caniscandida’s Posts

• Harp seals vs. Maritimers 0

  Posted 3 years, 8 months agoHere is another poverty-related issue, from the Maritime Provinces of Canada -- especially the poorest of all provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador. The infamous slaughter of baby harp seals is set to begin again a bit later this month, on the ice off the Atlantic coast. Such organizations as Greenpeace [well, it looks as though GP's involvement is uncertain; you decide what that means; so let us leave them out of this for now] and the Humane Society of the United States are already in place to protest.

  Another pair of celebrity-protesters are Paul McCartney and his wife Heather, great activists… Read More

• great illustration 1

  Posted 3 years, 8 months agoThis is a powerful and effective use of a graphic image to make an extremely important point. Congratulations to Keri.

  The perception I have -- and correct me please if I am wrong -- is that the great majority of us North American environmentalists are rather well off, comparatively, with more wealth and education and leisure and comfort than the majority of our fellow citizens. That is certainly the impression given by such mainline environmental organizations as Sierra Club and Audubon (which I admire greatly, and of which I am a member). Is it not logical to assume therefore… Read More

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caniscandida’s Recent Comments

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  Oops!: you Westerners!

  One T in "Paterson."  So just how illlittterate is Frankk O'Donnnelll?

  Paterson is cool and smart.  But he has blundered severely, on a couple of big problems.  Signs are, he has descended into power politics of a gross sort.  That is very sad, because he is a smart guy, who has bravely stood up for some noble causes in the past.

  O'Donnell does wrong simply to vilify Paterson, who does not deserve that at all.  The environmentalist community should be communicating with the governor, asking him what his priorities are, and persuading him to take environmental causes seriously.

  Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

  On New York governor goes in the tank for industry, backs away from climate plan posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 12 Responses

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  bravo, Earth First!er!

  Yes, caro cugino Wolverine, I see what you mean.

  Perhaps our dear David has gone soft, and ever so vaguely conservative-ish, being a father of small children.  Whether that is fair, to examine him and his life too closely, he (presumably) would argue respectably, saying: Radicals accomplish nothing; consider the ancient Fable of the Sun and the Wind, each trying to wrest the cloak from the traveler; all that matters is what will work.

  That said (so much in defense of dear David), I strongly agree with you (AGAINST dear David) that many environmentalists are acting like knaves, dropping all kinds of important values out of the lifeboat in order to save their monolithic, monotheistic idol, the anti-global-warming movement as the sole (Orthodox, true Muslim, so to speak) cause of environmentalists.  Sure, the climate crisis is Issue Number One, and deservedly so.  But simply to declare that "there is no god but [that]" is an inhumane form of idolatry.

  Radically understood, environmentalism is the activist-oriented concern for the well-being of ALL sentient beings, and the ecosystems in which they dwell and flourish, first of all (so far as we know) on this planet.  To limit the "appropriate" subject of environmentalists to the current climate crisis, admittedly grave, is, simply, dumb.  I.e., thoughtless.

  Another good friend of ours, Erik Hoffner, recently said something on another thread which suggested that the concern of some environmentalists to preserve a wetlands region, which might soon be submerged in the Ocean thanks to the global-warming-related rise in sea level, was way dumb and misdirected.  If indeed I understood Erik correctly then, I sadly admit to feeling some anger towards him.

  We environmentalists MUST understand our basic, timeless values.  And we MUST lovingly encourage one another to work in defense of what each of us loves.

  On a not altogether unrelated matter: My beloved brother Amazing, a terrific historian (we cannot do enough by way of examining the 1930s, and how -- well or ill?-- FDR handled both the economic problems at home and the fascist/militarist problems abroad; plus, I highly recommend the informative, if not well edited, movie "The Cradle Will Rock," about an interesting episode of protest back then), has commented that the perceptible drop in the number of FEMALE contributors to this blog definitely has brought down its quality and its fun-ness.

  That may be true.  And indeed, yes, we have had some excellent female correspondents in the past, enlightening us on all manner of subjects, who seem to have run off to spend their time more profitably.  Our loss!

  It is ironic, though, seeing that back in Catholic grade school, it was the girls who were fun-less, and super-obedient, so that when Sister Mary Bertrille ordered, "Underline the VJMJ at the top of your page with your ruler and your red pen," the girls would all do just that, without question, while the boys would be doing something sloppy and uneven because they had lost their rulers, or perhaps were drawing a football, or a rocket-ship, or were stabbing their innocent but hateful neighbors with their red pens ... .

  Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

  On 50 green and civic groups roll out tough climate principles posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 10 Responses

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  "type of crap"

  Well, good pal Wolverine, I myself have been very critical of David Roberts in the past; but on these supremely important issues, he is a most respectable scholar and advocate.

  But then, Ken Johnson wrote:

  <<
  I don't see any chance of our being able to avoid the worst effects of global warming ...
  >>

  As I understand the problem, that is that.  Even if we cut emissions by a certain amount by 2020, and again by 2050 -- which would be very well done, of course, though politically difficult -- , there are already enough GHGs out there to have started the big climate shift, no matter what we do at this point.

  Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

  On 50 green and civic groups roll out tough climate principles posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 10 Responses

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  wolves in trouble again

  By the way, not in Alaska but in the Yellowstone states, wolves are still in trouble:

  http://www.defenders.org/

  I have long suspected that Obama was not going to be the man to stand up for animals (as happy as I am otherwise regarding his election), nor is Ken Salazar the right person either.

  Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

  On Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife want you to know that Sarah Palin still hates wolves posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 10 Responses

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  gun rights, hunting

  Sorry, Pompey Road, about this misunderstanding/digression regarding regionalism.  (But the supporters of Sarah Palin seem to have cultivated that, both before the election and even now, before the next one ... ; and it certainly turned out to be a blunder, however well-meaning he was at the time, for Barack Obama to speak before his contributors in San Francisco about rural white Americans being "bitter," and "clinging to guns and religion.")

  You know I admire you, and enjoy everything you write here.

  (And I am a returning, well-satisfied customer of Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap and Shampoo, from Erlanger, Kentucky, founded in 1878 -- one wonders if Grandpa fired a shot in the War between the States, and if so, on what side ... )

  Believe me, I have tried hard, and yet still cannot understand the paranoid, pro-NRA attitude of so many rural Americans.  The pro-gun-control ideas of us urban Americans have to do exclusively with life in our cities, after all, and have nothing to do with limiting the traditional humting practices of rural Americans.

  As for Sarah Palin, on the other hand, I cannot understand the aggressive, self-entitled attitude of so many rural Americans, that all wild animals are simply shootable "resources"; as though it did not matter at all, morally, what the circumstances may be, in which they suffer, and die, by way of being "collected."

  And on top of that is the horrendous, persistent anti-predator prejudice.  With regard to wolves in American history especially, I highly recommend "Vicious: Wolves and Men in America," by Jon T. Coleman.

  Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

  On Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife want you to know that Sarah Palin still hates wolves posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 10 Responses