Posts by Lucy Stewart
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Hard News: Getting to the bottom of…, in reply to Russell Brown,
I haven’t been to the US for a while, but I’ve avoided eating chicken there since I read a Harper’s story (predating Schlosser’s book) on the plane over one time.
Our local Whole Foods (a store I patronise only when I really need something out of the bulk section, because the woo gives me hives) has its meat organised in sections from worst to best ethical production. All the chicken - every bit - is in section 1, the worst. All the (NZ) lamb is at the other end. I presume they also take worker conditions into account, although it's Whole Foods, so it's probably a generous assumption.
I buy chicken and pork because, basically, when you live here full-time meat-eating is a tradeoff between ethics, expense, and relative healthiness. If we ate purely based on ethics, financial constraints would make us be vegetarians or eat only beef and fish, and not very much of it. And day-to-day, that's not a sacrifice I'm really prepared to make.
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Hard News: Getting to the bottom of…, in reply to WH,
Are you suggesting that the New York Times, the paper of New York Times v Sullivan, is institutionally racist?
I'm pretty sure what he's saying is that American media sources are choosing to focus on worker rights abuses in China while ignoring fairly severe problems on their home turf, even though both are equally newsworthy, and that this is not what you'd want out of a leading newspaper. There's really not much subtext to it.
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Hard News: Getting to the bottom of…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Water, theoretically, is not finite – it’s just a matter of buring hydrogen, right? But in the real world, you’re right, and we’re really pushing the limits.
Well, AFAIK humankind hasn't managed to speed up the process of atmospheric water loss into space, which is the only way it actually leaves the planet. (Reminds me of that old Asimov(?) story about the Martian colonists mining the rings of Saturn - forget the name, but the imagery was beautiful.) Actually using up all the H2O on the planet - not a real concern.
But there is less and less accessible water in some regions. Hint: if it was a desert/low-water biosphere when you got there, there was probably a reason.
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OnPoint: Association of Community…, in reply to Islander,
Fuck - they cant spell 'licence' - or that's an American (USA) one-
The money is in pounds, shilling, and pence, and the grower is - if I parse the handwriting correctly - of "Ngatimoti", so you'll have to settle for bad spelling.
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Capture: Cats Love Cameras, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Very helpful because you always know the exact reference you need now, is under the cat.
It's like they're telepathic. Or clairvoyant. Or really dedicated to getting in the way. Some combination of the three.
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Capture: Cats Love Cameras, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Oh you washed those clothes especially for me?
Ours is indifferent to freshly-washed clothes, but mad about empty washing baskets. No idea why. (Extremely appreciative, however, when the humans lay paper all over the floor, just for her. So many places to sit! So little time!)
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Christmas care packages: food for the humans, a box for the cat.
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When we went to the SPCA to look for a cat, four and a half years ago, our one rule was that it had to be a shorthair because we were students and didn’t have the time or energy to vacuum up cat hair.
We came home with Tia. And then we shelled out to bring her to the USA with us. She's just that cute. (After observing her around other cats we worked out this was because she had probably terrorised every other cat at the SPCA into huddling in corners while she monopolised the humans, but that wasn’t obvious at the time.)
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Hard News: Merry Christmas, Blossoms, in reply to Lilith __,
Pohutukawa is apparently causing trouble in California and South Africa!
When I landed in San Francisco in August 2010 - my first time in America - I could not believe how many pohutukawa there were. It was a bit weird, like New Zealand had unexpectedly followed me overseas.
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Muse: Merry Darth George Hathos Day!, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Who’da thunk that “sound social science research” had any place in the Darthiverse?
I believe you misunderstand "sound" to mean "good, methodically done" rather than, as intended, "supporting things I already agree with".
