In Poland, traditional farmers are being driven out of business because of European Union regulations favoring factory farming. The ironic thing about it is that cultural and culinary trends are shifting in the direction of precisely the kind of traditional farming that they do. But they are going to be wiped out by Brussels' cookie-cutter regulations.
Kirk said that true conservatives have an "affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of human existence, as opposed to the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism, and utilitarian aims of most radical systems." Conservatives ought to be on the side of the Polish farmers. I've no doubt that many who call themselves conservative will sneer at this thought, and say that the Poles should give way to market efficiency. Well: the price of something doesn't always reflect its full cost.
Showing posts with label husbandry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label husbandry. Show all posts
Friday, April 04, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
An Inconvenient Conference
This weekend, my family and I (or should I just say my family?) travelled to Cedar Springs (15 miles or so North of Grand Rapids) to visit some college friends and to partake in the festivities of a first birthday party for their son Ethan. Good times for sure.
But during the festivities, I believe it was channel 8 news ended up on the TV and the weatherman proceeded to tell the viewing public that February 2008 was going to go down as the snowiest ever for Grand Rapids and only had 16% sunshine the whole month.
What a truly incovenient month it has been for Grand Rapids and really the whole left coast of Michigan. And I can tell you that Metro Detroit has not been much better at all. Probably right on the same track. And again today, 3-6 inches of snow.
It has almost become something of a joke when some "global warming" conference has to be cancelled because of a snowstorm or bitterly cold weather.
But stampedes and hysteria are no joke -- and creating stampedes and hysteria has become a major activity of those hyping a global warming "crisis."
They mobilize like-minded people from a variety of occupations, call them all "scientists" and then claim that "all" the experts agree on a global warming crisis.
Their biggest argument is that there is no argument.
A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching.
Those who bother to check the facts often find that not all those who are called scientists are really scientists and not all of those who are scientists are specialists in climate. But who bothers to check facts these days?
A new and very different conference on global warming was and is currently being held in New York City, under the sponsorship of the Heartland Institute, on March 2nd to March 4th -- weather permitting.
It is called an "International Conference on Climate Change." Its subtitle is "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" Among those present will be professors of climatology, along with scientists in other fields and people from other professions.
They come from universities in England, Hungary, and Australia, as well as from the United States and Canada, and include among other dignitaries the president of the Czech Republic.
There will be 98 speakers and 400 participants.
The theme of the conference is that "there is no scientific consensus on the causes or likely consequences of global warming."
Many of the participants in this conference are people who have already expressed skepticism about either the prevailing explanations of current climate change or the dire predictions about future climate change.
These include authors of such books as "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years" by Fred Singer and Dennis Avery, and "Shattered Consensus," edited by Patrick J. Michaels.
This will be one of the rare opportunities for the media to hear the other side of the story -- for those old-fashioned journalists who still believe that their job is to inform the public, rather than promote an agenda.
The subtitle of the upcoming conference -- "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" -- is also the title of a British television program that is now available on DVD in the United States. It is a devastating debunking of the current "global warming" hysteria.
Nobody denies that there is such a thing as a greenhouse effect. If there were not, the side of the planet facing away from the sun would be freezing every night.
There is not even a lot of controversy over temperature readings. What is fundamentally at issue are the explanations, implications and extrapolations of these temperature readings.
The party line of those who say that we are heading for a global warming crisis of epic proportions is that human activities generating carbon dioxide are key factors responsible for the warming that has taken place in recent times.
The problem with this reasoning is that the temperatures rose first and then the carbon dioxide levels rose. Some scientists say that the warming created the increased carbon dioxide, rather than vice versa.
Many natural factors, including variations in the amount of heat put out by the sun, can cause the earth to heat or cool.
The bigger problem is that this has long since become a crusade rather than an exercise in evidence or logic. Too many people are too committed to risk it all on a roll of the dice, which is what turning to empirical evidence is.
So why has no one heard about this conference? Why no news or reporting or a daily update from cable news networks? Why no "panel of experts"?
Because, it's a true inconvenience for those who have a big stake in global warming hysteria to show up at the conference in New York, and unfortunately that includes much of the media.
But during the festivities, I believe it was channel 8 news ended up on the TV and the weatherman proceeded to tell the viewing public that February 2008 was going to go down as the snowiest ever for Grand Rapids and only had 16% sunshine the whole month.
What a truly incovenient month it has been for Grand Rapids and really the whole left coast of Michigan. And I can tell you that Metro Detroit has not been much better at all. Probably right on the same track. And again today, 3-6 inches of snow.
It has almost become something of a joke when some "global warming" conference has to be cancelled because of a snowstorm or bitterly cold weather.
But stampedes and hysteria are no joke -- and creating stampedes and hysteria has become a major activity of those hyping a global warming "crisis."
They mobilize like-minded people from a variety of occupations, call them all "scientists" and then claim that "all" the experts agree on a global warming crisis.
Their biggest argument is that there is no argument.
A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching.
Those who bother to check the facts often find that not all those who are called scientists are really scientists and not all of those who are scientists are specialists in climate. But who bothers to check facts these days?
A new and very different conference on global warming was and is currently being held in New York City, under the sponsorship of the Heartland Institute, on March 2nd to March 4th -- weather permitting.
It is called an "International Conference on Climate Change." Its subtitle is "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" Among those present will be professors of climatology, along with scientists in other fields and people from other professions.
They come from universities in England, Hungary, and Australia, as well as from the United States and Canada, and include among other dignitaries the president of the Czech Republic.
There will be 98 speakers and 400 participants.
The theme of the conference is that "there is no scientific consensus on the causes or likely consequences of global warming."
Many of the participants in this conference are people who have already expressed skepticism about either the prevailing explanations of current climate change or the dire predictions about future climate change.
These include authors of such books as "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years" by Fred Singer and Dennis Avery, and "Shattered Consensus," edited by Patrick J. Michaels.
This will be one of the rare opportunities for the media to hear the other side of the story -- for those old-fashioned journalists who still believe that their job is to inform the public, rather than promote an agenda.
The subtitle of the upcoming conference -- "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" -- is also the title of a British television program that is now available on DVD in the United States. It is a devastating debunking of the current "global warming" hysteria.
Nobody denies that there is such a thing as a greenhouse effect. If there were not, the side of the planet facing away from the sun would be freezing every night.
There is not even a lot of controversy over temperature readings. What is fundamentally at issue are the explanations, implications and extrapolations of these temperature readings.
The party line of those who say that we are heading for a global warming crisis of epic proportions is that human activities generating carbon dioxide are key factors responsible for the warming that has taken place in recent times.
The problem with this reasoning is that the temperatures rose first and then the carbon dioxide levels rose. Some scientists say that the warming created the increased carbon dioxide, rather than vice versa.
Many natural factors, including variations in the amount of heat put out by the sun, can cause the earth to heat or cool.
The bigger problem is that this has long since become a crusade rather than an exercise in evidence or logic. Too many people are too committed to risk it all on a roll of the dice, which is what turning to empirical evidence is.
So why has no one heard about this conference? Why no news or reporting or a daily update from cable news networks? Why no "panel of experts"?
Because, it's a true inconvenience for those who have a big stake in global warming hysteria to show up at the conference in New York, and unfortunately that includes much of the media.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Animal Husbandry
It turns out that a slaughterhouse's cruel practice are behind the massive nationwide recall of beef, the largest in US history.
Watch the undercover video that sparked the recall here. WARNING this is strong stuff. We don't have to or shouldn't wait for Congress or state legislatures to even do anything about this. We can take action now!
STOP BUYING FACTORY FARMED MEAT NOW!!!
Buy from your local farmers.
This website has the most comprehensive national list of meat producers who refuse to allow factory-farming methods. Not just cattle/beef either. We're talking eggs, milk, honey, pork, turkey, etc. Take a look -- here is a link to just the Michigan locales. It's surprising how many exist. And some even ship.
Watch that video and still say you trust the industrial food system to provide healthy meat. This is not the dominion mandate. This is not the husbandry that God commanded us and has given mankind. This is not the husbandry I am working toward handing off to my son one day.
Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went
to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been
eaten.
"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't
think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take action," said Dr. Dick
Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.
Federal Officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an
undercover video from the Human Society of the United States surfaced showing
crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.
Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of
animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager.
Three misdemeanor counts -- illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal -- were
filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were
fired.
Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise
abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into
the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San
Bernadino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.
No charges have been filed against Westland, but an investigation by
federal authorities continues.
About 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef
from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. Two fast-food
chains, Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, said they would not use beef from
Westland/Hallmark.
Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The
USDA said it will work with distributors to determine how much meat
remains.
Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food
supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli,
salmonella or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and their
immune systems are often weak.
Watch the undercover video that sparked the recall here. WARNING this is strong stuff. We don't have to or shouldn't wait for Congress or state legislatures to even do anything about this. We can take action now!
STOP BUYING FACTORY FARMED MEAT NOW!!!
Buy from your local farmers.
This website has the most comprehensive national list of meat producers who refuse to allow factory-farming methods. Not just cattle/beef either. We're talking eggs, milk, honey, pork, turkey, etc. Take a look -- here is a link to just the Michigan locales. It's surprising how many exist. And some even ship.
Watch that video and still say you trust the industrial food system to provide healthy meat. This is not the dominion mandate. This is not the husbandry that God commanded us and has given mankind. This is not the husbandry I am working toward handing off to my son one day.
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