southeast Asia, would make cool house pets. It didn't take them long to realize that the snakes are not quite the exotic delights they thought. Burmese pythons can grow as long as 20 ft. (6 m) and weigh 250 lb. (113 kg). As they grow larger, they require more-spacious homes and bigger, more-expensive animals to eat, like rats and rabbits. They also get more difficult and unpleasant to clean up after. And as last week...
...easy, however, for disillusioned owners to get rid of them. Because there aren't many python-rescue agencies available, the snakes get dumped in the wild - a practice that's gotten out of control in Florida since 2000. It's a big reason the state laid down regulations last year that make it more difficult and expensive to own reptiles like these in the first place. The reptiles now require $100 annual permits and, if they're wider than 2 in. (5 cm), a microchip embedded in their skin to help owners and the state keep track of their whereabouts...
Florida officials, including Governor Charlie Crist, propose putting a bounty on the snakes' heads. But hunting elusive and barely visible pythons in the wild is difficult at best - though that hasn't stopped South Florida hunters and hunting clubs from tramping out to state wildlife preserves to whip up enthusiasm for python extermination and then posting trophy photos of themselves with 10- to 15-ft. snakes on the Internet. And any effective bounty program in Florida would require lifting the ban on hunting in the federally managed Everglades, something U.S. officials say they are considering...
...Senate hearing on July 8, Nelson laid the skin of a 16-ft. Burmese python across the witness table and urged colleagues to "address this ecological crisis." But even if the Senate doesn't pass Nelson's measure, last week's tragedy at least ensures that more Floridians will take the python threat seriously...