Euthanizing gladiators and oily boids

Gladiator graveyard discovered in northern England:

Dozens of headless skeletons excavated from a northern English building site appear to be the remains of Roman gladiators, one of whom had bites from a lion, tiger, bear or other large animal, archaeologists said Monday.

Experts said new forensic evidence suggests the bones belong to the professional fighters, who were often killed while entertaining spectators.

Most of the skeletons were male and appeared stronger and taller than the average Roman, with signs of arm-muscle stress that suggest weapons training that began in the men's teenage years.
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Wysocki said gladiators were often beheaded as an act of mercy after suffering horrific injuries during their fights. All of the skeletons were buried with pottery, animals or other offerings, suggesting they were respected people, not criminals.

Should we clean the oily birds or kill them?

A biologist in Germany has stirred up a fuss with comments suggesting it makes more sense to kill heavily oiled birds from the Gulf of Mexico oil-spill disaster than to clean them.

"According to serious studies, the middle-term survival rate of oil-soaked birds is under 1 percent," Silvia Gaus, a biologist at the Wattenmeer National Park along the North Sea, was quoted as saying on Spiegel Online last month. "We, therefore, oppose cleaning birds."

Biologists on the scene who are actually involved in the cleanup tell a slightly different story: Sure, sometimes it makes sense to euthanize birds who aren’t going to make it, or leave them to die in their natural habitat. But ethically speaking, they feel a duty to try saving the birds if there’s a chance they can be saved.

"Ethically speaking?" I can see why people feel sorry for the birds but, despite what PETA says, birds are not people. Even gladiators were euthanized. The birds are not edible. Maybe we should be cleaning fish instead. Forgive me - I can't resist this pun: the oily boid does not catch the worm.