Shamu, we hardly knew ye
By Linda Perine /San Diego Woman’s Democratic Club
For most of us it has been a slow, painful process to understand that our love affair with cute, cuddly, smiley Shamu has made us participants in a cold-blooded business that imprisons and mistreats sentient, social creatures in ways that turn the stomach and shock the conscience.
Concerned environmentalist and civic leaders have been telling us for years that the capture of orcas was nasty and brutal involving bombs and machine guns, the violent separation of babies from their mothers and resulting in injury and death to many orcas in the wild. Books and PBS presentations criticizing the Sea World business model and its exploitation of captive whales and dolphins just did not register.
We didn’t know, or didn’t care, that the magnificent mammal jumping and breaching and smiling and being petted for some tossed fish and our applause has a brain capable of complex language, dialects and generational transfers of knowledge.
We didn’t concern ourselves that caging a 30 foot long 8 ton mammal, built to range 100 miles a day in deep wild ocean, in enclosures less than one ten-thousandth of one percent the size of the species’ natural home range, was akin to putting a human in solitary confinement in a closet for life.
Killer whales live in a complex matriarchal society, in which sons and daughters live with their mother throughout their lives, even after they have offspring of their own, creating “matrilines that combine into pods with which they share unique dialects and then interact with other pods to form clans. We failed to acknowledge that, as Jean-Michel Cousteau said, “we have outgrown the need to keep such wild, enormous, complex, intelligent and free-ranging animals in captivity”.
If we felt uneasy or that something wasn’t quite right, the excited squeals of the children splashed by the final orca breach, or the cute stuffed animal or t-shirt, or the myriad corporate images of a happy Shamu made us put such thoughts aside.
But in 2010 a beautiful young trainer at Sea World Orlando was killed by an orca named Tilikum. This was the third human death associated with Tilikum who has sired 21 calves. Gabriela Cowperthwaite began to examine in earnest the business of using Cetaceans for entertainment and corporate profit. In 2013, the resulting documentary Blackfish made it impossible for people like you and me to ignore the ugly truth about what we are doing to Shamu.
San Diego, We Have a Problem
For those of us in San Diego, this sudden and disquieting awareness has far reaching implications.
The City of San Diego is Sea World’s landlord. Since the money the city receives is tied to how much money Sea World makes, we are more than just consumers who can stop going to Sea World as a manifestation of our disapproval of their business.
If you think what Sea World is doing to Shamu is a crime, we are accessories before and after the fact.
We are business partners with Sea World. If you think what Sea World is doing to Shamu is a crime, we are accessories before and after the fact. If it is morally wrong, we are passive enablers. If we are in the business of making money off the imprisonment and mistreatment of sentient beings, then we are profiteers.
But even if you are not personally moved by the overwhelming evidence Cetaceans should not be held in captivity for entertainment and profit, a lot of people are. Willie Nelson, the Beach Boys, Heart, Southwest Airlines, Taco Bell, Virgin Airlines and, of course, the stock market have all voiced their displeasure with the Sea World business model. So whether your motivation is compassionate or materialistic: San Diego, we have a problem.
Sea World’s Corporate Situation
Sea World (SEAS on the NYSE) is a company with some serious problems. Blackstone Group LP (BX), the world’s largest private-equity firm, owns 22 percent of SeaWorld shares. The New York-based firm bought SeaWorld from Anheuser-Bush Cos. in 2009. On April 19, 2013 Blackstone took Sea World public on the NYSE. Perhaps ironically, stock values seem to have hit their highest point of nearly $39 in mid July 2013, just around the July 19, 2013 official New York release of the documentary Blackfish.
…for most of us, Sea World is Shamu. This is a deep structural issue for the company.
Independent of the Blackfish public relations nightmare, Sea World was brought public in a leveraged buyout and is massively indebted. Some analysts see SEAS as overvalued for a company of its maturity and compared to peers with less forward-looking risks.
But for most of us, Sea World is Shamu. This is a deep structural issue for the company. 60+% of revenues come from admissions. Admissions are driven by– Shamu the Killer Whale and the dolphins. This makes the Sea World business model extremely vulnerable to the issues surrounding cetacean captivity.
Sea World initially denied that concerns about its treatment of the orcas was impacting its business. But on August 13 shares of SeaWorld Entertainment plunged 33% after the company’s earnings missed Wall Street expectations. Share prices have dropped from roughly $39, when Blackfish was released, to $20.
Large hedge funds may be losing faith in Sea World’s business model. Southwest Airlines has ended a 26 year relationship with Sea World. Blackstone appears to be sharply reducing its stake in the company it took public and is increasing its stake in competitor Merlin.
Sea World has dropped an appeal of OSHA citations it received after the 2010 drowning that inspired Blackfish, ending any chance of trainers ever again swimming with orcas during shows.
While the “Blackfish Bill” introduced in April, 2014 to make it illegal to “hold in captivity, or use, a wild-caught or captive-bred orca for performance of entertainment purposes” died in committee, it will almost certainly be brought up again in the CA legislature. The fact that 1.2 million people signed a petition in favor of the bill does not bode well for the future of orca performances.
On Sept 9, 2014 shareholders filed suit in San Diego against Sea World. The suit alleges that SeaWorld failed to disclose it had improperly cared for its orca population and continued to feature and breed a whale that had killed and injured numerous trainers.
SeaWorld has refused to recognize the growing movement for more humane and ethical treatment of animals by corporations worldwide. From cruelty-free cosmetics, toiletries and household products (animal testing for these products is now banned in the European Union) to 2008 Proposition 2 providing more humane captivity conditions for farm animals,concern for animal welfare is reshaping the bottom line for many industries.
South Carolina banned dolphin and porpoise shows in 1992 and extended this ban in 2011 to whales (all cetaceans). There hasn’t been a captive cetacean show in the UK since 1993.
In 2013, India became the first country to acknowledge that cetaceans’ high level of intelligence grants them the status of “non-human persons”. It also joined three other countries Chile, Costa Rica and Hungary in banning cetacean shows.
As you can see, Sea World is being battered from many angles. It is simply on the wrong side of the powerful and growing realization that humans have a moral obligation to treat fairly and kindly with other living beings and this ethical failure has created a financial firestorm.
We will continue this conversation about Sea World and its place in the discussion of Who Runs San Diego? We will look at its influence in our community and how it ranks as a neighbor to its Mission Bay cohabitants. We will also look at the very favorable terms of its lease with the City of San Diego and what alternative business practices might help it and San Diego out of an unpleasant financial and public relations problem.
This is the ninth installment of the Who Runs San Diego? series, a project of the Democratic Woman’s Club, published weekly in the San Diego Free Press. The Democratic Woman’s Club mission is to promote Democratic Party principles including equality of opportunity, a level playing field, and fair and equal treatment for all.
Linda Perine is the President of the Democratic Woman’s Club. She was chair of the LGBT Redistricting task Force in 2011 and served as Mayor Filner’s Director of Community Outreach.
At Large
Latest posts by At Large (see all)
- Future of Journalism is in Our Hands - December 13, 2018
- 30 Arrested at Border for Nonviolent Action in Support of Migrant Caravans - December 11, 2018
- The Dorn Effect | Remembering Bob Dorn - December 5, 2018
Can’t think of a better way to highlight who runs San Diego than by talking about specific businesses. Too often we resort to talk about government agencies and electoral politics to explain to ourselves the powers we suffer from, yet these whole industries — tourism, housing, the military, biochem — are underestimated. They’re spoken of in general and because of that the industries themselves tend to dominate the discussion because they know where the facts are and how they can be suppressed or celebrated, as conditions may demand.
Thank you Linda Perine, for this close up on Sea World. After all, it is one of the seminal and iconic definitions of San Diego, like ComiCon, Craft Beer, Qualcomm and the most hidden from view, Big Pharma. San Diego suffers a great deal because there is no serious, bigtime journalism here.
Why can’t the City of San Diego just terminate Sea World’s lease or is it a long term lease?
Great question John! Has anyone requested a copy of the lease to review it’s terms?
Is misleading the SEC grounds for Termination? Or if they are found to have knowingly mislead the city re profits, which the city shares?
Any good contract attorneys willing to review this (presumably ) public record?
Terms of Sea World’s lease with the City will be discussed in the next installment of Who Runs San Diego? I suspect you’ll find the answer to your question there.
This is a great article on the topic of cetacean captivity, tying together elements of morality, commerce, growing global awareness, AB-2140, and “Where do we go from here? The process has been painful for all involved, including the former trainers. SeaWorld can chose to reinvent itself by discontinuing it’s cetacean breeding programs, utilizing technology such as IMAX, animatronics, and more. It can help restore the Southern Resident Killer Whale clan by getting involved with salmon restoration in the PacNW. I applaud SeaWorld for its work rescuing injured or sick animals. Rehab/Release is a solid business model. It can step up its science programs and become a champion for our oceans. Unfortunately, based on the ramped up artificial insemination practices happening now, and on it’s last report to shareholders, it appears ready to expand to parts of the world where animals have less protections than than have here, such as the Middle East, China, and Russia. The planned expansion appears to essentially be a nursery to house MORE captive killer whales, some of which will be loaned to parks in different countries (i.e. the Loro Parque model). On behalf of some of the cast of Blackfish, thank you, Linda, for tying this together. I hope San Diego and SeaWorld can work together to end captivity for cetaceans in the USA.
This one-sided diatribe is nothing but a collection of misleading propaganda and opinion from someone who is obviously biased and unthinking. If we really want to worry about cetaceans, then let’s stop driving cars and stop eating fish, because the oceans are dying, but don’t disrespect the people at Sea World who are part of the solution to our public education problems. http://seaworld.com/truth/truth-about-blackfish/
Watch the whole VOSD Video of the Sea World debate, and see the unreasoned and bigoted ‘activists’ who have invested emotional compassion in myths and fictions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT0X_n-dVHA
Sea World is a private, for-profit aquatic park that funds research, rescue, and rehab of countless animals and species, while inspiring future naturalists, scientists and environmentalists. They care about their animals and more important, they care about the future
http://hswri.org/
And since we’re so one-sided (and proud of it! – See the tag line on the logo?) why don’t you do us the favor of removing our articles from your website?
Which website are you referring to Doug Porter, and do you think I should remove all the articles or just the biased ones you are so proud of?
Michael- what’s your website? Do you have one of your own.
I didn’t see the address… or are you referring to the Sea World sites?
Bigoted? Because we are decent, compassionate, rational human beings who only want the BEST thing for other living beings we share the planet with. You need to improve your argument.
FACT: SEAWORLD is a PUBLIC company (you call it private-really??) traded on NYSE with shareholders who are now suing this unethical company for SEC fraud- misleading investors into inflating numbers and forecasts to get more money. BLACKSTONE GROUP has ripped this company over and over with fees and more fees. They still own 14 Million shares, they have sold 34 M in one year alone.
Watching a whale breach in a bathtub for dead fish on command and trapped in cement tub for decades= is NOT entertainment- it’s abuse!
It’s time to move on- We are no longer debating whether seaworld is actually right or wrong. We are debating when this company seizes to exist, period!
Lissette, irrational anthropomorphic projection is neither rational nor compassionate, it’s childish and immature, unrealistic, and frankly imprudent. There are REAL problems in the world, real human threats to animals like cetaceans, pachyderms, apes, and other highly social mammals, but Sea World isn’t one of them. Sea World is part of the solution, they educate and inspire, with a positive business model that funds research and rescue as detailed by their scientists, veterinarians, and animal handlers.
You obviously don’t understand the business vocabulary: a publicly traded corporation is still privately owned. Stock in corporations is rarely publicly traded (about 15% of the privately owned stock in existence is publicly traded in the stock markets) , but that doesn’t make the company a “PUBLIC company”. You obviously are misinformed about the Blackstone Group and the stock market. This is not the place to educate you, take a course.
Animals are property, there is no abuse of animals at Sea World, there is an ongoing learning curve, but at Sea World that is part of a public dialog that has continued to accelerate over their 50 year history. We would know almost nothing about these magnificent animals without Aquatic Parks like Sea World.
Those uninformed and misguided activists like yourself who attack Sea World should stop drinking the alcohol provided by their parent company. Divisonism is always a mistake. Sea World will continue to provide their valuable services to the public for decades and will help us save the species of the seas if it’s still possible.
Hi again Michael- name-calling isn’t appreciated. Please stick to your points and try to play nice. Thanks!
Watch Blackfish. Better yet, learn about the Orcas…how intelligent they are. They don’t belong in captivity, you will learn.
There is no defense for Sea World. Sorry
Michael- you wrote “Sea World is a private, for-profit aquatic park…” However, it is located on public land, and shares proceeds with local government.
It is a quasi public/private venture, a dangerous model when not adequately regulated by people with enough expertise and knowledge to see through dense layers of corporate subterfuge and negotiation.
In defense of Sea World, Blackfish is nothing but uninformed propaganda.
http://seaworld.com/truth/truth-about-blackfish/
Hi Michael- again, I noticed your comments on the FreePress page. This article seems to make you upset, but you don’t really offer much new.
Michael is not the only one with this position. This issue is driven by self indulgent activists using emotions for logic and in the end will cause more harm than good to those whose cause they pretend to champion.
What I remember MOST about my last visit to Seaworld was the Cirque Du Soleil act that they had in the water. NO Animals, just humans. Also, Who loves an empty tank more that a skate boarder. An act could be created around trick boarders and cyclists. There are ways to repurpose the facility. It is long over due to Empty the Tanks.
Yes it is. TY
Great article! I agree 1000% with article. Now, let’s look at the business side of it:
#seaworld
– They don’t pay income taxes, not until 2018.
-They have denied paying healthcare and cut hours for employees in CA & FL so employees don’t qualify for Healthcare
-They have denied raising min. wage for 10 plus years.
-Blackstone is a company who could care less about their business dealings. They come in-rape the company in fees and more fees and then they leave.
-They have exploited and abused cetacean for decades and use unethical breeding practices.
– They are responsible for 4 human deaths
so why is this company so good for the economy and San diego? This is not California! This state is more progressive and forward-thinking than this
Let’s wake up and evolve. Attract companies that will pay taxes, generate higher paying jobs, give back to the community and prepare for the future.
Folks, it’s not about rescuing a turtle- It’s about RELEASING ALL WHALES, DOLPHINS, PENGUINS, POLAR BEARS, and more…
Great comment
This article is completely one sided and wrong. I support SeaWorld.
From Captive Cetaceans Facebook post Please share it may help someone.
I’ve noticed quite a few people struggling with their friends and relatives visiting dolphinariums, not listening to anything they are trying to say, not wanting to hear what the effect of their actions are so maybe this will help. This file has a list of all the marine parks worldwide. Find the park they have visited, click its name and I have compiled a list of what animals they hold, how many have died etc. Take for instance Seaworld San San Diego their figures are here –
Seaworld San Diego, San Diego California
38 bottle nose dolphins, 6 of which are wild caught.
3 Commersons dolphins, 2 wild caught
3 pilot whales all from the wild
10 orca – Corky 2, Kasatka, Ulises, Orkid, Keet, Shouka, Nakai, Ikaika, Kalia, Makani
5 Beluga, 4 wild caught 1 calf
Deceased in their care
2 Amazon River dolphins
73 deceased bottlenose dolphins 38 of which were wild caught.
22 deceased Commerson dolphins 11 of which were wild caught
14 Common dolphins 12 deceased, 2 released
6 false killer whales – all wild caught
1 fin whale
5 Grey whales, 3 deceased 2 released
1 Minke whale
21 Pilot Whales 20 wild caught 1 stillborn.
18 orca
It will be a lot easier to say to your friend, ‘what?? don’t you know 18 killer whales have died there, 111 dolphins have died and 21 pilot whales have died in those 50 years, and you pay to see them. Really??? Sea world Parks has lost #41 Belugas Check CetaBase at http://www.ceta-base.com/ and one more wealth of information
http://captivecetaceans-tragicallysad.blogspot.co.uk/p/dolphinariums-of-world.html
Where’s the doc of all the dead horses at Del Mar?
Linda- thank you for this report.
This article has much to teach about the dangers of mixed business/government models. Another one in San Diego, created nearly 40 years ago , was the Centre City Corporation, whose final CEO was found guilty of various misdeeds. It was ultimately disbanded after Gov. Brown did away with redevelopment programs; it was originally conceived by Pete Wilson. Its current iteration also is cause for concern, being headed up by Kris Michel, former Chief of Staff of Mayor Jerry Sanders- and we know how highly he thinks of open/transparent democratic processed.
Consider another one- the Charger ticket guarantee, negotiated after the remodel of the Mission Valley stadium- which overtly cost taxpayers millions, and now may cost more should the team decide to accept offers from LA and move north .
Local trivia: Not only did we, San Diego residents, lose out on that deal, we also lost naming rights to “our” stadium, “San Diego Stadium”, originally built with taxpayer dollars in the early 1960s.
Likewise, Mission Bay was built with public funds that paid for dredging in the 1950s, and the artificially created lands made out of the “spoils” of the wetlands and salt marsh that used to cover that area were originally dedicated for public benefit.
So Sea World is a “guest” of the public, and like any good guest- should know when it’s time to leave.
Bottom line: I won’t be surprised if, after a review of the books, Sea World is also costing taxpayers in ways yet unknown.
We all know this is an end run for seaworld.. (great article btw)! Let’s keep the pressure on until they have no option but to release the Animals back to their Home and Families.. Tweet #boycottseaworld @Americanexpress @Virgin @Richard Branson @HBO :)
Hurrah for this animal entertainment activism. Let’s have an article on San Diego’s worst actor next = Zoo Global. That power structure has got us so mesmerized that unlike SeaWorld we tax everything in San Diego so that the City Council can give this private corporation an $11 million dollar blank check every year. Unlike other tourism venues they don’t reimburse the City for Police or Fire services. Exempt themselves from taxes as a non profit and have more money in the bank then Scrooge Mc Duck . Employees have been mauled, animals sold to shooting clubs and there have been other problems that make SeaWorld look Bush league. At least SeaWorld uses ocean salt water, while Zoo Global uses as much fresh water as nearly 10,000 homes -East Village. The USDA has cited them for conditions at the park and a recent City Audit could not identify what they had been spending the millions of taxpayer monies on. Here is their tax form http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/951/648/2012-951648219-09b3b2ac-9.pdf
Like the Navy, the Zoo has control over vast acreage of Balboa Park. That asphalt parking lot could be replaced by an under-and overground garage with solar rooftop. The Zoo could be making another important statement by donating the rest of the asphalted area to an animal or human rescue operation. Or simply give the space back to the general population.
The most progressive thing Da Zoo has done was the Wild Animal Park, where human herds can almost join their cousins’ herds.
Thank You Linda,
Your article is excellent and full of information that all of us here in San Diego need to know. I will forward it on to everyone who I believe will read it and do something and also to others who may not care so much, but perhaps they at least might open their minds and realize how we humans so often use precious animals for our own entertainment. This practice must stop and it will if we help take some postive actions.
Think you guys are doing the right thing. But the question remains; how to close the activities completely.
SeaWorld needs to enter the 21 st century and stop it’s circus. Exploitation is not conservation or education. They are a shame to this fine city.
Anyone who thinks SeaWorld is going to change its practices completely underestimates the degree of arrogance that characterizes the company. I have engaged first hand with SeaWorld representatives in debates; been interrogated by their attorneys, been threatened by their security guards, and spoken privately to different senior level personnel over many years. Their contempt for anyone who differs with them is palpable. Facts and the truth do not interest them for a moment. Their confidence in their own unassailability remains supreme, in spite of everything that has happened. Trainers are viewed as replaceable commodities as are the captive marine mammals. The only difference is that orcas are expensive and trainers are not. The rescue and release efforts, which are a very small part of their overall operations, are conducted as a way to compensate for their astonishing level of animal exploitation. They have arguably violated with impunity the first amendment rights of public dissenters for thirty years, as the city of San Diego cozily protects SeaWorld’s interests. I believe SeaWorld officials will hang on to their current model until the bitter end – the day in which they are persuaded it is costing them serious revenue. Until and unless that happens you may get some window dressing but no substantive changes. This unrepentant posture will likely be their undoing in time.
For an in-depth look at their corporate mentality, read “Spectacular Nature” by former UCSD professor Susan Davis, and watch “A Fall From Freedom” which is available on the internet, along with the PBS special, “A Whale of A Business.” These films reveal even more than Blackfish did about what goes on behind the scenes at SeaWorld. The business of marine mammal captivity is not pretty.
Who runs Sea World? Tim Zimmermann wrote about the Sea World IPO in april 2013: (interesting and still relevant). I wrote a comment at the time. Unfortunately, it didn’t generate discussion but after reading ‘How do you solve a problem like Sea World’, I like to repost some of the text I wrote in 2013. I am especially concerned about one aspect: the way transnational entities like Blackstone force themselves on communities and companies alike. Anyway, here it is:
“The fact that Blackstone has indebted Sea World Entertainment with an extra 600 million in order to extract cash for so called dividends, says a lot about their perspective on education, animal welfare, husbandry, employee safety, guests and the new shareholders in general. I guess this amount of money is included in the 1.8 billion you mentioned. So they racked up an already existing debt with another 50% in two years time. Not to invest in the company itself as an improvement for quests, employees or animals in general for that matter but as a legitimized way to extract cash for its private equity vehicle stakeholder and its associates. And now a minority stake of the company is plunged on the general public to make up -partly- for this scheme and future risks are slowly shifted from Blackstone as the majority stakeholder to people who are probably not in ‘the know’. I mean, just look at the way the company is structured and who really is in charge. What exactly was IPO-ed on Friday? A mere holding company that’s basically empty when the push comes to shove? (I am referring to the bulk of the debt that is expiring within 3 – 5 years)
“…I am already charmed by the term ‘indenture’ (Exhibit 10.42) and the part in the prospectus titled ‘Affiliates of Blackstone control us and their interests may conflict with ours or yours in the future’. It seems like a nice deal though, when you’re on the Blackstone side. Nicely structured. I don’t see why people want to buy these shares.”
What do you think? Who or what runs Sea World or San Diego or the U.S. or ‘Western Civilization’ at large? A dysfunctional system or dysfunctional people?
It is obvious that the uninformed activists who are attacking Sea World are completely irrational, and bent upon misinforming the public about the reality, even as our global oceans die. When people stop using their neocortex and rely upon their lizard-brains, projecting misplaced compassion onto wild animals like Orca, they engage in a fantasy world of unicorns and teddy-bears. Cetaceans are special animals, but they are not people. I’ve seen dolphins commit murder and rape, and we can not rely upon these emotional pleas to make public policy. Treat animals as animals, breed them, eat them, and own them, but don’t pretend that they have human intellects. We are the only animals that reason, thus we are human.
Watch the whole video: http://seaworld.com/en/truth/killer-whales/family/
Hi Michael- I noticed your comments on the FreePress page. This article seems to make you upset.
Lori Saldana….I bet the commenter is probably upset and angry because he works for Sea World Orlando FL. Maybe his personal income is tied to the industry and slavery of animals? The vehemence displayed towards animals is repugnant.
We are opposed to his slaver mentality and he will always be biased because he obviously does not have any respect,empathy or compassion for animals.
Some people do not want to learn about the scientific advances being discovered in Cetacean mental abilities because they want to make money from their slaves. Sea World is a for profit corporation that uses animals as slaves to make money, period.
Lots of people including City of San Diego are making their livelihood by keeping Sea World in business and now Blackfish has exposed the lies of captive Orcas. The Cove exposed the lies of captive dolphins. The comment above has exposed the true narrow minded thoughts and mentality of Sea World supporters. I feel sorry for any animals these people possess,eat,and breed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacean_intelligence
http://us.whales.org/scientific-evidence-for-whale-and-dolphin-rights
Turn the park into DisneySouth; remove the tanks and replace with rides. There, I’ve solved the problem.
It”s unfortunate when only negative comments get shown on the FreePress home page.
I’m frankly just posting these to provide some balance.
Michael used to have a website called sdspeaks.com, which has been taken down. There you can read about 9-11 truther conspiracies and other things he believes in. He’d reposted some articles from this series as examples of leftist propaganda.
The way comments work here is that, after you get the first one approved, they usually appear automatically. (Our spam filter holds comments with links for moderation if it deems them suspicious).
Michael’s first comment (he disagreed, and that’s okay) appeared a while back and was posted. Last night he came back in and left a bunch of remarks essentially calling everybody stupid (and that’s not okay)
So Michael now joins his friends in the virtual equivalent of “time out.”
I apologize for his rudeness. This isn’t the UT San Diego. I’m leaving it up as an example.
Thank you Doug Porter, completely agree. I sense real fear and desperation in michaels comments. Must be hell for him.. Peace to all my fellow activists.. R :)
I do think it’s good to have the occasional troll and/or maniac paranoid
on hand to remind us what’s being passed around ‘mongst the monsters
beyond and outside the real world.
I’m just glad there’s people like Doug Porter who read this stuff so we
don’t have to.