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Saturday, February 11, 2006

A special edition of new links:

I'm writing this post to explain the new links that can be found in my Cool Links section and my reasons for including them. The thing all four have in common is that they are devoted to exposing one or more group of activists who are all-but defrauding their less wary members and advancing a radical agenda that is every bit as divorced from reality as any other form of radicalism or extremism. To clarify my position, I fully support the right of organizations to advance any cause they so choose, as long as they do so in a reasoned and intelligent manner. I probably hold positions that are contrary to these legitimate groups, but I can respect them because they are reasonable people who are, in their opinion, working to imrpove the world. My problem is when it crosses over into extremism, and at that point, a group or individual will draw my ire. Just to be different, I've decided to put them in this post in reverse-alphabetical order.

PhysicianScam.com is a website devoted to exposing the lies and other misinformation spread by "physicians" with ties to PETA. They have, to a person, shown that they have about as much respect for actual science as the Bush administration has for the environmental lobby.

PETAKillsAnimals.com is, as the name suggests, a site devoted to the hypocrisy of the PETA animal shelter and its execrable record regarding advancing the welfare of companion animals. They also do a fair job of exposing other forms of hypocrisy exercised by PETA, as well as exposing some of their misinformation. All in all, this is a very good site, and I highly recommend visiting their site and seeing what they have to say. This site is also linked via a banner ad on the sidebar.

The Center for Consumer Freedom is excellent about exposing flawed logic and misinformation on food issues and those who would profit from bogus lawsuits. Also, they're quite good at exposing other forms of bullshit.

AnimalScam.com is a site devoted to exposing the flaws, hypocrisies, glaring contradictions, and frequent lies of the "animal rights" movement in general and discusses in depth the problems with the extremist member organizations of this movement, partially by linking to other sites who have collected this information. This is another site I highly recommend.

Finally, ActivistCash.com is much like the above sites, except they don't restrict their targeting of radical groups to just the animal rights movement. That said, they do an excellent job of exposing these organizations for what they are. Like the above sites, I highly recommend this site as a resource for both members and foes of these organizations alike.

Reasoned debate is vital to a thriving culture, even more than the freedom to write, say, or depict something that may offend. That right, however, ends with any attempt to force those views on people and their children, and becomes illegal when violent force is used. Furthermore, just because an organization once expressed your views does not mean that they will continue to do so. Organizations, like people, change, and when these mutations occur in manners you don't like, leave. Don't support them with your time, effort, money, or other resources, and if so inspired, inform others of your reasons for leaving.

1 comment:

Snave said...

Thanks for the links. Personally, I like the anti-RIAA link the best. I usually don't use the word "hate" if I can avoid it, but I truly hate those SOBs. The section on corrupt CDs is great. I will look into some of the artists the site includes, especially ones with intriging names like "Dislocated Boner". I hope their list of certified artists will grow!

A good magazine to check out for news about independent record labels and recording artists is MAGNET.