Obviously not wanted on the voyage

The beleaguered polar bear has taken yet another hit.

According to an article in the Gazette today, Russia and the U.S. have signed some sort of treaty designed to 'standardize treatment of polar bears living across the Bering Strait'. Apparently this is a euphemism for standardizing the extinction of the species.

It seems Inuit hunters in Alaska are permitted to hunt the polar bear for meat and fur, an activity that has been illegal in Russia for the past 50 years. In an insane Catch-22 engendered by this new treaty, the Russians may be forced to legalize hunting in order to match legislation in Alaska.

Did you know that this month the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that because of global warming an estimated 2/3 of the 20,000 to 25,000 population of polar bears could die by 2050?

Maybe that doesn't bother you, but it kills me. I think I'm going to make a pact with my husband that should we be alive on the day the last free-roaming polar bear breathes its last we'll take a pill and get the hell out of here too.