Atlantic Xpat

HWP, I'm forming a quite distinct picture of you from your posts........

dbd33

West coast stoner nympho. Hmmm, hwp, do you by any chance speak Swedish ?

1066

Typical bleeding heart (normally rich) liberals who know jack-shit about the real world.

Souvenir

Wasn't the US hemp industry essentially killed off as a result of political lobbying from DuPont, or whoever it is that makes nylon and has big mates on Capitol Hill?

dbd33

I believe so, yes. It's very small scale now.

Tidge

I wish activists who get upset about the seal culls would get as upset over horrific factory farming processess in the UK. Never see them outside Bernard Matthew's factory waving placards - chickens are just not cute enough.

However, I do believe that if you are going to end a creature's life, it should be done as quickly, cleanly and with as little distress as possible - not too much to ask, I think?

dingbat

Ha ha ha....

dingbat

Wait until you get here and see the "farming processes", most of which were outlawed in the EU years ago. E.G. Transportation of farm animals to slaughter houses is inhumane at best, at worst horrific by EU standards.
http://www.earthsave.bc.ca/materials...s/wc_know.html

sysclp

There is always cotton. They still grow tons of it down south.

andy_sheila

I fully understand the need for culling, what i find objectionable is the method, the barbaric clubbing of seals, some of which don't die til the 5/6/7th whack!!!

Atlantic Xpat

Actually I think most of them are shot rather than clubbed.

Balzac

I can't resist weighing in on this after reading all of the stupid comments on the Globe and Mail website to the McCartney seal hunt protest.
Why do these seals need to be culled? From what I understand numbers have "exploded" because they were over hunted for years and are finally returning to numbers that are more normal. I have little faith in fisheries Canada. These are the same people who are responsible for the depletion of cod. I might have more confidence if the fisheries people weren't from the maritimes. Seems they lack the independence to make balanced decision. Why is Canadian taxpayers money used to subsidize the slaughter. The cost to the fishing industry of the seafood boycott, I would have thought is much more costly. The argument that other animals/people are suffering is brainless. Two wrongs don't make a right.
My final comment is that its such a black mark on Canada in the eyes of the world. Some might say "who cares?," but then don't claim moral superiority over our neighbours to the south.

Addy

The only reason, McCartney's in Canada, is because no-one in the UK will listen to him anymore

If McCartney's really got a conscience, he should get his arse over to Iraq to highlight the plight of innocent humans getting slaughtered everyday in the name of oil.

If he feels so bad about the plight of the seals, he should donate some of his considerable wealth, to investing some diversity of employment in the areas that the seal hunters live and work, everybody needs money to live and support their families, what choice would you make between a cute seal cub and feeding/supporting your family if there was no other choice available?

Economics pure and simple, that is how western consumer society exists.

If you don't like it, i've heard North Korea is nice this time of year!!!!

Balzac

People choose their causes based on personal preference. Nobody, except maybe Paul McCartney has time to protest everything.
I get the impression that the seal hunt doesn't contribute as much to Newfoundland's economy as everyone seems to think. Canada's not a third world country. Surely people aren't so poor that they are reduced to clubbing seals to support their families. Why not use government transfer payments to teach people useful job skills?

dbd33

Oh, they've thought of that, Newfoundland might be one of the world's most subsidised places. It's problematic though, in rural communities there is no politically correct form of employment, seals get whacked, trees get cut down, the earth gets dug up, people in big cities in far countries tut about it all but, except for London7, they carry on eating cod and they keep building with wood. The Newfoundland government even forced collectivisation, rather like Stalin (google Smallwood Outports) in the interests of economic change but to no great effect. The only thing that's moved the Newfies from depending on natural resources is the diaspora.

Personally, I used to feel for the seals but really I'd rather see a thousand seals clubbed and a thousand dogs skinned alive than a happy Paul McCartney. Perhaps a deal could be brokered whereby Caanda would stop seal culling and he'd agree to destroy his entire back catalogue.