![[SeMissourian.com]](http://www.t-g.com/images/nameplate.png)
|
|
Fair ~ High: 59°F ~ Low: 41°F |
|
Extreme stupidity
Posted Friday, June 19, 2009, at 12:44 PM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
It's the extremists who ruin everything for everybody. I'm a pet lover and I support animal rights, but when the PETA nutcases go after the president for swatting a fly, even I roll my eyes in disbelief.
I think, to some extent, extremism is healthy. When the pendulum swings far right, and then far left, it should eventually ease back toward the middle, where the majority of us reside. But all too many times, extremism damages its own cause. How many pet lovers are going to stop donating to PETA because they think the fly swatting issue is stupid? I know I am. I've supported PETA in the past when it comes to getting test animals out of cosmetic labs, but as they got more and more extreme, I got further and further away ... And it's not just PETA. Islam is, for most of the Muslims in the world, a beneficial, peaceful religion, and one that's "rescued" many inner city youth in America and given them new direction and hope. Now, the radical element, as small as it is compared to the rest of the Muslim community, has tainted it in the minds of many and those who might have sought that direction and hope will be turned away by the association with extremism and violence. I have a fiend who loves guns and hunts, but turned in his NRA membership when the organization lobbied for assault weapons and cop killer bullets. I never joined any feminist organization, despite my feminist beliefs, because of the extremism displayed by some of the members. So PETA, get over it. Flies carry diseases. Inside buildings, wehre humans reside, flies should die. And Mr. President? If you're ever in Shelbyville, there's this pesky bluebottle that haunts my desk and myreflexes aren't as fast as yours... Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
Mary Reeves is a staff writer for the Times-Gazette.
Hot topics Parents and college kids needed(0 ~ 9:46 AM, Nov 20)
It's a girl!
Say it ain't so, Joe
Flights of fancy
Rufus has passed away
|
![[Feed icon]](http://www.t-g.com/images/icons/feed-icon-14x14.png){kind=icon}
PETA has run amuck many times with stupidity . . . I cant see how anyone would ever support them.
When they first started, they did a lot of good - called for more humane treatment of animals in the slaughter houses, fighting to keep animals from being tortured for the sake of cosmetics. But they've gone way overboard.
If this is all they can get into these days, it sounds like they have served their purpose and need to move on to some other cause.
I agree with the extremity of some of these organizations. However, one brief interjection to a statement that is often misunderstood:
QUOTE
I have a fiend who loves guns and hunts, but turned in his NRA membership when the organization lobbied for assault weapons and cop killer bullets.
END QUOTE
(I assume, and hope you meant FRIEND instead of FIEND)
Long time reader and even longer NRA membership holder...
Not going to remotely argue sides of the fence, as such debates over things of that nature are pointless and people tend to go overboard...much like PETA.
One thing that strikes me...
What makes a firearm an ASSAULT weapon? Is it not the INTENT and MOTIVE of the individual bearing such device?
What makes a bullet a COP killer? A projectile, can and WILL kill ANYONE if it is used in such a manor, right?
Not to stir any stagnant waters...just some thoughts.
That guy that turned in his NRA membership must have gotten snowed by the media. The NRA has never lobbied for "assault weapons"; as for as I can tell the media thinks that any weapon that is big, black, and ugly is an assault weapon. By Federal law, the average citizen can't own one. Nearly all of those AK-47 one hears about; they're SKSs. Incidently, the AK-47 is not a high-powered rifle; it is medium-power and is really a pip-squeak cartridge.
The "cop killer bullet" was a media-manufactured scare tactic. Their aim was to use it to get all hunting ammo (pointed bullets) banned, and that wss what the NRA was against.
Thank you Tyger.
This reminded me of the time when the TG did a series on the walking horses and invited PETA. They were explaining how they dewormed the horses and PETA objected to the worms being killed. PETA has gone a little nuts over worms and flies being killed.
If you look at the PETA website, they're not going after the President for swatting a fly, they're just saying they don't condone that behavior:
"In a nutshell, our position is this: He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act."
I don't consider that 'going after' the President. When you consider what PETA cofounder Ingrid Newkirk has put in her will (which is publishedin the PETA website - http://www.peta.org/feat/newkirk/will.ht..., then it should be taken with a grain of salt when PETA gets up in arms about a fly being swatted.
I have had asthma all my life and dogs and cats just don't mix with me.
I love them and would'nt do anything to hurt one.
I don't know how many other people feel this way , but I think when you are invited to a inside pet owners home and they know you have this problem. I think it is very rude of them not to put the dog-cat at least in another room. Am I wrong?
I went to a meeting one night and the lady knew about me, she ask her husband what to do, and he said it's the dogs home let her stay home.
It really hurt my feelings and I didn't go back.
I had a large dog outside and we would always hook him to the chain out of respect. What should I have done?
Wilderness 68.
Usually,the irritating ingredient in pet dander or saliva is so present in a home that moving the animal a few feet away for a short time really doesn't help a lot.
(Nor would moving certain plants,etc.)
A sensitive person can have an attack if the wrong food has been cooked in the house,if certain scents are worn or even if a person kisses them after having eaten the forbidden food the day before.
Yes,considerate homeowners would try to accommodate allergies,diet restrictions,etc.
They'd try extra hard to remove all allergy triggers,run air purifiers,etc.
But,both sides should realize that no measures would be foolproof.
Doctor prescribed meds,an epi-pen and other precautions should be part of the allergic person's arsenal at all times.
Pet food companies are working with some scientists that have isolated the proteins that cause most animal allergies.
Rather than just letting a pet's physican provide them with the prescription to thwart the allergen,the remedy would be put in all pet food so people could be safe from other folks' animals as well as their own.
It's assumed that the cost of underwriting such research would be balanced by the increased revenue from households that have,so far, been denied association with critters.
Rather than risk being ambushed by allergens,desensitization treatment is a good choice for people who might react badly to exposure to plants,chemicals or beasts.
As for the husband of the meeting hostess,he may have felt unwilling to risk a guest's going into anaphylactic shock even after all reasonable precautions were made.
(Or,he could have just been caught making an uncharacteristicly rude,thoughtless statement.)
If the host was truly that inconsiderate of another's well-being,an allergic guest should have no qualms about attending meetings and saying:
"I've done my immunotherapy. I've got my antihistamines and epi-pen.
I appreciate the extra housekeeping and putting your pet up yesterday so I could visit today.
Now,could you shut away your husband?
(Or,better yet,find someone who's not too picky and give him away.)"
If people only get nauseated,headachy.itchy,etc. at that one house,maybe it's not the dog that makes them sick.