In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster • Hacker News Board

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#151

Post by ageofwant » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 1:52 AM UTC

georgecmu wrote: post #54

I'm torn on the subject. There's a Korean restaurant in Queens that serves live seafood (octopi chopped in front of you; hot pots with live scallops cooked at your table): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfu9MzeEMxo I don't have a problem with chopping up an octopus at the dinner table, but I probably wouldn't want to see a chicken clubbed to death before it lands in plate. On a different subject, I'm not sure that '…

You should have a problem with a live octopus being chopped up in front of you. Octopi are some of the most intelligent creatures around. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-mind-of-an-oc.... They are undoubtedly delicious too, just like cows, and, in some cultures, dogs.

It boils down to empathy... the way you acquire empathy is bound to culture and education. Knowing and understanding what a octopus is: a being of high intelligence and skill, sitting here at the bleeding edge of deep time with the other survivors, aught to matter to a emphatic being, like yourself.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#152

Post by stordoff » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 1:52 AM UTC

wallace_f wrote: post #135

heinrichf wrote: post #9

It's also illegal to own a single guinea pig or parrot (because they are prone to loneliness): https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-post/guinea-pig-swi...

I am a vegetarian, but I'm more troubled by these totalitarian laws. Yes, I know they 'are just helping animals,' but throughout history, too often tyrants strip your liberties in the name of of moral righteousness.

What liberty is being stripped here? The law should be considered for what it is, not a broad hypothetical generalisation of what it could be.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#153

Post by eridius » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 1:55 AM UTC

> That means cats must have a daily visual contact with other felines

Wow, really? Why? Cats are loners, they don't need to be around other cats. In fact, my cat hates other cats, giving her daily visual contact with other cats would basically be torture.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#154

Post by daveFNbuck » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 1:59 AM UTC

marcrosoft wrote: post #97

Wtf. Should chopping the head off a chicken be illegal as well? How about shooting a cow in the back of the skull? What if it's suffering? Is it ok then?

They're not making it illegal to kill lobsters.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#155

Post by Natsu » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 2:00 AM UTC

loeg wrote: post #124

StavrosK wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (Myself, I'm kind of grossed out by shellfish). Ah, and I thought I was the only one. They look too damn similar to cockroaches!

They are sea bugs.

They're arthropods, just like insects are, but true bugs are insects that belong to the order hemiptera.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#156

Post by staticassertion » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 2:00 AM UTC

wallace_f wrote: post #147

kranner wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way does it strip one's liberties to be required to keep at least two guinea pigs if one must keep them? The "liberty" to keep exactly one guinea pig: that is just silly.

That's exactly the point. The first steps in the path to illegitimate authority is to start legitimizing it using these low-hanging fruits. This is just textbook play calling. Removing net neutrality starts "we just want to help hospitals and police have faster internet, don't be ridiculous." Drug prohibition, the War on Terror, the TSA, police militarization. It all, every time, comes with "they're just trying to do…

We already have laws about which animals can be kept as pets. This is hardly an egregious extension of that power.

The law is very plainly there to prevent guinea pigs from being abused. It is not there to extend the government's power.

What an extremely odd thing to argue.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#157

Post by lazyasciiart » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

loeg wrote: post #124

StavrosK wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (Myself, I'm kind of grossed out by shellfish). Ah, and I thought I was the only one. They look too damn similar to cockroaches!

They are sea bugs.

Yep! Moreton Bay Bugs are delicious :) http://www.claringbolds.com.au/produce/morton-bay-bugs/

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#158

Post by wallace_f » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

stordoff wrote: post #152

wallace_f wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a vegetarian, but I'm more troubled by these totalitarian laws. Yes, I know they 'are just helping animals,' but throughout history, too often tyrants strip your liberties in the name of of moral righteousness.

What liberty is being stripped here? The law should be considered for what it is, not a broad hypothetical generalisation of what it could be.

The burden should not be on the people to justify every one of their liberties. Should a gay couple need justify to the state the merit, moral dignity, or in any way their choice to live as gay people to the state? No. It should never be that way. But to legitimize illegitimite authority you just need to win over the hearts and minds of the people that what you are doing is good, by first doing things that are, in isolation, good. Though its an awful path to go down.

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#159

Post by madengr » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 2:07 AM UTC

mod wrote: post #96

dvtv75 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went on a tour through a slaughterhouse when I was a teen, as part of a school trip. Didn't want to go, but my stepfather decided that it would be "good for" me. I made it clear I didn't want to go and he laughed. He loved the power trip of forcing me to watch animals be killed. It really messed me up. I won't eat red meat mostly as a result of this, but also because my family were also ridiculously poor cooks. (Th…

That seems a lousy way to kill an animal. I saw a video (which I won't link to you, as I'm certain you don't want to see it) of a phenomenal on-site butcher, he was incredibly precise, fast, etc. Anyway, the video starts with a live cow, which is killed instantly with a small firearm and a well-placed bullet to the brain. I butcher animals sometimes (I hunt and have a small homestead) and I would not dream to use any…

Reminds me of a scene in n House of Cards;

“These ribs are good!”

“Yeah, got me a new butcher. Has a sound proof room in the back. Slow bleeds em’”

Re: In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster

#160

Post by lazyasciiart » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 2:07 AM UTC

wallace_f wrote: post #147

kranner wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way does it strip one's liberties to be required to keep at least two guinea pigs if one must keep them? The "liberty" to keep exactly one guinea pig: that is just silly.

That's exactly the point. The first steps in the path to illegitimate authority is to start legitimizing it using these low-hanging fruits. This is just textbook play calling. Removing net neutrality starts "we just want to help hospitals and police have faster internet, don't be ridiculous." Drug prohibition, the War on Terror, the TSA, police militarization. It all, every time, comes with "they're just trying to do…

I think you'll find that this kind of thing started with making slavery illegal, a.k.a the actual use of force by the government to take away people's freedom to own other humans. The idea that all authority is immoral because authority can be used for immoral purposes is a simplistic slippery slope, and frankly anyone arguing that is just arbitrarily picking one ingredient of tyranny and saying that it should be banned. Tyranny also requires people. Let's get rid of people!