<p>Refried Beans vs Humus</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad: I think some aspects of the RFP are stupid and will eventually get cut, and that others are a little superfluous. But I look at the bigger picture, which is that the Dems are trying to walk the walk and do something to reduce their convention’s impact on the environment, before nattering about the little details.</p>
<p>I recognize that the very last thing a Republican would want anyone to think about in America is the absolute disaster of every Republican policy implemented over the past 30 years, but – complaining about the menu at someone else’s party? Complaining that they want to use re-usable (i.e. ya gotta wash 'em) dishes? </p>
<p>Three words, Barrons: Pa the tic</p>
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I think that’s fine and a good thing to do. It’s just that the way the article reads, the actions seemed just way over the top and too staged but I guess that’s the way these conventions are evolving. I think something more subtle would have been more effective. Just my perception from the article. I would have had the same reaction if the Republicans did the same thing.</p>
<p>I repeat, this environmental emphasis is related to Denver, and not the Democratic party, as this article reads. It is discussing catering rules. You are all misinterpreting the article, and the author is slanting it to seem it is the Democratic focus. It is not.</p>
<p>Denver, or near Denver, is home to NOAA, UCAR, NCAR - all the federal agencies supporting climate change and research. The Colorado Universities are also involved.</p>
<p>Green and environmentalism is BIG in Denver, whether you are Republican or Democrat.</p>
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What about vegetarians? Are they BIG in Denver? Until you are a vegetarian, you cannot begin to be an environmentalist.</p>
<p>Yes you can, razorsharp. You just can’t be an ideal environmentalist.</p>
<p>Their plans look sensible to me. Glad to see the Dems living up to their ideals.</p>
<p>Which Republican policy is that–Nafta? Setting up the economy for a huge fall (Dotcom Bust followed by a real recession–no this banana). Not killing Bin Laden when they had the best chance?</p>
<p>And the follow up guy also has not gotten the Man. So what’s his excuse? Not trying hard enough? Not enough money? Soldiers are too busy? Bombs not big enough?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s dumb persay, just dumb that they think they’ll actually make a difference by doing this.</p>
<p>No, just the Democratic convention doing something environmentally friendly won’t have a huge impact. But if everyone was doing the same thing as this convention, there would be an obvious impact.</p>
<p>That is a major reason why the “yeah but you’re not going to make a different to the environment yourself” really annoys me. The worst example was the magazine article that recommended just trashing fluorescent light bulbs instead of recycling - because just a single reader doing it wouldn’t make a difference. Yeah, true - but if millions do, it most certainly will.</p>
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<p>I urge you to come out and live in the real world every now and then.</p>
<p>And, it’s been awhile, but did you not just commit a part to whole fallacy? You know, saying that just because part (convention) did something that resulted in x that if everyone else (the whole) did the same thing it would also result in x. :)</p>
<p>EDIT: Composition fallacy is what you did: </p>
<p>The second type of fallacy of Composition is committed when it is concluded that what is true of the parts of a whole must be true of the whole without there being adequate justification for the claim. More formally, the line of “reasoning” would be as follows: </p>
<p>The parts of the whole X have characteristics A, B, C, etc.
Therefore the whole X must have characteristics A, B, C.
That this sort of reasoning is fallacious because it cannot be inferred that simply because the parts of a complex whole have (or lack) certain properties that the whole that they are parts of has those properties. This is especially clear in math: The numbers 1 and 3 are both odd. 1 and 3 are parts of 4. Therefore, the number 4 is odd. </p>
<p>[Fallacy:</a> Composition](<a href=“http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/composition.html]Fallacy:”>http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/composition.html)</p>
<p>Just an observation— when it became apparent that the attacks on Kennedy in the now-closed thread wer getting outrageous, this thread, another pathetic opportunity to attack the Democrats is started here yesterday afternoon? Holy cow. Give it a rest.</p>
<p>As with any experiment, there are going to be some things that work and some that are not well thought-out and will need to be revised or will be eliminated in the next iteration of the experiment. We cannot expect that every experiment will be a success on its first try.</p>
<p>So the issue is whether the goal is laudable and achievable. I strikes me from the article that some of the ideas are off-the wall but some are quite useful. I also see this not only as a one-off experiment but something that local companies can learn from and build on. They can decide that the “buy local” policy is not feasible, especially at certain times of the year; they can weigh the pros and cons of disposable utensils and plates vs. water usage. They can become more aware of the origins of the goods they buy. Etc… </p>
<p>The NYT had an article yesterday on the amount of food that is wasted by Americans and ends up in landfills. That’s on top of the containers, utensils, plates, etc…</p>
<p>Off-topic: Hitchcock, who loved practical jokes, once served an all-blue meal to guests, including the bread. Blue is supposed to be the least appetizing color for food.</p>
<p>This was far more light-hearted than the Kennedy discussion. It just seemed like a typical comical over-reaching. Call it comic relief after a tough discussion.</p>
<p>this is great
boy are the GOP freaking!
[GOP</a> scrambles after Mississippi loss - John Bresnahan and Patrick O’Connor - Politico.com](<a href=“http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10349.html]GOP”>GOP scrambles after Mississippi loss - POLITICO)</p>