Can you think of a better use of $15,000

[GrapeJ713]

HAMBURG, N.Y. - A national animal rights group has offered Hamburg officials $15,000 to change the town's name to Veggieburg.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=816&e=1&cid=816&u=/ap/20030422/ap_on_fe_st/peta_town

PETA is just a bunch of morons that saw way too many movies about fluffy talking animals when they were children (IMHO).

Another example of PETA self loathing crazy speak:
Ingrid Newkirk on the possibility of hoof and mouth disease coming to America
"I openly hope that it comes here. It will bring economic harm only for thos who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals, good for human health and good for the environment"

pdf document where quote came from (http://www.consumerfreedom.com/abcnews.pdf)

[Richard G]

One way tickets for PETA members to leave the country?

[iain]

Originally posted by Richard G
One way tickets for PETA members to leave the country? No, I think you're welcome to keep them :)

[Michael Redman]

I'm starting to wonder if PETA isn't actually a bunch of farmers trying to undermine the animal rights movement by making them look silly. Could people really be this stupid, and yet still run such a large, active organization?

[Dancing David]

It takes all kinds, it is like when earth first does things that kill loggers. I am an 'enviromentalist' but I don't support spiking trees.

Did you know however that vetrinarians did not treat animals for pain until the animal rights people mentioned it?

Peace
dancing david

[Tmy]

This juts in. The National Organization of Women has offered the City of Manchester $10,000 to change its name to Personchester.


Are you sure this PETA story wasnt released on April Fools day?

[arcticpenguin]

$15,000 to change the name of a sizable city? I don't think that would come anywhere near covering costs. You've got all the signs up on the public buildings, the stationery used by city officials, etc.

If they're offereing such a ridiculously small sum, maybe that means they actually have the money. I remember when I was young; I would make bets for a million dollars, because I'd never be expected to pay up, but I wouldn't bet for two dollars.

[arcticpenguin]

I read the article. They are not offering $15000 in cash. They are offering $15000 worth of veggie burgers to area school lunch programs. Sot it wouldn't cover the actual costs of a name change at all.

[Mel]

When organizations resort to absurd tactics like these, it makes the entire movement suspect.

Pretty damned stupid.

[Pyrrho]

*cough* free publicity *cough*

[renata]

PETA are self avowed "press sluts". (Cross post from http://host.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18088 )

Their shock tactics are quite deliberate. They sue it to genreate controversy- nothing will happen, and even though people will not join PETA, they may be sympathetic to less radical organizations.

There was a great article about the woman behind it, Ingrid Newkirk and the tactics they use in a recent New Yorker. The most shocking item for me was when she wrote a letter to Arafat complaining that a donkey was killed during a suicide bombing. Her last will and testament are also worth perusing. The article is not available online, but here are some links about it, with quotes from the article.


http://www.ampef.org/ResearchOpposi...cfm?ID=521&c=18






"PETA's publicity formula: 80 percent outrage--and 10 per cent each of celebrity and truth--insures that everything it does offends someone," Specter writes, and offers quite a bit of detail about PETA's--and Newkirk's--offensive actions.
...

He also quotes Newkirk on PETA's use of Hollywood celebrities: "People drool when they look at [Pamela Anderson, who poses for PETA]. Why wouldn't we use that? We need all the drooling we can get."

Specter shows Newkirk to be very aware of where her power resides...and where it does not: "When I asked Newkirk why she didn't enter political campaigns for animal action and lobby more vigorously on Capitol Hill for her positions, she laughed: 'Are you kidding? Dear boy, we are the kiss of death. If we are involved, the legislation is automatically dead'."





http://www.consumerfreedom.com/head...EADLINE_ID=1865



Newkirk on the press
"We are complete press sluts."

Newkirk on being a press slut
"That Reuters reporter was so thrilled when I told him my position on hoof-and-mouth disease. Don't you need something like that [i.e., an outrageous quote for your article] too?"

Newkirk on what she strives to be
"The biggest nag on earth."

Newkirk's last will and testament
"That the meat of my body, or a portion thereof, be used for a human barbeque...my skin, or a portion thereof, be removed and made into leather products...my feet be removed and umbrella strands or other ornamentation be made from them...my eyes be removed, mounted and delivered to the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency..."

Newkirk on Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders
"Why not find out when his birthday is, call the newspapers, and go dance on his grave?"
...

On mad cow disease
"Next on the agenda: the case of Charlton Heston. Heston has fallen ill with Alzheimer's, a disease with symptoms that can resemble those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, the human form of mad-cow disease. Deer have a chronic wasting syndrome similar to that found in cattle, and, tenuous though it is, the link presents PETA with an opportunity to, as Newkirk put it, 'toy with the idea that both Alzheimer's and CJD are related to meat consumption.'" (The Center for Consumer Freedom wrote a white paper on activists raising unwarranted fears about mad cow disease.)

....

On PETA's success
"PETA is by far the most successful radical organization in America, raising more than fifteen million dollars a year, most of it in small contributions from its seven hundred and fifty thousand members and supporters. Newkirk believes in spending as much of that as she can."

[zakur]

Originally posted by renata
PETA are self avowed "press sluts".I prefer to use the term "media whores" when referring to those lunatics. :D

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by zakur
I prefer to use the term "media whores" when referring to those lunatics. :D
I think "media slut" would be more appropriate. Using the term "whore" would imply that they are charging for it, when clearly they are giving it away for free.

[zakur]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin

I think "media slut" would be more appropriate. Using the term "whore" would imply that they are charging for it, when clearly they are giving it away for free. They're giving up their credibility for it.

[rustypouch]

How about we offer PETA $15000 worth of beef the change their name to People for the Eating of Tasty Animals? They wouldn't even need to make a lot of changes to their sationary and so on.

[iain]

Originally posted by renata
The most shocking item for me was when she wrote a letter to Arafat complaining that a donkey was killed during a suicide bombing There's a donkey sanctuary in South-West England which is one of the most successful charities in the UK. It has far more money than it needs. At the same time, charities for humans are nearly always short of money, especially mental illness charities. :mad: