Letters, December 7: Animals cast long shadow

Are the views expressed at the public seminar on animals and the environment by Dairy New Zealand's principal scientist Dr John Roche those of the dairy industry?

Does the dairy industry really believe further debate is needed about whether climate change is being driven by greenhouse gases or that New Zealand's signature of the Kyoto Accord is a bad idea?

Will the dairy industry continue with business as usual in the face of clear evidence that the farming of cattle and sheep makes an inordinate contribution to greenhouse gas production?

Dr Steinfeld clearly outlined the international forces that will shape future markets for meat and milk.

They combine the growing desire and ability of developing countries such as India to eat and farm livestock, and the increasing distaste for ruminant products in more wealthy markets where environmental issues are of greater concern.

Let us hope, for the sake of the New Zealand economy, that the dairy industry is listening to the concerns raised by Dr Steinfeld on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Let us hope that the research strategies of the dairy industry are not unduly influenced by the personal prejudices of their senior scientist who appears to have his head firmly in the oxidation pond!

ALFRED HARRIS

Hamilton

 

 

Dogged for money

I would like to support your correspondent Cindy Schofield of Dinsdale regarding her trouble with the dog control section of the council.

I am 85 years old, totally reliant on my pension, and have always managed to keep my dog registered and safely fenced.

A few weeks ago I was resting in bed having just come out of hospital after a bout of heart failure when my dog accidentally got out of my property.

Since then I have been absolutely hounded by the council. I have been threatened with court proceedings, police action and having my dog impounded. The council fined me $200.

I forwarded them a cheque for half payment out of one pension, the balance to follow the following week.

To my shock and horror the council sent the money back. It demanded the whole $200 in one payment or court proceedings would follow.

I have written to the mayor twice asking for help, but I have had no reply.

How do I deal with these financial and emotional threats at my age?

DOROTHY DOWLING

HuntlyEvolving questions

In reply to Alison Campbell (Letters, November 27) concerning the theory of evolution.

Evolution is the process where a minute life form evolves into a greater life form to maturity.

Will she tell us where a minute life form of a human being evolves from, and how such a human being could survive without male and female parental care?

There are two kinds of evolution.

One is where the offspring evolves after its own kind its matured parents.

The other is where (what Charles Darwin's theory is based upon) every species of life evolves from other species different to themselves.

Further, can she tell us where all the different species of fish (first form of life on Earth) evolved from if they did not at first evolve from mature male and female parents?

D MAINWARING

WhangamataMore is less

Sixty-odd years ago when I started work, the cry from the biscuit dippers in Wellington was for increased productivity and all will be well.

Now their descendants are singing the same tune: "We must have increased productivity."

This, despite the advance in science and technology. Is increased productivity a mythical unreachable goal and will it be with us on the horizon in the future?

How will we know when we have reached a balance of productivity and workers' input?

Who will decide?

The only obvious increase is the proliferation of biscuit dippers.

M K HIRST

Hamilton.

Natural selection

Alison Campbell (Waikato Times letters, November 27) quotes from a biography of Darwin, regarding natural selection.

Let me quote from Darwin himself.

"I was a young man with uninformed ideas. I threw out queries and suggestions. To my astonishment, the ideas took on like wildfire, people made a religion out of them."

Most people are Darwinists because most of us had the same indoctrination at school in the religion he admitted founding.

I remember well my own indoctrination at high school. Our science teacher taught us the Second Law of Thermodynamics as a rigid, unshakeable law of science.

Two months later he willingly ignored that absolute law of science to teach us his religion, darwinism.

The two were incompatible, so the religion came first.

Should not education be about teaching people how to think, not what to think? Why are we too timid to expose our youth to both theories, evolution and creation, and let them think for themselves?

Deliberately exposing them to only one is indoctrination or social engineering.

Alison Campbell confuses natural selection with evolution.

Natural selection involves the loss of genetic information.

Evolution involves the generation of new information, which does not occur naturally, except by genetic engineering.FRED BARRETT

Tirau

Privet on loose

I would like to know why Environment Waikato spends money on road signs and public transport, yet lets the noxious plant privet run rife in the Waikato.

It causes allergies.

A lot of it is growing on Transit or government land, roadways, river and stream banks.

Every year left it gets worse; soon the privet will be right through our native bush.

Perhaps Environment Waikato has put the issue in the too-hard basket.WAYNE TRUBSHAW

Putaruru

 

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