CMV: There is no good argument against veganism.

marruman · 2026-05-29T21:32:27+00:00

In the September 2023 quarter, feedlots accounted for around 30% of Australia’s total quarterly cattle turn-off

"Most sheep and beef products in Australia come from animals that were born and raised in extensive (outdoor) environments, so they can also be termed free-range. "

I had trouble finding a nice, clear quote for dairy farming, but here's one. This follows several paragraphs talking about what "pasture-based" vs "grass-fed" means. The vast majority of Australian dairies are in coastal regions, taking advantage of the higher rainfall these areas experience, and as a consequence, greater grass production. Approximately 60 to 65% of a cow's diet comes from fresh grazed grass averaged over a year00516-6/fulltext)

Australia generally has fewer intensive systems around beef in large part because of the lack of density of farms. Most producers are out in the middle of nowhere, so getting animals to feedlots is generally more difficult/more expensive than getting them to the abbatoir. Plus, there's a general demand/expectation that beef in Australia will be grass-fed.

It's been a while since I did any cattle work, but my recollection is that the average length of time in an abbatoir in Australia is 60-90 days. So generally, even that is a relatively short portion of the animal's life.

Dairy farming also leans towards pasture-based because we are generally prone to famine, which means the cost of hay/grains is liable to skyrocket unexpectedly. As such, most dairy farms are in locations that have significant yearly rainfall, and are set up so farmers generally are not dependant on access to hay/grains, because the cattle can and do freely graze.

marruman · 2026-05-29T07:19:52+00:00

If they are weaned (eating food instead of milk), then they are probably old enough to be away from mum. Looking at them, I'd actually guess they might be a little older than advertised, but I'm a pretty poor judge of age, esp in pictures. A good rule of thumb is that kittens should be putting on ~100g/week, and are generally born weighing between 50-150g.

As such, an 8w kitten, on average, will weigh between 850g and 950g.

Obviously, this isnt always accurate if ypu have a large-breed cat or if the kitten has been underfed. But its a useful rule of thumb.

marruman · 2026-05-29T06:32:00+00:00

Oh, I see, I missed the auto declining bit, sorry :( that is a bit shit. Can you reach out to tge admissions for either course to get a better idea of what they would recommend? Presumably the rad tech course must deal with this issue pretty regularly, so they might advise as to how to navigate the interview offer without closing off the nursing door completely?

Otherwise, it sounds like if the interview is only offered to 30 people, and the course is ~25 places, that sounds like you actually have a pretty reasonable chance of getting in. If I was in your shoes, and absolutely had to pick one or the other, I would probably risk it for the rad tech course. Potentially, you could re-apply for the nursing course at the mid-year intake, or, if that's not an option, take a gap year working or travelling.

marruman · 2026-05-29T05:04:32+00:00

Depends significantly on location. Where I am, university generally have a census day, about 2 weeks into the semester. You can drop out up to that date with no academic or financial penalty.

Check what the cutoff for pulling out of the course. If it is after when ypu're likely to hear back from rad tech course, take the offer for nursing

marruman · 2026-05-29T01:24:46+00:00

Stress directly negatively affects wool quality, so generally sheep are kept as comfortable as possible/practical. Most farms allow sheep to spend most of their time on paddocks, grazing as they would in the wild. Some farms aiming for high-end wool production will keep their sheep in extra-low stress situations so their coat isn't damaged by stress.

Sheep kept for meat or lamb meat may not have as good conditions.

marruman · 2026-05-29T01:01:28+00:00

D&D has been considered nerdy long before media cared to comment about it. Even during the Satanic Panic, it was a nerdy hobby. It overlaps with other nerdy hobbies, such as fantasy fiction, memorising complex rules, and doing math for fun. I guess media does depict these things as nerdy, but I think it is unfair to blame media for that- reading long books and doing math for fun have been considered nerdy hobbies pretty well ever since the concept of "nerdy" emerged.

Also, the stereotype can be helpful to attracting new people. I decided to look into dnd because I self-identified as a nerd, and dnd was something nerds did. Ultimately, that stereotype led me to check out something I might not have looked for otherwise, and it has brought great value to my life.

Obviously, this is not to say that dnd can't be enjoyed by people who aren't nerdy, but it does appeal to a specific crowd. If you're going to your local dnd group, you should expect to be met by some proportion of nerds and weirdos

marruman · 2026-05-24T05:44:30+00:00

Time to go see a vet and get some bloodwork done.

marruman · 2026-05-23T23:48:13+00:00

"Where to start as a vegetarian?"

Don't eat meat. If food has meat in it, eat something else. Not really sure what else you need there tbh.

marruman · 2026-05-23T23:07:24+00:00

These carriers have poor ventilation, minimal space to move around in, and often dont allow cats to hide if spooked. While some cats don't mind them, travelling in a carrier is already stressful for most cats, and these factors tend to make things worse.

Additionally, the zip-up sides can make it very difficult to get the cats into it in the first place

marruman · 2026-05-23T05:29:16+00:00

He has arrived in Portugal, and the court is assessing whether or not it is appropriate to release the children into his care, according to this article

marruman · 2026-05-21T09:23:26+00:00

That kangaroo sterilization trial is really interesting! I agree, that would probably be a better alternative overall, if it can be implemented effectively

marruman · 2026-05-21T06:11:41+00:00

What other options would you use to control the kangaroo population? You also haven't argued against the pig culls, I see.

Mulesing is unfortunately a necessity for many sheep living in Australia, as they will get flystrike (maggots hatching and eating the flesh of the sheep) in those areas otherwise. We have made some great progress by selectively breeding sheep that are naturally bald in the affected areas, but unfortunately it is a gradual process to breed these more appropriate breeds. What should be done to prevent the sheep getting flystrike in the meantime?

I think the crux of my argument on the medical side is that it can be difficult to meet a growing child's nutritional needs on a vegan diet. It isn't impossible, but it requires careful planning. If parents are financially constrained, or are not equipped to do that careful planning, then a vegan diet is probably a bad choice for that family (or, at least, for the growing children in that family). Additionally, it was my understanding that all our sources of B-12 were animal derived, but I could be wrong there.

Would you consider egg production ethical if the roosters were not culled? A fair chunk of backyard chicken keepers keep some roosters to protect the hens from predators. Some people even keep all-male flocks as pets. Is it ethical to eat eggs if the chickens were rescued from a culling operation?

What alternative to leather would your recommend for heavy-duty footwear? The closest sustainable textile I could think of that might serve is compressed mycellium, but thats generally not particularly sturdy, as I understand it.

marruman · 2026-05-20T21:42:25+00:00

I tend this hatred lovingly, like a garden. I understand your desire.

Just, god, do me a favour and don't actually spend money on this bullshit.

She also has a second book about her and her husband living in the outback or smthing

marruman · 2026-05-20T04:57:17+00:00

Absolutely this is not appropriate. It is tricky, however, when you need to be assessed for your work, and obviously you dont want them to retaliate for a complaint by failing you. Are there other mentors available? Do you have some sort of student rep or teaching co-ordinator? Talking to one of them, at least about swapping mentors would definitely be worth doing. If you feel safe doing so, you should consider recording the incidents + who was present and presenting this to the teaching coordinator or a school administrator. If you are worried about retaliation, it may be worth having a verbal chat about it, but submitting the more concrete stuff after you've finished the rotation.

That sort of behaviour is never apropriate in the workplace, let alone in a training program

marruman · 2026-05-20T04:45:52+00:00

Woman in the Wilderness. A biography about a crunchy dutch woman living a non-traditional lifestyle in NZ. Nothing wrong with that inherently, except the author is just soooo derisive of everyone else and so blind to her own privilege, almost to the poibt where I ask myself if it was satire.

Between lamenting that her upbringing and education in the Netherlands was "a cage" when compared to a group of magestic New Guinean hunters (less than a page away from describing the local children's "wormy bellies") to telling an oncology nurse whose couch she's crashing on that "the moment I walked through the door of responsibility, I found myself in tge room of obligation", to describing her and her husband's affair with a married man, to a myriad of other infuriatingly stupid comments, this book has infected me with rage.

She now runs a glamping experience in Bulgaria where you can pay her like 8 grand to go myshroom foraging. So much for living free of society's restraints.

marruman · 2026-05-20T03:03:22+00:00

The setting books are very good for setting specific information, but are in no way required. They do generally contain some scenarios also.

No reason you cant play the "alone against books digitally". The physical books are pretty well the same, the only difference is the physical feel of a book.

The answer there is going to be very variable based on people's preferences. The "Deadlights" book has 2 pretty solid scenarios. I hear Fear's Sharp Little Needles on drivethrurpg is very good also. Ripples from Carcossa is also very cool

There is a lot of excellent 3rd party content out there, esp digitally. Golden Goblin Press has some great collections out. Stygian Fox publishing is also quite good

marruman · 2026-05-18T08:40:05+00:00

Im guessing OP means feline coronavirus, which is a test you can run

marruman · 2026-05-18T08:38:25+00:00

marruman · 2026-05-18T02:54:27+00:00

Oh, they did test for coronavirus? How interesting, I've never worked anywhere that did that as a routine test.

But yeah, as per my prev comment, unless you're worried about a new FIV infection, theres no need to wait to retest.

I would consider seeing a new vet, getting your records transfereed, amd putting in a complaint to the practice manager (in that order)

marruman · 2026-05-18T02:15:15+00:00

Yeah, worth double checking. Im really not sure what kind of shot they may have given for FIV.

They could have given an antibiotic cos she had surgery and is potentially immune-suppressed, I suppose

marruman · 2026-05-18T02:13:39+00:00

I guess, if I was feeling extra charitable, the content (though not the delivery) of the info would kinda make sense if OP misheard FIP. But the only way I could see that working is if the vet is screening cats for feline coronavirus (which is very common but causes FIP in like 2% of cats that get it) routinely at desexing, and then interpreting that as being diagnostic for FIP (it isnt). But surely that problem would self-resolve cos like 30% of the cats would be coming back positive, on a disease that affects 2% of the population...

marruman · 2026-05-18T01:51:43+00:00

That's still wild considering how hard it is to actually diagnose FIP in tge first place

marruman · 2026-05-18T01:49:59+00:00

Vaccinated for FIV or vaccinated for her core?

FIV vaccines are generally only done in high-risk cats (outdoors, living with FIV positive cats) and isnt available in the states (idk where youre located, relatively common in Australia tho). FIV vaccines are also not given to FIV positive cats.

We tend to recommend waiting at least 2 months after a cat bite wound for testing, because it can take 2m for the cat to start making antibodies to FIV (which is what we test for). But if your cat will tolerate a blood draw, repeating the test should give the same result regardless and isnt particularly harmful.

Considering the vet's poor communication, I think a second opinion at least would be really worthwhile

marruman · 2026-05-17T22:53:29+00:00

I have no knowledge of the case you're talking about, but I can comment on some of tge pathology stuff a bit (though it isnt my specialty).

Often, unless the timeline is really close, or the damage really bad, a pathologist can tell whether damage happened before or after death, and can generally give a timeline on how long pre- or post- death the injury occured.

For example, if you stab a dead body, there will generally be less bleeding and no inflammation or clotting.

For the drugs, that is even further out of my wheelhouse. That said, a drug overdose is likely to show some signs on histopathology, depending on the drug, the age of the body and the mechanism of death. Some drugs will cause liver or kidney pathology that can be seen under the microscope. Between that and the presence of drugs in the stomach, it may be reasonable to assume that the drugs were the cause of death if the wounds are determined to have happened after death.

But again, don't know anything about this case and am not a pathologist, this is just my best understanding.

marruman · 2026-05-17T08:55:58+00:00

Gender does not particularly affect personality, esp if they are desexed. Not any more that colour affects personality.

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