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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 8d

i’m with you. also the way big tech and the media are talking about AI as one thing makes it nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between real, specific AI tools and slop machines

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 8d

since political correctness is all topical again, here’s a video I made deep diving into how conservatives manufactured the PC panic:
youtu.be/nD1nJ7g8j94?...

How billionaires created the DEI panic

YouTube video by Media Matters

youtu.be

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Reposted by Abbie Richards

Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 9d

hey @nytimes.com: there is no counterpoint here. There are no credible legal experts who would EVER say that the US military has any right or authority to blow civilian craft out of the Caribbean and kill their crews from afar without any provocation. There is no other side to this question.

"Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians not directly taking part in hostilities, even if they are believed to be smuggling drugs."

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

WHAT. ARE. WE. DOING.

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

Update: the Guardian has added two paragraphs addressing animal agriculture's role in driving soy production.

I can't find a note regarding the edit on the article. I like the guardian (and am a subscriber) but that was an interesting choice.

The original archived version: archive.ph/kR7GV

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

I am not in fact crazy. They original did not have that paragraph!!

archive.ph/kR7GV

archive.ph

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

but if the conversation has become "well if they werent plowing that land for soy, they'd be doing it for something else" then you're in a mental justification space that is fully shut down and i can't have an honest conversation with you about it.

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

but the story is specifically about the economic drive for soy which is driven by the incentive to produce animal feed.

listen, i can recognize cognitive dissonance when i see it. i get that you're a small animal agriculture business so you feel attacked. but im concerned with big ag. not you.

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

Ah ya that's a common myth/justification for the system but the value of the oil vs the meal flip back and forth. Plenty of the time, the meal is actually valued significantly higher than the oil.

The idea that the meal is just some "waste" product is a myth

southernagtoday.org/2021/10/25/w...

What’s Driving Soybean Value: Meal or Oil?

southernagtoday.org

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

would you say that it is correct to say that "70-80% of the global soybean supply becomes animal feed" ?

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

so then we entirely agree on the numbers??

you're just arguing that the primary driver is to create soybean oil? and not animal feed?

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

are you okay friend? i've given you like 4 or 5 different sources at this point (and you've provided zero) so it seems like you're experiencing some pretty severe cognitive dissonance

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

here's the source chainreactionresearch.com/report/feed-...

Feed and Livestock in Brazil, China, EU Consume Most Cerrado Soy - Chain Reaction Research

Driven by the booming global meat industry and growing markets for vegetable oils, soybeans have become the primary protein crop globally. High production growth rates are particularly prevalent in So...

chainreactionresearch.com

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

ya 98% of all soybean meal is animal feed. that doesn't change the fact that 70-80% of global soy production is for animal feed.

here's a visual of brazil's domestic soy production. you can see that the largest flow BY FAR is the soybean to crushing to soymeal to animal feed to human consumption.

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

wait they fully just added that it. i did searches for the words "meat" and "animal" and got nothing. and then i refreshed the page and the paragraph is there. i feel like im going crazy

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

biodiesel is about 4% and vegetable oil is about roughly 13%

hope this helps! but ya- i know the numbers are shocking

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

Nah fam it's 77% going to animal feed according to The European Food Information Council (www.eufic.org/en/food-prod...)

70% in the US according to the FDA (www.eufic.org/en/food-prod...)

75% worldwide according to the WWF (www.wwf.org.uk/updates/soy-...)

so ya... it's between 70-80%

Is eating soy bad for the environment?

This article explores the environmental impact of soy production on deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water use.

www.eufic.org

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

🙈

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

It's hard to find honest framing in the media around anything climate/animal agriculture related. This one is to the point though

news.mongabay.com/2019/01/braz...

Brazilian hunger for meat fattened on soy is deforesting the Cerrado: report

The Cerrado biome, covering 20 percent of Brazil, has seen rapid deforestation in the 21st century; a recent report says that much of this is driven by soy grown to feed livestock, which feeds Brazili...

news.mongabay.com

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 9d

The fact that this article on soy causing deforestation doesn't cover how all that soy is being used is a wild media failure. The vast majority (70-80%) is being fed to animals.

It's not the "world's taste for soya" it's the world's taste for meat.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

How the world’s taste for soya is eating Brazil’s Amazon

Cultivation of the crop has made a few wealthy but at a huge cost to untouched forest as it spreads across vast areas of former wilderness

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Abbie Richards

Alex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 13d

New from @abbierichards.bsky.social, based in part on research I provided:

TikTok Shop is now selling supplements from a company co-founded by "Plandemic" conspiracy theorist Mikki Willis.

The company claims the supplements “bulletproof your immune system,” likely in violation of TikTok rules.

TikTok Shop is selling supplements made by Plandemic filmmaker

www.mediamatters.org

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 13d

Also because I am petty I did the math on how much it would cost to supplement yourself with every active ingredient in Fierce Immunity and it was about 1/4 of the cost. (Or 1/2 the cost if you buy on TikTok Shop)

(my editors rightfully didn't think it was relevant so my math can live here)

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 13d

It's fascinating that this group has implied both that measles is a "bioweapon" and that it's also "just a rash."

It's both a violent attack and it is also nothing. The contradictory thinking here is truly impressive.

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 13d

New from me: a deep dive into the grifty world of measles misinformation. If you sow enough doubt and fear and confusion, you can sell more supplements to "bulletproof" your followers immune systems against measles.

www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/tikto...

TikTok Shop is selling supplements made by Plandemic filmmaker

www.mediamatters.org

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Abbie Richards @abbierichards.bsky.social · 14d

ah geez thanks! 😊

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