Worldlog Week 21 – 2010

The battle for the election has now truly begun. There is just a little more than a week left before the Netherlands votes on 9 June for a new parliament. For this campaign, the Party for the Animals has taken over Dutch pastures from the Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA). Pastures around the Netherlands are normally always filled with CDA billboards, but we hope cows will be reintroduced to those pastures as quickly as possible! The Party for the Animals also revealed the Netherlands' largest political billboard. The provisional largest political billboard for the Lower House campaign is 40 x 3.5 metres large and was donated by a party member.
The Party for the Animals also has the world's largest advertising message. The message was sown into a field near Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, near the ‘Kaag’ runway. The previous record for the largest advertisement in the world stood at 20,000 metres squared near airports in London and Dubai. The Party for the Animals has set a new record at 35,000 metres squared. This huge message has meanwhile been noticed by a large number of air travel passengers and pilots and has led to many great reactions!

The CDA is unfortunately once more on a collision course with environmental organisation, Sea Shepherd. Outgoing CDA Minister Eurlings wants to hurry through legislation to strip their ships of Dutch nationality. This makes it seem as though the minister has it in for them. The Party for the Animals finds the outgoing minister’s statements highly inappropriate and once again sees a lack of spine in these actions from the current cabinet – a cabinet which does not dare to stand up to the Japanese against whaling.

Sea Shepherd's actions, who try to impede the whale and seal hunting fleets at sea, have long been a thorn in the minister's side. The cabinet wants to change the Certificates of Registry Act to make it easier to revoke a Dutch certificate of registry, but this proposal was controversially resolved in March on the insistence of the Party for the Animals. Processing the proposal is therefore transferred to the parliament that is to be elected.

Last week, the United Nations (UN) invited me to show the movie 'Meat the Truth' in Brussels. The evening was a great success. The documentary, which has now been introduced to 16 countries, shows the influence of intensive cattle farming on climate change and is therefore an important supplement to existing climate films. Meat the Truth is the central theme of the monthly film event organised by the United Nations' Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) . UNRIC shows films relevant to a particular UN issue to create awareness and understanding for current events.

And something funny for the road: a ban on voting in a chicken suit if you live in the American state of Nevada. Dutch news site Nu.nl ran an article saying that voters during the elections are not allowed to vote if they turn up dressed as a chicken. The government decided to add chicken suits to the list of forbidden accessories after a Democrat campaign against Republican senate candidate Sue Lowden. Lowden believes people should negotiate medical care with their doctors, as our grandparents did by bringing along chickens as payment. After this statement, the Democrats sent volunteers to Lowden's public meetings dressed as chickens.

See you next week!

Marianne