Jim Macdonald has left a new comment on your post "A delightful trip into the park":
Mike,
Like a lot of your comments, I have answered this sort of thing previously. I have no problem with beings being what they are, humans included. What I have problems with is humans doing things which go outside the bounds of reason, creating an artificial system of justice in which to enforce their decisions. The boundaries that keep the bison penned into Yellowstone are artificial and without merit. If people kill buffalo because that's what people simply do, that's one thing. Hundreds of buffalo would die in buffalo jumps (see the area around Dome Mountain near Tom Miner Basin as one example of a natural buffalo jump). That's not the issue. The issue is the reason why; and for whatever reason (that philosophy stuff you push away with the wave of your hand), that's what you never actually respond to. There is a connection between reasons and action in the human life; when the reasons are contradictory, then we all needlessly suffer.
In a world where we aren't acting that way, buffalo and humans will still die. There is no utopia, but we will be better off to an important degree - we won't feel entitled to enforce one narrow particular view of all beings, where some are more entitled than others. We may kill and eat buffalo out of urges related to our senses and not some abstract and incoherent sense of justice (which is what we do now).
And, people do confuse that, right? A lot of people will shout out at us - "Buffalo taste good" thinking they're getting under our skin (and not even knowing that some members of the group even eat buffalo). They think this is just about simple sense experience, but in fact that's not why buffalo are being killed. In truth, we are way beyond that world. You talked a long time ago about overpopulation. Yeah, that's right - the overpopulated world comes from a world that imposed its will on the earth and was able to grow much more food than otherwise would be natural, built giant machines, built therefore giant machines of death. Who isn't like a caged buffalo in this world? But, we like to pretend it's still about simple things - the way it should be.
You can't just fight for buffalo; you have to fight against the world that keeps everyone caged by our sophistication (stupidity). The buffalo is just one way into that, one that is closer to my experience.
Posted by Jim Macdonald to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/31/08 9:51 AM __________________________________________________
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Saturday, May 31, 2008
[Jim's Eclectic World] New comment on A delightful trip into the park.
Mike McCord has left a new comment on your post "A delightful trip into the park":
Wasn't quite sure where to post this comment, Jimmy, but this seemed like the appropriate place. But, put it where you want it.
You see, I too had a delightful trip into the park this weekend, and I learned something that might be of interest to you . . . although you probably already know this. Not that I had a delightful trip into the park, but that there seems to be another threat, or threats, to your precious bison. Those threats being wolves and grizzlies.
I spoke to a ranger down there last weekend and he said that the herds are might bit dispersed this year and that wolves, and grizzlies especially, are taking advantage of the situation and are running in there and taking quite a few of them young 'uns this years.
He also said that they were hoping the herds would find each other and use their numbers to fend of some of them other critters, but that it didn't look good.
I'm mighty partial to them big bears and stopped to ask him where they might be congregating, and that's how I found out about the buffler situation. Thought it might interest you.
So. What do you do now? Propose that the grizzlies and wolves be killed off to protect the buffalo?
I don't know, Jimbo. I was there, and there still seem to be a lot of 'em. A lot young 'uns too. I just don't see the situation as being as dire as you do.
But, I'm just an old man. What do I know?
Posted by Mike McCord to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/31/08 4:05 AM __________________________________________________
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Wasn't quite sure where to post this comment, Jimmy, but this seemed like the appropriate place. But, put it where you want it.
You see, I too had a delightful trip into the park this weekend, and I learned something that might be of interest to you . . . although you probably already know this. Not that I had a delightful trip into the park, but that there seems to be another threat, or threats, to your precious bison. Those threats being wolves and grizzlies.
I spoke to a ranger down there last weekend and he said that the herds are might bit dispersed this year and that wolves, and grizzlies especially, are taking advantage of the situation and are running in there and taking quite a few of them young 'uns this years.
He also said that they were hoping the herds would find each other and use their numbers to fend of some of them other critters, but that it didn't look good.
I'm mighty partial to them big bears and stopped to ask him where they might be congregating, and that's how I found out about the buffler situation. Thought it might interest you.
So. What do you do now? Propose that the grizzlies and wolves be killed off to protect the buffalo?
I don't know, Jimbo. I was there, and there still seem to be a lot of 'em. A lot young 'uns too. I just don't see the situation as being as dire as you do.
But, I'm just an old man. What do I know?
Posted by Mike McCord to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/31/08 4:05 AM __________________________________________________
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
[Jim's Eclectic World] New comment on Report from BFC rally in Helena, May 14, 2008.
Mike McCord has left a new comment on your post "Report from BFC rally in Helena, May 14, 2008":
Jesus-jumpin'-Christ-on-a-crutch, Jimmy! Fake tombstones on the lawn of the State Capitol? Buffalo Bill award? Bothering interns? You seriously need a hobby.
I mean, I understand what you're doing, and all, but really, what's it going to accomplish? Don't you think the governor understands by now that you buffalo people are feeling a bit cranky after this winter? I'm also reasonably certain that he knows that you folks are gonna stick around like guests at a party that don't know when it's time to go home. Or like an in-law that "only needs a place to stay for a week." He knows. We all know.
I won't go saying that I don't understand your obsession. Because I do. I read your article on April 21. I found it to a very entertaining read. Well, at first I was entertained. And then I was bored by all the philosophy crap. But you pulled it together at the end, and I was entertained some more. Heck, I even grew to respect you a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I still think you're wasting your efforts on a problem that isn't really a problem . . . but at least you know what you believe in and why, and you keep plugging away at it.
Even so, do you really believe that the buffalo in Yellowstone are in danger of extinction? Extinction??
I hate to keep restating this, but you yourself have said in the past that a healthy heard for the park is somewhere around 1,800 animals. So now we're in the ball park again. In order for them to become extinct, those remaining animals would have to completely stop reproducing, or every last one of them would have to wander into Montana and let the state have their way with them, or the government would have to go into the park and purposely eliminate them from the ecosystem, or some combination of all three of those events would have to happen.
So don't you think this whole "extinction" thing is just a bit of an exaggeration? I mean, c'mon, we just had a record sized herd this winter, and that's with everything that's been going on for the last ten years. So I don't know about you, but I'm fairly confident that barring anything catastrophic, the buffalo herd will rebound.
And I know, it's not just about size. Size matters, but not as much as giving them critters room to roam.
K. I get it. And I'm sure that one day, you folks'll bug the government enough that you'll get your way, or some compromise. But I'm wondering, do you have to do it with exaggerations? And how will you feel if you do get your way, and bison are allowed to wander outside the park, and their numbers get to be such that state of Montana opens up a bigger hunt than the one we've already got? Given the situation that buffalo are allowed to wander at will, wherever they want, but that some population control needs to be implemented just as with other game species . . . how will you feel about that?
Will that be another injustice to you? After you've gotten what you want, will you stick around and make sure the government doesn't pull any funny business? Or will you move on?
My guess is that there's enough going on in Yellowstone to ruffle your feathers for several lifetimes, and you won't be going anywhere. Which is fine with me, because you are just an endless source of entertainment for me. I've read other blogs, but they just don't compare to this one.
I may not agree with you. But I love you, Jimmy.
Posted by Mike McCord to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/21/08 9:29 PM __________________________________________________
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Jesus-jumpin'-Christ-on-a-crutch, Jimmy! Fake tombstones on the lawn of the State Capitol? Buffalo Bill award? Bothering interns? You seriously need a hobby.
I mean, I understand what you're doing, and all, but really, what's it going to accomplish? Don't you think the governor understands by now that you buffalo people are feeling a bit cranky after this winter? I'm also reasonably certain that he knows that you folks are gonna stick around like guests at a party that don't know when it's time to go home. Or like an in-law that "only needs a place to stay for a week." He knows. We all know.
I won't go saying that I don't understand your obsession. Because I do. I read your article on April 21. I found it to a very entertaining read. Well, at first I was entertained. And then I was bored by all the philosophy crap. But you pulled it together at the end, and I was entertained some more. Heck, I even grew to respect you a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I still think you're wasting your efforts on a problem that isn't really a problem . . . but at least you know what you believe in and why, and you keep plugging away at it.
Even so, do you really believe that the buffalo in Yellowstone are in danger of extinction? Extinction??
I hate to keep restating this, but you yourself have said in the past that a healthy heard for the park is somewhere around 1,800 animals. So now we're in the ball park again. In order for them to become extinct, those remaining animals would have to completely stop reproducing, or every last one of them would have to wander into Montana and let the state have their way with them, or the government would have to go into the park and purposely eliminate them from the ecosystem, or some combination of all three of those events would have to happen.
So don't you think this whole "extinction" thing is just a bit of an exaggeration? I mean, c'mon, we just had a record sized herd this winter, and that's with everything that's been going on for the last ten years. So I don't know about you, but I'm fairly confident that barring anything catastrophic, the buffalo herd will rebound.
And I know, it's not just about size. Size matters, but not as much as giving them critters room to roam.
K. I get it. And I'm sure that one day, you folks'll bug the government enough that you'll get your way, or some compromise. But I'm wondering, do you have to do it with exaggerations? And how will you feel if you do get your way, and bison are allowed to wander outside the park, and their numbers get to be such that state of Montana opens up a bigger hunt than the one we've already got? Given the situation that buffalo are allowed to wander at will, wherever they want, but that some population control needs to be implemented just as with other game species . . . how will you feel about that?
Will that be another injustice to you? After you've gotten what you want, will you stick around and make sure the government doesn't pull any funny business? Or will you move on?
My guess is that there's enough going on in Yellowstone to ruffle your feathers for several lifetimes, and you won't be going anywhere. Which is fine with me, because you are just an endless source of entertainment for me. I've read other blogs, but they just don't compare to this one.
I may not agree with you. But I love you, Jimmy.
Posted by Mike McCord to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/21/08 9:29 PM __________________________________________________
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[Jim's Eclectic World] New comment on Support Obama? Live near Bozeman? Check out this f....
Jim Macdonald has left a new comment on your post "Support Obama? Live near Bozeman? Check out this f...":
Personally, I don't have one bit of faith in Obama. And, if you read enough about me, you would know that. The point of the flyer is to reach those who do support Obama and what Obama could be doing.
I wrote after the 2006 election a piece called "No Radical New Wind in Yellowstone" that you can find on this blog; there is no reason to believe that electoral politics will make any changes to the system.
However, there is faith that people who organize together and take the long road to work from the ground up can make a difference. Look at what is called for from Obama - stuff that no person in government actually pays any attention to (a real seat at the public in decision making; why? It's not really logistically possible). You can't put all the public interests into a room and be effective in making decisions. Yet, that's a damning critique of the system. It's a system that cannot be repaired from within - just like the IBMP.
However, my view is a very small minority. You have to reach people; you have to let them follow their inclinations and beliefs to their logical conclusion. And, that's why you reach out to people who are Obama supporters (my belief is that voting is only for protest - I am likely to vote, if I vote, for some third party) because there is a convergence of belief potentially - even if not an identical optimism about the system.
Obama's rhetoric actually runs counter to what he's doing by running for the most top-down authoritarian position in the world. All one can hope for is that his Administration scraps the IBMP - and only if he appoints the right people, but that won't solve the buffalo problem. It won't solve the fundamental problem in Yellowstone or for buffalo. It will create an opportunity of space for a grassroots movement to develop that can actually stand up for justice. What we need is time; in the end, we need to be the power - not the Barack Obamas.
So, you asked; now take the time not to jump to caricature views about what I've written. You can be a political radical like myself - essentially an anarchist - and still work well with other people, still empower people to act even though you don't have faith in their route. More can be done, and it's not morally or logically responsible to draw cynical conclusions about working for justice.
Posted by Jim Macdonald to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/21/08 11:16 AM __________________________________________________
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Personally, I don't have one bit of faith in Obama. And, if you read enough about me, you would know that. The point of the flyer is to reach those who do support Obama and what Obama could be doing.
I wrote after the 2006 election a piece called "No Radical New Wind in Yellowstone" that you can find on this blog; there is no reason to believe that electoral politics will make any changes to the system.
However, there is faith that people who organize together and take the long road to work from the ground up can make a difference. Look at what is called for from Obama - stuff that no person in government actually pays any attention to (a real seat at the public in decision making; why? It's not really logistically possible). You can't put all the public interests into a room and be effective in making decisions. Yet, that's a damning critique of the system. It's a system that cannot be repaired from within - just like the IBMP.
However, my view is a very small minority. You have to reach people; you have to let them follow their inclinations and beliefs to their logical conclusion. And, that's why you reach out to people who are Obama supporters (my belief is that voting is only for protest - I am likely to vote, if I vote, for some third party) because there is a convergence of belief potentially - even if not an identical optimism about the system.
Obama's rhetoric actually runs counter to what he's doing by running for the most top-down authoritarian position in the world. All one can hope for is that his Administration scraps the IBMP - and only if he appoints the right people, but that won't solve the buffalo problem. It won't solve the fundamental problem in Yellowstone or for buffalo. It will create an opportunity of space for a grassroots movement to develop that can actually stand up for justice. What we need is time; in the end, we need to be the power - not the Barack Obamas.
So, you asked; now take the time not to jump to caricature views about what I've written. You can be a political radical like myself - essentially an anarchist - and still work well with other people, still empower people to act even though you don't have faith in their route. More can be done, and it's not morally or logically responsible to draw cynical conclusions about working for justice.
Posted by Jim Macdonald to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/21/08 11:16 AM __________________________________________________
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[Jim's Eclectic World] New comment on Support Obama? Live near Bozeman? Check out this f....
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Support Obama? Live near Bozeman? Check out this f...":
support obama, do ya? think there's hope that he'll support your cause if he's elected president? sorry to disappoint you there, chief, but you know as well as everyone else does that a snowball has a better chance in hell. and that's not racist, that's reality. the president has always been a white, christian male, and that's the way it'll be come next january.
this country isn't ready for the kind of change we need. we may say we are, but we aren't. you can bet that john mccain is already picking out new curtains for the white house. because he knows it too.
and it's not like it really matters because whoever is elected is going to have a huge laundry list things to work on that are way more urgent than trying to convince the state of montana to place nice with buffalo. three things that come to mind are the iraq war, the economy, and the energy crisis. and really, that's just one thing with three parts to it.
buffalo--waaaaaay down on the list.
and while i know that you are going to take that as a slam, it isn't. that's just the reality of life in america right now.
personally, i too support obama, and i hope i'm wrong about the "christian, white male," thing. hell, i'd even like to see someone at the head of this country who is neither a white male, nor a christian. maybe then we'd have some real change.
maybe then we could focus more on saving bees and trees. whales and snails.
and a buffalo or two.
maybe.
Posted by Anonymous to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/21/08 6:34 AM __________________________________________________
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support obama, do ya? think there's hope that he'll support your cause if he's elected president? sorry to disappoint you there, chief, but you know as well as everyone else does that a snowball has a better chance in hell. and that's not racist, that's reality. the president has always been a white, christian male, and that's the way it'll be come next january.
this country isn't ready for the kind of change we need. we may say we are, but we aren't. you can bet that john mccain is already picking out new curtains for the white house. because he knows it too.
and it's not like it really matters because whoever is elected is going to have a huge laundry list things to work on that are way more urgent than trying to convince the state of montana to place nice with buffalo. three things that come to mind are the iraq war, the economy, and the energy crisis. and really, that's just one thing with three parts to it.
buffalo--waaaaaay down on the list.
and while i know that you are going to take that as a slam, it isn't. that's just the reality of life in america right now.
personally, i too support obama, and i hope i'm wrong about the "christian, white male," thing. hell, i'd even like to see someone at the head of this country who is neither a white male, nor a christian. maybe then we'd have some real change.
maybe then we could focus more on saving bees and trees. whales and snails.
and a buffalo or two.
maybe.
Posted by Anonymous to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/21/08 6:34 AM __________________________________________________
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Friday, May 16, 2008
[Jim's Eclectic World] New comment on Press Release: Buffalo Allies of Bozeman Is Founde....
Tom has left a new comment on your post "Press Release: Buffalo Allies of Bozeman Is Founde...":
Jim,
I completely agree with Angie above. Just continue with your efforts for the buffalo. You can make a difference.
Posted by Tom to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/16/08 9:41 AM __________________________________________________
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Jim,
I completely agree with Angie above. Just continue with your efforts for the buffalo. You can make a difference.
Posted by Tom to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/16/08 9:41 AM __________________________________________________
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
[Jim's Eclectic World] New comment on Press Release: Buffalo Allies of Bozeman Is Founde....
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Press Release: Buffalo Allies of Bozeman Is Founde...":
Jim,
I stumbled across your blog this winter, while I was doing some research on the slaughter of buffalo going on in Yellowstone. I've been reading it for a little while now because you are one of the better sources of information on what's happening there, and your passion for the buffalo is inspiring. But I'm wondering why you keep indulging this idiot, and that other one, Mike McCord, by responding to them? They don't contribute anything except nonsense, and they're clearly just wasting your time. Why bother with them?
Anyway, you are doing a wonderful job. Please keep it up.
-Angie in IL
Posted by Anonymous to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/15/08 10:10 PM __________________________________________________
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Jim,
I stumbled across your blog this winter, while I was doing some research on the slaughter of buffalo going on in Yellowstone. I've been reading it for a little while now because you are one of the better sources of information on what's happening there, and your passion for the buffalo is inspiring. But I'm wondering why you keep indulging this idiot, and that other one, Mike McCord, by responding to them? They don't contribute anything except nonsense, and they're clearly just wasting your time. Why bother with them?
Anyway, you are doing a wonderful job. Please keep it up.
-Angie in IL
Posted by Anonymous to Jim's Eclectic World at 5/15/08 10:10 PM __________________________________________________
D O T E A S Y - "Join the web hosting revolution!"
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