Animal rights stupidity

Andrew Sullivan: "One day in the future, generations may well look back at our treatment of farm animals and wonder just how barbaric we were."

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/03/bad-medicine.html

It's more likely future generations will look back and wonder why people who professed that belief weren't vegan or vegetarian.

Of course, it's far easier to criticize "industrial-style animal operations" while enjoying a nice juicy steak (and while ignoring the contribution of "factory farming" to the reduction of widespread hunger and famine).

It reminds me of the "Palin supports wolf hunting!" hysteria during the last election, as if all attempts to control wolf populations are always bad.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/8/31/22337/7183

During five recent days spent at Lutsen Mountains on the shore of Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota (www.lutsen.com), there were four wolf kills of deer in the area, including one during the night on a ski slope and another on a snowmobile trail.

Maybe that's why the Obama administration, faced with reality, decided to "stick with a controversial Bush administration move that took gray wolves off the endangered species list in most of the northern Rockies . . . "

Of course, people who live and recreate nowhere near wolves disagree.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031303211.html