Comments on Secondhand Smoke: Your 24/7 Seminar on Bioethics and the Importance of Being Human: Sea Shepherd Society Cares More About the Deaths o...

So was Buffalo Bill right for clubbing and killing...

2008-10-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

So was Buffalo Bill right for clubbing and killing women to wear there skins? Is that YOUR judicial system? The lion does not kill the zebra for sport, nor as an entrepeneurship. These furs can be simulated now, so there is no need to continue using other creatures skins for warmth. If you can demonstrate an actual NEED to continue these acts, you let me know. In the meantime, in international waters, all is fair game. (The battle will continue until the madness ends, get over it.)

Living is a universal right? Are you kidding me? ...

2008-04-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Living is a universal right? Are you kidding me? Only as against humans. The zebra has no right not to be killed by the lion. It's all about humanity. Animals are amoral and oblivious to all of this.

So, your end statement basically agrees with me. This is about defining the depth and extent of human duties. That's is because we are exceptional.

*The word "right" does not EXCLUDE animals

2008-04-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

*The word "right" does not EXCLUDE animals

Wesley,Animals do have rights. According to the We...

2008-04-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Wesley,
Animals do have rights. According to the Webster Dictonary, rights are something that one may properly claim as due, or something to which one has a just claim. Living is a universal right. As is food and shelter. The word "right" does not include animals. We do not have a right to exploit animals for selfish and egotistical purposes. Regardless if animals are moral or not, we are a species that does, and anyone that has a moral fibre knows that over exploitation is IMMORAL. Animals ARE the innocent party, they are the victims of our destruction, and if no one stops us, who will?

Stefanie: Animals are not like our children. They...

2008-04-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Stefanie: Animals are not like our children. They are animals. Nor are they innocent. They are amoral. You are not "their" voice. You are engaged in arguing for human duties, a distinctly human endeavor that no other animal in the known universe is capable. In other words we are the most advanced species, but that gives us obligations as well as rights. No other species has either.

Norman,I think you have a misunderstanding about t...

2008-04-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Norman,
I think you have a misunderstanding about the protection of animals and why people fight to protect them. It doesn't matter if seals do not appeal to you (or anyone else) as a creature, there is a need to conserve these animals, cute and cuddly or as 'vicious' as a Great White. It is odd that you mention the mink is vicious- remember they are a wild animal and you are their predator! Generally, humans have an attitude that we are the best, most advanced species, many of us forget we share this world with other species as well. They can't protect themselves against our own powers, so someone needs to be their voice. I almost think of it as defending our own children- animals are innocent and defenseless. We destroy their homes and kill them. Back to Sea shepherd, their goal is to protect and conserve. I don't necessarily agree with his approach and comment, however, the seal hunt is a tragedy as well.
By the way, seals are mammals just like us. They are pinnipeds "finned-feet" because they live on land and in the water using their fins as feet and swimming appendages.

I hate to venture off topic, but seals really don'...

2008-04-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

I hate to venture off topic, but seals really don't appeal to me as creatures. Are they fish? Why are they so slow on land and so fast in the water?

My youngest son has converted part of the outdoor of the property into a mink habitat. There are about 30 of them in there, I would guess, and he raises them until they reach the end of their natural life--then and only then do we have the pelt collected.

The abuse we have received over the years has been astounding. We were hounded and hounded by neighbors when we lived just outside of Manchester, NH. I have moved to Maryland in part because I now work in the lobbying field and in part because people here don't seem to care.

One misconception people have--viciousness. Can't stress it enough. Yes, they are that vicious. My God, I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't invest in a dog trainer suit--you know, the suit that the man gets into and the German Shepherd all but mounts him as it attacks him? Wow.

If we catch any of that trouble from the wackos here, my son Byron has said he would give up the animals and go into guinea pigs or pot bellied pigs from Vietnam.