Quick! Has Anyone Shot a Lion?!
They have!? AND IT’S AN AMERICAN!? Sweeeeet!
Yes, I KNOW this has been going on for decades… legally. But that’s not the point!
WE NEED SELECTIVE OUTRAGE!
Some of our base, those that don’t think Crunchy Babies is a breakfast cereal, are catching on to the fact that Human Body parts are being quietly sold for Profit by Planned Parenthood.
We need to move them away from trying to understand the whole PP issue.
We need a Furry Face of Distraction!
And, we need to personalize it just like Alinsky taught us. I wish the Lion had a name…
no way…!
Cecil?
Perfect! The sweet, adorable, Lion has a name! How totally Disney!
This is brilliant… even the kids will cry!
Human Life is Cheap and a Detriment to the Planet, but Lions!? Lions deserve to live way more than Humans!
Besides, fetuses don’t have names… and we all know “it’s not a life until it leaves the hospital”.
Whew…
That was Close!
makeaneffort 
July 29th, 2015 at 1:10 pm
I was a little outraged about Cecil’s death. I really don’t understand the thrill of killing something “just because”. I am however, just a little over it. It is truly heartbreaking, but there are so many more atrocities that are more atrocious and rarely does anyone bat an eye at it. Years ago when we lived in Europe, a man had been arrested for kidnapping and killing a young child. The news coverage was unlike anything I had seen involving similar cases here in the US. It looked as though the entire country was out in the streets to form a lynch mob for the child killer – people were outraged and demanded answers. Though I felt sad and disgusted by the shooting of Cecil, I am beginning to feel more outraged at those who pretend to care about life. I’m waiting someone to come up with a psychological profile of the lion killer, I’m sure this isn’t his fault. He must suffer from some deep psychological scarring that would drive him to commit such a heinous act – he needs love and understanding, not judgment. Where is our compassion? He can’t be help responsible for his actions, what other choice did he have?
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July 29th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
I think Killing Lions for sport is ridiculous. But considering it is being used to distract from what I consider to be one of the last great debates is inexcusable.
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July 29th, 2015 at 3:06 pm
This story could be could be seen as a diversion, but I’m not entirely convinced. I think the Planned Parenthood issue is something people just don’t want to consider – there doesn’t need to be a distraction created because people will choose to avoid it.
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July 29th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Maybe. We’ll see if there are a skew of People Killing Animals stories between now and weekend.
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July 29th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Hello Mike and Invisible Mikey, you guys don’t seem like you need my help with the debate you have going on but I can’t help but jump in.
Isn’t the real issue here whether or not tax dollars should be funding the harvest and sale of fetal tissue? I don’t care if the tissue is sold for a profit or for a loss, I just don’t want to pay for it. And I don’t want MY GOVERNMENT to use my money to pay for it.
Planned parenthood should be privately funded.
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July 29th, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Indeed. Forcing those who disagree with me to fund an organization that performs abortion is simply wrong. I would also oppose those who believe the individual has no role in deciding what to do with their body. I’ve been clear on this in the past and have yet to change my mind. The argument is really “When does individual ‘life’ begin?” And it remains a very good one.
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July 29th, 2015 at 2:36 pm
BTW – My argument with Mikey is not about ‘the debate’ so much as it is with his attempt to dismiss these latest discoveries because he hates the messenger and rufuses to acknowledge that without profits businesses would fail to exist. I expect more from him.
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July 29th, 2015 at 10:28 am
The two stories aren’t related. The first is a debunked accusation about parts for profit, a politically motivated smear campaign. The second is about inadequate protections for study animals in countries where game preserves and high-priced hunting go on in the same spot. It’s not like people are so shallow they can’t deal with more than one news item at a time, and even the “pundit channels” have to move on, or lose viewers. When a story first breaks, it gets more air. The lion story is newer. Your media studies should have taught you about this.
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July 29th, 2015 at 10:34 am
My media studies have indeed taught me enough to know that it is all related.
The Hunting of Lions by Americans, and the rest of the world, is nothing new.
The discovery that Planned Parenthood sells baby parts is new.
The Fact that a story about a Lion being killed is elevated to front page news during what can only be considered the most important renewal of a debate that needs to occur is not coincidental.
And if you believe selling body parts, fetal or otherwise, is possible without profit… you my want to refresh your study of economics.
You’ve been around for a while Mikey… you might recall that I am pro-choice. I am still pro-choice.
But the debate regarding value of life is one of the last great ones and should be promoted.
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July 29th, 2015 at 10:41 am
I’ve been around in health care professions for a while too. $30-$100 is the break-even cost for tissue prep and shipping. There’s no profit, and you have to pay techs to do the prep because we are union employees. It’s not a new story. The same guys have been trying to take down PP with lies and fake sting operations for years. At least they finally got the idea that clinic bombing and assassinating doctors upsets the public.
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July 29th, 2015 at 10:47 am
Mikey….
Whether it’s $30, $100 or $.25, what exactly does a busness pay expenses with if not profits?
What do the ‘techs’ trake home in the form of paychecks if not profits?
What do the Doctors buy Lamborghini’s, or put their kids through college, with if not profits?
If you’re not simply pulling my chain here and don’t understand ther above I suggest a great book by Hazlitt called Economics in One Lesson. It’s where you should start.
Simply Hating ther Messenger does not make the message invalid. It’s a Rhetorical device used to dismiss what might otherwise be damaging thought. I suggest using the effort reason and rational to do that instead embracing intellectual laziness.
makeaneffort.
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July 29th, 2015 at 12:06 pm
Profit and cost are not the same things. Profit is money earned over and above costs. For-profit businesses pay their costs (including salaries) with revenue, not with profits. Techs in a non-profit hospital or clinic are also paid with funds from revenue, which may be in the form of grants and other funding sources, but again, never from profits. Profit can’t occur until AFTER staffs are paid.
Non-profit organizations have the legal obligation to put anything above the costs back into operations, facility maintenance, salaries etc. (I’m not an economist, but I was a full-charge bookkeeper.)
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July 29th, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Mikey, you can try to hide profit from the IRS using the ledger but profit (the enriching of oneself through ther fruit of ones labor) is profit.
There is no such thing as a non-profit organization save for IRS designation in order to take advantage of certain tax benefits. I personally own, and operate, three seperate companies and employ good folks like you.
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