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Could be some shaking up for the broken, corrupt system! If Trump defunded animal AG and endorsed lab grown, and PB investment, this would be historical for bringing down animal AG. I hope for the silver lining here. Climate activists, let's merge!! Animal Ag is 14% responsible. I hope Trump defunds the funding for greenwashing in an effort to cover up the pollution and giving animal AG money to implement the lies. Bio bs

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This is a great take!

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Wayne -- thank you for looking for opportunities in this brutal situation. There always comes a tipping point and Trump's first time around is an example..Yet these balancings and unbalancings all take place on this one biosphere where inclusion is a large scale norm.

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I think your perspective, that Trump is part of the reality that you've been working with and on already, and that Trump is related to problems that you've already solved, is healthy and useful. He is doing damage in a spiteful tantrum-like way that appeals to massively guilty exploiters who certainly soon shall have to answer for their abuse. His chosen judge, Gorsuch, referred to their victims as "the violent black underclass" recently. On the surface he seems delusional about biosphere and facts of nature -- but he's getting guidance from the same crew that schemed out the oil corp and tobacco corp lies of decades.

I think a little numbers-crunching on the demographics of the logical/possible 5 million vote margin he won by would reveal that a central and peripheral group of middle-aged men, not only white, centered around police and prison workers and soldiers, alienated from Mother Nature and women in general, were led to vote for Trump by 1000 oil-drunk billionaires and their 4,999,000 strong circle of CEOs, FCOs, police chiefs, police unions, chiefs of military branches. It's no great puzzle or wonder. The task is in communications and the dispelling of nonsense such as that which Trump spreads about his victims and aggressions, and his nonsense about going after elites --- he is a hitman for elites.

If this isn't a hell-bent for leather suicide like Hitler in the making, I don't know what is. Ideally, Trump and Musk and their crew --- Leonard Leo and all --- should be rescued from factory farming just like other animals --- animals who do become furious and vicious when trapped in horrible conditions. That is a kind of goal that needs consideration. But it's going to be a matter of communication and friendship. The whole world needs a different kind of human settlement ASAP. This certainly includes transformation of cities into eco-villages where rescued animals will be rehomed, for instance. Soon I will publish more about this on my own substack and hopefully not take up so much space here! Thank you!

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Good perspective Wayne. While cognizant of some positives I think we need to prepare for the negative aspects of Trump's presidency. It will be states going their own way in resisting federal policies. Due to the present makeup of the Supreme Court, I believe we will need to work through state courts and under state laws whenever possible. Perhaps you would write more about how to regard federal agencies during this difficult period.

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Very helpful thoughts, as always. State courts were already more promising; now that is probably even more the case, with the exception of vivisection work.

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Another great post.

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Sharing: ‘A big relief’: Biden Administration withdraws right whale protection, vessel speed regulation proposal

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WBTW) — A federal proposal that some say would have devasted the boating and fishing industry in South Carolina has been withdrawn.

The Biden Administration pulled out from a ruling that requires more boats to slow down to 10 knots while offshore to protect North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes.

On Wednesday, just days before the administration’s exit, it decided with the National Marine Fisheries Service, a sector of NOAA, to withdraw a proposal expanding its offshore speed regulations to vessels between 35 and 65 feet long.

It would have been enforced in certain slow zones during part of the year.

The current rule has been in place since 2008 for vessels 65 foot or bigger. The expanded proposed rule had been looked at since 2022.

With the now withdrawn proposal, the federal government said, “despite its best efforts, NMFS does not have sufficient time to finalize this regulation in this administration due to the scope and volume of public comments.”

The proposal received 90,000 comments.

Russell Fry, South Carolina seventh district congressman, said the pushback on the proposal came because it would have threatened many livelihoods.

“Washington, D.C. gets a lot of things wrong, including this proposed rule,” Fry said. “So it was good that they actually listened to the people that were going to be impacted by this decision.”

NOAA said endangered North Atlantic right whales are experiencing an “unusual mortality event,” citing deadly vessel strikes.

NOAA reported in 2022 that fewer than 350 right whales remain.

Last time News13 reported on this issue in July, we spoke with Murrells Inlet captain Shane Bashor who owns a 38-foot boat.

News13 caught up with him to hear his reaction on the proposal being withdrawn. He said in his 25 years of running charters, he’s only ever seen one or two right whales.

“It’s definitely a big like relief,” he said. “That’s one less thing, I guess, that we have to worry about. I mean, we’re already pretty regulated on a lot of issues.”

But he’s still wary of another potential proposal in the future.

“Hopefully, you know, same thing,” he said. “We’ll get a heads up on it. And, you know, if it’s silly and doesn’t make sense and hopefully enough people can comment, and it won’t get passed.”

NOAA said this decision would not stop it from trying to propose rules in the future. Fry said he will continue to check the federal government for over regulation.

Note: True to Catholic "theology," it is error to believe that humans have a duty to spare animals from cruelty. Thus, Biden--a Catholic--submits.

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One big thing you've not mentioned Wayne is the horrendous impact of the climate crisis on our fellow animals and the fact that the Trump administration will make the situation much worse in that respect.

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GOD BLESS YOU WAYNE 🙏🙏🙏

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This morning I was talking with me wife and she reminded me that in our conversation with Almira of the animal rights group DIRECT ACTION EVERYWHERE. It came out that you WAYNE actually receive Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in legal fees annually from DXE...do I post about that?

No, because while the headlines on your posts are completely misleading your intent is to better the lives of animals!

Thus I don't try to cast you as yet another greedy lawyer.

In fact I say ..keep up the good work.

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to continue..the prior Trump presidency was a huge plus for animals. A plus that a troubled Biden administration canceled.

As for Kennedy, he is unusual but I believe he'd be among the first to say animal agriculture and testing is completely unhealthy and cruel.

To the point...my wife and I are big contributors to DXE and talk with the executive director somewhat regularly.

Your actions and tactics are noble but methods of trying to score points by using misleading headlines isn't necessary.

The Trump administration will again set about making lives better for farmed and laboratory animals and you diminish your cause with false headlines.

An example is:

You are not evil because you take tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees from DXE than the person who eats the occasional hamburger.

I have been in the fight for animals and my wife and I put money into the fight!

Jim Gatten

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I stopped reading 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘺 on page 3 or whenever Vance waxes poetic on the paradise of his childhood environs where he could run free and 'terrorize' local animals. I assume he means sport-hunting and maybe even torturing local fauna.

I used to believe McCartney's adage that 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯. I now believe it's naive, because many humans are sadistic psychopaths vis animals, however humane they may be at the intra-species level. Probably a degree of such psychopathy has been culturally & even genetically selected for, in the long history of hunting.

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Fears for border wildlife under Trump administration.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/18/trump-border-wall-ecology

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Wayne you have done it again!

This time you have chosen President Trump to highlight your mixed and confusing post.

If you would reread your own text you would realize that you said the prior Trump presidency

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Trump has been cornered by Trump because Kennedy cornered himself in the single issue of anti-Fauci/anti-vaxxine alonfg with Trump. For the time being, in the sensationalistic campaign period, Kennedy aligns with Trump's anti-science bluster. Trump claims to want to scaffold a whole anti-science purge on Kennedy's shoulders. The scientific method is the thing that Trump fears (and he very unwisely brags about it) because he is peddling himself as a hitman for greedy billionaires and investors like the oil gangs, the opiate gangs, the ag pesticide gangs. None of them really want any more evidence of their completely strategic and intentional lying to emerge or be interpreted for what it is. Hence, in combination with exploiting Kennedy's memory loss problems Trump wants to use Kennedy to attack scientific research. In many lawsuits on behalf of victims of corporate and government backed pollution, and many piecemeal other 'eco-friendly' lawsuits, Kennedy depended on science. Trump is shallow and would be just as happy denouncing Kennedy at some pass for somehow crossing with Trump, like Pence, and all those others.

I think you would do better by referring to the science behind animal testing as 'exploitative' rather than 'mainstream', because plenty of biology these days is turning out documentation on animal sensitivity and intelligence. A new generation of researchers, equipped with AI-improved modelling and brain research, has loved animals from childhood and has come up free of induction into the High Holy Hypocritic Professional Jockstrap Hall of Torture.

It's possible that Kennedy thinks Trump needs to throw in some enviro-friendly sauce that Kennedy would be glad to provide in Federal policy. Kennedy might provide activists opportunities for the articulation of facts about the things that have caught his eye. On the other hand it should be borne in mind that over the last decade, the class of the 1%, in which Kennedy somewhat rudely fits, has attempted to take possession of many causes and vocabularies that were/are labelled "left", "fringe", etc., including the animal rights ones, because doing so provides this Topside opiatorycal, sacramental and journalist-hating gang a facade of responsiveness, awareness, responsibility. They have ransacked journalism, Darwin, Marx, Keynes, Freud, Jung, Bible, Hinduism, Buddhism, you name it, for PR strategy. But they're not going to undo facts and logic . . .

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Sorry, I meant to type "Kennedy has been cornered by Trump by . . ." up there. But even so, Trump is cornering himself with his fetishizing of various "magic wand" champions like Musk and Hegeseth who get lots of attention but merely gush various toxic waste.

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