Actually, the irritating roommate had a point. Beekeepers want the hive to survive, but inevitably bees are killed in the production of honey, and there’s no profit in preventing a small number of deaths. One beekeeper’s memoir I read described how her summer assistants would work themselves up to ten stings a day, deliberately administered (thus killing 10 bees a day), to inure themselves to the pain of the sting. If you start from the admittedly dubious position that a bee’s life is something worth serious protection, then avoiding honey is wise.
As for PETA’s taking the peta.org domain, that was wholly reasonable and within any sort of traditional trademark realm. The dude that registered generalmotors.com also had to give it up.
I agree with Gangster: PETA’s trolling distracts people from serious animal welfare issues, and even from serious animal rights arguments (such as those put forth by Tom Reagan). They’re an incredibly annoying organization, not least because people fall for their trolling so consistently.
As a beekeeper, I think the roommate is a moron (well, obviously). I, personally, want all my bees to survive and I try to manage my hives so they do. I, and all the other apiarists I know, avoid getting stung whenever possible. I feel bad every time I crush a bee (which happens pretty often) and try to avoid it at all costs.
Seriously? That’s interesting to me. How much inconvenience are you willing to go to to prevent the death of a single bee? My comments about deliberate stingings are based on Sue Hubbell’s A Book of Bees. Is her approach unusual, then?
I’m not saying the roommate was right to weep for the deaths of bees; I’m just saying that the production of honey does, as far as I know, require the death of a certain number of bees. I don’t weep for those bees when I eat honey.
That’s nonsense. I might fairly object to the morals of a man who kills a baby, without objecting to the morals of a tiger who kills a baby, or to the morals of a baby who somehow causes the death of another baby.
This is the first site I came across regarding what the HSUS really does. There are lots more, all you have to do is look for them. Those of us who are involved with animals have been aware for many years that the HSUS is as “concerned” for animals as PETA is.
I mentioned ActivistCash; you linked to their “umbrella” organization (in quotes because the operation’s really too tiny to talk about umbrella organization; it’s mostly just one dude who makes up a lot of different groups to throw people off the scent).
Here’s the main group. In addition to their campaigns against HSUS, they have other charming campaigns mocking the CDC’s warnings about obesity or a scientific study about elevated mercury levels in pregnant women who eat swordfish. Their major funders include CocaCola, Outback Steak House, Wendy’s, and Monsanto.
No, I haven’t. As I said, that was the first thing I ran across, and since I have no ide why you think that a group that is “a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries” would lie about the HSUS, it doesn’t appear that my link wasn’t worthwhile.
And, as I said, all you have to do is look at bit to find out the links between the HSUS and PETA, such as this one, which also has many other links (the scam alert one was interesting as I didn’t know that the Humane Society of the US spent money abroad), or this one, which isn’t all about HSUS but it does have several mentions.
Just spend some time looking, probably a lot less time than I would since I’m on dial-up. And I already know that the HSUS is no friend of animals, except occasionally by accident or to cover their tracks. The HSUS is no more a friend of animals than PETA is.
Damn, you’re a fuckin idiot. Because HSUS supports legislation calling for mandatory spay/neuter of animals brought for a second time to an animal shelter, they’re no friend of animals? That’s fuckin stupid, even for you.
And I needn’t spend time looking: when I worked for a local humane society for many years, I depended on the many resources HSUS made available to local unaffiliated groups. I’m very familiar with their positions and their attitudes, far more than you are.
I withdraw my earlier suggestion that you’d been duped. I shouldn’t have used the passive voice.
Edit: shit, I just watched your Youtube video. That “full page NYT ad” it touts? You’ll never guess what group paid for that ad! Other folks will, given my previous two posts, but you won’t. It all comes full circle.
Mostly because I had an asshole roommate while I was in the Navy who was very vocal about being in PeTA - but who also insisted on keeping a snake in our “no pets” apartment. And who took a positive glee in feeding live mice to it.
I just couldn’t take his position seriously, and his association with PeTA has colored my view of them ever since.
What’s worse, IMNSHO, is that I believe PeTA has done enough stuff on their own to confirm that original negative impression of their organization.
Yeah, LHOD is right – for the record, each and every site associated with the “Center for Consumer Freedom” is purely an astroturf organization created to protect and expand commercial interests at the expense of citizens and without regard to factual accuracy.
I’m not going to waste any time on you, particularly since you obviously have no desire to actually educate yourself. I will say that the fact that you worked for a local humane society has zero to do with the HSUS, since the HSUS has zero to do with your local shelters. I’ve been involved with animals for over 40 years, I understand the issues, like why legislation calling for the mandatory spay/neuter of any animal is wrong. You obviously are the typical man on the street, who falls for the flash and the lies.