Sustainable fish yes, but...

For anyone who likes eating fish, the sustainability question is always a big issue. I grew up eating fish (rockfish, bluefish, weakfish, sea bass, flounder, porgy) and still today, would prefer eating fish over most anything else. Unfortunately fish management around the world is quite poor so fish farming has been promoted as the best option. It's necessary, perhaps, though that too is creating other problems such as the heavy need for feed fish to sustain the farm populations. A few young Dutch fish suppliers are looking to get around the problem by seeking out sustainable fish supplies from around the world.

The idea itself is good - supporting such an industry is a step in the right direction - though it also then forces the issue of adding to the troubled environment. Selling fresh, wild fish from Alaska is great, but in order to remain fresh, it's going to have to be sent via airliners. That is definitely a step in the wrong direction. The Dutch fish mongers believe the sustainable fish supplies deliver lower carbon footprints though it sounds like a tough sell. Maybe, but it sounds like a stretch. The general direction these days is to make attempts to eat locally. Then the issue is back to what in the world is the EU (or US or Japan, etc) doing about their own backyard? But then, that is a much bigger problem.

Focusing on the problem locally sounds like a much more sustainable long term solution, but maybe this approach is OK in the near term.

The idea is to get people to connect with their fish in the way they do with their meat. But where butchers can now tell you which farm an animal grew up on, who its parents were and how it voted on X Factor, "the sea is not that transparent", says van Olphen drily. Provenance is not that easy with fish unless it has MSC certification. North Sea cod could have been caught anywhere within thousands of square miles, within a wide time frame and by a variety of unspecified methods.

Van Olphen certainly doesn't agree with the doom-mongers who say we must all give up fish to save stocks, but neither, despite the theme of the book, does he think that sustainable fishing in the wild is a long-term solution. "With the population growing at its current rate, farmed fisheries are the only answer," he says. "But our farming practices aren't sustainable. It takes 12kg of wild fish in feed to add just one kilo of weight to farmed fish; roughly one third of all wild fish caught around the world is pulped to create foodstuffs for other animals. Within 20 years we'll run out of fish stocks.

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The Nightowl Newswrap

Sometimes 'personal reasons' are just that Noah Shachtman, who for several years was Phil Carter's neighbor and still counts him as a close friend, spoke with him this afternoon and reports in Wired that Carter has dealt with family issues over the course of their friendship and that in this case, 'personal reasons' are just that. Again, we wish him well in whatever comes next.

We'll be spraying herbicide on Bushies for the next three decades Loyal Bushie  Tim Griffin is running for Congress in the Arkansas 02, and he is bringing some major fundraising firepower to help him raise cash. Former White House assistant?Mary Matalin?and former White House counsel and RNC Chairman?Ed Gillespie? will both be in Little Rock on December 7 at separate events. Matalin will be at a $250 per-plate luncheon and Gillespie will host a $1000 per-person business roundtable to raise money for Griffin's campaign coffers.

If you think the Senate isn't a fucked up mess and Harry Reid a spineless schmuck, read this We have been furious about the disintegration of the upper chamber for several years now. When the republicans threatened to do away with the filibuster, we said "Let it go. They aren't going to be the majority forever, and if they are willing to do away with it now, they'll be willing to abuse it later." As usual, we were right. Ezra Klein posted a letter today from LBJs vote counter when Medicare was being deliberated and voted on. "We would win by a vote of 55 to 45," he wrote. But back then a filibuster was a temper tantrum, not an obstructionist cudgel. Phil Schiliro would certainly not write that letter to David Plouffe today because there would never be a 55 - 45 vote because the filibuster would derail the vote. Or, as Ezra put it, "the fact that 55 Democrats support a controversial bill would be immaterial unless there was some strategy for attracting five more senators to the side of the administration."

If we were David Vitter We would stay the hell out of the lingerie department. Just sayin'...

Kentucky halts executions The Kentucky Supreme Court has suspended all executions in the state until it adopts new regulations in compliance with the law.

Just in time for Thanksgiving Foreign Policy has a primer to help you out with that obnoxious, contrarian uncle who never shuts the hell up  and is proof positive of the veracity of the old saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Partisan books aren't written for kids They are written for adults who like to feel smug and superior and who probably ought to have foresworn the whole 'parenting' thing altogether.

Pakistan charges seven in Mumbai massacre  Pakistan today charged seven men with complicity in the attacks in Mumbai, India last year. The case is being closely watched by India and the United States alike to make sure that Pakistan follows through and punishes those responsible, although analysts say that Lashkar e Taiba, the militant group responsible for the three-day massacre that left 166 people dead, remains relatively untouched by Pakistani security forces.

We need healthcare reform because we are the only industrialized nation in the world that routinely has it's citizens go bankrupt due to medical bills. And the majority of bankruptcies and instances of financial ruin in this country are because of medical bills. That isn't just unconscionable. It's immoral.

It is unbelievable to us that in the 21st century the United Nations still has to issue urgent appeals for a decrease in violence directed towards women? "In every country, women and girls continue to be plagued by violence, causing tremendous suffering," Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said in a message marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed annually on Nov. 25.

Punk'd again A Canadian comedian named Mary Walsh, who has a recurring Colbert-esque female character on This Hour has 22 Minutes, a sort-of Canadian Daily Show, crashed a Sarah Palin book signing this week in Ohio and asked the former half-term governor a question: "I just wanted to ask you if you have any words of encouragement for Canadian conservatives who have worked so hard to try to diminish the kind of socialized medicine we have up there." She was pushed out of the store but Palin caught up with her in the parking lot and told her that the Canadian government needs to get out of the healthcare business and "let the private sector take over."  

And so long as we are talking about that ridiculous bitch She will be the main attraction at what is being billed as the first annual Tea Party National Convention, to be held in Nashville in February. In addition to Palin, Michele Bachmann will be a featured speaker as well. Keep in mind that this is Marsha Blackburn's home turf, and that is a trifecta of crazy to unleash on the poor souls in Nashville. Some really bad songs and some worse hairdos have come out of there, but nothing so vile it justifies violating the Geneva Conventions like that.

If the roundup seems shorter than usual, that is because we are on a holiday schedule through the weekend. The content beast won't starve, but he may lose a pound or two. If you are heading out and won't be online for a couple of days, have a safe trip and a pleasant holiday and we will see you Monday! --BG & YD

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ightowl-newswrap

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27 Reasons To Give Thanks

We’re thankful President Obama is thinking long and hard about committing more troops and money to Afghanistan.

We’re thankful President Bush feels liberated now.

We’re (not) thankful Dick Cheney has elected to move from his undisclosed location to the media spotlight.

We’re thankful Al Franken has gone from playing self-help guru Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live to helping rape victims receive justice from their employers.

We’re thankful for the healing power of beer.

We’re thankful there are some on the right who think Glenn Beck is “incoherent,” “mindless,” “erratic,” “bizarre,” and “harmful to the conservative movement.”

We’re thankful for long hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

We’re thankful Michael Steele understands that he can’t “do policy” and that no one has any reason to trust his “words or actions.”

We’re (not) thankful for “birthers,” “deathers,” “tenthers,” or “tea baggers.”

We’re (not) thankful conservatives believe they love America so much that they can root for our President to fail and for our nation to lose out on hosting the Olympics.

We’re thankful NFL players refused to “bend over and grab the ankles” for Rush Limbaugh.

We’re thankful six companies have resigned from the Chamber of Commerce due to its denial of climate change science.

We’re thankful Falcon “Balloon boy” Heene wasn’t actually in the balloon.

We’re thankful Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach bravely spoke out against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

We’re thankful Shep Smith doesn’t always drink the Fox News kool-aid.

We’re thankful more than 80 companies refused to lend their sponsorship to Glenn Beck’s hateful rants.

We’re thankful there are progressive organizations in D.C. lobbying for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

We’re (not) thankful for the filibuster.

We’re thankful that more than 20,000 of you stood up to Bill O’Reilly’s harassment machine and called for impeachment hearings against torture advocate Jay Bybee.

We’re thankful that Iran’s authoritarian rulers live in fear of their own population.

We’re thankful we’ll no longer have to listen to nativist rhetoric on CNN and global warming skepticism on ABC News.

We’re (not) thankful for bailed out CEOs who think they’re doing “God’s work” by doling out billions in bonuses.

We’re thankful for the legacy of the Liberal Lion.

We’re thankful Bill O’Reilly won’t be following us home for Thanksgiving.

We’e thankful a “wise Latina” sits on the Supreme Court.

We’re thankful our boss helped rescue imprisoned American journalists in North Korea.

We?re also very thankful to have the support of readers like you! What are you thankful for? Let us know in the comments section.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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