Comments banana republican has made

  • Oh please, objectifying is either right or wrong

    If PETA is saying it's wrong for other people to make animals objects, then it's wrong for them to make women objects.  

    If they can use the excuse that "Sex Sells" objectify women, I should certainly be able to use the excuse that "Meat Tastes Great!" to continue eating meat.

    Their biggest problem isn't even this, although it gives you a peephole into what they're really about..I've read that they have a freezer they throw all their "saved" animals into because supposedly they can't find homes for them?  Sick.  PETA is sick and disgusting.  

    And for the guy ooops person who says we have better things to talk about than this?  Who are you to tell anyone what to talk about?  You felt the need to comment on it so...why don't you stop talking about it?On Animal rights group called out for repeatedly exploiting women posted 1 year, 4 months ago 38 Responses

  • Bah humbug

    They can say whatever they want about what they're going to do in the future, but it's nothing more than a press release.

    When they decide it's easier to fix the amount of tritium they're leaking into the Rock River so it actually complies with the law, instead of just taking a fine every year because it's cheaper, I might start trusting them.On Nuke-power company Exelon announces big emissions cuts by 2020 posted 1 year, 4 months ago 4 Responses

  • alright

    As one of the critics of this, I wonder how one line of cleaners makes a company with such a horrible environmental record suddenly something to support.

    If Clorox had decided to work on making their usual products more environmentally friendly, that would be something. They haven't. They've launched a foray into an alternative market along with a major advertising campaign. It's about market expansion, not protecting the environment. Frankly, I wouldn't be opposed normally, but the advertising campaign and the Sierra Club getting involved to fight for a corporation which is giving them money, frankly seems hypocritical to me.

    Why should the Sierra Club be a tax exempt advertising company? Seriously, shouldn't advertising for corporations in exchange for money jeopardize their nonprofit status? It's certainly not the reason people have donated to the Sierra Club.On Sierra Club and Clorox celebrate their partnership posted 1 year, 5 months ago 10 Responses

  • it's not just deniers

    what's most dangerous is that the deniers like to plant the idea that it wouldn't neccesarily be a bad thing.

    What I find most disturbing is the number of people who believe in global warming but think it's not going to be a big deal, and they'll save money on their heating bills in winter.On Fewer Republicans saying earth is warming posted 1 year, 6 months ago 19 Responses

  • Don't see any here at all

    Here in Northern Illinois, there just aren't any honeybees. We've got bumblebees everywhere, and a big colony of mason bees in our yard (we're one of the few houses in the neighboorhood that doesn't get chemlawn, so they love our yard), and the occasional sweat bee (the little green ones).
    Thankfully, no carpenter bees.
    Of course, having grown up in NY where honeybees are (or were) very plentiful, it always amazes me hearing people say they've only been stung by bees once or twice - and often they mean wasps. I can't say I miss the honeybees at all.On Honeybee hives in U.S. seeing continued decline, survey says posted 1 year, 6 months ago 10 Responses

  • total BS...

    Up until a week ago, we'd had a run of 10 days in a row here more than 10 degrees above average. So what does a newspaper run a story on? When that run ends, they run a story on one day that could bring record cold - it ended up about 7 degrees below average.

    For what it's worth, this year has actually had average temperatures so far here. But the media doesn't want that to be noticed. It's a common pattern, with our newspaper hyping cold spells, and not mentioning warm temperatures.

    I don't believe any of this about the next decade being cold. What we'll see in the next decade is cold winters like the last one, held cold by extra snow from all the extra open water in the arctic - and summers becoming increasingly warm, with increased media attention on how cold the winters are.On Next decade could be cooler than expected, says study posted 1 year, 7 months ago 7 Responses

  • see what they are first

    My live trap (occasionally placed in the yard if we've got rodents near the house)has been catching a number of short-tailed shrews. Generally, I let them stick around if they haven't tunnelled into the flower garden too thoroughly. We've never had a problem with actual mice here - probably because shrews can be predators of mice.
    That said, I've relocated a few. Generally, any rodent relocated is likely hawk food.

    If they're moles, be careful where you relocate them too (nobody wants them nearby). Shrews, on the other hand, are usually less noticeable. Meadow voles, other voles, and peromyscus mice (deer mice and white footed mice, both of which can spread hantavirus) make up a very large share of the diet in winter for most owls.
    Of course, there's always a few weird things that can turn up - for example, meadow jumping mice (zapus hudsonius), which look like a skinny gerbil. They're widespread, but not particularly common.

    Generally anything trapped inside a house will be peromyscus mice. Meadow voles have been known to enter houses, but usually leave on their own within days. If it's all grey, it's probably a house mouse (Nonnative) - if it's white underneath and brown above with some darker markings, it's more likely a deer or a white-footed mouse.

    I think people would be surprised how much of their local rodent populations is native. The fact that local native rodents have such a high reproductive rate makes many less apt to be outcompeted by introduced species (with the exception of those requiring specialized habitat, like pocket gophers, jumping mice, and woodrats).

    Of course, if you're trapping rats, the reverse is true. Rats aren't easy to catch, and most aren't native. DO NOT release them elsewhere, as many of them are causing harm to the environment and are introduced species.On Umbra on live trapping posted 2 years, 1 month ago 28 Responses

  • Greenland's tipping point...

    Is probably quite a bit before the point where the sea ice melts.

    The polar sea ice is the biggest heat sink we've got in the ocean. Considering the specific heat of melting ice is much more than the specific heat to melt water, the big question is how fast the oceans will warm once it's completely melted.On Ice loss hits record low this month in the Arctic posted 2 years, 2 months ago 6 Responses

  • PETA is a joke

    Seriously, they have no idea what to do with their time and money, or how to advocate what they're focussed on.

    They're target audience is NOT a bunch of men cruising the internet for porn. Chances are, not many of them are going to become vegetarians.

    People aren't going to go vegetarian because of some celebrity. And as for why so many people think PETA is sexist, consider that this kind of thing is about the only thing they ever get in the news for. My fiance was a member at one point - and they didn't even have the decency to answer a letter she sent asking why they objectify women in their adds, yet they continue to send things asking for money. That to me shows how much they respect both women and their members.On From Population to PETA posted 2 years, 2 months ago 101 Responses

  • the biggest threat to the boreal forest

    Isn't development, which won't occur quickly.

    It's global warming, and fortunately, this year an extended cold spell should kill off some of the spruce tree boring beetles that have been so common in British Columbia and other places in recent years.

    BTW, none of the other research I've seen says it stores as much carbon per unit area as even temperate forests, let alone "twice as much as tropical forests". I'm guessing this is because peat bogs aren't usually considered part of the forest.
    The peat bogs, unfortunately, are much more threatened than the rest of the forest, because of the amount of peat mined for horticulture.
    On Canada needs help saving it posted 2 years, 9 months ago 15 Responses

  • it's unavoidable

    The question of sea level rise isn't whether it will happen, it's how much, how fast, and what are the effects. Personally, I think the current models are way off base - and what needs to be looked at is how high sea levels were in the distant past when temperatures were higher.
    On What should we do about it? posted 2 years, 10 months ago 10 Responses

  • indeed

    Planting trees is a good idea, but you need to consider where.

    If they're killing trees to plant trees, that's not an offest. It's a net loss. If they're replacing farmland with a forest, and it gets returned to farmland in a couple years, that's pretty irrelevant.

    What we need is to replace more useless land with trees. And that isn't found in developing nations or the tropics. It's in our yards. We need to replace our lawns with trees. It isn't going to stop global warming - but it may slow it a little, and may create habitat for wildlife. We can't afford to avoid doing the little things that help like that - but people need to remember those are the little things, that help, but don't solve the problem.

    Of course, the same goes for biofuels. They may be a renewable resource, but if they're replacing forest, they're contributing to global warming. On Tree plantations are bad for people and no good for offsetting carbon posted 2 years, 10 months ago 9 Responses

  • It's a scientifically inaccurate statement though

    That el nino may be causing warmer temperatures here is pretty accurate, but to say global warming isn't causing them?
    There's no proof it isn't. The warmer temperatures don't prove global warming, but nobody has proven they are not caused in some way by it. To say there is no evidence they are caused by global warming, or that they've seen no evidence they are caused by it, is one thing - but to rule it out as a cause can't be done conclusively.On Umbra on trusting scientists posted 2 years, 10 months ago 9 Responses

  • Albedo is being considered incorrectly

    Areas covered in ice have a high albedo, however, those areas are too cold to grow trees (otherwise, they wouldn't be covered in ice). They can't be used for planting trees anyways, so albedo there is irrelevant to the question, or may even be a reason to plant trees in addition to carbon storage.

    Cities have high concentrations of asphalt, which has a lower albedo than trees. Hence, for every large shade tree planted in a city, once it gets big enough to start shading houses or roads, it is actually raising albedo. Trees, in city yards, already store much more carbon than grass (and grass mowing contributes to carbon emissions). The problem becomes not just that we need more trees, but that we need them to replace grassy areas in people yards, not prairie (which stores at least five times as much carbon as grass typically grown in a yard, more if it contains some shrubs or small trees).

    In short, plant a tree. Plant a long-lived tree, adapted to your local climate, which can spread out and shade a significant area, and is unlikely to be killed by disease or pests. And plant it in your own yard, where you can be sure it won't be cut down.On Umbra on tree planting posted 2 years, 10 months ago 18 Responses

  • isn't the null hypothesis...

    That global warming isn't occuring?

    And what does it matter what the causes? If the earth was cooling, people in areas that get a lot of snow would be terrified, regardless of the causes. They'd want something done.

    What we're up against isn't the deniers that deny on principle, it's the deniers that deny, because, frankly, they don't think it matters if the earth warms, or that it'll be a good thing. On 'The null hypothesis says warming is natural'--An inappropriate test, and one that would fail anyway posted 2 years, 11 months ago 4 Responses