Heartbreaking news from Australia. Popular Austrialian TV personality Steve Irwin , also known as the…

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Lehuster, you are the sort of person that inspires me to mumble on occasion, “The more I learn about people, the more I like my cats” … and I mumble this more and more often these days.

To say that Steve took such risks for little or no benefit to the world is ignorant at best. He brought awareness of the plight of endangered species to the general public in an entertaining way that got the point across without the guilt-inducing, blame-storming, politically charged manner that so many other “conservationist” and animal rights groups spout. His love and respect for the animals, ALL animals, was evident in his every action. He risked his life on many occasions to rescue animals and their habitats.

What have YOU ever done for an animal? Hmm? At most, risk a cut to the thumb opening a can of dog food for Rover? What have you ever done for anyone, person or animal?

Steve had the blessing of having a free inner-child. He did not hold with any social conventions that proscribed how he behaved when and where. Watching the Fox and Friends video shows this, as does the look of absolute amazement, joy and wonder on his face as he observed his beloved animals out in the wild. We would all be so much better off, happier and less stressed out if we could cut loose with our inner children more often. We certainly would be much less hateful.

Bless the beasts and the children …

I wish I had been as smart as Steve Irwin a lot younger. I wasted a lot of years, not with what I was doing, but what I thought about life.

I have some agreement with B Moe’s pragmatic view of nature. What the sad story was told I had a twinge of sadness for the stingray. I always feel for the bear or mountain lion that chomps a hiker because they are simple following plan A not understanding man has a plan B.

However, Irwin has created a safety brigade of future generations educated to cherish the predator, so the cost-benefit ratio makes Irwin a plus-plus.

Contrast this great guy with Michael Jackson – Joy versus Misery, Connection versus Isolation, World-Changing versus Self-serving, Selfless versus Appetite-driven, Save Animals versus Private Zoo, Good for Kids versus Ick.

  A man that lived and loved life to the fullest is gone.  Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" has passed.He will be missed.  Steve Irwin was in the water at Batt Reef shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean’s D…

He was down there making a show for fame, money, and to create entertainment, period.

I disagree.

If he died defending his family or his country, or for the advancement of knowledge, that is heroic. Entertainment is not the least bit heroic.

A) I never called him heroic, B) again, we disagree. I think he was serving the advancement of knowledge. A kid could learn more about whatever animal he handled in five minutes than he probably did in school.

My emotions are precious to me, and I reserve them for friends and family. If you are so foolish as to lavish extravagant feelings on a celebrity who does not care a whit for you, that is your business.

Precious? I think the word you’re looking for is scarce. I for one am not “lavishing extravagant feelings” on a stranger–because common human sympathy for the wife and kids he left behind, on learning that their husband and father has suffered a fatal accident, is not extravagant. Here’s an extravagant emotion just for you, though: disgust.

He was down there making a show for fame, money, and to create entertainment, period.

If he died defending his family or his country, or for the advancement of knowledge, that is heroic. Entertainment is not the least bit heroic.

It certainly wasn’t an animal he was being “cavalier” with who turned on him and killed him. It was a freak accident that could have happened to any diver.

I have seen his show often enough to know that he frequently behaves cavalierly with dangerous animals. He even cavalierly put his own baby near dangerous animals! The way he behaved, a fatal accident was only a matter of time.

What in the world compels people to make such gratuitously nasty statements? The anonimous nature of the internet, where the expression “talk is cheap” is constantly demonstrated.

You know what? I would say those exact same comments to your faces.

As for my lack of sympathy, I don’t even know this guy. I am not related to him. I don’t even know anyone who knows him. I don’t see why I should feel any differently about his death as compared to the many thousands of other strangers who die every day – which is to say, I don’t waste any time thinking or feeling anything about them at all. My emotions are precious to me, and I reserve them for friends and family. If you are so foolish as to lavish extravagant feelings on a celebrity who does not care a whit for you, that is your business.

Imagine my surprise to find you unsympathetic. Lack of sympathy for a tragic death, along with “he was asking for it” and an obscure reference to an old movie that’s supposed to be a joke, will always find me “thin-lipped and disapproving,” I assure you.

Anwyn on September 5, 2006 at 4:19 PM

Ditto.

My view is that the risks he took had no valid scientific or investigatory purpose. He took risks purely for sensationalism – it was all about the show business – and he treated dangerous animals in an excessively cavalier fashion. I liked him just fine as a TV personality, and I enjoyed his show, but overall my sympathy for his demise is limited.
Lehuster on September 5, 2006 at 2:12 PM

What an utterly vulgar display. What in the world compels people to make such gratuitously nasty statements? The anonimous nature of the internet, where the expression “talk is cheap” is constantly demonstrated.

which I see fell flat here amongst the thin-lipped and disapproving.

Because all Republican women are thin-lipped bitches, let’s not forget.

My view is that the risks he took had no valid scientific or investigatory purpose. He took risks purely for sensationalism – it was all about the show business -

If it were all about the show business he could have quit taking the risks long ago and lived easy. It was more about his love for the animals and spreading the idea of knowing about them and appreciating them.

and he treated dangerous animals in an excessively cavalier fashion.

It certainly wasn’t an animal he was being “cavalier” with who turned on him and killed him. It was a freak accident that could have happened to any diver.

I liked him just fine as a TV personality, and I enjoyed his show, but overall my sympathy for his demise is limited.

Imagine my surprise to find you unsympathetic. Lack of sympathy for a tragic death, along with “he was asking for it” and an obscure reference to an old movie that’s supposed to be a joke, will always find me “thin-lipped and disapproving,” I assure you.

His wife, Terri, also deseves special recognition. She was brave to open her heart, life, and future to a man she knew lived a dangerous life. At least his legacy will live on through his children, zoo, and fans.

The Grizzly-Man comparision is a sham and a shame. Steve’s conservation work left many marks that will stay for future generations to enjoy. Grizzly-Man was a mentally ill joke. They don’t belong mentioned on the same thread.

Crocodiles, as a species, date from the late Triassic to early Jurassic. Stingrays, as a species, go back to the Devonian.

Anyway, my remark was a reference to Romancing the Stone (“Someone’s about to get killed here and you’re farting around with prehistoric animals”) which I see fell flat here amongst the thin-lipped and disapproving.

My view is that the risks he took had no valid scientific or investigatory purpose. He took risks purely for sensationalism – it was all about the show business – and he treated dangerous animals in an excessively cavalier fashion. I liked him just fine as a TV personality, and I enjoyed his show, but overall my sympathy for his demise is limited.

Democratic leaders are demanding a congressional hearing this morning after allegations have come forward that the death of Steve Irwin was a secret government plot, designed to gather public support in advance of a U.S. invasion of Australia’s northeast coast. Irwin was killed on Monday by a stingray’s serrated barb to the chest.

At least two witnesses have now come forward to say that Vice-President Dick Cheney had been seen entering the same dive area wearing scuba gear, and video surveillance at the Bango Singia Dive shop shows Cheney purchasing what appears to be a stingray barb and then placing it into his backpack.

Congressman John Murtha calls this

“yet another move by an administration out of control”

and stated this morning that

“Clearly it’s the ignoring of history that is going to get President Bush and his ideological policymakers into a massive quagmire within the reefs of the Australian coast, much like what now exists in Iraq. As history has shown, it’s absolutely foolish to believe that by occupying these waters, the United States would transform stingrays into a beacon of American style democratic ideals.”

Nancy Pelosi would not comment, other than to say

“I really hate that dumb man. I hate him with a passion! And I hate Rumsfeld too!”

General Wesley Clark also spoke at the press conference, saying that it’s his belief that invasion is the wrong answer and it would be much more effective to offer a package of incentives to the stingray community.

“These creatures do not want war,”

Clark said.

“I’m not sure why this administration seems to avoid any attempt at dialogue before resorting to military action.”

Originally published at: http://www.worldsreality.com

As I said somewhere else, I’d be envious of the guy, if I didn’t realize–like Steve apparently did–what a simple thing it is to be happy. The only reason that I might still be envious was that it took me forty years to understand what he understood from childhood, almost instinctively. And if one lives for forty-four or eighty-four years without that understanding, the length of lifespan won’t make a bit of difference.

There are only four things to be sad about regarding the short, happy life of Steve Irwin: that his father outlived him, that his wife will have to live on without her love, that his children will have to grow up the best way they can without their father and that the rest of us will have to find another example of how to live (and die) well.

Notice that all of these things involve those who are left here and don’t involve the man himself. And that’s the point. Don’t be sad for Steve. Be sad for yourself, especially if you’re not doing your best to have it like he did. (And, yes, I’ll take my own advice.)

One lesson I will carry, hopefully, is that I didn’t think about this wonderful man as much over the past few years. Now that he’s gone, I can’t get him and his enthusiasm or smile out of my mind.

Who else in my world should I embrace before they go unexpectedly?

For example: We hear of this movie that depicts the assasination of Dubya. I know; I know…..many of us have our issues with his spending/education/immigration stances, but what if such a tragedy were to occur? Hmm??

I do believe I would cry like Steve cried over his Mary.

And I would not be alone.

I read now that he lived long enough to pull the barb out and how do we know THAT isn’t what killed him, or knowing how he was, he probably figured he had a few seconds of consciousness left to try and undo the damage before the venom or whatever kick in. If his heart did get pierced though, nothing could have saved him. I’m sure we’ll learn more and I hope they respect his family enough to not exploit this guys final video.

Brian and The Croc Hunter fighting two stuff Aligators on the set.

The Steve Ducey, the weather man, throws a Wild Horse into the mix… Priceless.

If you haven’t seen that “You Tube video” up top, then you might want to return.

May he RIP, may his family find some comfort.

No way – no comparison, no parallel.

Steve didn’t want to become an Aligator or Croc while Treadwell wanted to become a grizzly.