Fishy Business
Bait ban:
That is most certainly silly. Probably even idiotic. But not inherently dangerous.
This, however, is dangerous:
Politicians co-opting science and twisting it to please (and thus acquire "benefits" from) agenda-driven special interest groups is a very real and insidious threat to a freely elected government. They've been doing it for years with the likes of global warming and the pharmaceutical industry. They've put bicycle helmets on your kids' heads and forbidden you to carry toenail clippers on aircraft. Now they're trying to take the minnows off your hook and all the tasty bits out of your food.
I would say that the likes of PETA and environmental activists won't be happy until everyone is living in caves and eating a subsistence diet of organically-grown berries, but that simply wouldn't be true. Activists are never happy or even satisfied; that's why they're activists in the first place. Their need to change things stems from a first-rate inferiority complex. Accomplishing their goals merely creates in them an increased desire to change other things, as well. They aren't reformers at heart; they're fiddlers, always needing to turn the knobs and flip the switches. Unfortunately, so long as these organized busy-bodies have money to grease political palms, your so-called representatives are only too happy to oblige them.
As a rule of thumb, if a political special interest group deems something important, it's probably trivial or concocted. Similarly, when a politician invokes science, it's a safe assumption he's lying to you, has been misled by outside interests, or (most likely) some combination of both.
On second thought, revise that last sentence to read "when a politician speaks..."
___
(Tip of the fishing hat to Wizard)
Anglers [in Scotland] are to be banned from using live fish as bait after politicians decided it was cruel.
That is most certainly silly. Probably even idiotic. But not inherently dangerous.
This, however, is dangerous:
Green Party MSP Eleanor Scott, who is deputy convenor of the environment and rural affairs development committee and an architect of the Bill, said: "Anglers won't like me saying it, but fish do feel pain and we felt there was a cruelty issue here."
Yvonne Taylor, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the ban was a "massive first step" in the group's fight for [a similar ban] in the rest of Britain.
Scientists are divided on the issue of whether fish can feel pain.
Politicians co-opting science and twisting it to please (and thus acquire "benefits" from) agenda-driven special interest groups is a very real and insidious threat to a freely elected government. They've been doing it for years with the likes of global warming and the pharmaceutical industry. They've put bicycle helmets on your kids' heads and forbidden you to carry toenail clippers on aircraft. Now they're trying to take the minnows off your hook and all the tasty bits out of your food.
I would say that the likes of PETA and environmental activists won't be happy until everyone is living in caves and eating a subsistence diet of organically-grown berries, but that simply wouldn't be true. Activists are never happy or even satisfied; that's why they're activists in the first place. Their need to change things stems from a first-rate inferiority complex. Accomplishing their goals merely creates in them an increased desire to change other things, as well. They aren't reformers at heart; they're fiddlers, always needing to turn the knobs and flip the switches. Unfortunately, so long as these organized busy-bodies have money to grease political palms, your so-called representatives are only too happy to oblige them.
As a rule of thumb, if a political special interest group deems something important, it's probably trivial or concocted. Similarly, when a politician invokes science, it's a safe assumption he's lying to you, has been misled by outside interests, or (most likely) some combination of both.
On second thought, revise that last sentence to read "when a politician speaks..."
___
(Tip of the fishing hat to Wizard)
posted by Jar(egg)head at 15:13
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