ebaerren’s Recent Comments

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  I would offer the following additional thoughts

  A.  You don't need to give money to CAFOs to eat meat.  Lots of us live very close to actual, real farms run as a second business by the owners (some of us live very close by to a couple of CSAs, where the chickens are actually free range and the cattle that give milk are allowed to freely roam a pasture).

  B.  Two weeks ago, I made a pound of burgers out of a thing of ground venison.  I currently also have a big thing of frozen backstrap in my freezer waiting for the right moment.  Here in Michigan, where there are no natural deer predators left, human hunting fills that ecological niche.

  This makes the role of human hunting a very necessary and important one, since we're now the top predator.  The results of no hunting are evident along the sides of roads and highways, in our auto insurance bills, in the amount of money that has to go to farmers to replace what is lost in crop damage, and in the spread of communicable diseases among the herd.  You might not like that predation is necessary, but that's just the way things are.

  C.  I understand they're clearing rainforests in Brazil to grow soybeans for ethanol production.  If any of those soybeans are processed into tofu, then vegans are killing rainforests and baby jaguars.  For shame (disclaimer ... I have no idea where the soybeans for tofu comes from, and since I eat next to no tofu I couldn't care less, but if you want to lecture people on what to eat you better know where your tracks lead).

  So, a citizen of conscience might not give money for meat raised in CAFOs; but there are alternatives, and it's better to be a smart citizen of conscience who thinks things through rather than one who issues blanket proclamations about what we should and shouldn't be doing.On On PETA's latest campaign posted 2 years, 1 month ago 256 Responses

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  Meat as number one cause of global warming

  Hi, this would be all well and good had not methane levels in the atmosphere slowed until last year when it leveled out.  That is, carbon dioxide is still increasing in concentration, methane ... not so much.

  This could change, and eating less meat certainly has its place.  But, the notion that you can't be an environmentalist and still eat meat is fantasy born from the animal rights movement (what if you get your meat from the right honorable tradition of hunting and fishing?), which is concerned with the ethics of how we treat animals (an honorable line of thinking) and not about the environment.

  Stick to your own issue, people, and stop trying to interject your agenda where it ain't wanted.On The subjects of PETA and vegetarianism ... posted 2 years, 1 month ago 15 Responses

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  I took you at your meaning

  Your intentions were pretty clear, and the internets can be a forgiving place.On Michigan gov. follows Gingrich's example, kills science advisory board posted 2 years, 2 months ago 8 Responses

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  Whatever...

  You (bleeped) up.  The OTA and the MESB are not the same thing ... not even close.  You didn't advocate replacing the hacks with good scientists, but you did suggest that our governor was just as bad as Newt for having abolished the thing.

  So, sad.On Michigan gov. follows Gingrich's example, kills science advisory board posted 2 years, 2 months ago 8 Responses

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  Rebuttal

  You're criticizing a pro-science Democrat for eliminating a board set up by a Republican for the purposes of giving cover to junk science.  Bad Gristmill.

  http://www.michiganliberal.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9840On Michigan gov. follows Gingrich's example, kills science advisory board posted 2 years, 2 months ago 8 Responses