Our precious wildlife is disappearing - what can be done?

[Sagittarius Rising]

Oh .... no no no! I'm not advocating that anyone should not eat meat or any other type of protein. I eat and love it myself. I also wear leather and unfortunately have products that contain palm oil (it's very hard not to have something with palm oil in it).

I just deplore the needless slaughter and the mass killing of our wildlife, or their natural habitat.

Now if my daughter, Veg Head was here, she'd now be jumping up and down about how I eat dead cows and chickens.

I don't know, where do we draw the line? Is there a difference? But I suppose that is a whole new subject and way of thinking.

I am a vegan who once a week eats sushi. Now I know technically I am not a vegan because of the weekly fish freakout but it is the closest I can to describe my diet. Anyway, I did this because my body has a hell of a time with dairy and meat from land animals. I am not the preachy kind and believe it is up to the person to choose what is right for them

That being said I feel factory farming should be outlawed, it is killing people, killing the environment, and is abusive and cruel to the animals. Regarding those fucking Jap bastards...I agree, send a few whaling vessels to Davy Jones Locker, that will teach those anime watching perverts!

BTW, the whole Jap bastard part was a joke, the Japanese are cool except for the needless bloodsport of whaling, that shit has got to stop. Oh, and they are anime watching perverts too.

[Plantpothead]

I am a meat eater, but I deplore the killing of Whales, Tigers, Dolphins, and other wildlife etc, pretty soon they will be extinct. The same cannot be said of pigs, cows sheep etc, as they are bred for the purpose of eating.

[Bong-Man]

The term that always gets me is "invasive species".....be it plant or animal. Isn't everything an invasive species at some point ? If something is labeled a "native species", do they mean native since the last ice age or what ? And what right do we have to label anything an invasive species, when we are the most invasive of all ? No earthworms in North America until 400 years ago or so. Those invasive worms crawled a long way at some mighty slow speeds.

Michigan's DNR is starting a wolf hunt. We didn't have any 30 years ago, except on Isle Royale, now they are supposedly everywhere. I hear a wolf pelt goes for about $30 bucks. Perhaps tailor yourself a nice Lilly Munster wrap like Grandpa used to make ? Maybe some wolf soup ? I'll never get it.

[slave to zep]

agree about the factory farming. i guess if nobody bought that kind of meat/eggs it may eventually change. it's usually a lot more expensive, though, and many people have to buy to their budget.

i don't mean to be rascist, and i am sorry if this offends, but i cannot believe that asians - lets face it, it's mostly asians with their "medicines " - still think tiger penis and rhino horn etc really are needed for this .... if you ever watch those "border security " type shows, you still see people trying to bring exotic plants and animals in and out of countries .... there was just a few days ago a theft from a local wildlife reptile park near me. some rich bastard wants lizards for pets, i guess ......

[Sagittarius Rising]

agree about the factory farming. i guess if nobody bought that kind of meat/eggs it may eventually change. it's usually a lot more expensive, though, and many people have to buy to their budget.

i don't mean to be rascist, and i am sorry if this offends, but i cannot believe that asians - lets face it, it's mostly asians with their "medicines " - still think tiger penis and rhino horn etc really are needed for this .... if you ever watch those "border security " type shows, you still see people trying to bring exotic plants and animals in and out of countries .... there was just a few days ago a theft from a local wildlife reptile park near me. some rich bastard wants lizards for pets, i guess ......

I tried using tiger penis once with the wife but she got pretty pissed, I guess a soft, furry penis just was not her thing???

[Deborah J]

Great topic stz! I am a huge animal and nature lover. I donate to no kill shelters every year. I also write to the White House and local law makers and will continue asking for severe punishment for people who abuse animals. There needs to be much tougher laws.

I donate to a few other animal protection organizations. I don't know what the answer is other than writing harder laws so that those morons who hurt animals are prosecuted harshly.

[planted]

Thanks for starting this thread, slave!

In my town there is a former teacher who is doing a ton of research on GMO's, (genetically modified organisms) and what their effect is on bees. What I am learning is they pollinate on these GMO's (corn, wheat, trees) and its like poison for them.

Bees are our food supply, BTW. They die. We die.

Edited for spelling.

[slave to zep]

Great topic stz! I am a huge animal and nature lover. I donate to no kill shelters every year. I also write to the White House and local law makers and will continue asking for severe punishment for people who abuse animals. There needs to be much tougher laws.

I donate to a few other animal protection organizations. I don't know what the answer is other than writing harder laws so that those morons who hurt animals are prosecuted harshly.

thank you, Debs

i somehow already knew you would do these things! well done, we need more like you ♥

Thanks for starting this thread, slave!

In my town there is a former teacher who is doing a ton of research on GMO's, (genetically modified organisms) and what their effect is on bees. What I am learning is they pollinate on these GMO's (corn, wheat, trees) and its like poison for them.

Bees are our food supply, BTW. They die. We die.

Edited for spelling.

thanks, Planted. very interesting. sounds very scary ....

oh when are we going to change?

will we ever change ?

[zeppy668]

The Japanese may kill whales for local customs/dishes but if the United States was serious about enforcing an international ban on whale hunting, the Japanese would stop immediately. After all, Japan still operates largely under America's thumb. For how much longer is a good question.

The problem with conservation is that it bucks in the face of business and that's a major 'no no' with capitalism. So there in itself lies the problem in our world. But is that really the problem?

The real problem is the debate has been assembled in a way to purposely keep people divided on either side while the destruction of our eco systems continue with no real intention on curbing the destruction. In America, both Democratic and Republican politicians claim to be on one side or the other of the spectrum. But in reality, both sides cater to industry and fossil fuels. Why shouldn't they? That's where they get their biggest donations from. Sure, some politicians are conservationists and support green initiatives. But those efforts aren't large enough to have actual impact.

The other real problem is our society. We watch Animal Planet and recycle but we still pollute the environment to death. By and large, people only care about the environment that they see and interact with on a daily basis. We should, as a society, be focused on preserving everything we can. It's not about some dogma of controlling everything but that improving the health of our planet will ultimately improve the health of ourselves.

During the 2012 Presidential cycle, one thing I agreed with Republican candidates on was their proposal of demolishing the EPA. But instead of getting rid of it because they want no restriction on industry, I want to abolish it because it's completely insufficient at providing service to the communities throughout the country. Abolish it and start over. Implement federal codes and laws that have absolutely ZERO loopholes for all industrial and private sector companies. At the state level, implement specific codes and guidelines for inter-county distribution and have bordering states work out codes for interstate distribution that falls within federal codes. Do that and the fracking crisis in New York state will be no more. Do that and Pennsylvania won't be next, threatening the entire Delaware water basin (all of New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware).

Population increase and fresh water shortage will continue to be the biggest threats to civilization in this century. It could lead to pandemics. It could lead to the fall of governments. It could lead to wars. (No zombies, sorry nerds).

One thing that we can be hopeful for is the development of a new toilet and sanitation system that detoxifies the waste and water, allowing for it be reused. The toilet has gone largely 500 years without any major advancements in how we dispose of our waste. If we can come up with a way of detoxifying our waste, we can have immediate effects on curbing pollution.

We also need to get off plastic. Life existed before plastic. It can exist without it. The only thing stopping us from creating the next thing to replace it is laziness and someone telling us "We don't need something else." But I challenge those same people to argue what's more important: the status quo or innovation?

I forgot. We landed on the moon because we went with the status quo.

[slave to zep]

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8652208

[kipper]

i have bigger things to worry about than dolphin safe tuna. if a giant meteor could not destroy all life on earth then i dont think we can either

[slave to zep]

i have bigger things to worry about than dolphin safe tuna. if a giant meteor could not destroy all life on earth then i dont think we can either

those kinds of things - ( buying dolphin safe tuna ) seem so small and insignificant .... but if the whole world keeps going the way we are now, it will imho only end badly. future generations will not be in a good way. we are all part of the problem, but can also be part of the solution. doing little things all add up.

[Janvier]

Apparently the Icelandic people are reversing the decline in cod populations, after the collapse of the fishery some years ago, they have put in place several restrictions and policies that are actually helping in rebuilding the stock. The same cannot be said, unfortunately of Newfoundland, I remember watching a reportage on Canadian television, it showed how people in St Johns, who in the past drove large SUVs, had trouble paying for gas, and overall could not afford the previous excesses and lifestyle after the fisheries collapsed.

Unfortunately nothing much can be done to stop the decline in fisheries, the North Sea is practically an empty dead sea full of algae when in the past it was rich in all sorts of marine fauna, elsewhere in the Atlantic the Spaniards are depleting stocks of tuna. Large gigantic fish have disappeared from all seas.

[kipper]

those kinds of things - ( buying dolphin safe tuna ) seem so small and insignificant .... but if the whole world keeps going the way we are now, it will imho only end badly. future generations will not be in a good way. we are all part of the problem, but can also be part of the solution. doing little things all add up.

the sun will probably fry us in a solar flare and all the animals will die the same time we do. a hundred million years after that if there is still an atmosphere something will take our place. what makes us so special?