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Be a Vegan or Else! To put it quite simply, unless you and everyone else becomes a vegetarian or adopts the vegan (no animal products, period!) lifestyle, the Earth is going to come to an end or you will probably die from some horrid disease. Sound extreme? Sound just a bit nutty? Not according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) or a recent study, "Food, livestock production, energy, climate change, and health" by Professor Tony McMichael of the Australian National University and Dr. John Powles of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. If either of these deep thinkers took a moment to contemplate the success of the human race in terms of survival and expansion, they would find that humans have twenty teeth in their mouth designed exclusively to eat meat, but only twelve for fruit and vegetables. Moreover, the human stomach is, in fact, a carnivorous organ designed primarily to digest lean meat. The small intestine, pancreas, and the liver are mainly herbivorous and designed to digest vegetables, fruits, fats and farinaceous (starch) foods. All this has been known for a very long time. Why am I telling you this? Because for quite a while, there has been a vigorous campaign by the United Nations agency and by militant vegans to convince people that eating meat is a bad thing. The only way to respond to these "studies" and claims is to examine and debunk them. First, however, one must ask why the FAO would foster a policy claiming that livestock is a major threat to the environment? Like the insidious Big Brother of George Orwell’s novel, "1984", the purpose of the UN’s efforts is to exert control over every aspect of people’s lives. Why else would an organization set up primarily to insure peace among nations create vast bureaucracies whose purpose is to advocate bogus notions such as "global warming" and then branch off with still other bureaucracies to impose restrictions based on idiotic notions such as the "precautionary principle"? Under the latter, any substance or process that might cause harm should be banned, no matter its benefit or known record of safety. All this affords a nice living to legions of "scientists" and academics that issue reports to support ideas such as those put forth by professors McMichael and Powles. Their latest study, published in the The Lancet, a UK publication, is bound to receive the usual breathless media coverage that accompanies just about every witless environmental claim regarding the climate and every human activity. Do you really believe that the "Worldwide average meat consumption could be realistically reduced by ten percent to reduce the already substantial impact of livestock production on greenhouse gas emissions"? Do you really believe there are "health risks posed by the rapid worldwide growth in meat consumption, both by exacerbating climate change and by directly contributing to certain diseases"? At a time when there are more humans than ever before in recorded history, when life expectancy is being dramatically extended, when breakthroughs in genetic modification of crops to enhance both their production and the ability to increase their nutritional value, when diseases of every description are being conquered, would we ever want to return to a time when life was short, disease was rampant, and famine was the rule, not the exception?
The Earth is not experiencing a rapid increase in heat. If it does increase or decrease, it will be entirely due to the actions of the Sun, the oceans, clouds, volcanoes, and the other natural factors that determine the Earth’s climate. Man is not causing the climate to change, but the climate most certainly impacts mankind. The notion that livestock, like mankind, contribute to "global warming" is almost too ludicrous to consider, but that does not deter the FAO, the UN Environmental Programme, and countless "environmental" organizations from foisting these notions on everyone. Like humans, each of whom exhales about two pounds of carbon dioxide daily, livestock also emit "greenhouse gases" and this is the basis for the latest study being trumpeted. However, the dominant greenhouse gas, estimated to be as much as ninety-five percent of the atmospheric layer that protects the Earth, is nothing more mysterious or threatening than water vapor. With considerable irony, the latest "study" notes the abundance of food in the world today. If there is famine in parts of the world, it often reflects the mismanagement of agriculture by the corrupt and ignorant people who control nations that otherwise would produce sufficient food for their populations. Droughts and other natural factors contribute to famines, but food is often a weapon used against people as has been seen in Darfur, a section of Sudan where the Islamic fundamentalists in charge have been waging genocide. Meat and the lies told about it is part of the arsenal of weapons being used to coerce and frighten people into believing that less production will "save" the Earth from the non-existent threat of "global warming" and is responsible for unidentified health threats attributed to it. This accounts for the latest call that we all become vegetarians or vegans. It is idiotic on the face of its claims. It is a veiled attempt to further control the lives of everyone. Fight back! Have a steak tonight! The Center is all about looking at the realities of the world in which we live and providing some clarity. We are dependent on your donation to maintain our website and communications program. Do give what you can. Thanks! Ignoring Criminals While Banning Guns As the shock of the murder, execution style, of three Newark, NJ teenagers and wounding of a fourth begins to fade, the problem unfortunately will not. The problem is the willful refusal to look at the alleged perpetrators of this crime and draw some useful lessons to avoid further killings.
Let’s review what happened. On August 4, young Black college students were killed, allegedly by Jose Lachira Carranza, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from Peru who has been charged as the principle suspect. He was out on bail after having been charged with sexually assaulting a young girl and assaulting bar patrons. The Star-Ledger reported that, "His immigration status was never checked by law enforcement in Newark or Essex County." Despite this, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, "said yesterday it’s not the job of his already overburdened police department to assist immigration authorities." Newark is "a sanctuary city" that does not require residents to reveal their immigration status to receive services paid for by native-born or naturalized citizens. Sen. Tom Tancredo has introduced legislation to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. That’s one small step for common sense, one giant step for national sovereignty and security. Even Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, says, "If somebody is accused of a felony I don’t have any problem with checking their status. If a person is accused of a murder or major crime it is the responsibility of law enforcement and the courts to check." So what "solutions" have the Governor and the Mayor proposed? Both are card-carrying Liberal Democrats. This almost automatically rules out either a constitutional or a pragmatic approach in favor of a "feel good" politically correct one. The reality is that the state’s drug laws fill up the prison system with nonviolent drug offenders. An estimated one-third of New Jersey’s prison beds constitute the highest proportion in the nation. Other states are beginning to divert offenders into cheaper and more effective treatment programs. Another astounding fact emerged after the killings. There are at least 25,000 felony fugitives statewide. According to State Police data, there are nearly 200 men and women wanted for murder and another 252 accused rapists. The reasons given include "an overwhelmed court system, teeming jails, a lack of resources, and poor coordination among law enforcement agencies." And both the Mayor and Governor want to insure that law-abiding citizens can’t have guns. The Mayor has proposed that Newark spend $3.2 million in public and private funs to install as many as 120 cameras around the city by next summer. Mayor Booker is a member of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. He also proposes legislation to "monitor the flow of guns in and out of the state’s largest city and to prevent gun dealers from opening shop in residential neighborhoods or near schools." Finally, he wants to create "gun courts" and you just know that means going after gun owners, not gun-toting criminals. These proposals, combined with the refusal to check the status of likely illegal aliens, even after they have committed major crimes, are so idiotic they should be dismissed out of hand. As Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, neatly summing up the problem said, "Newark’s robbers, rapists and murderers should be serving long sentences, not smiling for the camera." New Jersey already has some of the most stringent laws regarding the purchase of a gun and they have virtually no effect whatever when it comes to deterring crime. What they do is make it very difficult to own a weapon for the purpose of self-defense. Unlike Florida and Texas that made it easier for people to carry a concealed weapon, thus dramatically reducing crime rates, it is nearly impossible for anyone in New Jersey to secure this fundamental right of self-protection. Some might argue that living in Newark or traveling into the city without a gun is a lot more dangerous than actually owning one. Insuring that everyone is defenseless when a criminal or an insane person is bent on murder is a liberal "solution." As to those criminals who also happen to be illegal aliens, locking them up and deporting them immediately after they have served their sentence would have, at the very least, saved the lives of those three dead college students. Mayor Booker wants to get lucky and take their picture. Like his counterpart in New York City, he wants to be absolutely sure that no law-abiding citizen has a chance to defend themselves, let alone purchase a weapon in a timely fashion. The wisdom of the Founding Fathers who insured that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" has been ignored to everyone’s peril. The murder statistics in Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and most American cities are testimony to that simple truth. The gun-banners will be the death of too many of us. Have you told a friend about this website where, every week, there’s a fresh perspective on the issues leaping off the front page or on the 24/7 television news media? We have a special "Referral Blast" option that allows you to share anything you read here with a click of a mouse.
©
2007 Alan Caruba. |
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This latest study is not about meat consumption. It is one of thousands of such specious claims that the Earth is warming dramatically due to human activity. It is one of thousands designed to alter the improving lifestyle of millions around the world who enjoy a hamburger or any other meat product, whether it be beef, lamb, chicken, or fish.
Political columnist, Tom Moran, writing in The Star-Ledger, the state’s largest daily, said, "Let’s hope the governor is just clearing his throat and that he has more ambitious plans in the works to fight violence in cities like Newark. Because in this critical week after the most savage murders we’ve seen in years, he’s talked mostly about gun control, the go-to response of liberal politicians everywhere."