"Veg News" is a newsletter for vegetarians published in Santa Cruz,
California. It is a monthly, printed on newsprint, and I can (sometimes)
pickup free copies at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket in Berkeley,
California.

The Feb 2001 issue of "Veg News" includes an interview with Jim
Mason, a long-time AR (animal rights) advocate, a book author, and
the founding editor of "Animals' Agenda" magazine. The interview
touches on a number of subjects, including the political
dysfunctionality of the AR movement. However, the question and
answer below echo statements made on this list, as well as
views expressed on the old (now-defunct) Sci-Veg email list.
From page 9:

VN [Veg News]: Do you have any words of wisdom on how the goals of
the Animal Rights Network and the Vegan News Network might be
reached?

JM [Jim Mason]: I want to yell at the grassroots people, the rank-and-
file vegetarian and animal rights people: GROW UP!! They have to learn
to be better at choosing what kind of leadership, organizations and
agendas they want to support. It's really a democracy and they have
the ultimate power to determine the course of the animal or vegetarian
movement. Way too many of them are just so incredibly naive and ill
informed. They fall for one scam or huckster after another in both
the vegetarian and animal rights movements.

[end quote]

Tom Billings