Those who know me well know that I care deeply about the natural environment and that I can be very competitive.
This blog, a blog that I started just a few years ago pondering what it means to be a progressive environmentalist, is now a finalist in the 2008 Weblog Awards. It is a great honour to be a finalist, but of course I would also like to win.
So go here now and vote for us: http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-online-community/
I am entered in the community section. There is no environmental section.
You are still reading … so you haven’t voted? Are you looking for a reason to vote?
Well a blog committed to evidence-based environmentalism could win or… the alternatives include a blog committed to Michael Jackson.
So go here now and vote for us: http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-online-community/
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Jennifer’s link seems to be a hollow web page
Jennifer, I was voter no 106 today. Best of luck, and a Michael Jackson blog is a finalist?????
congratulations to the nomination. talking about community, i think that you are allowing a lot of views contradicting yours. that is a good community service.
on the other hand, i have failed to notice the “environmental” part of this blog.
the terms “progressive environmentalist” and “evidence-based environmentalism” are other words for doing absolutely nothing for the environment.
if i have missed any information about any ACTION that you want done, to help the environment, please provide links.
Jennifer is against the against the slaughter of large numbers of dugongs
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/02/how-many-dugongs-are-killed-each-year-in-northern-australia/
Jennifer is for captive breeding including of Tasmanian Devils
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/11/saving-tassie-devils/
Jennifer has often drawn attention to uncontrolled grazing in the Macquarie Wetlands
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2007/09/the-macquarie-marshes-an-ecological-history/
Re the slow link above, I finally got in
Sod states he has missed the environment part of this blog. If the judges were a cynical lot, and how else would they handle an entry from M Jackson, they could argue you need a minimum environment content to qualify. Is D Webbs 3 enough. No. Then they would need to define that, and what is environment content anyway. They would also want to weed out any ambush marketers using an environment banner to give their more commercial activities a cloak of respectability. I am not saying it is like professional sportsmen behaving badly and then required to go and visit sick kids in hospital, or like the tobacco companies sponsoring sport. And if you want points from being evidence based you would need to show evidence that there is a fair go for disconfirming evidence.
Thanks for the heads up Jennifer, I voted for the Metafilter community weblog.
I figure MeFi deserve the award as they have over 10,000 reports on the environment in their archives, and they actively respond to questions in the blog comments section rather than ignoring the questions they can’t (or won’t) answer.
Jennifer is against the against the slaughter of large numbers of dugongs
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/02/how-many-dugongs-are-killed-each-year-in-northern-australia/
no, she is NOT.
instead she supports COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN.
from her link:
Mr Manning says Indigenous harvesting should be subject to the same scrutiny as commercial and recreational fishing.
it is actually quite the opposite: she is supporting (a 100% COMMERCIAL event) on “cultural reasons”, but is siding with COMMERCIAL fishing in this case as well.
can you spot the TREND?
sorry, that should read:
it is actually quite the opposite: she is supporting japanese whale hunting (a 100% COMMERCIAL event) on “cultural reasons”, but is siding with COMMERCIAL fishing in this case as well.
Well, Michael Jackson isn’t doing very well at the Weblog Awards! I poked on the voting machine for you, Jennifer. Many thanks for continuing your efforts in everything that you do. Your life and your work are productively dedicated to proactive rational science-based thought and reason. Your blog is always encouraging (a regular read for me). Whenever I get discouraged about the babbling voices of irrational extremism, I find your posts to be a breath of fresh air, grounded in physical reality.
Keep up the good work, and best wishes in the Weblog Awards!
Sod,
There are two criteria which should be applied to the harvest of an animal species: 1. Are the numbers taken sustainable, and 2. Is the method of killing humane.
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/01/ignoring-the-slaughter-of-dugongs-in-northern-australia/
Dennis,
Thanks. And progress is at last being made in the Macquarie Marshes.
Jen,
“2. Is the method of killing humane.”
Que?
Does this mean there are humane methods of killing, and thereby by definition, other methods which, logically, are not humane?
I regurally kill life, from my inadvertent treading on ants, bugs, bacteria, as do other large marsuipals. I kill life by proxy from eating animals, whether they be beef, sheep, goats, or others; I kill life by fishing, whether fish or lobsters. Am I inhumane?
No, I am human, a carbon based lifeform that is in a symbiotic relation with other carbon based life forms.
Think on it.
Sod says OK as a community service for allowing contradictory views. I would hope so. But the essence of going for a cross marketing community award in my book would be the extent to which a blog develops a well informed inclusive community debate in contrast to how divisive it is.
The best evidence of the farcical environment mask on this blog is the grand total of about half a dozen who have bothered to comment on the award. How does that compare with the typical AGW red herring? Evidence pls.
There are two criteria which should be applied to the harvest of an animal species: 1. Are the numbers taken sustainable, and 2. Is the method of killing humane.
i have some more. (funny, eh?)
for a start:
how much damage does the “harvest” do to the rest of the environment? (huge problem in fishing, for example. woods that are good to “harvest” aren t very nice either..)
does the use justify the killing? (“harvesting” tigers for potency pills? killing fish, just to get the caviar? crocodile leather for handbags? cosmetic testing?)
most people would agree, that a (some how) cruel way of killing is acceptable if it is done by primitive tribesman, practising traditional hunting methods. it is not ok, when done in industrial butcheries to safe a few cent per killed animal.
Sod,
I hate to play the devil’s advocate, but if you are going to add two more to the list (which I agree with):
most people would agree, that a (some how) cruel way of killing is acceptable if it is done by primitive tribesman, practising traditional hunting methods.
I’m not entirely convinced of this. It comes down to value – are Indigenous Australians in far northern Queensland primitive tribesman? What is the value of cruel killing through traditional hunting methods?
Thomas
I’m not entirely convinced of this. It comes down to value – are Indigenous Australians in far northern Queensland primitive tribesman? What is the value of cruel killing through traditional hunting methods?
no, i don t think that there are any primitive tribesman, using traditional hunting methods in Australia. sorry if i wasn t 100% clear in that point.
i was talking about a pure, theoretical case. (i don t know, whether such a thing does still exist somewhere in south america?)
the value is only in letting them live in their traditional way. and my main point was the comparison with modern techniques, that are quite cruel as well:
i have serious doubts, that all tribesmen of the world combined, can cause the same cruelty to animals, that normal industrial meat production does. (mostly through transportation, btw.)
The prohibitive leader on the Community blog category, the Strobist ( http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist ) , isn’t really a blog so much as it is a community billboard for people to post their snapshots.
The thing is Strobist is nominated and leading by a wide margin in the photoblog category as well as the community category.
There might be a ruling regarding whether a nominee can win in two categories, in which case the community category will go to the second place finisher.
Keep up the hope Jen. And post a hotlink to the voting on your sidebar.
I’ve just done my bit, Jennifer. Lucky I got home from hols in time!
I forgot to mention, Jennifer, but have you been keeping track of Roy Spencer’s recent postings on his new blog site? Looks like this will be the year for the ‘train wreck’, as he puts it. Can’t wait!