Day: January 16, 2002

Libertarian Party: We’re Number Three!

The Libertarian Party is hopping mad at Ralph Nader for claiming that the Green Party is the third largest political party in the United States. Nader made the claim in an appearance on the NBC show, “Meet the Press.”

The Libertarian Party is correct that by any objective measure it is larger than the Green Party. It has more members, more election victories in 2001, more candidate for office, and more money raised. So shouldn’t it be a little ashamed that despite this “success” it is even more irrelevant than the Green Party?

In fact, although the Libertarian Party is trying to trumpet its successes, the reality shows through the cracks. The Libertarian Party notes that in 2000 it ran more candidates than the Green Party has in its entire history. Which is exactly the problem — the Libertarian Party isn’t the third largest political party because of anything special it has done, but rather it has assumed that mantle by default. In a relatively short time the Green Party has almost matched the Libertarian Party membership, and will certainly exceed it in the near future.

Of course the Libertarian Party can always hold claim to the political party that issues the most self-serving, delusional press releases — they’ve got that market cornered.

Source:

Ralph Nader is guilty of ‘false advertising’ about Green Party status, say Libertarians. Libertarian Party, Press Release, January 15, 2002.

Sex vs. Scientific Discovery

Hmmmm… Stephen Hawking gave a lecture last week about the joys of scientific discovery. Hawking said among other things that the so-called “eureka” moment — being the first person to know something about the universe — might not quite be comparable to sex, “but it lasts longer.”

I wish Hawking had given his opinion about which instance — sex or science — has the more difficult peer review process to navigate.

British Government Says UK Officially Free of Foot and Mouth Disease

Great Britain this week declared that nation free of foot-and-mouth disease after 11 months battling the outbreak that cost more than 2 billion pounds. According to the British government, more than 4 million animals were slaughtered in efforts to bring the epidemic under control.

In Northumberland, the county where the outbreak began, there have been no new cases of the disease over the last three months, and tests on livestock have found no trace of the disease. It will still be weeks, if not months, however, before British meat exports kick back into high gear.

Such exports are highly restricted, and only allowed to European Union countries due to the foot-and-mouth epidemic. The Office International De Epizooties’ Foot-and-Mouth Commission will meet next week and may at that time decided to declare Great Britain free of the disease which would pave the way for a resumption of exports.

Source:

Farmers hail foot-and-mouth ‘victory’. The BBC, January 15, 2002.

UK to be declared foot and mouth free. Emma Young, New Scientist.Com, January 14, 2002.

9/11 Terrorist Attacks and Animal Rights 2002

Farm USA recently announced they were accepting registration for the Animal Rights 2002 National Conference scheduled for June 28 – July 3, 2002. Of course, FARM USA could not pass up the opportunity to invoke the 9/11 terrorist attacks in describing the purpose of the upcoming conference,

Animal Rights 2002 is our movement’s first national conference since the terrible tragedy of September 11 and its aftermath. It is dedicated to exposing and challenging the terror perpetrated every day against billions of innocent, sentient nonhuman animals.

These folks never learn, do they?

Source:

Animal Rights 2002 National Conference Program. URL: http://www.animalrights.net2002.org/program.html Accessed: January 16, 2002.