No One Owns the Word Meat

Media & Culture

Critics of the growing plant-based meat business say that unless a burger began with a heartbeat, it has no right to be called “meat.” Even as cattlemen-backed state laws on the topic are being struck down by courts, both federal lawmakers and their counterparts in Europe are contemplating legislation to ensure that “meat” is a label reserved for foods carved from once-living creatures. As Florida legislator Dean Black (R–Nassau), a cattle rancher, put it: animal-free meat “is not meat…it is made by man, real meat is made by God Himself.”  History is full of examples of established companies pleading with…

Media & Culture

Conservation Commandeering Is Still Commandeering

Lights along the beach can create problems for turtles. Bright lights at night can disorient sea turtle hatchlings and prevent them from crawling into the sea. Sufficient beachfront lighting might even constitute a prohibited “take” of Loggerhead sea turtles and other turtle species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Assume that the erection or maintenance of beachfront lighting in turtle habitat is a take under Section 9 of the ESA. Could a state or local government’s decision to allow such beachfront lighting–either by permitting it or perhaps just failing to prohibit it–also be a take under Section 9? And, if…

AI & Crypto

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Politics

Thin-Skinned Government Agents Threaten Yet Another Critic

Media & Culture

The Trump administration took office last year promising to reverse the speech-unfriendly policies of the Biden administration, which had pressured social media companies to censor inconvenient stories and ideas. The new White House, we were promised, would “ensure that no…

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