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Racist Elephants
Townhall.com ^ | March 17, 2014 | Neil Boortz

Posted on 03/17/2014 7:48:51 AM PDT by Kaslin

Yeah, I know I haven’t exactly been a prolific Internet contributor in recent months. I’m retired, you see, and there are places to go, people to see, and golf courses to conquer. Today, though, I interrupt your Internet travels because I’ve come up with a twist to an interesting story that is guaranteed to get liberal boxers in a bunch. This is an opportunity I just cannot pass up .. so be sure to read to the very end here. Besides, I need to get in a few more licks before 0bama completely hands over the control of the Internet to the United Nations.

We’re going to talk about elephants. Not the GOP kind of elephant, but actual big-eared lumbering wild African elephants (loxodonta Africana) living in Africa, as African elephants are predisposed to do.

These particular elephants are living in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya, where they have been the subjects of some rather extensive studies by people who extensively study elephants. I learned of the results of these studies reading an article by Virginia Morell of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Let’s get to the (elephant) meat of this study.

The elephants in question are living in close proximity to two different African tribes; the Maasai and the Kamba. The men from these tribes differ in dress, language, and, more importantly, how they treat the elephants. Maasai men sometimes kill the elephants. It seems the Maasai don’t particularly appreciate the elephants attacking Maasai tribesmen and their cows. The Kamba men, on the other hand, are gentle farmers who live among, but do not threaten, the elephants. Perhaps they don’t own cows.

Please understand that the Maasai men do not attack the elephants every time they encounter one, and some Maasai men, perhaps the majority, will never find cause to try to kill an elephant. The elephants know, however, that a greater threat exists from Maasai than from Kamba.

So, how does this affect elephant behavior?

Maasai men like to wear red robes. Kamba men do not. So when the elephants see men in red robes approaching they react defensively. Usually they flee, or they will form defensive perimeters around their young. When the Kamba approach the elephants seem to be completely unconcerned and just go about their business.

The elephants don’t just notice the difference in dress. They’re also tuned into to differences in human dialect. The Maasai and Kamba have distinctive vocal and dialect differences … at least distinctive enough that these elephants can recognize them. The researchers played a recordings of Maasai and Kamba men saying “Look, look over there. A group of elephants is coming.” When the elephants heard the recordings of the Kamba men they took notice but exhibited no untoward fear or anxiety. When they heard the voices of the Maasai men the reaction was different. The elephants fled and once again moved to protect their young.

Karen McComb, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Sussex in England explained the elephant behavior upon hearing the recordings of the Maasai and Kamba. “Cognitively, they know what they’re doing, she said, “and they adjust their reaction to exactly what they’re hearing.”

OK … what’s going on here? We have elephants altering their behavior when encountering different African tribesmen. Sometimes the elephants go into a defensive mode based upon a visual clue, the red robes, or speech patterns. Other visual and aural clues cause them no distress whatsoever.

Has it struck you yet? Come on, folks. This really isn’t that difficult. These elephants are PROFILING! They’re basing their reaction to encountering different groups of men based on past experience. Members of one group are more likely to be dangerous to the elephants than members of the other, and the elephants react accordingly.

I’m afraid that to get through to the irrational mind of a liberal, I have to state the obvious here.

There is no real difference in the elephant’s negative and defensive reaction to the red robes of the Maasai than a person’s reaction to someone wearing a hoodie or gang apparel on the street. There is no real difference between an elephant’s heightened sense of alert upon hearing a particular speech pattern over our reaction to hearing dialects identifiable as coming from inner city gangster culture. Skin color? Not a factor. In case you don’t already know this; the Maasai and the Kamba are both black. (Can’t really call them African Americans for obvious reasons. Well … maybe not so obvious to liberals.)

Experience instructs. People -- and elephants -- learn.

When elephants exhibit this behavior in the wild it’s an occasion for marveling at their intelligence. When humans exhibit this behavior in high crime areas, it’s called racism.

Point made.

Carry on.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
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Experience instructs. People -- and elephants -- learn.

Except if they are liberals.

1 posted on 03/17/2014 7:48:51 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

A missionary came upon a pygmy standing on a dead elephant.

“What happened to that elephant?”

“I killed it with my club.”

“No way! How big is your club?’

“Oh, we got about 20 members.”


2 posted on 03/17/2014 7:52:03 AM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
I need to get in a few more licks before 0bama completely hands over the control of the Internet to the United Nations.

Have we just resigned ourselves to this travesty? Is there not a single Republican running for national office on the war path to overturn this?

3 posted on 03/17/2014 7:54:27 AM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: BenLurkin

Good one


4 posted on 03/17/2014 7:54:55 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

Imagine that...

Who could have guessed that elephants are racist!

I bet that’s why Republicans chose them as their symbol.


5 posted on 03/17/2014 7:55:44 AM PDT by Mr. K (If you like your constitution, you can keep it...Period.)
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To: Kaslin

You gotta love Boortz


6 posted on 03/17/2014 7:57:07 AM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: Kaslin
Lions hide when a Maasai comes into their territory. They know death walking when they see it.
7 posted on 03/17/2014 8:02:28 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: Texas Eagle
“Is there not a single Republican running for national office on the war path to overturn this?”

Now really, why should they? The vast majority of them agree with Obama about 95% of the time.
But WE just keep voting for them. Why?

8 posted on 03/17/2014 8:02:52 AM PDT by Tupelo (I feel more like Philip Nolan every day)
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To: Kaslin

What this study shows is: Elephants are smarter than your average TSA agent...................


9 posted on 03/17/2014 8:03:58 AM PDT by Red Badger (LIberal is an oxymoron......................)
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To: Kaslin

Every living animal has a learned response to stimulus. When animals experience pain, they associate that pain with the circumstances surrounding it, but the association formed isn’t always the correct one.

When my sister put in an invisible fence for her dog, part of the training involved putting little plastic flags along the line of the wire, so the dog could tell where not to go.

Which worked fine. But the dog developed a terrible fear of little plastic flags in every context, the ones that the utility locators would use to indicate underground facilities, the ones that the neighborhood association would put out to mark the curbs for the snowplows, it didn’t matter.

And as he was a 150 pound Dane mix, his panic reaction wasn’t always easy to deal with.

And it happens with people.

There was a stink, some years back at the Mall of America. The inner city youth of color were claiming that they were being profiled by the mall security, who were following them around. The mall security freely admitted it, saying that they were concerned about shoplifting.

The problem is that the average shoplifter is a middle-aged white female, not a teen-aged black male.


10 posted on 03/17/2014 8:05:26 AM PDT by jdege
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To: Kaslin

The funny thing is that liberals viscerally know that they are in more danger from one group of people than another,

but have this dissonant indoctrination that tells them they shouldn’t “know” that.


11 posted on 03/17/2014 8:07:22 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Mr. K

Not “racist”. Reacting to learned dangers.

Just as people do.

I think it shows a high level of intelligence.


12 posted on 03/17/2014 8:08:37 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Red Badger
What this study shows is: Elephants are smarter than your average TSA agent...................

. . . and probably weighs less and smells better to boot!

13 posted on 03/17/2014 8:10:23 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Kaslin

Excellent point.


14 posted on 03/17/2014 8:18:00 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible traitors. Complicit in the destruction of our country.)
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To: Kaslin

Animals ARE racist.

Once I was at a fast food place, and there were the usual food scraps scattered around in the parking lots.

Well, a number of seagulls and crows had taken notice of this, and were feasting on the trash.

What was interesting was that there was no intermingling.

The black birds preferred to be with other black birds, and the white birds did too.


15 posted on 03/17/2014 8:18:42 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: jdege
...The mall security freely admitted it, saying that they were concerned about shoplifting. The problem is that the average shoplifter is a middle-aged white female, not a teen-aged black male.

I'd have to know the statistics, but it might not be a 'problem'. If 70% of the mall shoppers are middle-aged white females, and 1% of them are shoplifters, and 0.5% of the mall shoppers are teen-aged black males and 50% of them are shoplifters -- sure, more middle-aged white females are shoplifters than teen-aged black males. It would still behoove the mall security to keep an eye on the teen-aged black males.

Again, this is just hypothetical. It would depend on the statistics.

16 posted on 03/17/2014 8:28:45 AM PDT by El Cid (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house...)
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To: Red Badger

That is sooooo true.


17 posted on 03/17/2014 8:36:15 AM PDT by Hulka
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To: Kaslin

See:

http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Tsavo-Stalking-Mystery-Adventure-ebook/dp/B002N83HSE/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395070337&sr=1-8&keywords=tsavo

The Tsavo Lions are a special population - larger than most and far more aggressive.

They also have come to recognize the Maasi. Other tribesmen are just another potential item on the diet.

Maasai raise cattle. Cattle are their livelihood and wealth.
Lions kill and eat cattle. Maasi don’t like Lions. Regardless of conservation laws to the contrary, Maasai, who are extremely good with their spears, regularly kill any lions they come across quite effectively without firearms. Consequently, the Tsavo Lions keep clear of tall dark Africans wearing red cloaks and carrying long spears.

So this story makes sense. My conclusion, however, is it shows how very important it is to have a hunting season if you want to allow dangerous predators like bear, wolves and cougars in your neighborhood.


18 posted on 03/17/2014 8:38:00 AM PDT by ZULU (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: econjack

+


19 posted on 03/17/2014 8:45:32 AM PDT by S.O.S121.500 (Had Enough Yet ? ........................ Enforce the Bill of Rights ......... It's the LAW !!!)
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To: Kaslin

Trout do the same thing when they see me approaching the river for I am Ka-Chi-Tay, The Trout Slayer!


20 posted on 03/17/2014 8:57:03 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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