ads for livestock, etc, etc

Pierre le Roux arbor at mweb.co.za
Thu Sep 17 16:57:27 EDT 1998


In response to Doug in particular, but people in general:
Why should it be perfectly legal to keep silkworms, buy a packet of 
flower seeds at the local corner shop, plant a bed of Petunias, farm 
with corn,rice,wheat, rapeseed, Citrus,  or soybeans  or 
whatever, but not to indulge in (like rearing Saturnids)other hobbies? Is
it just because time has not proven it to be a safe pass-time, or because I happen 
to find myself in a minority that enjoy an abberant hobby? And was 
the same not true for quite a few contributers to modern day 
break-throughs? I wholeheartedly agree that it is not necessary to 
BUY stock, but if you would like to have some, is it more 
cost-effective to travel to the country and collect than to 
mail-order?

It is exceedingly difficult to justify anything - therefore I think 
we should,whilst not condemning anything just for the sake of proving 
how well we understand Creation, and maintain it, advise and inform 
newbies as to the responsible approach - rather than just saying " it 
is up to individuals to establish what local rules are in effect"

Another irksome habit I found prevails on the Internet, is that we 
seem to have al lot of NIMBY's as active participants ( For the 
uninitiated - that stands for : Its fine, as long as it is Not In My 
Back Yard) in the newsgroups. If an individual advertises a Red Data 
species for sale, it draws immediate attack - but try and ask for 
possitive comment on how to go about drawing up a long-term strategy 
on how to preserve indigenous but threatened species, and a 
long-drawn-out silence prevails. 

Lets get realistic: It is irksome to be judged by individuals that 
regard themeselves as well-informed by considering alternatives 
without actually trying some: If we really are a scientific news 
group, lets investigate and publish, rather than consider and 
condemn. I feel that the damage done by considerate, caring and 
intelligent scientists, have been negligible to the damage done by 
the exploitation of their (generally amoral) work, by guys like 
myself with a commercial bend ;-)
Pierre le Roux Tel&Fax:+(27)-15-583-0084
P.O. Box 8     ( Cellphone+27-82-9234-975)
0929 Levubu
South Africa
23 05'S 30 15'E, 680m above mean sealevel.


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