The Parrot Bites Again

Matt Mullenix said of the line below: “Journalism: Dead.”

" Alan Parrot, one of the world’s foremost falconers.... "

Steve again: all this is in reaction to a link I couldn’t get but which I have seen plenty similar to the last few days, like this one. There has also been a lot of talk on some of my informal discussion boards. An interesting quote from one first-- I'll leave it anonymous as I don't have permission, but I believe it 100%:

" I’m just wondering when some of the people Hari Ha Ha [ he is a Sikh convert sometimes known as Hari Har Singh Khalsa--SB ] has named as ‘class A felons’ will sue him for libel. Surely some of the P-Funders could show damages caused by the online smear-campaign he launched via his website, savethefalcons.org. A good friend of mine spoke to him several years ago, and with Hari Khalsa Parrot’s consent, took notes of their discussion. During that discussion, Parrot asked my friend to broadcast to the U.S. falconry community that if any opposed him, he would personally see to it that falconry in North America is shut down. I have no doubt that the guy is a delusional moon-bat; the question is how much of a menace could he ultimately prove to be? "

This was when he was proposing to Mongolia that he run the entire Asian saker trade to the Arabs himself. When they refused (and eventually made him persona non grata and kicked him out of the country-- after someone-- hired by him?-- suspiciously beat him up) he then accused the P- Fund (specifically Tom Cade), Nick Fox, the Russian Mafia, the World Wildlife Fund, the US ambassador to Mongolia, the head of Mongolia’s wildlife department, the whole CITES organization, the USFWS, and I was told ME after I complained about it, of devising a conspiracy to make millions and drive the saker into extinction in the wild. Strange bedfellows to say the least...

He also keeps citing million dollar prices for birds. Journalism? This is their go- to falconry guy? Have they ever heard of Google? (Nick Fox at least had some good refutation up for a while, and there is a good overview here). But can’t they even look at falcon sales sites? $5000 is HIGH these days (except possibly-- the story goes--for at most four or five individual unusual--for reasons more superstitious than scientific-- smuggled birds a year that seem to go to certain Arabian families again and again). And six figures would be an unlikely high figure for even these.

He once tried to hire me for $50,000 a year, which I have never made, to manage some facility in Santa Fe. Turned him down without a lingering doubt.

As Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellman “every word that comes out of her mouth is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.”

I even wonder if he didn't get his Bin Laden hawking fantasy from this enjoyable novel, where some old coots from the CIA find a nuclear terrorist by tracking the houbara migration-- and offering him one of those "special" sakers!

You can bet that I will blog this, Parkinson’s typing or not. But don't expect one this long every day yet--it took me an hour!

Update: David Zincavage is on the case. This should be good, and I hope there is more to come. Not the least funny thing is his comparison of Parrot ("Peh- RO"??) to Timothy Treadwell, though it may reflect badly on poor Treadwell, who only got himself and his girlfriend eaten by a grizzly, rather than first trying to own and then petulantly ban an entire cultural practice...

Update 2: I THOUGHT I had dealt with all this when it was fresh in my mind-- see here.