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AR-NEWS Digest 606
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) (CN) Wildlife park
by jwed
2) (CN) Traditional Chinese Medicine
by jwed
3) JUDGES DISMISSES CHARGES (US)
by civillib@cwnet.com
4) [UK] Butchers and EU increase pressure over beef
by David J Knowles
5) [US] "Soul Man"
by David J Knowles
6) [UK] 10,000 badgers face death in five-year TB cull experiment
by David J Knowles
7) [UK] 1997: The Year the World Caught Fire
by David J Knowles
8) [HK] Doctors fear 'bird flu' pandemic
by David J Knowles
9) (US) NYC Dangerous Dog Conference
by Marisul
10) Joan Rivers' Sable Coat Sprayed
by Tereiman
11) (JP)Daily News (NY): "Lunch Menu Plans No Fish Story"
by Marisul
12) Re: Joan Rivers' Sable Coat Sprayed
by Hillary
13) (US) Ohio Contestant Wins, Then Arrested
by Mesia Quartano
14) Experts: India Tigers Multiplying
by Mesia Quartano
15) (US) Pharmaceutical Animal Testing
by Mesia Quartano
16) Newswire: Pet Monkeys Can Carry Deadly Virus
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
17) API's Investigating Vivisection Web Page Now Up!
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
18) Fur Sales
by Hillary
19) Midwest Declining Amphibians Conference
by Gary Casper
20) Drug researcher pleads guilty to fraud, goes to jail
by "Eric Mindel @ LCA"
21) Wisconsin Herpetology Homepage
by Gary Casper
22) Trumpeter swans prepare for return to Atlantic flyway (US)
by Michael Markarian
23) OREGON ACTIVIST CUFFED AT FEDERAL COURTHOUSE (US)
by civillib@cwnet.com
24) Organic standards website
by jeanlee
25) Policeman charged with dog's death
by "bhgazette"
26) GRAND JURY RELEASES ACTIVISTS (US)
by civillib@cwnet.com
27) APHIS Press Release Update of Keiko's Independent Health Panel
by Wyandotte Animal Group
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 13:34:00 +0000
From: jwed
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: bornfree@pncl.co.UK
Subject: (CN) Wildlife park
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971217133400.007aa9a0@pop.hkstar.com>
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SHENYANG -- Officials in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning
Province, plan to rebuild its wild animal park to better protect its
inhabitants. The new park is expected to cover an area of 3.3 million
square metres, and will have at least 200 species. About 10,000 animals
will be in the new park. The park, unlike the zoo, is a nature reserve
where animals roam freely. The city's present wild animal park occupies
only an area of 460,000 square metres.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 16:43:36 +0000
From: jwed
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CN) Traditional Chinese Medicine
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971217164336.0079a360@pop.hkstar.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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17th December 1997 - South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/
Scent of the end for tigers and deer by FIONA HOLLAND
Chimanlal Gupta once ruled over an empire that extended from the Himalayas
to the back streets of Hong Kong. As king of the musk trade, he made
friends and enemies alike while plying the sweet-smelling secretion revered
by Chinese emperors for its medicinal properties and exalted by European
perfumers for its fragrance.
Huge quantities of musk passed through his Delhi and Hong Kong offices on
the way to Japan, where it has been used for thousands of years in
traditional medicine. But in 1992, when the man known as Mr Musk was
clubbed to death in his offices on Wyndham Street, Central, much of his
lucrative business expired with him. His attackers, who escaped with $6.5
million in musk products, were never caught despite a $200,000 reward
offered by police and the Gupta family.
His son Sudhir who took over the family's Export Trade Corporation, now
sells more cattle gallstones to Japan than deer elixir.
"This is one of the reasons that I have been slowly getting out [of the
business of musk] because it brings back bad memories," Mr Gupta explains.
At the height of the musk trade in the 1970s and 80s, the situation was
very different, he says.
In the 1970s and 80s musk sold for US$50,000 (HK$386,500) a kilo, US$35,000
more than today. The fall was due largely to strict controls and declining
demand from perfumers in Europe and Japan, previously the Gupta family's
biggest market.
Mr Gupta remembers his father rubbing his hands with glee when in 1976 the
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) placed, and
later refined, regulations on the handling of musk deer.
The Guptas' company dealt in musk deer from Russia, which were exempted
from the full impact of the trade ban.
"We were very happy because we thought trade would increase. But it never
happened," he said. Today Mr Gupta welcomes attempts to find an alternative
to musk that could revive flagging demand. "I am quite into animal
conservation," he says.
Scientists are still searching for substitutes for musk deer and tiger
essences, according to some of those who attended a conservation symposium
in Hong Kong last week.
Chinese University and Traffic East Asia, which monitors wildlife, brought
together members of the traditional Chinese medicine community, scientists
and wildlife conservationists to discuss the latest research on substitutes
for tiger bone and musk.
The tiger's plight is well known. But the fate of the elusive musk deer,
which ranges the Himalayas, China and the Russian Far East, remains a mystery.
Humans have been using musk for 3,500 years, yet scientists - only a
handful of whom have studied the species - remain unsure exactly why the
deer produces its valuable secretion.
In the Russian Far East alone, the number of musk deer has dropped 60 per
cent in recent years because of over-hunting. Conservationists believe
that, because musk is used more widely than tiger bone to treat a range of
illnesses from delirium to tumours, the threat to the deer is far greater.
Unlike tiger bone, trade in which has been banned internationally and
internally in many countries - including China - musk from the Russian Far
East may be sold, subject to strict regulations.
In China alone, annual demand for musk could amount to 1,000 kilograms -
the equivalent of 200,000 musk deer. An estimated 700,000 of the deer are
left in the wild.
Only the male produces musk, from a gland in its abdomen. For every deer
caught in the wild, musk deer expert Dr Mike Green estimates four or five
others are killed pointlessly.
Substitutes - the obvious solution to the anomaly of growing demand and
dwindling deer - are nothing new in China. Mainland specialists realised as
early as the communist revolution that natural ingredients used in
traditional Chinese medicine would not last forever. This realisation
triggered a search for substitutes by scientists sponsored by China's
Ministry of Public Health.
In the quest for alternatives to musk, essences from civet cats and
muskrats were tested and found efficacious. A new product, developed by the
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and approved in 1993 by the Ministry of
Public Health, may prove the most effective substance yet.
The amalgam of animal and other ingredients (the recipe remains secret
while the Chinese authorities seek a patent) scored a success rate of more
than 90 per cent during 1,000 clinical trials in which neither doctor nor
patient knew whether real musk or the substitute was being administered.
Developments in substitutes for tiger bone, used to treat arthritis and
rheumatism for thousands of years, are equally advanced. The bones of a
mole rat known as sailonggu, which lives on the Qinghai plateau, have been
turned into a tonic wine, now widely available for 35 yuan.
Scientists estimate China's sailonggu population at 200 million, although
the plateau's inhabitants consider it a pest. Under the auspices of the
Ministry of Health, a new product has been created from pig, sheep and dog
bones.
Researchers at Chinese University's Chinese Medicinal Material Research
Centre have identified a tissue protein, a key ingredient in animal bones,
that has similar effects to tiger bone.
The centre's director, Dr Paul But Pui-hay, believes China has been
maligned by wildlife conservationists who fail to realise the commitment
and resources the mainland government has invested in substitute research.
"When we are faced with endangered species I have a lot of sympathy for
their protection," says Dr But, who was trained in both East and West. "But
at the same time I also grew up using Chinese medicine, so I am quite
convinced of its medical efficacy." To the surprise of conservationists his
experiments on rats proved what medical practitioners in ancient times knew
about their counter-pyretic powers. As a fever-reducing medicine, rhino
horn worked.
Dr But's latest challenge - isolating the active ingredient in tiger bone -
has proved more difficult. First he had to catch his tiger. But now, in a
freezer at the Chinese University, there is a tiger carcass. That would
constitute an offence punishable by a $5 million fine if found in a
manufacturer's warehouse. But this specimen has all the right credentials,
having been imported with the help of conservationists and approval from
the authorities.While Dr But conducts his research, the differences between
conservationists and the traditional medicine community show signs of
narrowing.
"In the past, Chinese medicine doctors felt that conservationists and
environmentalists were the enemy and they were trying to kill off our
profession," says the chairman of the Hong Kong Society of Practitioners of
Chinese Herbal Medicine, Professor Chan Kong-sang. "Therefore, we felt very
significant antagonism towards them."
Now Professor Chan says he can see that much of the work being done in this
area is aimed at "the very survival of traditional Chinese medicine".
Conservationists hope China will list some of the substitutes discussed at
the symposium in what is known as the official pharmacopoeia, a directory
of traditional medicines and ingredients revised every five years. The next
edition is due out in 2001. Water buffalo horn is already listed as a
rhino-horn substitute.
"At the moment there is nothing in the pharmacopoeia which replaces tiger
bone and I believe there is nothing that replaces musk," says Judy Mills,
director of Traffic East Asia. "At the end of the day, whatever China says
works in traditional Chinese medicine, that is what the world will take as
gospel."
But substitutes are no panacea. Consumer acceptance is one potential
obstacle. Chinese officialdom favours a farming solution.
Musk deer and bears are already extensively farmed in China and officials
have repeatedly tried to make tiger farms work. One such farm exists close
to Harbin, in the northeast, but international opposition and China's laws
forbidding trade in tiger parts have ensured it remains a tourist
attraction rather than a going concern. To many conservationists, tiger
farming is an anathema.
Dr Mike Green believes captive breeding and substitutes could spell
disaster for the musk deer. Instead he proposes farming them in the wild -
catching the deer and extracting their musk once a year.
"You could help relieve the pressure on the environment," he says. "If you
don't harvest it from wild animals, you are not addressing the real problem
- that people living in these remote mountain environments are having to
put so much pressure on the land and resources that everything is
deteriorating."
On the eve of the Year of the Tiger, it was perhaps prescient that
delegates hurried to buy the conference memento: a watch imprinted with the
distinctive stripes and face of a tiger. Time is running out.
*****
Please see also:
http://www.earth.org.hk/eng-endangered.html
http://www.cmmrc.cuhk.edu.hk/
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 01:16:42 -0800 (PST)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: JUDGES DISMISSES CHARGES (US)
Message-ID: <199712170916.BAA03398@smtp.cwnet.com>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 1997
JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST DALLAS ANTI-FUR PROTESTORS
DALLAS – Charges against two prominent animal protection advocates –
arrested at an anti-fur protest at the Galleria Macy's more than a year ago
– were thrown out and the jury dismissed late Tuesday by a judge who
chastised the district attorney for being unprepared.
The surprisingly development came after the prosecution rested, and before
the defense presented any evidence in the case of Lydia Nichols and J.P.
Goodwin, both of Dallas. They faced a year in jail if convicted of the
"obstruction of a passageway" charge.
"The judge told the district attorney they had wrongly charged us, and we
could see that the jury was already leaning that way. Justice was done today
in Dallas," the two activists said in a joint statement.
The dismissal saved the city thousands of dollars in court costs for a
trial that began Monday. Witnesses to the arrest in 1996 said no one was
injured, there was no property damage to the Macy's store and it is even
questionable if the peaceful picketers did anything more than express their
1st amendment rights.
Friday, the two activists will be arraigned on misdemeanor charges as a
result of their arrest at a protest Nov. 28 at Neiman Marcus. This was the
same store that sent security guards, in October, to follow and eventually
beat Ms. Nichols and Mr. Goodwin in full view of passersby. A civil suit has
been filed in that case.
Ms. Nichols is the co-founder of Animal Liberation Texas, and Mr. Goodwin
is the founder of Coaliton to Abolish the Fur Trade, a national animal
protection organization based in Dallas.
-30-
CONTACT: Animal Liberation/Texas at 214-342-8144.
Animal Liberation Texas
Dallas, Texas – 214-342-8144
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 00:18:52
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Butchers and EU increase pressure over beef
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971217001852.2e9f8932@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, 17th December, 1997
Butchers and EU increase pressure over beef
By George Jones, Political Editor
THE Government faced a growing backlash from butchers and the European
Union last night over the application of the latest measures to ban beef on
the bone.
Several butchers said that they would ignore the ban and sell T-bone steaks
and rib of beef. Trading standards officers said that the new rules were
unenforceable.
Franz Fischler, the EU Agriculture Commissioner, said that he would be
investigating whether Britain had broken EU rules by banning beef imports
not complying with its hygiene standards. Fernand Boden, Luxembourg's
Agriculture Minister, who had chaired a fraught two-day meeting, said that
Europe had to act together to fight BSE.
"We must not go it alone," he said, in a pointed reference to Monday's
announcement by Jack Cunningham, Agriculture Minister, that he was banning
beef imports from countries which have not adopted the same anti-BSE
controls as Britain.
William Hague, the Tory leader, infuriated ministers by visiting London's
Smithfield Market at dawn yesterday - only hours after the new ban on beef
on the bone came into effect - to show solidarity with the beef industry.
Wearing a butcher's white coat and hat, he was greeted by scores of angry
beef traders as he toured the market for more than an hour.
Mr Hague said that Britain's beef industry faced a "bleak Christmas", with
falling income and damaged consumer confidence because of the way the
Government had handled the latest BSE developments. He accused it of
choosing the most draconian of the options presented by the scientists and
banning T-bone steak and rib of beef without any consultation with the
industry. Mr Hague said that the Tories would oppose legislation to ban
T-bone steak and rib of beef as unnecessary for food safety. Liberal
Democrats also intend to oppose the ban in Parliament.
Mr Cunningham accused Mr Hague of "breathtaking hypocrisy". He claimed that
when the ban was first announced, Mr Hague had said that he would support
the Government. "Yet now Mr Hague is prepared to play fast and loose with
public health," said Mr Cunningham. "The Labour Government is not. Our
priority is to protect the consumer, not score some cheap political point."
He returned from Brussels to face increasing criticism over the ban.
Trading standards officers said that it would be so expensive to police the
law that only butchers flouting it "loudly and brazenly" were likely to be
prosecuted.
Steve Butterworth, of the Institute of Trading Standards, said that it had
been "left to enforce the unenforceable" with no extra resources. "It's
unlikely we're going to go out of our way to carry out test purchases which
are expensive and have big resource implications. I think in the near
future we're only going to be responding to high-profile cases where people
are seeking to become martyrs." He accused the Government of rushing into
legislation without thinking or consulting.
The cost of BSE between 1996 and 2000 is estimated at £3.5 billion, the
Commons Agriculture Committee said yesterday.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 00:34:38
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] "Soul Man"
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971217003438.30cf58fc@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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I was watching "Soul Man" tonight (not something I normally do, so I'm not
familiar with the characters).
It would appear to be about an Anglican priest and his four children, and a
housekeeper called Glenda. The priest is played by Canadian actor Dan Akroyd.
The housekeeper suggested having a vegetarian Christmas meal, as Akroyd's
character was getting too fat.
At the end of the show, the priest and the kids were all asking for ham,
until "Glenda" brought in a piglet, who she said was called 'Babe'. She
suggested that the kids draw straws to decide who got to slaughter the
piglet if they wanted ham.
None of them wanted to, of course, and the priest's assistant said the
piglet was "one of God's creatures."
They all settled for lentil loaf.
Akroyd is a patron of Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Food Animals
(CETFA), although I don't believe he's actually veggie himself.
David
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 00:53:32
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] 10,000 badgers face death in five-year TB cull experiment
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971217005332.30cf0d90@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, 17th December, 1997
10,000 badgers face death in five-year TB cull experiment
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor
ABOUT 10,000 badgers, including sows nursing their young, will be trapped
and killed under Government measures to tackle a rising tide of
tuberculosis in Britain's cattle.
Jeff Rooker, the food safety minister, said yesterday: "Next to BSE, this
is the most serious issue on animal health that this country has to deal
with." The new cull, which will be directed at "TB hot spots" in the West
Country, Wales and the West Midlands, follows an official report published
yesterday, which showed that badgers are a "significant source" of the
disease in cattle.
Culling elsewhere will end, apart from existing schemes, under proposals
for a five-year experiment to discover the role of badgers in spreading TB.
The scheme was drawn up by a team of experts headed by Prof John Krebs, the
chief executive of the Natural Environment Research Council.
Farmers and landowners said the report vindicated their claims that badgers
caused TB in herds but the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals complained that many young animals could starve to death if their
mothers were shot. About 400 farms in England and Wales are under
restrictions due to TB outbreaks in cattle and there are fears that the
bovine strain of the disease Mycobacterium bovis could spread to people.
About 40 people a year contract the disease in Britain.
Farmers blame an explosion in the badger population, which has risen by
almost 80 per cent over the past 10 years to about 400,000 animals, for TB
outbreaks in cattle which cost the industry almost £4 million a year.
While dairy farms hit by TB can still sell their milk, which is pasteurised
to make it safe for human consumption, they are not allowed to introduce
replacement cows or to sell cattle until they pass tests clearing them of
the disease.
All cattle suffering from TB are slaughtered and destroyed and farmers are
paid up to 75 per cent of the market value. Farmers say this compensation
is not enough to meet their losses as some farms have been under
restriction for years.
But Mr Rooker said yesterday that there would be no extra cash for
compensation and that farmers would be expected to meet some of the cost of
trials to discover whether changes in farming methods could prevent badgers
spreading TB to cattle.
The Krebs inquiry, which began more than a year ago, followed pressure by
farmers and conservationists for the ending of the badger control measures
which have wiped out thousands of animals and failed to stem cattle TB over
the past 10 years.
The report concluded that scientists and veterinary surgeons are still no
clearer about the true role of badgers in spreading TB. No one knows
whether badgers originate TB and pass it to cattle or whether the cattle
are the culprits which pass TB to badgers which, in turn, recycle the
disease back to the cattle again.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
[ The Krebbs Report can be accessed at:
http://www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/INDEX.HTM]
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 01:15:03
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] 1997: The Year the World Caught Fire
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971217011503.30cf27d2@dowco.com>
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>From The WWF Website
1997: The Year the World Caught Fire
December 16th, 1997
London -- In 1997, more tropical forest burned around the world than at any
other time in recorded history, according to a report published today by
WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature.
According to the report, it is still too early to know the total area of
forest destroyed worldwide, but at least 5 million hectares of forests and
other land burned in Indonesia and Brazil, along with vast areas of Papua
New Guinea, Colombia, Peru, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Congo and other parts
of Africa. Elsewhere in the world, large scale fires burned in several
Mediterranean countries, Australia, Russia and China.
"1997 will be remembered as the year the world caught fire" said report
co-author Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, Head of the Forest Programme at WWF
International Secretariat, at a press conference in London. "Although the
fires in Indonesia grabbed the headlines, large-scale fires have raged on
every continent and new figures show just in the Brazilian Amazon forest
fires have increased by more than 50 per cent over 1996. The wide spread of
these fires is a clear indication that forest fire management is in a state
of crisis around the world".
The fires did not start by accident. Most were set deliberately, and often
illegally, to clear land for planting, to cover up illegal logging and
sometimes to open up land for development. They were worse this year partly
because of the century's most severe El Nino weather event, which has
caused prolonged droughts over much of the planet. El Nino events are
growing more frequent and severe, probably as a result of pollution-induced
climate change. The forest fires are turning previously moist forests into
drier habitats, that burn more easily as
global warming begins to bite. Carbon dioxide and other gases released from
fires add to the greenhouse effect.
"We are creating a vicious circle of destruction, where increased fires are
both a result of changes in the weather and a contributory factor to these
changes," said Jeanrenaud, who went on to point out that most carbon
emissions come from industry and cars in the industrialized nations.
To make matters worse, this year's fires in Indonesia and other parts of
South East Asia have set peat deposits on fire and these will remain
burning deep underground for months or even years. Many specialists expect
the fires to flare up again in the next dry season, which can only worsen
the high human and ecological cost of this season's fires.
According to report co-author Nigel Dudley, some forest fires do occur
naturally and if carefully controlled can be a useful management tool.
"However, the relationship between deliberate fires and natural forest
ecosystems is becoming more and more dangerously unbalanced," he said.
"Many forests that burnt this year should never have burnt at all. In
contrast, in some cases forests that should burn naturally are prevented
from burning, leading to both ecological problems and more intense fires in
the future."
For example, in the United States, where forest fires are routinely
suppressed, ecological processes are disrupted and the accumulation of
flammable materials in forests poses a serious risk of greater and more
destructive fires in the future. The report warns that "now the US
government is trying to use the risk of fire as an excuse for felling
old-growth forests rich in wildlife to subsidise the logging industry."
"People are responsible for this vicious circle and people must find the
solutions," said Jeanrenaud. "Forests are an insurance policy. If we cash
in the policy, what will be left for our children and the future of life on
Earth? Governments must assume full responsibility for taking the threat of
fires seriously and insuring that adequate legislation and prevention
systems are in place to deal with this increasingly serious problem."
WWF is calling on the international community to take strong measures to
tackle the breakdown of the rule of law that is at the root of many
environmental problems. On the eve of the 21st century, it is time for the
world community to establish an International Court for the Environment
that would arbitrate in cases where environmental mismanagement at national
level results in major global impacts.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 01:03:02
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [HK] Doctors fear 'bird flu' pandemic
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971217010302.30cf17dc@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, 17th December, 1997
Doctors fear 'bird flu' pandemic
By Graham Hutchings in Hong Kong
TWO more suspected cases of "bird flu" were identified in Hong Kong
yesterday, and officials said for the first time that it was possible that
the disease was spreading through contact between people.
Experts had previously ruled out this idea, believing that the virus was
transmitted through contact with poultry, in which the rare H5N1 strain of
influenza was first found. Their change of mind, prompted by preliminary
scientific findings, increases the prospect of a pandemic that could cost
thousands of lives.
Dr Keiji Fukuda, of the Centres for Disease Control in the United States,
which is helping the authorities in Hong Kong, said: "Because new influenza
viruses have the potential to spread around the world, and to cause large
numbers of deaths, whenever a new virus like this appears. . . it is cause
for tremendous concern among scientists."
He said that in the first of three influenza pandemics this century,
500,000 people died in the United States in one year alone. In the second,
in 1957, between 90,000 and 100,000 died in America.
"It gives you a sense of the scenario which frightens people," he said at a
press conference at which local health authorities announced that two more
people, both children, were feared to have contracted the virus.
This brings the number of confirmed and suspected cases in Hong Kong to
nine. There are no reported cases outside the territory, but the situation
in mainland China, where the avian flu is thought to have originated,
remains unclear.
Of the earlier seven cases, two have died, two remain in critical
condition, two have made a full recovery, and one is in a satisfactory
condition. The two new victims are a two-year-old girl and a three-year-old
boy. They are cousins of the earlier case whose condition is satisfactory.
So far, they have exhibited only mild symptoms and are being treated in
hospital.
Dr Margaret Chan, director of health, said several of the earlier victims
were known to have had contact with poultry. But this could not be
established for all of them, leaving open the possibility that they had
caught the disease through human contact.
She said: "At this point, we feel that both bird-to-man and man-to-man
transmission are possible. But I must emphasise that further studies are
underway, and they are required to prove man-to-man transmission beyond
doubt. Even if man-to-man transmission is happening, it is occurring at a
very low level.But we are very concerned with this cluster of cases."
Her remarks emphasised how little is known about the virus - something that
worries the experts and has caused alarm among the public. Dr Chan said a
key aim was to determine the genetic sequence of the virus.
Dr Fukuda said the problem was that viruses changed a lot in their methods
of transmission. He said: "In this instance, we know something is going on,
but we don't know much about it." But both took comfort from the fact that,
unlike the case with earlier
pandemics, the H5N1 virus had been identified before it spread too widely.
This gave scientists a head start in the campaign to keep it in check.
Sixty-five people who had contact with the confirmed or suspected patients
had exhibited flu-like symptoms, but all recovered, officials said. Tests
had shown many of them had not contracted the disease, while results for
the others are still awaited.
As scientists try to find out more about the virus and prepare vaccines,
the government has unveiled new measures to contain its spread.
Surveillance is to be stepped up and a publicity campaign launched to
inform the public about the disease.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 07:53:04 EST
From: Marisul
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) NYC Dangerous Dog Conference
Message-ID: <7a0a41d6.3497cb33@aol.com>
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The Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Legal Issues
Pertaining to Animals is sponsoring a free evening program entitled:
**Dangerous Dogs: Vicious or Victims?**
"This program will explore ways to effectively, fairly and proactively respond
to the growing problem of dangerous dogs."
January 13, 1998, 6:30 p.m.
42 West 44th Street, New York, NY (between 5th and 6th Aves.)
Moderator: Jane Hoffman, Attorney
Panel: Loren Teply, President, "For Pit's Sake"
Carol Moran, Assistant District Attorney
Steven Wise, Attorney
Peter Borchelt, Ph.D., Certified Applied Animal Behavorist
Robin Kovary, Dog Trainer
Judith Boiselle, Detective, NYPD Canine Apprehension Team
-------Please post this to any other relevant lists. Thanks. -------
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 07:46:50 EST
From: Tereiman
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Joan Rivers' Sable Coat Sprayed
Message-ID: <826751a0.3497c9bd@aol.com>
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Raging Rivers?
Fur Sure!
Park Ave. attack on sable coat
By BILL HUTCHINSON
Daily News Staff Writer
Joan Rivers sure could talk yesterday. The comedian and talk show host
was howling mad after a paint-splashing animal-rights activist assaulted
her sable coat.
Rivers, 60, said she was walking with a friend at about 3:30 p.m. on
Park Ave. near 56th St. when a woman tapped her on the shoulder and
said, "Oh, you're bleeding on your back."
When Rivers checked her full-length fur, she found the back soaked in
red paint. By the time she looked up, her attacker was running down the
crowded street.
"I was going to punch her," the 5-foot-2 Rivers told the Daily News.
"But she was too much of a coward to stand on the street corner and
fight me."
Rivers said the woman was wearing leather shoes and a leather belt.
Rivers said that after the attack she rushed her coat into T. Anthony's
leather goods store on Park Ave., where workers helped her clean off
some of the paint.
The Brooklyn native said she's had the sable for 18 years and that it
was a gift from her late husband, Edgar.
"If an animal had to die to keep me warm for 18 years, it's okay," said
Rivers, who described herself as an animal lover. "That coat has kept me
warm through many cold winters."
Rivers said she assumes the hit woman was from the radical anti-fur
group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
"What other kind of wackos go around doing that?" an angry Rivers said
last night.
But a PETA official cried foul and swore her group had nothing to do
with the attack.
"It's not PETA's style, so it's incredibly unfair for her to lash out at
a group that tries to draw attention to the appalling suffering of
animals used for fur," said group President Ingrid Newkirk.
But Newkirk took the opportunity to blast Rivers for wearing fur.
Rivers had a big Oh, pleeeeaaase! for PETA.
"Why don't they go do something important? They're not upset at the rat
poison dogs are eating in Central Park. Why don't they go do something
about that?" Rivers said. "Don't go after middle-aged, affluent white
women who are just minding their own business."
Rivers held nothing back as she described the person who ambushed her.
"She was middle-aged, blond, chubby and she looked quite homely," Rivers
said. "The PETA people are never good-looking. The good-looking ones are
off doing something important. It's always the ugly ones who are doing
stuff like this."
On her WOR-AM radio show last night, Rivers challenged PETA officials to
call her, but most of the phone-in listeners were fur-coat wearers who
shared similar horror stories of paint assaults.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 07:49:38 EST
From: Marisul
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (JP)Daily News (NY): "Lunch Menu Plans No Fish Story"
Message-ID: <40a2d9a4.3497ca64@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Daily News (NY) 12-17-97, p. 26
LUNCH MENU PLAN NO FISH STORY
(Tokyo) -- In an effort to pass on Japanese traditions, officials in one
southern city have announced an addition to the school lunch menu: whale meat.
The meat will be on a special one-day menu next year for 25,000
elementary and junior high students in Shimonoseki, 520 miles southwest of
Tokyo.
The plan is designed to inculcate a sense of pride in the city's role as
a major port for Antarctic whaling ships, a city official said.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 11:03:26 -0800
From: Hillary
To: Tereiman@aol.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Joan Rivers' Sable Coat Sprayed
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971217110323.00748520@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
To find out which radio channel in your area has Joan's show, go to
http://www.wor710.com/net/jr-srch.htm
then you can call in and voice your disgust to her wearing fur.
Hillary
At 07:46 AM 12/17/97 EST, Tereiman wrote:
>
>Raging Rivers?
>Fur Sure!
>Park Ave. attack on sable coat
>By BILL HUTCHINSON
>Daily News Staff Writer
>
>Joan Rivers sure could talk yesterday. The comedian and talk show host
>was howling mad after a paint-splashing animal-rights activist assaulted
>her sable coat.
>
>Rivers, 60, said she was walking with a friend at about 3:30 p.m. on
>Park Ave. near 56th St. when a woman tapped her on the shoulder and
>said, "Oh, you're bleeding on your back."
>
>When Rivers checked her full-length fur, she found the back soaked in
>red paint. By the time she looked up, her attacker was running down the
>crowded street.
>
>"I was going to punch her," the 5-foot-2 Rivers told the Daily News.
>"But she was too much of a coward to stand on the street corner and
>fight me."
>
>Rivers said the woman was wearing leather shoes and a leather belt.
>
>Rivers said that after the attack she rushed her coat into T. Anthony's
>leather goods store on Park Ave., where workers helped her clean off
>some of the paint.
>
>The Brooklyn native said she's had the sable for 18 years and that it
>was a gift from her late husband, Edgar.
>
>"If an animal had to die to keep me warm for 18 years, it's okay," said
>Rivers, who described herself as an animal lover. "That coat has kept me
>warm through many cold winters."
>
>Rivers said she assumes the hit woman was from the radical anti-fur
>group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
>
>"What other kind of wackos go around doing that?" an angry Rivers said
>last night.
>
>But a PETA official cried foul and swore her group had nothing to do
>with the attack.
>
>"It's not PETA's style, so it's incredibly unfair for her to lash out at
>a group that tries to draw attention to the appalling suffering of
>animals used for fur," said group President Ingrid Newkirk.
>
>But Newkirk took the opportunity to blast Rivers for wearing fur.
>
>Rivers had a big Oh, pleeeeaaase! for PETA.
>
>"Why don't they go do something important? They're not upset at the rat
>poison dogs are eating in Central Park. Why don't they go do something
>about that?" Rivers said. "Don't go after middle-aged, affluent white
>women who are just minding their own business."
>
>Rivers held nothing back as she described the person who ambushed her.
>
>"She was middle-aged, blond, chubby and she looked quite homely," Rivers
>said. "The PETA people are never good-looking. The good-looking ones are
>off doing something important. It's always the ugly ones who are doing
>stuff like this."
>
>On her WOR-AM radio show last night, Rivers challenged PETA officials to
>call her, but most of the phone-in listeners were fur-coat wearers who
>shared similar horror stories of paint assaults.
>
>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 11:41:53 -0500
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: (US) Ohio Contestant Wins, Then Arrested
Message-ID: <349800D1.D361729C@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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(AP Online; 12/16/97)
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) Fame can be fleeting, but it wasn't fleeting
enough for Doug Vestal.
Vestal got his name in the local paper and his picture on a store wall
for leading a hunting competition in the bow and arrow category after
bagging a 250-pound deer.
The problem: He was on probation for domestic violence and wasn't
allowed to have a weapon. Probation officer Dan VanVorhis spotted
Vestal's name in the Dec. 1 Sentinel-Tribune, then saw his picture at
the store sponsoring the contest. He was arrested for violating his
probation and on weapons charges after police found two rifles and 200
rounds of ammunition, along with his bow and arrow, at his house.
He remained in jail Tuesday on $10,000 bail. A court hearing was
scheduled for Dec. 30. Vestal faces up to three years in prison. Parole
authority supervisor Terry Emrick wouldn't discuss his domestic violence
case.
VanVorhis has traced probation violators during hunting season before.
The contest sponsored by Mike's Party Store made Vestal a little easier
because of the photo showing him with his deer.
"He just never thought of the bow as being a weapon," said Vestal's
mother, Mary.
Mike Tyson, who owns the store, said Vestal likely would have won.
"If he's not convicted, I'll probably award him the prize," he said. "If
he is convicted, he's disqualified from the contest."
The prize is a target that looks like a deer, worth $100.
{APWire:Domestic-1216.470} 12/16/97
( Is anyone surprised?)
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 11:43:09 -0500
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Experts: India Tigers Multiplying
Message-ID: <3498011C.593D87BD@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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(AP Online; 12/16/97)
By CHANDRA BANERJEE Associated Press Writer
CALCUTTA, India (AP) Endangered tigers are on the increase in an
eastern Indian reserve thanks to efforts to protect them from poachers
and farmers, a conservationist said Tuesday.
K.C. Gayen, field director of the Sunderbans Tiger Project, said 821
tiger paw prints were found as part of the Royal Bengal tiger census
that concluded last week, nearly twice as many as were found in the last
census in 1995.
"This trend is very encouraging," said Gayen, who oversees tiger
conservation in the Sunderban reserve, 125 miles south of Calcutta.
Forest workers make plaster casts of paw prints, as distinct as human
fingerprints, and then use computers to make sure no tiger is counted
more than once.
Tigers have been decimated around the world by hunting and man's
encroachment on their habitats.
Gayen said a high number of cub prints 30 indicated tigers felt
secure enough in the Sunderbans to breed. He credited training programs
in fisheries, bee keeping and other vocations that have kept villagers
from carving more and more farm land out of the forest.
And thanks to environmental training, Gayen said, villagers were
beginning to see tigers as a resource to be protected instead of
exploited. He said no poaching had been reported in the Sunderbans in
recent years
The National Geographic Society estimates 100,000 tigers roamed in the
wild a century ago, but only 5,000 to 7,000 exist in the wild today half
in India.
{APWire:International-1216.330} 12/16/97
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 11:47:05 -0500
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: (US) Pharmaceutical Animal Testing
Message-ID: <34980208.1C5FE60E@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
(Business Wire; 12/17/97)
Titan Pharmaceuticals Receives U.S. Patent Covering Use Of Sertoli Cells
To Induce Neurorecovery In Parkinson's Disease
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 17, 1997-- Titan
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTNP, TTNPU, TTNPW) today announced that
U.S. Patent 5,702,700 covering "Sertoli Cells as Neurorecovery Inducing
Cells for
Parkinson's Disease" will be issued on December 30, 1997 by the U.S.
Patent and
Trademark Office. Titan's wholly owned subsidiary, Theracell, Inc.,
holds an
exclusive license from the University of South Florida to this patent
and other
applications relating to neurologic uses of Sertoli cell technology.
The patent discloses a method for treating Parkinson's disease by
stereotaxic implantation of Sertoli cells directly into the affected
area of the brain without the need for immunosuppression. The animal
data disclosed in the patent was reported in the October 1997 issue of
Nature Medicine.
"Sertoli cells are a readily available cell type that secrete a variety
of growth factors and support the growth and maturation of germ cells,"
stated Richard C. Allen, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Titan.
"Sertoli cells implanted in the brain have demonstrated the ability to
restore function in an animal model of Parkinson's disease by promoting
restoration of neural connections."
Louis R. Bucalo, M.D., President and CEO of Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
added, "We are pleased with the issuance of this patent, as we believe
Sertoli cells may have broad utility as a platform neural regeneration
technology. Potential additional applications include neurological
disorders such as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke and
Amyotrophric Lateral Sclerosis."
Dr. Allen continued, "Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological
disease in which specialized brain cells that produce the
neurotransmitter dopamine gradually die. This data suggests that
Sertoli cells may be useful in promoting functional recovery in
earlier-stage Parkinson's patients, who are more likely to have
sufficient residual dopamine-producing neurons to respond to neural
regeneration therapy."
In addition to its Sertoli cell-based development program, Titan is also
currently testing in primates an additional cell-based therapy,
Spheramine(TM), for later-stage Parkinson's patients. The company
believes its combined technology platforms in cell therapy of
Parkinson's disease may potentially more comprehensively address the
different physiologic status of early and later-stage patients.
Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing
proprietary therapeutics for the treatment of nervous system disorders,
cancer and other serious and life-threatening diseases.
CONTACT: Company Contact:
Louis R. Bucalo, M.D.
President & CEO
Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
650-244-4990
or
Investor Contact:
Keith L. Lippert, Bruce Voss
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
212-838-3777
Keith@lhai.com
Bruce@lhai.com
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 09:03:23 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Newswire: Pet Monkeys Can Carry Deadly Virus
Message-ID: <199712171654.LAA12643@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Pet Monkeys Can Carry Deadly Virus
By Theresa Tamkins
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Owners of macaque monkeys are at risk of
becoming infected with a potentially deadly virus, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An estimated
80% to 90% of adult macaque monkeys carry B-virus, a herpes virus
that is harmless to the animal but deadly in humans.
The virus is shed in saliva or genital secretions, and pet owners are
at high risk of being infected because monkeys tend to establish
dominance in a social group by biting, and also often become more
aggressive with age. Some pet owners also put themselves at risk by
intimate contact, including kissing their pets on the lips, eating off
the same plate, sharing chewing gum, or diapering the animals.
Children are three times as likely as adults to become infected,
according to a report in the CDC's journal, Emerging Infectious
Diseases.
The monkeys can also be found in animal parks, and in some states --
particularly Florida and Texas -- there are wild packs of the animals.
Just last week an animal research worker died after being exposed to
contaminated fluid from a macaque monkey at Yerkes Regional
Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia. A drop of fluid from the cage of
an infected animal landed in the woman's eye six weeks before she
died. The case was unusual in that infection is relatively rare -- there
have been only 40 cases between 1933 and 1994 -- and most
infections result from bites or scratches.
B-virus can be extremely deadly, with 79% of people with symptoms
dying of the disease, according to a study of 24 people in 1992. The
virus gains access to the brain via the spinal cord, causing severe
inflammation and neurological impairment. The antiviral drug
acyclovir has saved three people since 1987, and can prevent
permanent disability. However, rapid treatment is essential and the
drug is not always effective.
Monkey owners may not seek treatment for bites and scratches, and
they may not associate the first symptoms of B-virus infection --
headache and flu-like symptoms -- with bite wounds that may have
healed a month earlier.
Macaques and other monkey species cannot be imported into the
U.S. as pets, and they may not be bred or sold for that purpose,
according to a law passed in 1975. The illegal trade in the animals as
pets is ``an emerging infectious disease threat in the United States,''
according to the CDC.
``The extremely high prevalence of B-virus along with their
behavioral characteristics make the macaque species unsuitable as
pets,'' according to the report.
SOURCE: Emerging Infectious Diseases (January-March, 1998)
Reut14:43 12-16-97
(16 Dec 1997 14:41 EST)
Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/
"Civil liberties are always safe as long as their exercise doesn't
bother anyone." New York Times editorial, 1-3-41
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 09:58:00 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: API's Investigating Vivisection Web Page Now Up!
Message-ID: <199712171749.MAA22752@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Good news for anti-vivisection campaigners! You no
longer need separate bookmarks to do your MEDLINE,
CRISP and other animal research related web searches.
The Animal Protection Institute is pleased to announce
that we've placed links to all of these sites, along with
brief descriptions of what each agency or site does, in
one convenient place - API's Investigating Animal
Experientation Web Site!
As one section of our science section on API's web
site, the links on API's Investigating Animal Research
section were drawn from ones that I use myself in
combination with various suggestions that have been
made on various science and AR related mailing lists
or web sites.
For more information, or to begin using this service,
point your web browser to:
http://www.api4animals.org/ResearchResources.htm
Stop by and take a look and don't hesitate to drop a line and
let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.
My best to all -
Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/
"Civil liberties are always safe as long as their exercise doesn't
bother anyone." New York Times editorial, 1-3-41
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 13:36:30 -0800
From: Hillary
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fur Sales
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971217133628.00ea1ed0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
WSJ
Sales Are Ho-Hum at Large Stores,
But Ho-Ho-Ho at Luxury Shops
A WALL STREET JOURNAL News Roundup
With 10 days to go until Christmas, the mood among retailers is splitting
into two camps. It's ho-hum at mass-market stores and ho-ho-ho at upscale
luxury shops.
>From Gump's jewelry in San Francisco to Jaguar cars in Houston and Baccarat
crystal in Chicago, luxury goods are selling, store executives said this
weekend. Shoppers were packed shoulder to shoulder on Madison Avenue and
Fifth Avenue in New York. But it was a different story at J.C. Penney Co.,
which said December same-store sales have fallen in the "low single digits"
from the year-earlier period, when gains were expected.
Overall, consumer spending by check rose a minuscule 0.1% for the first 10
days of the holiday-shopping season, says TeleCheck Services, a
check-clearing firm. Checks represent perhaps one-third of consumer
spending, but the more affluent tend to prefer charge cards, which often
give them frequent-flyer miles. Visa U.S.A. said that for the two weeks
after Thanksgiving, shoppers spent 12% more than last year, ringing up more
than $15.6 billion on their Visa cards.
At Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus Group Inc., cashmere garments, some
priced at more than $1,000, are hot sellers this season. There is "strong
demand for luxury goods, which includes designer apparel, fine jewelry,
evening dresses and cosmetics," a Saks Holdings Inc. spokeswoman said.
Allan Roberts, owner of San Francisco's Roberts Furs, said his store's
Christmas sales were running at nearly double last year's rate. "Everybody
made money in the stock market this year and now it's time to spend a
little of it," he said. "People are walking in and buying $10,000 mink
coats without seeming to give it any thought."
An increasing number of wealthy baby boomers are fueling strong sales
growth at 240 upscale shops run by eight major companies, says Prudential
Securities Inc. analyst John D. Morris. He expects a 4% to 6% gain in
holiday same-store sales for luxury-goods retailers, compared with 3% to 4%
for retailers overall. But the nation's 9,000 middle-market stores are
hobbled by a glut of selling space from past overexpansion.
Michael Gould, chairman of the Bloomingdale's unit of Federated Department
Stores Inc., said some businesses are doing very well, but others he is a
"little concerned" about. He says he is "cautiously optimistic," and
Bloomingdale's is "on target for where we thought we would be vs. last year."
More holiday shoppers seem willing to spend more money in special luxury
stores rather than in department stores and malls, searching for one
perfect gift rather than several mediocre ones. "It's just easier to go
somewhere like Tiffany's" than to a department store, Yongmin Oh remarked
Saturday as she shopped in midtown New York, juggling a blue Tiffany bag
and a Burberry's sack.
The shopping public has been trained to aim higher in recent years.
Companies such as Donna Karan International Inc. and Polo Ralph Lauren
Corp. have been offering less extravagantly priced lines, giving more
consumers a taste of luxury -- and a liking for it. "People seem more
interested in quality" now, said Richard Heusi in Houston, part-owner of
Audio Concepts, a stereo store. His store is reporting a 10% increase in
business this season compared with last year's period. Meanwhile,
promotions remain widespread, defying some retailers' hopes of getting the
markdowns out of the way earlier than usual this season.
Sears, Roebuck & Co. advertised a storewide 10%-off sale for a short period
this weekend; Bloomingdale's offered markdowns on fur coats in New York.
The strong sales of luxury goods may not be enough to counter the weakness
in other areas. Some analysts are rethinking their holiday forecasts. At
LJR Redbook Research, a recent forecast of a 3.9% overall December sales
gain at U.S. stores open more than a year could slip to 3.5%, depending on
the second-week tally, expected as soon as Monday. Redbook analyst John
Pitt cites a "slightly below-target performance by discounters, and
continuing substantial weakness at national department stores."
"We've had some dramatic events affecting consumer buying that will change
habits at the cash register this year," contends Carter Pate, a partner at
Price Waterhouse, citing stock-market jitters and a spate of personal
bankruptcies.
Mr. Pate is at the low end of projections, looking for holiday sales 2.5%
above last year. He and others say the country simply has too many stores,
given the 48% leap in the decade through 1996 of the number of shopping
centers and malls. Debt is at record levels for households with incomes
between $25,000 and $75,000, he says, "making it harder for consumers to
service their debt and continue to spend."
Lehman Brothers analyst Jeffrey M. Feiner still expects same-store holiday
sales overall to increase 4.25% from last year, helped by an extra shopping
day. But for department stores such as May Department Stores Co. and
Federated, he figures the same-store sales gain at only about 2.5% in the
first 10 days this month.
Many shoppers spend at the last minute so total holiday sales are hard to
predict. But the National Retail Federation said the season got off to a
good start.
At Neiman Marcus's Chicago store, seasonal sales have jumped more than 10%
from last year, beating expectations, said Thomas Leach, assistant store
manager. The mood during the weekend was also upbeat over on Chicago's tony
Oak Street, where ritzy retailers offer valet parking to customers. At
Ultimo Enterprises Ltd., which operates an independent store as well as
Sonia Rykiel and Giorgio Armani boutiques, sales rose 9.4% by Friday,
buoyed by fine jewelry, fur-trimmed accessories and vintage hand muffs.
Even at lower-end stores, it seems, the posh items are flying off the
shelves. At Costco Cos., an Issaquah, Wash., warehouse-club operator, sales
are running "slightly above" the chain's plan of a midsingle-digit December
gain, said Chief Executive James Sinegal. Sales of Costco's high-end
watches, priced at $400 to $1,000, are up about 25% from a year ago.
Computers in the $2,000 range are outselling newer ones in the $1,000 range.
In Houston, Walzel Jewelry & Gift Shop owner Cheryl Walzel said seasonal
sales are already up around 40% from last year. "We're really moving a lot
of high-ticket items," she said, including strings of rare South Sea pearls
that start at $30,000 and run as high as $200,000.
Some retailers say shoppers are buying themselves more gifts this year. In
midtown New York, Joe Comartin, a 24-year-old investment banker, set out to
do his Christmas shopping at the area's specialty stores and ended up
dropping about $1,000 at upscale retailer Barney's on sweaters and sport
coats for himself. "People have done pretty well this year," he said.
On Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., Herbert Fink, who owns Theodore
with his wife, Norma, says black leather jackets with black fox-fur collars
are a hot item, selling for $2,000 to $4,000. Store sales are up 10%, he
says; so far it is mostly people shopping for themselves.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 12:53:14 -0600
From: Gary Casper
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Midwest Declining Amphibians Conference
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971217125314.00803850@alphaG.csd.uwm.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
ANNOUNCEMENT, REGISTRATION, CALL FOR PAPERS
please re-distribute, and link to your pages, where appropriate
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MIDWEST DECLINING AMPHIBIANS CONFERENCE
A Joint Meeting of the Great Lakes and Central Division Working Groups
of the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force
WHEN:Friday & Saturday, March 20 & 21, 1998
WHERE: Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W Wells St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
WHAT: This two day conference will focus on amphibian biology, malformities
and conservation in the Midwest, encompassing the states of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
WEB SITE: http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/Daptf/Midwest.html
---------------------------------------------
You may register and submit papers through the web site.
For those without web access, read on......
---------------------------------------------
CALL FOR PAPERS - DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 20, 1998: There will be three paper
sessions. Speakers are invited to present on any amphibian species of the
region (see above listed states), regardless of where the research took
place. Papers on techniques applicable to the region are also sought.
Authors should choose an appropriate paper session, and send one page
abstracts to the session coordinators. Include with your abstract a title,
author names, presenter name, address, phone and e-mail.
PAPER SESSIONS AND COORDINATORS:
LIFE HISTORY, RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT: This session covers basic biology,
research techniques, and management of amphibians. Papers addressing life
history, biology, recovery efforts, listing and regulatory efforts, and
introduced species are appropriate. Session coordinator: Christopher A.
Phillips, Illinois Natural History Survey Center For Biodiversity, 607 East
Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820; voice (217)244-7077; fax (217)333-4949;
E-mail chrisp@mail.inhs.uiuc.edu
POPULATIONS TRENDS, MONITORING AND INVENTORY: This session covers
censussing, inventory, surveys, population assessments, and papers dealing
with quantifying amphibian populations and trends. Reports from regional
survey coordinators are especially welcome. Session coordinator: Gary S
Casper, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W Wells St, Milwaukee, WI 53233; voice
(414)278-2766; fax (414)278-6100; E-mail gsc@mpm.edu
MALFORMITIES: This session will deal with amphibian malformities. Papers
that address causes, techniques for assessing malformities, and
descriptions of malformities are appropriate. Session coordinator: Michael
J Lannoo, Department of Anatomy, Muncie Center for Medical Attention, Rm
209 Maria Bingham, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306-0230; voice
(765)285-1050; fax (765)285-1059; E-mail 00mjlannoo@bsu.edu
TENTATIVE AGENDA
Friday, March 20
8-10 AM:BUSINESS MEETING [Gromme Lecture Hall, 1st floor]
working group chairs, US DAPTF chair, and state coordinators
10 AM:Welcoming Address:William Moynihan, Ph.D., President,
CEO, Milwaukee Public Museum
10:05-noon:PAPER SESSION I [Gromme Lecture Hall, 1st floor]
Life history, research and management
Noon-1:30 PM:lunch
1:30-5:30 PM:PAPER SESSION II [Gromme Lecture Hall, 1st floor]
1:30-4 PM: Life history, research and management
4-5:30 PM: Populations trends, monitoring and inventory
6 PM-midnight:BANQUET DINNER [Uihlein Hall, 2nd floor]
6-8 PM: dinner
8 PM: guest speaker, Allen Blake Sheldon Nature Photography.
A slide presentation covering Midwest amphibians. Allen's photos
have been featured in many publications, including those by the
National Wildlife Federation, Field & Stream, National Geographic,
National Audubon Society, Minnesota Volunteer, and Wisconsin Trails.
8:30 PM: auction
9 PM-midnight: Hopping Live Entertainment by the Casper Blues Band
Saturday, March 21
9 AM-noon:PAPER SESSION III [Gromme Lecture Hall, 1st floor]
Populations trends, monitoring and inventory
Noon-1:30 PM:lunch
1:30-5 PM:PAPER SESSION IV [Gromme Lecture Hall, 1st floor]
Malformities
5-5:30 PM:Wrap Up Report from US DAPTF Coordinator
All Day Friday & Saturday, March 20-21
Vendor displays [East AIS Bubble, 1st floor]
Museum Stores
----------------------------------------------
REGISTRATION: send to Gary Casper, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W Wells St,
Milwaukee, WI 53233. Make checks payable to Milwaukee Public Museum.
Questions? Contact Gary Casper at 414-278-2766 or gsc@mpm.edu
Registration fees:
regular: $20 X ___ # attending = ________
student: $12 X ___ # attending = ________
Subtotal _______
Friday Banquet: dinner, guest speaker, auction, cash bar and live music:
$28 X ___ # meals = ______
specify: chicken ___ beef ___Subtotal _______
Vendor tables (8 foot length): $15/table, plus donation to the auction
Subtotal _______
(vendor room is secured overnight)
Grand Total$ _______
Your Name:
Address:
phone:
e-mail:
--------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Gary S. Casper
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/garyc.html
Director, Wisconsin Herpetology Homepage
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/atlas/welcome.html
Chair, Great Lakes Declining Amphibians Working Group
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/Daptf/daptf.html
-----------------------------------------------------
please direct correspondance for Gary S. Casper to:
Vertebrate Zoology Section, Milwaukee Public Museum
800 W. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53233
voice (414)278-2766 fax (414)278-6100 E-mail gsc@uwm.edu
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 97 12:26:27 -0000
From: "Eric Mindel @ LCA"
To: "ar-news" ,
"Chickadee"
Subject: Drug researcher pleads guilty to fraud, goes to jail
Message-ID: <199712171914.OAA04287@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hi all,
>From the Atlanta-Journal Constitution today, by staff writer Richard
Whitt:
Drug researcher Bruce Diamond pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing
millions of dollars from the Medical College of Georgia (Augusta). He
admitted his role in an 8 year scheme to defraud the college of the
proceeds from clinical drug trials.
According to the article, he got five years prison sentence, followed by
10 years probation. He was fined $125,000 dollars and ordered to make
financial restitution to the college.
There's no mention in the article regarding the nature of his research.
eric
Eric Mindel
Last Chance for Animals (LCA)
eric@lcanimal.org
http://www.lcanimal.org
8033 Sunset Blvd., #35
Los Angeles, CA 90046
310/271-6096 office, 310/271-1890 fax
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 13:37:51 -0600
From: Gary Casper
To: TAnton2963@aol.com (Tom Anton), Thinker@csd.uwm.edu (Annie Salmona),
adowning@midway.uchicago.edu (Amy Downing),
allenp@wheel.datcp.state.wi.us (Paula Allen), alverson@macc.wisc.edu,
ar-news@envirolink.org, as1988@wheeler.northland.edu (Seth Ames),
asavitzk@odu.edu (Alan Savitzky),
asnider@detroitzoo.org (Andrew Snider), awilliam@facstaff.wisc.edu,
baldinta@uwec.edu (Dr Terry Balding), barteg@dnrmai.dnr.wisc.gov,
bduerkse@uwc.edu (Barbara Duerkson),
beartrap@win.bright.net (Ronald Perala),
biersp@dnr.state.wi.us (Pam Biersach),
bioclub@uwplatt.edu (Biology Club UW-Platteville), biograd@csd.uwm.edu,
bionorse@mwt.net (Ak Lallas), blesej@dnr.state.wi.us,
bolek@csd.uwm.edu (Matt Bolek),
bscudder@srvdwimdn.er.usgs.gov (Barbera Scudder),
buttryk@uwplatt.edu (Keith J. Buttry),
c626284@showme.missouri.edu (Michael Keller), camarler@macc.wisc.edu,
carol.hall@dnr.state.mn.us (Carol Hall)
Subject: Wisconsin Herpetology Homepage
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971217133751.008083a0@alphaG.csd.uwm.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
NEW HERPETOLOGY WEB SITE
The Wisconsin Herpetology Homepage is now online at:
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/atlas/welcome.html
This is a major public resource for herpetology information and networking
in Wisconsin, developed by Gary Casper at the Milwaukee Public Museum, with
a grant from the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. It includes the
Wisconsin Herp Atlas maps and species accounts, an online herp
bibliography, an online herp research directory, the Great Lakes Declining
Amphibians web pages, a summary of Wisconsin herp regulations, and an
extensive timber rattlesnake resource. Anyone working on herps in
Wisconsin, or curating collections of Wisconsin material, is encouraged to
register in the directory. Anyone publishing on Wisconsin herps is
encouraged to submit citations to the bibliography. Anyone managing web
sites is encouraged to link to this resource.
- Gary Casper
-----------------------------------------------------
Gary S. Casper
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/garyc.html
Director, Wisconsin Herpetology Homepage
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/atlas/welcome.html
Chair, Great Lakes Declining Amphibians Working Group
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/Daptf/daptf.html
-----------------------------------------------------
please direct correspondance for Gary S. Casper to:
Vertebrate Zoology Section, Milwaukee Public Museum
800 W. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53233
voice (414)278-2766 fax (414)278-6100 E-mail gsc@uwm.edu
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 13:04:37 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Trumpeter swans prepare for return to Atlantic flyway (US)
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971217172109.3c37106c@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
from http://wire.ap.org
Trumpeter swans prepare for return to Atlantic flyway
By MARY PEMBERTON
Associated Press Writer
Trumpeter swans vanished from the Chesapeake Bay nearly 200
years ago, their robust calls silenced by a demand for quill pens,
powder puffs and feathers for ladies' hats.
But now scientists are hoping to restore America's largest
waterfowl to the Atlantic flyway by teaching the majestic birds to
migrate.
Their hopes are riding on five young birds who have been tricked
into thinking that a bright yellow ultralight with an over-arcing
white wing is their parent.
It is hoped the young trumpeter swans will follow the motorized
hang glider 110 miles from the Environmental Studies at Airlie
Center in Warrenton, Va., to a 255-acre farm in Dorchester County
on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Researchers would like to fly the birds as a flock late this
week, but it depends upon getting the unruly birds to cooperate.
“They are certainly most difficult ... most individualistic,”
said Dr. William J.L. Sladen, the Airlie Center's director and an
expert on Arctic birds.
Sladen teamed up with ultralight enthusiast William Lishman in
1989 to teach Canada geese to migrate. In 1993, they completed the
first ultralight-led goose migration from Ontario, Canada, to the
Airlie Center, a trip portrayed in the 1996 Hollywood movie “Fly
Away Home.”
The question remains whether the trumpeter swans will succeed in
their mini-migration and return to their birthplace in Virginia
come spring.
“The swans are much more unpredictable,” said Larry Gillette,
past president of The Trumpeter Swan Society in Maple Plain, Minn.
“At some point, they just sit down and stop flying.”
Despite the intractability of the swans, Sladen is upbeat.
“We think they will be all right,” he said. “We are confident
that they will return in the spring.”
The goal of the three-year Migratory Bird Project is to train
trumpeter swans, who once inhabited nearly all of North America, to
fly a traditional migration route from breeding grounds in New York
to a winter home on the Eastern Shore.
Trumpeter swans learn to migrate from their parents. Once the
flock loses the knowledge, the young don't know where to go.
“We started training them before they came out of the egg,”
said Bob Ferris, director of species conservation for Defenders of
Wildlife, a Washington-based group that has devoted $175,000 to the
nearly $1 million project. “We played a recording of an ultralight
engine so they would get used to it.”
Seven birds hatched at Airlie in late spring. Three females and
two males were chosen for the mission.
To get the birds used to the ultralight, researchers carried
tape recordings of the plane's engine noise. The baby birds
followed the sound.
In late July, they were exposed to the real thing. When the
plane rolled, they followed it.
“For the most part they have a good following instinct,”
Ferris said.
By mid-September, the birds were ready to start flying. When the
ultralight rose into the air, the birds followed, flapping their
wings and waddling faster and faster, eventually becoming airborne.
The next step was to train them to fly to the Defenders-staffed
farm near Crapo, Md., as a flock — more of a challenge than
scientists expected.
“The females were flying pretty well together and when we mixed
the males in there were some problems,” Ferris said. “They will
fly a couple of miles in some direction and then one of the males
says `I'm going to go back and sit on the pond,' and they'll peel
off and the others birds will follow.”
About 100,000 trumpeter swans wintered in the Chesapeake Bay
area about 200 years ago, but by 1932 overhunting left only 69 in
the lower 48 states.
There now are about 19,000 trumpeter swans, most of them a
migratory flock that breeds in Alaska and winters in the Pacific
Northwest. There are a few small, non-migratory flocks in the
Midwest and around the Great Lakes.
The birds, white with a black beak, weigh up to 30 pounds, have
an 8-foot wing span and can stand 6-feet tall with neck
outstretched. They have a long, convoluted trachea that produces
the resonant trumpeting sound.
————
For more information on the swans and their progress, the The
Defenders of Wildlife web site is at www.defenders.org.
AP-ES-12-17-97 1309EST
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 14:48:46 -0800 (PST)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: OREGON ACTIVIST CUFFED AT FEDERAL COURTHOUSE (US)
Message-ID: <199712172248.OAA16861@smtp.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 1997
FEDERAL MARSHALS HANDCUFF, DRAG AILING ‘WITNESS' INTO COURTHOUSE
PORTLAND – U.S. marshals handcuffed, and dragged a witness into the federal
courthouse here Wednesday shortly before noon after the "witness" said he
was being harassed, and his rights were being violated by the Justice Dept.
Craig Rosebraugh, a Portland social justice activist, was denied the right
to obtain counsel, or delay the proceedings of a federal grand jury meeting
in Portland – despite Rosebraugh's recent hospitalization for a
life-threatening heart ailment. He was detained after a demonstration
attended by dozens of supporters from Oregon and Washington.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. District Court refused to hear motions in
support of Rosebraugh's first amendment rights, or his health. A hearing
concerning his status may be held sometime Wednesday, according to a civil
liberties group monitoring the situation.
Earlier, Rosebraugh said he would risk jail rather than cooperate with a
federal grand jury now convened in Portland – which he says is violating the
civil rights of people – until it agrees to open its process to the news
media and public.
Under grand jury law, Rosebraugh, or any witness, is denied the right to
counsel normally guaranteed under U.S. law. Witnesses also must answer any
and all questions, including those about personal relationships that may
have nothing to do with the proceedings. Those refusing to cooperate face up
to 18 months in jail – without the right to a trial.
In fact, Rosebraugh is not a suspect of the grand jury, which is reportedly
investigating environmental and animal rights activity in Oregon, including
the destruction of a Redmond horse slaughterhouse in July and the freeing of
thousands of mink from an Oregon fur farm earlier this year.
"The federal grand jury process is designed for secrecy, and to frighten
and intimidate citizens into ‘cooperating,'" according to Crescenzo
Vellucci, a former newspaper and wire service reporter and now director of a
California civil liberties group. "Rather than protecting citizens, it is
being used as an instrument of power and repression against political
activists," he added.
-30-
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 19:35:09 -0500
From: jeanlee
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Organic standards website
Message-ID: <34986FBD.7D10@concentric.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
The entire rough draft of the proposed organic standards is available at
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/
There is also a place to comment and view others' comments.
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 97 19:21:26 PST
From: "bhgazette"
To: "AR News"
Subject: Policeman charged with dog's death
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
The following was furnished by a BHG subscriber who has relatives in Oregon:
John Hurlman (Portland, Oregon, police officer who shot and killed George, a lab, on September
18, 1997 while Hurlman was jogging in front of George's home) has been charged with one count
each of: Animal Cruelty (felony), Reckless Endangerment (felony) and Malicious Mischief
(misdemeanor).
Hurlman has been placed on administrative leave.
For background go to: <>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:55:14 -0800 (PST)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: GRAND JURY RELEASES ACTIVISTS (US)
Message-ID: <199712180255.SAA05851@smtp.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 1997
JUSTICE DEPT BLINKS, RELEASES
ACTIVIST AFTER DETAINING HIM
AT CIVIL LIBERTIES PROTEST
PORTLAND – A social justice activist – handcuffed and detained by a bevy of
U.S. marshals as he attended a civil liberties protest in front of the
Federal Building here Wednesday – was released after less than an hour this
afternoon.
Craig Rosebraugh said he was cuffed, but then released after he was taken
before a federal grand jury in handcuffs. He refused to answer questions.
Rosebraugh was reportedly asked questions about friends, personal
relationships, his vegetarian lifestyle and his nonprofit organization –
which was formed to stop animal cruelty. He refused to answer the questions,
citing – as his protection – the 5th Amendment.
Rosebraugh is not a target of any investigation, but the Justice Department
is interested in the growing animal rights and environmental movement in Oregon.
Earlier Wednesday, he was denied the right to an attorney and a
continuation of the proceedings. He had been given less than 3 working days
to prepare for the appearance or obtain counsel. Rosebraugh was released
without any restrictions, but believes he may be called again before the
tribunal.
He was arrested -- despite his recent hospitalization for a
life-threatening heart ailment -- during a demonstration attended by dozens
of supporters from Oregon and Washington Wednesday. Rosebraugh said he would
risk jail rather than cooperate with a federal grand jury now convened in
Portland – which he says is violating the civil rights of people – until it
agrees to open its process to the news media and public.
Under grand jury law, Rosebraugh, or any witness, is denied the right to
counsel normally guaranteed under U.S. law. Witnesses also must answer any
and all questions, including those about personal relationships that may
have nothing to do with the proceedings. Those refusing to cooperate face up
to 18 months in jail – without the right to a trial.
-30-
Contact: Liberation Collective 503/230-9990
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 22:58:22 -0500
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: APHIS Press Release Update of Keiko's Independent Health Panel
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971218035822.28177a1e@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Robin Porter (301) 734-8563
> rporter@aphis.usda.gov
> Jamie Ambrosi (301) 734-5175
> jambrosi@aphis.usda.gov
>
>MEDIA ADVISORY
>
>UPDATE ON KEIKO'S INDEPENDENT HEALTH PANEL
>
> RIVERDALE, Md., Dec. 17, 1997--The majority of the Keiko
>independent health panel has examined the whale on-site at the Coast
>Aquarium in Newport, Ore. The remainder will complete their exams by
>Jan. 8, 1998. A summary of the test results and observations of the
>panel members will be released in mid-to-late January.
>
> #
>
>NOTE TO EDITORS: The panel members will not discuss the study nor
>the results until after the results are released. All media queries should
>be directed to Jim Rogers at (301) 734-8563 or e-mail
>jrogers@aphis.usda.gov
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
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