Transforming Debate for Inclusive and Impactful Participation
Objective: To empower thousands—or even millions—to contribute meaningfully to debates by leveraging structured organization and robust evaluation criteria. Together, we can ensure every voice is heard and every idea is thoughtfully considered.
Seeing wild animals connects people to millions of years of hunting: which has historically included risk and adrenalin. It seems almost natural to start chasing wild animals.
Seeing wild animals connects kids to another world, and so it is eye-opening, which can be fun and interesting..
Big Horn Sheep, Rocky Mountain National Park, 2014
Phil looking at an Elk in Estes Park, 2014
A bare we saw in Estes Park, 2014. Megan kept saying all the guys were trying to get closer, but the women were protecting the kids.
Big Horn Sheep, Rocky Mountain National Park, 2014
This is a photo of a mother "merganser" with its baby riding on its back. My kids and I watched it on the Payette Lake which is in Northern Idaho (2012).
A photo of a Stellar's jay, on the railing of my cousin's cabin in McCall Idaho (2012)
Do you have any cool wildlife photos? Maybe I should take it up as a hobby.
Osprey and James at the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, 2012
Osprey at the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, 2012
Osprey and James at the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, 2012
You should take your kids outside where they can walk around, see different people, and explore their surroundings. Kids get to see all different types of people at the zoo.
You should teach your kids about Animals. Kids learn about Animals by going to the zoo. You can't learn to appreciate animals unless you see them. When kids learn about animals, they learn about biology which may result in medical interest. Medical interest can result in an interest in many different jobs, from pharmacy to being a doctor. Learning about animals also teaches about geography. At least it did for our kid, as he learned what animals lived where.
Usually people don't spend much time studying animals at the zoo. People tend to look at the animal, watch it for a few minutes, and move on...
Kids will learn more about animals by having a pet than going to a zoo. Letting your kids have a pet teaches your kids. Having a long time responsibility for an animal can teach you a lot.
Kids are taught that animal rights can be ignored when going to the zoo.
Score:
# of reasons to agree: +3
# of reasons to disagree: -3
# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0
# of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0
Geese are overpopulated. For instance here in Chicago they put chemicals on eggs to prevent them from hatching, because their are too many, and they poop everywhere and create environmental problems.
The lack of predators have allowed geese to overpopulate.
If you eat meat you are guilty of more violence against animals than chasing geese.
Geese may get chased by wild animals. They are violent against each other. They rape ducks (google it, it is a fact). You can't apply people ethics to animals. Animals chase each other. Cats chase mice and play with them. If you don't want animals tormented you will have to kill all cats.
Its cool to watch birds fly. Letting kids chase birds until they fly gives kids an awe, and an experience, and an appreciation for animals. It is possible to love animals, and hunt them, as native Americans taught us. Chasing them, and smiling at them as they fly away is not bad. The French who force feed geese in a cage are bad. But little kids who chase them, and make them get some exercise are not. See image below for evidence to support this belief.
From "Auguries of Innocence by William Blake": A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. A dove-house filled with doves and pigeons Shudders hell through all its regions. A dog starved at his master's gate Predicts the ruin of the state. A horse misused upon the road Calls to heaven for human blood. Each outcry of the hunted hare A fibre from the brain does tear. A skylark wounded in the wing, A cherubim does cease to sing. The game-cock clipped and armed for fight Does the rising sun affright. Every wolf's and lion's howl Raises from hell a human soul. The wild deer wandering here and there Keeps the human soul from care. The lamb misused breeds public strife, And yet forgives the butcher's knife. The bat that flits at close of eve Has left the brain that won't believe. The owl that calls upon the night Speaks the unbeliever's fright. He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men. He who the ox to wrath has moved Shall never be by woman loved. The wanton boy that kills the fly Shall feel the spider's enmity. He who torments the chafer's sprite Weaves a bower in endless night. The caterpillar on the leaf Repeats to thee thy mother's grief. Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgment draweth nigh. He who shall train the horse to war Shall never pass the polar bar. The beggar's dog and widow's cat, Feed them, and thou wilt grow fat. The gnat that sings his summer's song Poison gets from Slander's tongue.
Over seas zoos are cooler,
because they let you have
more of an experience with animals
Our pets put up with our kids playing with (tormenting) them. See video below for proof.
Cats are good on a farm for killing mice.
Dogs are good for scaring away possums raccoon and field mice.
No one's house needs to be so clean that they don't have animals.
Having animals can help you prepare for your death, and the deaths of those you love. Animals usually have a shorter life span than we do. We don't talk about death enough.
It is true that the sun will burn out, and we are the only species that has a chance to escape this earth, but we will be lonely if we can't take any other species with us.
Pets kill grass, when walking on it all winter long
Animals are work. If you think the work is worth it, good for you. If you don't, then you will probably have time for other stuff. You shouldn't feel bad if your not an animal person. You aren't missing anything that great. For instance if you have young kids, you can just know that your life will already be frazzled, dirty, and chaotic. Perhaps you can wait until your kids are a little older for a dog, or your house is better suited for an animal.
Cats make people crazy. They actually give you a disease that makes you crazy.
Score:
# of reasons to agree: +4
# of reasons to disagree: -3
# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0
# of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -3/2 = -1/5
"Well, bless my soul! Take it out! Take it out! Take it out! Remove it!" James and I noticed this on the way to drop him off at day care.
Kids get all excited about geese at the zoo
Wolves, at the zoo
Kids want to have interactions with the natural world around them, including anmils.
Dred
I am trying to paint a picture of me being a sophisticated-Idahoan. Me telling stories that involve the use of the barter system may not be a dandy way for me to implement the sophisticated-Idahoan campaign. Oh well.
My Dad taught drivers-ed during the summer. Some guy gave us a baby cow instead of paying us with regular money. So we called the calf "Dred" for Drivers Education.
Dred was a childhood pet of mine. For a cow, he made a very good pet. I remember having a leash and walking him around the pasture. When we installed an electric fence we put some food on it to draw the cow to it.
We did not realize how long it would take for the electric elements to warm up. By the time the fence turned on Dred had wrapped his tough completely around the food and was trying to swallow it.
It did not take long for Dred to realize the basic operations of the electric fence. Dred jumped with such surprise that he nearly knocked over the fence. Needless to say Dred was never the same after that, and never seemed to trust those who witnessed what has come to be known as the "shockening".
Walking around a pasture without shoes! Not too smart.
I didn't have dogs growing up but we had a couple of cats
Megan's dog Finley wearing my glasses
James enjoying Finnley's new dog house
Me in my back yard with my cat, about the age that my son is now. She had a great back porch that it lived under. I had a great back yard, and a pasture, and a cool tree near the ditch that I had a tree fort in. I had a telescope and could watch the birds from my tree fort. I think I had the perfect balance of living right on the outskirts of town... Perhaps I'm overly nostalgic about how important it was for me to have unsupervised time outside to just think, and wander along the ditch, and go for walks, away from buildings, and people... I remember going in the winter time, through the snow too... I mean there is nothing that I can point at and say how it has helped me in my life for sure, but I miss it. I miss the time out of time... the time with just the earth, sky, water, plants, and me. I feel guilty living in a neighborhood. for my kids... I wish for them to have the exact childhood I had. It seems weird not being able to go back in time, and bring them up in the same house, and place that I knew... I feel like a stranger in my neighborhood away from my family, and I don't know how to point to the world, and say this is something I understand kids, go enjoy it... I am hear for a job, I got this house, because it had more room than some of the other houses, I don't know any of our neighbors, and I don't really like the cars that drive up the road, and I don't want to let you wander around the neighborhood, but we can do the best we can with this place that is thousand of miles from where I grew up, where your grandparents are from, and hopefully you can make wherever you are feel like home, and hopefully wherever you go you can find people that understand, respect, and make room in their lives for you...
Finley was a very good dog, and a great friend for our son
Portrait of Steve Irwin with his daughter by Hugh Stewart. He experienced animals in their natural habitat, and gave his family a good life. So great that he took his daughter with him into nature, but let her still be a princess.
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