Zoos and Extinction

Today's class led lecture on zoos and species conservation was reminiscent of my undergraduate philosophy class and the day that I argued unknowingly with zoology management masters students on the inappropriateness and inadequacy of zoos in today's society. Before I even go into a discussion of what I saw in class this morning, I should state that I am not anti-zoo. From a very early age I made frequent trips to the zoo with Mom, Dad and/or Grandma. I can remember looking down on a rainy day as rhinoceros played and splashed mud on me and the old kangaroo walk where we could get into the pen with them. So I got nostalgic and pulled up some old Youtubes for you from back in the day. Notice how much more hair everyone has then...





You want to talk about a man with a vision and an excitement for animals, it's Jack Hanna.

Of course, for the Columbus Zoo, the days of simple concrete and glass pens with animals "enriched" by a bouncy ball are long gone. The Columbus Zoo is fortunate today to be the top zoo in the country and if you visit it, you'll easily understand why. With excellent attention to detail, exhibits has been remodeled to more closely represent natural habitat and give animals more space whilst still offering a good view of most animals to the average zoo-goer. This is a fantastic educational opportunity and I credit zoos with instilling my first love of animals and my parents for encouraging this from an early age. Once on a farm, this love grew into a career passion which I will carry with me to the end.



It is important, though, to also remember that not all zoos are as fortunate with funding and opportunities as the Columbus Zoo. The Potter Park Zoo, for example, in Lansing, Michigan, is a great example of the old-style zoo with limited enclosures and simplistic environments housing many old animals. This to me seemed like the retirement home of animals and to some it might seem like the animals are forgotten in this place. But if you talk to the zookeepers, you'll find that they are doing their best with the resources and staff available to provide very good care and high levels of scientifically accepted enrichment forms in order to stimulate these animals and better their everyday lives.

Zoo proponents often argue that the primary function of a zoo is to promote conservation through reproduction management of species and education of the general public. This is a function many zoos perform more than ever now as zoos try to transition from a public entertainment enterprise to a more globally responsible institution. And I will be the first to admit that aside from National Geographic, and Jane Goodall, the zoo is the next on a list of influences on me from a young age about the impact of humans on the planet (followed by Bill Peet). But in today's age, how does the zoo help conserve species? Saving a species in a zoo doesn't mean that we can re-release it later. If the habitat is destroyed, then what's the point?

Someone in class made the comment that preventing human destruction of a species is a good thing, but to allow a species to eliminate another is "natural". What is the difference between one being natural and the other not? I refer you to a previous George Carlin video about "saving the planet" which I won't link here today. But on the topic of extinction in the end, what's most amazing to me is that today we were going through recent extinctions. These recent extinctions were the animals on the endangered species list back when I was in elementary school. And just like that, they're gone. Wrong or right, artificial or natural, it just is sad to me to have to say that a species is gone from the world forever, in our time now.

Mass Media...

... is the sole difference between agricultural corporations/commodity groups and the HSUS. Of course, many people have realized this already as concerned "agvocacy" groups and individuals scramble to educate people on the appropriate and effective use of social media outlets to spread the truth about animal care on America's farms today. And don't get me wrong, this is very important and will lead to better communication on the part of farmers in the future, but this doesn't solve the problem of now. It doesn't help get out the word to counter the lies which spread like weeds on MiracleGro.

Back in the winter (and yes, it's March and 50F outside so I can say that today), Feedstuffs ran a series of articles written by a reporter who got on farm after the chicken footage was released. His articles served as a powerful expose to the creative artwork that went into fabricating the "footage" used to accuse the farm of animal neglect and abuse. Like so many other videos that HSUS, PETA and Mercy for Animals are using to build up their tsunami of uninformed, but extremely concerned consumers, the release turned out to be framed. And after the media hype about the video release had passed and it was found to be posed, who was left to report the truth?



One reporter, as previously mentioned, did a real good job of covering facts and telling the truth and for that he ought to be commended. The same is true for the Smithfield video release back in December, and if you have any interest in reading facts about what happened, follow the link to read some true reporting. The unfortunate thing is that in the end, how far will this article really get? The media has lost the thread on this story long ago. Heck, look how long Egypt stayed on the news and how quickly they trailed off again, eclipsed by some new and unknown TV airtime and advertisement opportunity. Read this if you care about the truth, and then share it. If you want more people to read and to know, you'll have to share it yourself, face-to-face, or wallpost-to-wallpost, or however word gets passed along these days.

(credit to cartoonstock.com for the picture)

Canned Hunting

Among the many topics from last week's class, the discussion of "canned hunting" struck a cord with more students than any other subject. In the words of one of the students, it's like hunting for cheaters. But there were actually a few good reasons for what has become a big industry and many parts of the world.

Firstly, people want to hunt big animals. Whether or not your own moral conscience can accept this, those people will continue to do it for love of the game. Breeding animals for hunting keeps these species in existence and helps give a hunting outlet that isn't based on poaching.

Secondly, some people can't physically get out and hunt they way they used to, but they still love the thrill of the kill and the challenge of that split-second, well-placed shot. I can't really sympathize with this emotion in people, because I've never actually hunted, but I can understand other peoples' needs and their wants to be able to function despite a wound, injury, old-age or other handicap. That's fair, isn't it?

Thirdly, capitalism. In the US, just about anything goes when you consider entrepreneurship and the drive to get somewhere in the grand scheme of life. Well, these canned hunts are just one more step in the path of ambition. If you're ok hunting the animals, the owners are ok being paid for it and there you go. Once again, the animals were specifically raised for this in the beginning, so what's the problem?

Well, the big complaint from everyone is always that it's no longer a fair game. But after you watch this video and the guys who almost die by lion, is it really that unfair of a game? You wouldn't find me in the pen with 3 other guys all ineffectively wielding rifles and a lion on the loose amidst them. I'm cool with anyone who wants to do this, but I'll pass.

ConCall Professionalism (duplicate post)

Well, Friday afternoon we made it through our first conference call training meeting for the collegiate facilitators. With our registration numbers becoming more final and the core group that will end up in DC slowly sorting itself out, it was time for us to get on the phone, get to know each other a little bit and then for me and my 2 colleagues to lay out expectations, programming plans and schedules for the next month and a half.

This leads me to some simple comments about conference call etiquette, based on observations that I made during the call and which can beneficial to anyone just learning how to function in this now old-school form of distance meeting.

1) When the system you're using for a meeting doesn't work or you have connection issues, be prepared to find an alternative way to run or join the meeting. We had some pretty severe communication issues at the beginning with voice connections not working and luckily everyone was well enough prepared that the meeting ran without much of a hitch. That includes props to some of the facilitators who were dealing with the inclement weather, bad connections and power outages.

2) Many call in systems result in feedback between the audio output and your mic input. Without IT knowledge to fix this being common this is just one of the reasons why people need to mute their mic input when not talking, and prevent double audio output with computer and phone systems to limit this.

3) Another reason to mute your mic is because it picks up and magnifies even the largest background sounds. It's bad when we have to ask the person eating chips to mute their mic and we've never even met these people before.

4) Muting your mic isn't an excuse for not paying attention to the meeting. Many people think they can just get away with being on a call and multi-tasking or even Facebooking. But people always know, and it's easy to tell later who the people were that paid attention during the call.

5) Interrupting is probably my biggest reason for hating conference calls. It seems that even if you don't mean to, you're always butting in on someone else and that by the time they're done talking they've already said what you wanted to say anyhow or changed the topic enough that your discussion is now irrelevant. This system aimed to prevent this by putting a click control over who could talk and when but since nobody was properly educated on this prior to the call, we were never able to use the technology properly.

Regardless, conference calls can be really good for getting people together, especially for trainings and I think ours was a definite success. As the time rolls on I'm getting more excited for the conference in DC.

American Ingenuity

Today I'd like to highlight a couple of Youtube videos that focus on simple methane digesters. I think with all the discussion about methane digesting and its potential for adding energy to grid while disposing of waste, this is worth your time for personal enlightenment. Of course, these are highly simplified digesters when compared to even the on-farm ones that have popped up in a few places, but it's the general idea that's pretty cool. Both of the videos are essentially the same but for a more rustic touch, I'd definitely go with this one. He made a longer version too, but the outtakes are more just mistakes happening than anything else.



What's really fantastic about this to me is that it's always just a matter of time before someone figures out how to utilize something else that we consider waste and they turn it into something productive and useful in their lives. I have to wonder if the energy put into this is exceeded by the eventual output before the structure lifecycle is reached, but that's a question for the future and experts to decide.

Glimpse into the Future (duplicate post)

Yesterday marked the final selection of applicants for the National 4-H Conference Collegiate Facilitators. It's so far been a very educational process for myself and a great opportunity to be involved and responsible for selecting a team of people who Lauren and I will have to train and manage for the next 2 months before letting them loose to see how they perform in a demanding environment.

Well, based on the on-paper applications and excellent recommendations that I saw from nearly 30 applicants, I'm not only excited to work with those we've selected, but I have to say that the future is bright for 4-H and the other organizations and institutes who will have the pleasure of working with any of the bright, enthusiastic and skilled individuals who applied for the position. Our future is in good hands.

There are many times that I doubt the value of 4-H in today's society and wonder whether there is a way to change the program to encompass more youth or if there is a way to increase the perceived value of extension. This has been especially heavier on my mind as 4-H programs in Ohio have begun to go extinct in this difficult economy. But as long as a program is developing youth like those I saw in applications this week, as long as it still inspires the dreamers to achieve higher education and application of new technology then there is hope. And thus, in my opinion, there is still a future for 4-H.

Targeting Children (duplicate post)

I think violence is so much worse when the intended targets are children. It's been decades now and Ireland/N. Ireland still can't get over the war which never really ended. But who honestly thought it was cool to rig a kid's bike with a bomb? Horrible.

And if you think about the fact that the booby-trapped bike would have only gone off in the case that a kid were to use it, don't you have to wonder if it would've damaged or killed anything but the kid? Worse than a case of using a bomb on a kid to kill your enemies, this was direct targeting of the kid and only the kid.

Of course, isn't targeting children the same thing that any extremist crazy group does? Compare this to Peta who handed out coloring books to children telling them that their parents were murderers and including graphic images for the kids to color of their parents killing animals and eating them. No surprise that there was a huge outcry against the coloring books, but not as huge an outcry as there should've been because Peta still legally exists.

Do agriculturalists target children? Yes, of course, but not in the same way. We encourage them to explore the farm life, to eat healthy which is best done with an animal protein diet and to embrace the quality of life they have been given the opportunity to live in this country.

Compare this to the crazies with ALF and their efforts to target children of employees at Huntington. They unabashedly claimed in their press releases that they target kids instead of the parents because this is what works. The company is too strong, and the adults better equipped to handle the stress of aggression and stalking than the children.

The next time you see a Peta ad with a naked girl telling you to stop eating meat... are you going to listen?

In spite of the weather

I know you hear all the time from so many vocal agriculturalists that farmers work 365 days a year, that they work in the ice and the heat, because time doesn't wait and growing food isn't something people have time to mess up. I can remember many a day where the thunderstorms rolled in and we were still cleaning cages or feeding the animals. It never mattered what the weather was like; we were always there.

Well, now that I'm back in the Columbus area again, I've been able to go out there a little more often. Amanda and I's ewe lambed twins, both healthy, and so I've been out there trying to help as the ewes transition into being mothers and then as the lambs need processed (not quite Mike Rowe style). That's what brought me out to the farm last week on a day which was better than some, but not most.


You can see from the picture the ice that covered the barnyard. Not only is this problematic for getting up the big, slick hill from the road (I made it only 12 feet and had to walk the rest) but this is also hard on the animals' joints if they were to be kept outside during the storm and hard on the people working to care for the animals. Without the extra kids around anymore, my little brother and my mom have so much more work to do on the average day by themselves.

But slipping around on the ice, chipping away at the frozen tanks and running the heat lamps to warm the lambs has its reward in the end; I wouldn't trade this for anything and while this year I'm not out there much, I put in my time, and I will again when this whole school thing is finally over. Leaning on the fence, looking down at all the frolicking lambs in the pens who will soon be turned out to pasture, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

Biodiesel on farms

As the biodiesel research continues to make progress and optimism pushes us forward, this is really where I can practically see the new oilseed crops going. An oilseed crusher is just one more depreciable investment that a farmer can add to the schedule and if he can effectively grow these crops for his own biodiesel then the economic savings will be huge. We're never going to fuel the average American driver with this, but this is pretty cool stuff.

Good commentary

Dr. St-Pierre has returned to OSU. A man of legendary stories which pass between classes, I've heard he tracked his low and high temperatures in his office and ran SAS on it to prove that it was not being regulated properly. A man of great intelligence and obvious interest in the education of students and the learning experience, I've very excited to have class with him in the spring.

I encourage you to read his commentary on the "natural" label too many Westerners are trying to pursue in their meals. Also of interest would be some of the moronic comments underneath by the typical anonymi. Enjoy and happy Saturday!

Oprah goes Vegan

News that that will lead to weight loss before anemia probably didn't bother her too much in the short run, but what is important is the big way in which Oprah really hit hard and honest the fact that unhealthy diets are a part of American culture today.

Frankly, when I watched the Oprah Vegan videos, I expected to be more angry. They got in on a Cargill processing plant and didn't sit there trying to portray it for anything other than what it really is. Does everyone have the stomach for killing animals for food consumption, no, they don't, but that doesn't mean that killing animals for food is wrong and Oprah's filming of the Cargill plant didn't try to push the issue one way or the other. If you haven't seen a processing plant in video before, this was a great example of how the process works.

Then there is the video link of Oprah's interview with Michael Pollan. Of course, I have a slightly more liberal view of Michael Pollan than many of my agricultural counterparts, but I again found little fault with his critical take on the processed foods which make our trips to the grocery and fast food so cheap every day. I agree that cheap food is a curse, but without it, many people would simply go hungry from lack of ability to feed themselves. So then we end up in the current situation where elitists call for "higher quality" food which costs them more money claiming that everyone should have this because it's a factor in one's quality of life. Well, news flash, but not everyone can afford organic or health foods (note, not one and the same).

Where Michael Pollan then really still gets it wrong is by saying that he only buys meat from small farms. That's great, but that also gets back to a huge problem of whether or not we try to feed the rest of the world. The world is going hungry, and small farms aren't going to do it. He needs to wise up to that or stop making money from his controversial books so that real life can hit him in the face and remind him of just why we still need cheap food. Would farmers love to be paid more for food products? Sure they would, but they also want to make sure that people get fed. I think making more money for their labor is the attitude you see reflected in the few farmers quoted as saying they'll be ready with a higher quality product when consumers demand it in the Food INC trailer, but of course they misused these quotes as well.



Of course, there was some other crap on Oprah's show about how all meat comes from terrible places, yadayadayada, cough vegan cough propaganda cough cough. But again, Oprah was trying to show both sides of the coin, even if one side did get most of the face time. Americans are provided a safe, wholesome product every day, 24/7/365 and there are a lot of people who just don't seem to appreciate how good they have it.

Light at the end of Winter's Tunnel

It's finally February and I don't know about the rest of you but January seemed to both take forever and to filled with busy days from New Year's to yesterday. And just as the weather seemed to break and lighten up, and Betsy finally got to see the ground at our house for the first time since she's come home, we got the ice coating last night.

I think if there's one thing I hate about living in C. Ohio compared with my time spent at MSU, it's definitely the ice. Up there we got much more snow and I can deal with all the snow in the world just so long as I don't have to slide my way around the backyard or hammer at the car windshield trying to get the cracking/scraping process started.

Well, despite the wintry conditions, lambing is in full swing now out at the family farm. With 13 lambs down, we're about halfway through the process and these little bundles of joy are the inspirational reminder that winter really does have expiration date. Lots of people like to wait until spring to drop lambs, but with ours lambing indoors, we can afford to lamb early and it's days like today that I'm grateful for that. If the weather gets ugly tonight and meetings get cancelled, you'll find me out on the farm with my mom moving fencing as we prepare to welcome more lives into this world. Pictures to follow, but for now I've included one from a couple years ago.

ADSA news

From my e-newsletter with ADSA, I refer you to a good article on the challenges that some "more humane" bird facilities face during this time of year. I think it's really important for people to fully understand the consequences of their ideology, and how much it sometimes just doesn't make sense.

Speaking of not making sense, the driving force behind cheap food is talking about making healthier food cheaper. It just seems like a high percentage of the people who shop Wal-mart do it because they can get more food for less money, thus eating more. Making your food healthier won't change the fact that people come there, buy too much and subsequently eat too much. Changing consumer action will make a bigger difference than the quality of your food. If you asked me, Wal-mart could do with focusing on fresher produce first.

Ag Thesaurus

For those of my readers who rarely know what the heck I'm talking about, try out this updated agricultural thesaurus. And for those of you who are just fascinated by the ways in which words have changed over the years, it's a fun little reference tool.

It's a pretty quiet week for me. Being so busy with school has kept my head in the books, and with abstracts pending in 3 weeks and exams just finished, I'm just keeping my head above water. We also started lambing out at our place last night, dropping twins and a single. Animals always seem to build energy off of each other, because it wasn't long after the lambs dropped that the steers jumped the fence and starting running around.

Speaking of the steers, these are probably the nicest steers I have seen in a while on our place. Combining that with how well they handle for my younger brother, this should be a great show year. They are growing and look very healthy; seeing the profile yesterday against the perfect snow was beautiful. It's days like that that I miss living out on the farm.

Mike Rowe on castration

Nothing more needs said other than I think this is a great talk by Mike Rowe. Listen to it, and think about how it applies to the misconceptions that we have about what is really better for the animals. And who better to know what's good for animals than the ones who take care of them 365 days a year.

On it goes...

Barilla pasta became the first big pasta-maker to join the cage-free egg movement. Whether or not they were pressured into it or bought out by HSUS, we'll probably never know. But what I do know is that they represent just one in a huge wave of propaganda conquests by HSUS as they buy, force or lie their way into the forefront of animal rights idiocracy. I think it's great that Barilla cares so much about the welfare of chickens, but maybe before they force more of the market production to convert to cage-free production, they might've wanted to ask whether or not cage-free is really a better system for the bird. For further reading on the matter, check out this OSU compilation on the welfare of birds in both systems. You might just be surprised.

While we're at the old grind of trying to spread facts to the few who care to elevate about media-hyped fiction, try out this sow housing fact sheet released by the USDA and ARS. I found it to be a more honest and unbiased evaluation of the current situation and research. In class today, we discussed the highly controversial issues surrounding the care and euthanasia of pigs. I understand the concern with animal welfare. As long as there are people beating animals, we have not done enough. But what frustrates me is the momentum from video releases which are used to push for irrational methods of caring for animals, such as untested swine housing, lack of castration, castration with anesthetics which are more detrimental to the piglet than the surgery, and utopic descriptions of how a pig should be allowed to act to exhibit "normal" behavior. For those of you who haven't seen pigs, don't watch their normal behavior - it will make a bad impression (ever seen Old Yeller?).

Finally, I have just two topics that border gross for me. First is the suspected live burial of pigs during the spread of foot and mouth disease in Korea. Foot and mouth disease is a horrible disease which spreads much faster than the vaccine would be able to work. While Compassion advocates the vaccine, you need to understand that the animals in question were obviously already afflicted with the disease. They should obviously have been euthanized prior to burial but they were not going to be saved one way or another.

And then there's the Dutch guy who thinks we should eat bugs. What do animal rights activists think about this? What a tasty alternative to bacon, eh?

FS's take on the new veterinary oath

Farm Sanctuary's blog had a thought provoking post about the new veterinary oath and previous "research" that they had conducted on the opinions of veterinarians. Their blog is worth the read if you're interested in this type of thing and since they never post my comments, I have included below:

"Gene,

"Curious, but when was 2% response rate on over 69,000 veterinarians considered an acceptable number to claim that "80% of veterinarians considered gestation crates objectionable"? Considering the fact that this was also a mail survey, that means that people who replied were likely highly opinionated participants and you didn't capture the true essence of the population.

"Secondly, I think you'll find if you conducted a qualified mail survey that veterinarians weren't objecting to adding "welfare" to their oaths for any reason other than fear that animal rights activists and supporters would mislead and misconstrue that oath to the public. Veterinarians have always had the implied obligation to protect an animal's welfare as it pertains to their health; as a health professional it is within their duty and they act on this responsibility. Adding "welfare" to their oath was in my own opinion overkill and unnecessary."

Our new dog, Betsy (duplicate post)

It's official, we've finally adopted a dog. She's about 2 years old, a hound mix, with 2 bundles of energy and a bit of a bad habit to whine which she picked up copying all the other dogs at the shelter. Hopefully we'll be able to train that out of her because she's picked up a lot of other things we've taught her even in the last 14 hours, like sitting, not jumping on people and staying off the furniture (although she tries to sneak past you on that last one).

She's a pretty curious little dog (about 30 lbs.) and ferocious with her toys. Out of all the toys we bought for her, she's demolished everything except for the indestructible pig which she doesn't like as much because, go figure, it's indestructible. Anyhow, we've finally made good on our goal to adopt a dog, and the people we worked with, "Pets Without Parents" were easygoing and prompt with paperwork, most importantly not selling the dog out from underneath us. Most importantly, we can't wait to take her out to the folks' places and let her run some and get some introductions to other animals.

Doggies! (duplicate post)

We're headed over to another pet adoption place tonight and the ball is rolling on new paperwork. Amanda found some new dog options, two of which we're headed to look at tonight. First though, you have to see the picture of this adorable little beagle/chihuahua mix. Of course, that's a bit smaller than we wanted, so it's not really an option for us, but if you want, it's still waiting for a home.

So the two dogs we are going to look at tonight are pretty similar in a few ways. Both have interesting names, "Keegan" and "Betsy Boop", but who says naming your dog has to be boring? Both are about the same size, cost, colors, and health status. Now we just have to see them and interact with them to see whether or not they actually fit for us.

Of course, this is a no-kill shelter, which is nice, but still means that we're not really saving a puppy from being put down. However, we are looking at adopting a dog without a home, and that's a really good feeling for me. Time will tell how much work will go into having a pet and whether or not we were totally ready for it. But I think all the preparation in the world still can't leave you fully prepared for the unknown. We are ready enough, financially stable and this is a nice/fun step for us in our relationship as well.

Hopefully not Food for Thought

A couple of videos to mull over as the issue of animal care and how it is provided continues to be discussed and relevant in today's world.

In class today, one of the students brought up this man's crazy stunt of "living" with the lions for a month to raise money for his animal sanctuary. Besides the fact that his shelter actually doesn't provide sanctuary for the animals where they can function normally, his plan really just doesn't make any sense. Luckily, he still does have a place where he can hide to protect himself - if he makes it there.



In case you needed a reminder of why you shouldn't climb into a pen with animals, let alone carnivores, check out this video below.



Or of course, there's the puffer fish that somehow is believed to have killed a man. If I was the wife, I'd be wondering why he ate the poison, or of course, maybe she already knows.

It was interesting in class though that as we talked about deceptive arguments and the methods used by activists to sway the middle ground, many of the things we denounce animal rights groups for doing, we've done or are doing ourselves. And the excuse that they were first doesn't make it any better that we also try to manipulate people's opinions. I think that same observation is reflected in a lot of the change in agricultural media at this point as we return to focusing on what we do, and why we do it instead of finger pointing and saying who's wrong and why. It's not that we're being simple and stupid; we just need to be honest because that's what people want and need more than anything.

De-barking

This was a concept I had barely even heard about before we discussed it yesterday in the animal issues class that I TA. As a little side note, I would like to congratulate all of the students in that class for taking it upon themselves to enroll in a non-required class (but fulfills a GEC) that discusses such complicated topics. These are students who truly show for the most part an interest in learning things in college instead of just checking off requirements before they leave. Yesterday, I talked to an aviation major in the class, just one example of the diversity we have in the class and hopefully that will lead to a lot of healthy discussion.

Debarking dogs can be done for many reasons. First on my mind was a beagle or the deaf dog in our house last year, but apparently there are more complex interests in debarking of dogs than just the annoying metronome of dogs who haven't learned to shut up. Most interesting to me was the fact that Ohio is the only state to have a law that prohibits the debarking of vicious dogs. It would seem that there were actually people who debarked attack/guard dogs in order to still protect themselves but give the dog the benefit of surprise. Law enforcement officers found this especially troublesome for obvious reasons.

What bothers me about the debarking of dogs is the surgery and the fact that it permanently inhibits the dog's ability to vocalize. I understand this is the goal of the procedure and I'm sure there are dogs which this procedure must be performed on, dogs that have no self-control and raise complaints from neighbors, etc. There does come a point where the dog will either have to be given up or debarked for its own good. And when you reach that point and there has been no way to prevent the dog from incessant barking, then I think that debarking becomes a justifiable procedure. There was no way to previously predict the dog would behave this way and to get rid of the dog would provide less quality of life than the alternative of just removing the ability to misbehave in a way in which will result in the dog's movement to a shelter or unfamiliar home. This is just one more of those tough choices that has to be made by the people who have taken the responsibility of caring for the animal. The animal depends on these people to do the best that they can for it, and sometimes they might determine that debarking is necessary. That's just one more fact of life, and it's better than the dog having to settle into a new home or shelter.

Pet Surgeries

Today in the class that I TA, we spent a lot of time discussing elective surgeries on animals and the various things that happen to both small and large animals. The idea was to get the class thinking and discussing what makes a surgery ok, or acceptable, and what doesn't.

Of course, beyond the agricultural processes (some of which I agree with and some, like tail-docking of dairy cattle which serves no scientific purpose I do not support), this also led to ethical considerations in pets. We talked about the de-clawing process and how this actually removes a bit of the bone from each digit on a cat and destroys their ability to act on their instincts.

Of course, if you were to ask animal rights activists what they thought about cat de-clawing, they'd probably not give you an answer. They don't want involved in a sticky issue like that. Of course, they might say that they think it is a wrong-doing towards the animal but they are much more concerned with letting domesticated livestock loose to be free in the wild (even though they will die from inability to care for themselves) than helping pet owners better understand the alternatives to de-clawing.

I'm not saying I disagree with the de-clawing process, of course. I actually think it is a great option if you can't find another way to prevent your cat from tearing up the furniture, and especially if that cat will not end up outside or abandoned later, struggling to cope with the fact that its claws can't help feed it or protect it anymore. Instead, what I am saying is that there are painful procedures which go on all around us in the world today. Some of these are more obvious, like the dehorning of calves or castration of pigs. But these can be necessary procedures, just like the de-clawing of a troublesome cat. These procedures all serve to protect other animals that might be in proximity of the cows, or pigs, or housecat.

We're all in this together, and at some point, reason must prevail. We can't just keep thinking that what we do makes sense to everyone else. If we don't speak up, eventually it will be too late to state our opinion. I know you hear this all the time, but it really is important not only to figure out what you think on critical animal care issues, but then to help educate those around you. If you need an example of how ridiculous some people can get, just look at this:

Recycling

I think I lost a lot of readership when I got bitter over the past month. This post isn't gonna get them back. Bitterness is always just one skip and a fall past sarcasm, and since I thrive on sarcasm I'm always on that tightrope. Of course, besides all the stress of the past few months, I actually don't have anything to be truly bitter about. A month ago, I was pretty sure that I would be searching for a new advisor, ignored by my current one and stagnating in the office where all good brains will finally die out. However, all good things come around eventually, and the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter. I have things to do again (which of course means less cheap posts on here).

Now, life for me this new year is really about the same, except that it's different and stimulating enough that I've tried to get my attitude back in order. My educational aspirations took a hitch in the plans right away but the start was still fast and it's good to really feel like I'm getting something done again. It's no New Year's resolution. No, it's just me getting turned back around and headed down a road with sunshine for a while. Cynicism has its place in every conversation, without doubt, but I need to cut mine a bit short here for a while. Otherwise everyone who reads this will think that I just hate the world.

It's hard sometimes not to be angry or apathetic with the world though. Take recycling, for example. Farmers are earth's recyclers, helping to protect the animals that can take inedibles and make food, helping to grow food from the ground which can sustain life, and then turning around and restoring that land so that it can be as fertile as possible. They work all the time to make land livable, but then once it's livable, the people come in and take it over, eat it up and trash it. But is the world to blame, or is it just a lot of people in the world?

It feels like the Bill Peet book, "Wump World", where everything is on a downward spiral until we finally realize that it's too late to fix the mess we made. It continues to shock me that there are people who care more about saving a cat than helping save their planet. But is it because they don't care about the planet, or because they know that if they save an animal there is a tangible change? This is a change that all of us can really see, we can really feel. And that is the change that is most fun to make. Like casting off an addiction, the difference that you physically make in the world can have more long-term rewards than the stack of paper you put in a bin and never saw again. And there's the hope to this world.

Apathy is the worst disease and will probably take the longest time to find the cure. Like cancer, it eats away at our feelings and our bodies until nothing matters to us anymore. We are desensitized to the pain and need around us, unable to enjoy the happy moments because we have settled into the status quo, willing to let time and trouble pass us by. And if we don't even care about ourselves, then how can we care about the planet?

I do my part to recycle, and I think it matters that much more to me now that I don't have the green grass and wide spaces to enjoy every day. Recycling has almost become my one way of working for the betterment of the earth; my promise to myself that I won't let my lifestyle hurt the planet any more than is inevitable. Amanda thought I was crazy at first, but even she has the recycling gene in her and so we do it. Thankfully, OSU has recycling dumpsters on campus which allow us to do our part. Sure, even recycling has its skeptics and I never know what to believe about the true impact of what I tried to save anymore, but all I can do is listen to the experts and save the stuff I'm supposed to save, hoping that someone else is doing their part too. Are you? Do some simple things, that you've been told all your life to do your part to slow down our destruction of the planet. Reduce your waste, re-use what you can (it's even better than recycling) and then recycle whatever else is possible. Try it, and see if it isn't worth your time.

Pet Shelters - Part II (duplicate post)

I could've also titled this "Why We Won't Adopt from Franklin County Animal Shelter", but then this would've seemed like what it really is. After the caring and second chances that we gave to the animals and volunteers at the Franklin County Animal Shelter, they turned around and stabbed us in the back.

On Thursday night, Amanda and I went on a date to the county shelter and had a negative experience that I had thought we salvaged into a future for a return visit for a specific dog we've had our eyes on. Well, check out her webpage today, noticing that she is "adopted" and it's not by us. Even though we filled out an application for Desiree on Thursday night and weren't allowed to put her on hold because she was in observation for zoonotic parasites, they gave her away last night to someone else who came in off the street and picked her out of a lineup of cages.

We called in this morning and there's really nothing that the shelter can say to fix things for us. We were told that the dog wouldn't be ready until last night or this morning and last night wasn't really a good option for us. Assuming that our application for the dog would be respected, we called in today to find out that the "adoption" tag wasn't for us but for someone else. It's disappointing and a huge let-down. It takes a lot to get worked up for a big move like adopting a dog, and we were ready today. The crash afterward was a bit difficult, but mostly because I was so angry with them for giving the dog away. It's not like we can take her back from a good home now, but I'm still angry about it.

Needless to say, we won't be returning there, just as I predicted. We don't have time to waste with incompetence and insensitivity or lack of responsibility and follow-through. We're moving on, looking for more dogs, so if you have any suggestions, I'm open.

Toxins in Germany

News is nothing if untimely, so forgive the brevity but I thought this link was worth posting on my blog. In another example of the critical need for food security, Germany is investigating the feeding of toxins to livestock that has already disrupted trades with 2 countries and possibly led to contaminated products in the UK. Nothing is more scary than having to question whether or not your food and water are safe to consume. This is why farmers here in the US go to such great lengths to protect their animals and crops and why there are so many government regulations in the food supply.

"My Empire of Dirt" (duplicate post)

Today I finished one of my Christmas books, from Amanda's parents, "My Empire of Dirt" by Manny Howard. If you recall, it was this past summer when I blogged about seeing his book review on the Colbert Report. While, of course, some of you don't think it advisable to take book recommendations from the great Colbert, this one in particular interested me for a few reasons.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Manny Howard
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> Video Archive

1) Manny Howard tried to raise his own food in Brooklyn, New York. As a person involved in agriculture, I wanted to see what his experiences turned out like; his interview indicated that they were diverse, expensive and challenging.

2) Manny talked in his interview about how underpaid farmers truly are. While I'm sure there is a journalist's exaggeration stored up in there as well, he had a point that I wish more people understood. Farmers are subsidized so that the public doesn't have to pay as much for their food as they should have to, and people today just don't realize how much that is. People go on and on about subsidies and how they are protecting farmers, but the truth is that these same subsidies protect the people as much or more than they protect the farmers. And in this current market, food prices will go up; be prepared for it.

3) In his interview, he exhibited a unique sense of humor that I imagined would be equally entertaining in his book.

So let me tell you about my thoughts on this book after reading it...

Manny Howard is as easily distracted in his book as he is on camera. The very definition of ADD, this book is not good for someone who has trouble keeping track of weaving plot lines or conversational asides. If I could do one thing for this book, I would at least keep it strictly chronological in the real-life recounting of his activities on the farm. His division by topics is good but I like to see the whole-picture of timing as well and sometimes that falls by the wayside. His book is also laced with a bit of foul language, but frankly that doesn't bother me because in today's cultural context, it just goes to accurately show the extremity of emotional experiences he and his counterparts went through during his farming experiment.

Slight criticisms aside, I loved this book. It is fun to read a book and almost watch a man go through the same harsh learning experiences and realities that many inexperienced urbanites (myself included at one time) go through during an introduction to agrarian lifestyle. His opinion on locavorism is also refreshing and realistic. Not only that but he does a really good job of jumping right into the necessary mentality and struggling through his labor, approaching even the repulsive tasks of slaughter and manure management as requirements for a true agricultural experience. The fact that all of this happens in Brooklyn makes the story that much more hilarious and I enjoyed his inclusions of funny asides related to this as well. This book was a great and easy read.

Pet Shelters - Part I (duplicate post)

I had quite the frustrating first encounter with the Franklin County Animal Shelter. Amanda drove over 2 hours to the Franklin County Animal Shelter last night. I drove over and hour. The weather was terrible but we had emailed ahead about the dog and indicated we would be near closing and wanted to see a specific dog. They never noted any of that.

While I was still lost and sliding on the road, Amanda was already in an altercation with a piss-poor volunteer who refused to even acknowledge our attempts to support their efforts and the animals with simple cordiality. I don't care how bad your day is, you don't treat me and my wife that way.

Once I arrived, I went back in, bringing Amanda with me. I bypassed the malcontent and addressed an older, heavy man behind the security glass. He informed me that we were too late and we could only see the dog within its cage. That's better than nothing, but then he found out that our dog was diagnosed with a zoonotic disease over a week prior and that we couldn't see her. Both the fact that the place restricted access to animals at a certain time of day, and the fact that the dog we specifically inquired about was not visitable would have been great things to include in the response email. Terrible "customer" service wouldn't begin to describe the shameful atmosphere we endured, all in the name of love for stray animals.

If you were getting paid to adopt a dog, I might recommend this shelter right now. Unfortunately, this is where we found a dog we were interested in. Thus, this is where we have to return if we want to see this dog again. If this dog is out, you will probably not see me there ever again. Other shelters treat people better and I'd rather support their efforts.

Farewell from Strickland

I have to say that I'm going to miss having a governor who made such efforts to take care of animal agriculture in the state of Ohio and to respect the deals he brokered to protect them. Check out this effort of his to follow-through on his work with OFBF and HSUS...

Brace yourself

As calamities compound, the world food price will continue to rise with supply shortages. It's amazing to me how quickly Econ 201 comes back to me. I can just see those diagrams of apples and lines are various as the DC freeway system defiling what had started out as a perfectly normal graph. Well, just in case you doubted why it's worth keeping food production here in the US, this would be one of those good reasons. Agriculture keeps pulling this economy along.

And for your reading, check out this BBC article on GM pigs to reduce phosphorus build-up. We discussed this in class last quarter and the idea is very exciting, although the reality has yet to be charted.

Welfare updates

My gateway email took me to some interesting animal welfare links but I'm going have to wait to share them with you until the website is working correctly again. I understand it's a great project that they are tasking themselves with, to combine and share the world's animal welfare news, but somedays the site is so ineffective and slow that I can't do anything with it. Today it didn't even load.

On December 15th, HSUS released another "undercover" movie for which another "undercover" reporter was not prosecuted despite the fact that he/she witnessed animal abuse and neglected to correct or report it. Smithfield however has been very active in handling the issue and I think all is well in hand there.

This leads directly into the 3rd in a series by a reporter who toured a farm that was victimized by the HSUS and their cronies. He further contends that it is inaccurate portrayal in the videos based on what he saw there. If you haven't read his previous posts, you can find them in my previous blog entries in the last couple of weeks. He does a great job of unbiased reporting - something that many reporters could take a few lessons in.

Panda Cow (duplicate post)

Yeah, I didn't really believe this either when I first heard about it, but sure enough it does kinda look like a more friendly and probably more edible version of the panda. If you follow the link for the ABC article or Fox article you can see a better picture of one as a baby (there was just one born), but just follow Google Images for more pics that are easier to see.

I would hesitate to call this an actual breed at this point in time since they aren't really reproducing yet (notice it's mother doesn't look like it). Thus it's a crazy set of genes, but not a new breed of cattle as claimed by the ever-knowing ABC.

As an afterthought, I have no idea what's going on in this picture from a BBC website...

Continuing story

Just in case you're worried it's been forgotten, here's the brief update on the abandoned pig farm in Pennsylvania.

No honesty

I could've probably labeled this post "HSUS" since it would've been a synonymous title, but who really would've wanted to read a post with that title? Let's talk for a few minutes about the past couple of weeks worth of reports and commentary stemming from the ADSA e-newsletter I receive. Feedstuffs does a really great job of combining relevant articles and attracting attention to critical issues in their assistance to this e-newsletter and the last couple of weeks have been especially good so I'm just going to have time to share briefly the best of the lot, because I think that these all link together nicely.

It wasn't too long ago that HSUS released yet another video of a bunch of alleged poultry abuse and neglect on a farm in Texas. Well, the UEP invited reporters to visit this same farm on an unguarded tour of the whole facility. They were free to ask any question, take any picture and record any video. Of course, HSUS didn't solicit any of this media for their own benefit, but I think this reporter would argue that's because it all turned out to be a lie. (And in case you think it's possible to clean up a farm's act in that short of time, let me just say it can't happen. It would've been easier to just go out of business and restart than to clean up a bad act that fast).

I recommend you to read both parts of this farm visit, starting with an introduction and then more of the specific critiques in the second one. The reporter's best statement in the entire thing might be near the beginning when he says that he felt betrayed by HSUS for having been giving such faulty media for release and coverage. So it seems that nobody really likes being played, not even the media.

Of course, while we're in the habit of discrediting HSUS and their claims, we probably ought to also examine the new reports about foodborne illness incidence in the US. With new reports just released, indicating significantly lower illness occurrence than previously cited, that takes just one more bite out of the dog.

Finally, let's take a look at HSUS's past work. Prop 2 in California still sits as a relatively useless piece of legislation that is more of a legal excuse to neglect animals than it is a regulation for improved care of animals. And this is why a farm in California has petitioned for a true ruling on what this law means. If they'd have had a Care Standards Board, these things might've been more clearly defined by experts in the industry who care about animal care, rather than self-obsessed activists with little regard for the animals they steal money on behalf of. For a video feed on the chicken farm who petitioned for this clearer legialation, click here.

Share this...

... with anyone interested in reading what an objective personality had to say about their tour at one of the largest meat packing companies in the world. She really got in and saw the whole process and wrote what I would consider a stark contrast to the lies spread around by the HSUS and other scamming organizations. But don't hear it from me. Read what this dietitian and "Food Network" host had to say.

I'm still a skeptic...

... but this is the best anyone's been able to make him sound yet. Maybe now that Kasich is governor he's just finally able to hire good PR staff.

All I really want to know is how he thinks that removing regulation will decrease the incidence of the "few bad apples". If they can't be stopped with regulation, then how do you expect to put them out of business and stop them from ruining it for the rest of us? And the better question (usually posed by the opposition) is if the good farmers are really the "good apples", then why is the regulation a problem in the first place? Maybe the "common sense" that Kasich intends to add back to Ohio government should include simple common sense in the administration of already existing good legislature.

The end of a boycott

I knew this was coming, but it still feels a bit weird for me to say that today I went back to Chipotle and ate a huge burrito with some fantastic chips. I've been craving and when Amanda suggested it today, I finally made the leap and returned to the light. Let's be honest, the food there is delicious.

For those of you still holding out, you might call me a traitor. However, I did some reading on my own over the past few months and while Chipotle's own intentions are not clear besides the obvious desire to sell product and make money, it is clear that they have limited intentions in supporting HSUS. Of course, since Chipotle doesn't in fact support HSUS, I have little bone to pick with them and thus I was able to justify breaking the fast and consuming their good food today.

It took a while for everything to come out of the wash on this issue, and I think there are still a lot of people in the dark, but it was really when I started going back through the compiled readings I did for my previous blog post and then the outlandish claims by Humane Watch on the issue that I realized some points had truly been pushed too far. So let me put it plain and you can do your own reading and make up your own mind.

Last year when HSUS was campaigning heavily (and often sub-legally) for their ballot initiative which disregarded the people of Ohio's opinion, Chipotle was named as one of their campaign contributors. In the backlash that ensued, I became one of the boycotters, despite claims by Chipotle themselves that they didn't financially support HSUS. However, I can now understand where Chipotle's own views did come into play with their donation to HSUS's campaign. While they don't support the organization, they do and have for a while now supported the use of higher standards of food production than are standard in the industry right now. I can respect this because it is a company choice, and frankly, the consumers are paying for it. Further, Chipotle's food prices aren't unreasonable and so I am willing to pay for it as well from a "I like their food and flavor" standpoint. Chipotle supporting the HSUS campaign was just their way of saying that they stand by their viewpoint on animal production and they wanted to put a financial backing on an issue which supported their viewpoint.

Where Chipotle went wrong is that they have assumed many things that aren't necessarily true. They assumed that the ballot was really as well-intended as HSUS proposed it was. They assumed that the ballot would really effective improve animal welfare. They assumed that the lies that HSUS was pushing around about the ineffectiveness of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board were true. They assumed that the methods of livestock care supported by HSUS truly improve animal welfare. None of these things are true or have been shown to be true, and some quite to the contrary. But I can't fault a company for good intentions and they differ from a company like Yellow Tail because their contributions were for different reasons.

And so I ate Chipotle today...

Antibiotic resistance continued

For those interested, the FASS hosted an antibiotics webinar last week and it is now posted online. I apologize that the notification slipped through the cracks or I would've posted it ahead of time. Regardless, there are interesting discussions to the same extent as other articles and research I have previously posted. What we really need though is to take the talking to the next level of action towards a change.

On a totally different note, who on earth thought that they could steal cattle and get away with it? This isn't the wild west, fortunately for the perpetrators who are in jail instead of being dealt with the old-fashioned way. If you really want a laugh, read the ignorant comments below the story.

LED Sheep

Courtesy of Amanda, here's a light-hearted sheep video to spice up the blog for the holidays. Enjoy!

Symposium uploaded

For any readers interested, the symposium is finally uploaded and available here. I especially recommend listening to both Grandin and any others that interest you. All of them are worth the listening if you have the time.

Finals Week Fun

There's nothing quite like the life you get when you've been freed of the books and studying chaining you all quarter. Even getting up EARLY this week hasn't been able to put a damper on my mood although a severe cold is doing its best. So let me tell you about a couple of my days back in the research loop so you can understand what I do, and maybe also give you an idea of the efforts we put in to protect the food chain.

Yesterday I was up before dawn thought about the day. We met on campus and left in the truck around 5.30 to head North to a pig farm where we would be collecting samples starting at 7.00. This research is specifically for finding ways to better handle and treat pigs so that they are less stressed on a daily basis. Not only is stress reduction important to the consumer, but it is important to the farmers because they want to keep their animals as healthy as possible.

After sample collection, helping to save a pig from the abuse of its pen-mates and saying goodbye to the farmer, we were headed back to campus. I grabbed a quick shower and then hung out until I had a meeting in the afternoon. After the meeting I went downstairs to learn how to make the plug-ins for the thermometer we use in some experiments. This was frustrating work, but thankfully all I was doing was learning so in the time I made 1 successfully, Katie had made 5. At the end of a 12 hour day, I went home to Amanda and finally got to relax for the rest of the evening before an early bedtime in preparation for this morning.

This morning was pig slaughter/harvest. Because it's the end of the quarter, there were less students on the floor, but their vacancy was taken up by some researchers and their visiting colleagues from my alma mater who were collecting liver, jejunum and duodenum samples for a variety of research purposes. This just goes to further emphasize the critical value of animal by-products in the world around us.

My job this morning was to singe the hair and scape any remaining hair from the skin of the pig. Hair can harbor bacteria which can later infect people, and even though we don't eat the skin, the skin comes into the meat lab where food products will be fabricated, so it's crucial to make sure we keep the area as sterile as possible. The removal of hair is so important and time-consuming that half of the crew today was dedicated solely to this purpose, with me at the end of the line, singing what hadn't already been spun off the skin or shaved by 4 people with knives. Following the end of harvest, we then proceeded to scrub down every inch of the facility, sterilizing and sanitizing the living daylights out of it to prevent any bacterial growth before the next time we use it.

For the rest of today, I'll be reading journal articles on subjects that potentially could be in my field of research next summer. All just a couple of days in my life...

Praise from the Secretary

I think it's really wonderful to be involved in the industry that USDA Secretary Vilsack cited as "leading this country's recovery". Everyone needs and deserves to be able to eat and America's farmers should be proud to have that responsibility. Those numbers don't look too bad either.

Also, for a really great read building on that blatantly erroneous (no wonder they struggle to stay in business) New York Times cheese article, read this...

It's nice to see that HSUS is doing great things with its money. Especially seeing as how they just won that community refresh funding from Pepsi for saving cats and dogs.

And that's all for today. I hope it's a great one for you!

Antibiotics discussion

The State News never supports healthy discussion that disagrees or might sway readers against their own self-proclaimed liberalism. However, in the interest of freedom of speech and thought, I will post mine here for your benefit in response to the latest antibiotic opinion column. All I did below was compile research published in journals. That's not just going to Google and copying the first article you see. Journals are refereed by research peers who don't usually have the same viewpoints as you, but they check to see if you have researched and concluded in a way in which is scientifically justifiable. Enjoy.

"For a picture of how banning antibiotics will play out, I refer you to the case of Denmark which is now standing out some years from when their bans were put in place in the mid-90's. Their bans were pushed for by the media, the consumers and the politicians, yet the ideological benefits of banning the antibiotics are either not present or non-convincing from a statistical standpoint. This is important when you weigh out the fact that the number of hog farms in Denmark are anticipated to dwindle from 25,000 to 5,000 by the year 2015. Not only have the benefits of banning antibiotics not been seen as they were promised, but now the industry has moved on, leaving people without jobs and without a better prospect in life, which far overshadows the fear of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

"What the contributor in the most recent antibiotic opinion column fails to observe is that there are different types of bacteria. Growth-promoting antibiotics counteract gram-positive bacteria while the bulk of the rising number of antibiotic resistant cases are caused by gram-negative bacteria. Banning growth-promoting antibiotics which are fed on a daily basis will have no impact on the resistance of gram-negative bacteria because of how differently the bacteria function. The faulty reasoning contributing to the bans resulted in outbreak infections increasing instead of the consumer anticipated decrease. Even in the case of those bacteria which could increase in resistance, there has been a rise in their infection rates post-ban as well since the growth promoters also contribute to a cleaner kill floor with less GI ruptures, etc., since they are keeping the GI tract healthier.

"In the end, in an antibiotic free Denmark, there has been in increase in infection and no change in resistance. Just because the consumer always gets what they want, that doesn't mean they are always right or that life will get better for them. They are just ignorantly blissful because they have swallowed sugar-coated lies."

This is why I blog

Sometimes I blog because I want to share thoughts, but then other times, this same blog can serve as an outlet for my inner monologue, those thoughts that I want to shout out but better judgment helps me retain.

Such is the case today as I read the Farm Sanctuary's latest post. Frankly, I don't mind linking you to their posts because I think that their compassion for animals is admirable, and their efforts are almost reasonable enough that I would frankly rather them get the attention than other less deserving organizations. But what I do detest is the active use of a plethora of emotional words in their blog in order to blind the public from considering the rational truth of a topic.

Yes, there are farmers that fail to care for their animals in the way in which they should. But this aggravates the rest of the farming population as much or more than it does the people who complain to the media about it. And these same aggravated farmers are the ones who continue to care for their animals in the best way that they can, and the best way that science has shown them to, while they actively pursue the weeding out of those few bad egg farmers in the batch. Nobody wants to do business with a bad farmer, but just the same, none of us want to have a bunch of activists trying to cram lies down the throats of the public, which is why we'd rather fix the consumer concerns ourselves with proper self-regulation and research-proven techniques for better animal care.

Deceitful propaganda didn't end up serving the needs of it proponents in the past nor will it end with the success that animal activists are wishing for. In the end, the truth will be known for what it is, and it's best for animal activists to stop exaggerating their lies beyond reason.

But for today, I had this blog for my out-channel of frustration so I have included below what I decided not to post in a comment box:

"Merciless and violent slaughter? Your use of emotional words proves your inability to accurately, rationally and logically assess a situation, and/or it demonstrates your willingness to blow fact into the wind to drive readers toward your venomous embrace."

As an after-thought, I'm not sure I would actually even want to have a merciful employee on the slaughter line. If they were merciful, does that also mean they would be prone to regret and not do a proper job, thus leading to a more painful and incorrectly performed kill?

Feminism and Veganism

Courtesy of Jackie, I have the chance to get just a little bit more vocal and opinionated today. MSU recently had author Carol Adams in to talk about how closely linked feminism and veganism are in the modern world. Of course it would make sense that the same people who are unwilling to accept that they have been more than equals in the US for a long time now (why else would I as a white male be a minority?) would be the same people who might want to align their efforts with another irrational underdog in the way of veganists and their avid animal activism. What they fail to realize is that while veganism and animal rights may be a current topic of debate, focusing on feminism merely degrades women in today's time since most women are functioning as equals in the modern world unless they try to make a big deal about being a woman. It's only once a woman advocates feminism that they actually degrade their value in the public's eyes, because it proves that they can't get out of the past and move on to accept the new status that they've been arguing for for decades.


Adams also talked about the pornography of meat. I would be lying if I told you I was attracted Lady Gaga in her photos of the meat dress (gag). Does that mean I don't like to eat meat? No, I love to eat meat, and have never before linked women and meat together in my life, and I doubt I'm in a minority here. But I can tell you one person who has Lady Gaga as his profile picture right now, for who knows what reason.


And then who better to represent MSU on the subject of Feminism and Veganism that SPAR and their very own Mitch Goldsmith (President of MSU SPAR). Of course, he's not actually a female, despite the fact he's pumped up on estrogen from high soy consumption as a result of his veganism, but since he thought he could get a word in on stopping meat consumption he stuck his face in the news this week and the liberal State News obliged as always.

Now, I had no doubt Mitch would eventually find himself in a leadership role in this radical organization. He's rude, inconsiderate, highly opinionated, unable to exhibit intelligence or debate intelligibly and has a major that could only result in his placement in a sub-standard organization campaigning for something unreasonable (animal rights). (Disclaimer - there is a difference between animal welfare and animal rights, I support greater welfare, but animals rights is a ridiculous concept in terms of economics, philosophy and general practicality).

The last time Mitch and I ran into each other wasn't exactly a positive interaction. I patiently waited for over a half hour as he continuously ignored me in my attempt to ask a question of the PETA VP. His mistake would in turn be costly as it gave me the time to formulate a much more pointed question which ended with the PETA VP Dan Matthews embarrassing himself at his own pep rally.

Veganism (as a form of activism as it was proposed by Carol Adams according to the State News) and feminism only have one thing in common. They are both supported by radicals who make little or nil logical sense in their attempts to propagate viewpoints that do nothing but insult their intelligence. Feminism had a place in this world once, but combining it with veganism only detracts from both causes. Feminism combined with veganism only portrays women as the weaker sex who refuse to accept the ultimate reality that it takes life to support life. Veganism (and animals rights) combined with feminism results in an even less legitimate concept in animal rights by joining forces with an outdated concept which no longer applies to the modern world (the only part of the world where veganism and animal rights can attract favor).

Catchy Titles (duplicate post)

In an effort to capture a larger readership, I have been trying to work on my ability to attract attention with just the blog title. Mind you, that still means I need to retain attention within the blog, but that will come next. First I just want to trick you into reading my ramblings. So I've been roaming the web looking for catchy titles so that I will learn how to better attract attention to my own blog.

None does a better job of this than the video I embed below. The title got me interested immediately and then the picture (people dressed as polar bears) made me click and listen to the movie. In the end, I actually want to make some notes about this movie and my thoughts that surround it. I think this is characteristic of many activist groups - they are much better at capturing the attention of the public and blinding their reasoning with wittiness and emotions. This all starts with a title.



First off, congratulations to the group for capturing my attention and getting your point across. While your point lacks originality, the costumes are definitely a nice change from the nude protesters that frequent my own industry. But then I have to ask you, what exactly makes this a peaceful protest? You have trespassed private property, stormed control of the companies machinery and then locked yourself to the equipment. Does this really mean the protest was peaceful, just because you didn't assault the workers?

And then the locks. Nothing quite like a New York City bike lock to imply you mean to stay hitched for a while. I don't think there is a cause in the world for which I would lock my neck in a grip like that to anything. It's not that there aren't causes that I firmly believe in, it's that there is no way you'll catch me willingly placing myself into a position of such weakness. And as a final thought, I offer this video as a counter-point to why Polar Bears are going extinct. Thanks Gail!

New Ohio Ag Director

With the new Kasich change-up, a lot of things have to be determined in the next year to see how things will shake out. One of the new items of importance in Ohio agriculture is of course a new Ohio Agriculture Director. Regardless of the credentials of the incoming staff, one has to wonder how it will work out with HSUS and whether we will see the return of a ballot issue again next year. Of course, the last thing we need right now is to re-enter that uncertainty we had this summer with the ballot issue on the horizon and illegal signature collectors all over the state.

I can appreciate that Zehringer looks to be a hard-line director for Ohio agriculture, but hopefully he and Kasich can also work some moderation in there to keep us on the track towards gradual progress. Otherwise, all of the hard work we've put in towards progress in the livestock industry will be wasted.

Vilsack on Colbert

For those of you interested, you can hear how the Colbert interview of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack went down. Frankly, that cheese head looks a but more like Dick Cheney to me.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tom Vilsack
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Egg farm visit blog

This blogging mother decided to talk about the opportunity she had to visit a modern egg farm and see how her food was made. Thanks to the Animal Agriculture Alliance for sharing this link. What a great way to tell people about agriculture! If you want to make a visit, ask, and it can be arranged for you. If you've made a visit, contact me because I'd love to share your story.

Refresh Finalists

Thanks to those of you who voted, but sadly, the results of last month's Refresh voting are not reflective of your good intentions.

Sustainability

There's not a day that goes by where I don't either hear about doomsday predictions for the world or about how we're trying to increase our sustainability in the current world. I would agree that the environment and the state we maintain this world in are very important. This is why I have been such a big proponent of recycling, conservation and research for more sustainable future ever since my days in 4-H (which is where I was first introduced to the importance of the subject). Heck, I even took environmental science classes during my undergraduate career even though they were out of my major because they were subjects that interested me. However, when I was looking at the OSU Sustainability website and taking their survey today, I think there are still some items to consider which they aren't fully considering.

One of these is the organic and buying local initiative at OSU for their food supply. These two are so often lumped into the group, something that authors like Michael Pollan haven't done enough to distinguish, when in fact they are starkly different and can have quite a varying impact on the environment.

Sure, buying local is good, but it's not just good because of the transportation costs. Ideally, every area would be able to produce what people need, but this isn't possible or practical right now. It's important to consider that sometimes the larger, more distant farm is more economical and also more environmentally friendly in the long-run because they are better able to afford and enact environmental conservation business practices, as well as condense production to the extent that the impact on the environment is still reduced compared to strictly local production after adding in transport impacts. This is why for the time being, buying local is a good thing, but don't expect to be able to buy everything local because it all can't be grown local, and it's really ok to buy some stuff that is shipped distances as well. Different parts of the world have different specialties when it comes to food production and this production sharing allows us to have the opportunity to live healthier and to benefit from regions that can raise some food products more economically. It all just comes down to considering how we can best use the land we're given.

And then there's organic production. Organic farming seems like the utopic heaven of farming where we don't impact the land with "bad" chemicals and we only grow what we can do more naturally. Well, half of these myths are created by the ignorant public and media, and most of the rest are propagated by those who stand to profit. I'm not against organic farming as a consumer choice, but it's important to realize that this also can impact disease control and always results in less production on the same amount of space with the same amount of labor and resources. Is less efficient production really good for the environment?

As agricultural research leads to more environmentally beneficial stewardship techniques, I am sure we will see a combination of the concepts in GMOs, organics, local-growns, grass-feds, free-ranges and conventional farming techniques. But in the world we live in now, none of these are a perfect solution to the challenges we face, so I caution against doing what OSU seems to have done by jumping on the local and organic bandwagon and claiming that they are thus helping conserve our environment.