Well, they did it. In November I wrote about how the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) flooded the house of a scientist who was involved in animal research. They said they really wanted to torch the house, but just flooded it instead. What heroes. Via BPSDP to Blue Collar Scientist, I just learned they came back on February 4th and set an incendiary device on her porch. I’m not sure how much damage was caused, but the device apparently did ignite and cause some damage.
Morons.
Denialism Blog has more.
Way to go!
Hurt the people, save the animals!
Posted by: Tom S. Fox | February 18, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Um...is there some compelling reason these people haven't been charged with major felonies, thrown in jail, and/or been sued into oblivion?
Posted by: Martin | February 19, 2008 at 12:21 AM
This just goes to show that you don't need a Bible or Koran to be nuts. This is an effect of lack of critical thinking and a lack of solid set of morals.
I think one of the things that religiots don't understand is that we do not rally against religion, we rally against stupidity and immorality when it comes to human beings. This is clearly no different than abortion clinic doctor bombing, but as far as I understand it, God didn't persuade people to do this.
Maybe I am wrong.
Posted by: Techskeptic | February 19, 2008 at 05:30 AM
No, God didn't tell them to do it. But I think that people like the ALF have the same mindset as religious terrorists; it's just that they don't worship a God, they worship animals.
And, just like the religious fanatics, they see themselves as separate from and inferior to the thing that they worship. Hence their contempt for all humans - humans cannot possibly be as spiritually elevated as animals, who are the pure essence of nature.
Anyway, that's my take on it.
Posted by: sophia8 | February 19, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Why don't the police arrest the terrorists? An organization like this is a good target for RICO.
Posted by: Thomas | February 19, 2008 at 03:41 PM
I don’t know about you, Techskeptic, but a conscience is enough for me.
Posted by: Tom S. Fox | February 20, 2008 at 04:48 AM
@ Tom,
True, judging from the christians and other religionists (who claim to follow an absolute code of morales), I'd prefer to do what I know is "right".
Which will never involve attacking Doctors for the "greater good".
Cheers :P
Cory
Posted by: Cory Olsen | February 21, 2008 at 12:37 PM
Thomas,
Terrorist organizations are not in the habit of publicizing the names of their membership or their meeting places, let alone a detailed account of which ones were directly involved in a given crime, so the police do not have immediate knowledge of whom to arrest, where to find them, or which charges to bring. These things take time.
~David D.G.
Posted by: David D.G. | February 22, 2008 at 07:13 AM
Historically, the feds have beens cool about using the knowledge of vivisectionist and Planned Parenthood. Groups from both camps made calls after 9/11, saying, you know, "Hey, we've got a couple of decades dealing with terrorist, let's talk about where your helped helped us, where it didn't, and what we came up with on our own." The federal response was silence, although there seemed to be a slight whisper of politics in the answer.
PETA money has been shown to go to ALF, which has not hurt the PETA donations from trophy wives and moody teens one whit, or compromised their non-profit status.
Posted by: Eulalee | February 22, 2008 at 09:53 AM
Sorry, the title of this post always makes me think of a terror organization led by Alf.
Posted by: Tom S. Fox | February 22, 2008 at 12:20 PM
The ALF are no more concerned about the welfare af animals than UK "soccer hooligans" are concerned about the state of British football. They are a bunch of thugs who seek any flimsy excuse for violence.
Perhaps some people truly care for the welfare of animals but there has to be a trade-off: personally, I do not condone any kind of gratuitous cruelty to animals, but at the same time I have no qualms about animals being used to test new drugs that might save the life of any human. If such testing can be done humanely and without unnecessary suffering being inflicted, then I would say that the lives of my wife and my children take precedence.
Given the fact that your average lion or tiger would not give much time over to contemplating the ethics of eating you if it were hungry, I think that the procedures in place to ensure the welfare of animals in medical research is well balanced against the necessity for our own survival.
I am rather weary of hearing so-called animal lovers going on and on about animal rights. I confess that when someone says to me, "Do you love animals?", my standard answer is, "Yes, I eat them all the time".
Posted by: Swiftsure | February 23, 2008 at 06:19 PM
personally, I do not condone any kind of gratuitous cruelty to animals, but at the same time I have no qualms about animals being used to test new drugs that might save the life of any human.
Especially when the animals are bred for this exact purpose.
Its not like we are going into the woods, finding the last few spotted owls and tearing them apart to check if their pelvic bones are like ours or not.
In fact, we specifically breed special types of animals, some of which could not appear in nature, in order to better understand our own diseases and maladies.
Posted by: Techskeptic | February 24, 2008 at 05:28 AM
I don't know much about Edythe London (the scientist who got her house flooded) or her work, but how does one know if the value of her work on primates outweighs the suffering she puts her test animals through? Oh and terrorism is bad.
LA Times article
Tech:
Unless you breed animals that are incapable of feeling pain or are unable to suffer, then i don't see why breeding your own subjects change anything?
Posted by: Martin' | February 24, 2008 at 05:05 PM
Here in Cambridgeshire the ALF are turning into a nightmare, and the police should be doing a hell of a lot more about it. They should be treated with the same seriousness as any terrorist cell.
I'll never forget the journalist Graham Hall several years back, who was abducted tortured, and had the letters A.L.F. branded on his back (image at http://www.i-mockery.com/meatatarian/branded.jpg)
Posted by: Martin Robbins | February 24, 2008 at 06:24 PM
Is the ALF a anarchist organization? my "recipes for disaster" has an account of an ALF group infiltrating some mink coat manufacturer's warehouse and freeing some minks and destroying all their research.
Hm.
Posted by: genewitch | February 26, 2008 at 09:08 AM
The Mink Affair is a true case indeed. The beauty of it was, by releasing the mink they cause them a huge amount of suffering as they struggled to survive in wild conditions, and caused ecological damage to the surrounding environment. Nutters.
Posted by: Martin Robbins | February 26, 2008 at 05:39 PM
American self-righteous elitist snobs terrorize, torture, imprison, and slaughter
animals for profit and pleasure. And then wonder why others play copy-cat by doing the same to Americans. If God loves animals heaven will be wonderfully absent of animal
tormentors.
Posted by: Patrick Cunningham | March 09, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Tell me, Patrick, are you an idiot, or just myopic?
Yes, that's right, torture and imprison animals for no reason other than sick, twisted pleasure. No, there could be no benefit from doing such terrible, terrible things, no potentially cured diseases, no medications (such as insulin) derived from animal products or anything, it's all done out of some perverse sadistic glee.Posted by: Tom Foss | March 10, 2008 at 06:04 AM
American self-righteous elitist snobs terrorize, torture, imprison, and slaughter
animals for profit and pleasure.
Just Americans? No other nationality or culture on the face of the earth or in the entirety of human history has ever harmed animals?
And then wonder why others play copy-cat by doing the same to Americans. If God loves animals heaven will be wonderfully absent of animal tormentors.
So it is ok to torture Americans but not animals? You animal rights nutters really have priorites screwed up. Where's your indignation about the genocide in the Darfur? Female genital mutilation? You morons make me sick.
By the way, maybe you need to re-read your bible and see what primacy god says man has over animals, fool. Of course, since god almost certainly does not exist, that's a moot point anyway. But, if heaven does exist, let's hope it is free of self righteous elitist snobs who terrorize, torture and imprison human beings because they think animals are more important than people.
Posted by: Jimmy_Blue | March 10, 2008 at 08:53 AM