AR-NEWS Digest 367

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) (ASIA) Monkey brains, bear paws...
     by vadivu 
  2) AR-News Admin Note: Mink Farmers Factual Error
     by allen schubert 
  3) [UK] Butcher woos trade with abattoir tours
     by David J Knowles 
  4) (KH) Stray dogs to help deminers
     by vadivu 
  5) (JP) High tin levels found in tuna
     by vadivu 
  6) (SG) Reclamation 'may lead to sea cow's extinction' here
     by vadivu 
  7) (LK) Zoo animals moved
     by vadivu 
  8) Sears Boycott called
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
  9) Genetically Safe Foods and Companies
     by pmligotti@earthlink.net (Peter  M. Ligotti)
 10) (US) THe Ethics of Hunting
     by "H. Morris" 
 11) (US) Vet CLinic for Homeless Animals
     by "H. Morris" 
 12) (US) Moose Pop. Plummets
     by "H. Morris" 
 13) (US) Trout Season in NYS
     by "H. Morris" 
 14) Evil Dupont/Good Babbitt
     by "H. Morris" 
 15) (US) NJ Bears
     by "H. Morris" 
 16) Safari Club forms links to zoos
     by Shirley McGreal 
 17) National Geographic Tiger Special
     by Shirley McGreal 
 18) Re: Sears Boycott called
     by BHGazette@aol.com
 19) Human cloning
     by Andrew Gach 
 20) The Animals of the Homeless
     by Andrew Gach 
 21) proctor & gamble
     by Aldina A Cornett <"cornett@mctc.com"@cei.net>
 22) Police roughs up AIDS activists for anti-drug-company demonstration
     by Andrew Gach 
 23) Patenting life forms
     by Andrew Gach 
 24) Phone tapping
     by Wyandotte Animal Group 
 25) Sears Circus boycott called. 
     by chris.p.carrot@juno.com (Christophe P Carotte)
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 13:42:17 +0800 (SST)
>From: vadivu 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (ASIA) Monkey brains, bear paws...
Message-ID: <199704060542.NAA13471@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


> Asia Magazine, April 4 - 6, Volume 35 M 13
Sting
Norma Moss

Animal Rights? Wrong!

It is time to stop using the birds and the beasts as aphrodisiacs,
pick-me-ups and status symbols, argues Norma Moss.

Outside the famous Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, where people gather to ask
favours and to repay their dues, there are rows of tiny cages crammed full
of sparrows and other small birds.  The name of the game is to pay their
captor money, get a bird released, make merit and supposedly win some reward
in the life to come.

It seems to have occurred to no one that merit might be gained by not
capturing the birds in the first place and the people most in need of
merit-making are those making money from the captive birds.  Furthermore, no
sooner is your back turned than the poor little disoriented bird is
recaptured to sucker some other person.

In a monastery not far away, there used to be an elephant names Phlai Petch
who had been tied to a tree for 20 out of his 25-year lifespan. Just before
the New Year, the elephant made a desperate bid for freedom and went
berserk, damaging a few cars.  He was shot dead - a feat that took a hundred
bullets. Somebody then promptly cut off his trunk for a souvenir or tasty
titbit.

Now they are collecting money for a bell tower in Phlai Petch's memory -
although when the poor creature was alive, unless visitors bought food, he
often went hungry.

Elephants in general are fast becoming an anachronism in Asia - we have
deprived them of their natural habitat and, for those we have tamed, there
is not enough work and they must walk crowded city streets to forage for
food, weaving in and out among cars.

All over Southeast Asia, animal are tortured, killed and eaten in the name
of health and an improved sex life.  Forget the Latin lover - Casanova is
passé. He never consumed tiger penis, bear paws, gall bladders, yellow dogs,
cat-boiled-alive soup, or snake bile like your Asian lover does, although
the jury remains out on the efficacy of the alleged aphrodisiacs. If a
quarter of these claims are true, then the women of this region must be the
luckiest people alive.

Anyone for bear paw soup? The bear's paw is lowered into a vat of boiling
water to make the soup. According to traditional Chinese belief, the left
hind paw is believed to bring the most luck. Bears, having four paws, may
provide good luck four times over. Most of the diners are wealthy South
Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese who pay up to US$14,000 for a whole bear or
US$1,000 for a paw. It is believed that the greater the pain and fear, the
sweeter the meat - a painful death makes the adrenaline flow and enlarges
the gall bladder.

In Korea, Vietnam and Philippines and northern Thailand they believe man's
best friend is also man's best pic-me-up. So is the Chinese moon bear, kept
for year in groups in small cages to prevent movement while their gall
bladders are "milked". No scientist has yet turned in any results on that one.

Equally difficult to substantiate are the claims made for dried seal
penises. Who, besides a male seal, could possibly need them, one might ask?
Yet dried seal penises are regularly shipped to Southeast Asia from Canada
and elsewhere.

In China they believe that the fresher the food, the better it is for you.
Live turtles have shells torn off, snakes are ripped open, frogs get their
legs chopped off, the list is endless.

In Burma, Laos and Cambodia, pangolins, bears, snakes, squirrels, fruit
bats, and all manner of wild creatures are bundled up alive and whisked off
to end in restaurants that specialise in catering for the jaded palate. A
case of one country's wildlife being another's dish of the day.

In Japan some gourmet appetites are so bored by routine meals that more
adventure is sought with the daily bread or rice bowl. Live creatures, such
as prawns, are brought to the dinner table in increasing quantities. They
also relish monkey brain eaten from the head of the animal, a process not
dissimilar to tackling the breakfast boiled egg, except that the monkey,
kept in a small cage, is alive. However, being fair-minded, they also play a
deadly game of Japanese roulette with one particular fish that can cause
instant death if consumed.

As for the symbol of the region's dynamism and power - the tiger - at the
last count there were only about 5,000 tigers left in Asian forests. If we
keep on going after their private parts at the present rate there will be
none left in five years' time. Then what will we do to perk up our sex lives?

Norma Moss is a Bangkok-based writer

Date: Mon, 07 Apr 1997 04:27:33 -0400
>From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: j_abbott@portal.ca
Subject: AR-News Admin Note: Mink Farmers Factual Error
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970407042726.006d0b24@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Please take further discussion of this topic to private e-mail or other
lists (such as AR-Views).

allen
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 03:12:07 -0700 (PDT)
>From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Butcher woos trade with abattoir tours
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970406011229.36c7609a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


Butcher woos trade with abattoir tours
By Jo Knowsley 

A FAMILY butcher is offering tours of his slaughterhouse to reassure the
public that killing sheep, pigs and cattle can be "hygienic and humane".

Gerald David, whose abattoir in Porlock, near Minehead, serves his five
family-run shops in Somerset, had the idea of setting up"Slaughter Tours"
after watching a growing number of media exposés of bad practice at some
farms, slaughterhouses and butcher shops.

"I decided it was time that smaller independent outlets such as myself
fought back, and showed the public that not all slaughterhouses and butchers
worked in poor conditions or treated animals badly," he said. "So far I have
received unanimous support."

Government hygiene regulations prevent him from taking visitors inside the
abattoir, so they watch the killing through windows. The first tour took
place 10 days ago. So far he has had 15 visitors and last week he arranged a
tour on request for a couple of holidaymakers eager to see the premises.

Mr David said he believed it was important to reassure the public, in the
face of BSE and recent E coli scares. "When they visit us they see that no
animal sees any other animal being stunned, or killed.  We are terribly
careful," he said.

Mr David's slaughterhouse kills 50 to 60 pigs a week, 15 cattle and 60-100
lambs. The animals come from farmers he has known for  years, are checked by
vets and are killed individually.

Being an independent butcher, he said, has not been easy in recent years
with the growing domination of the supermarket chains in the meat market.

There are 11,500 butcher shops in England and Wales but they account for
only 17.7 per cent of meat sales, according to 1996 figures from the Meat
and Livestock Commission. More than 67 per cent of meat sales are carried
out in one of Britain's 4,937 supermarkets.

But Mr David believes the tide is once again turning in favour of smaller
outlets. He denied the abattoir tour was a shocking way to woo the public,
but said: "I know people don't like the idea of killing.

"But when they come on a tour they realise it can be done humanely - that it
doesn't have to turn your stomach. I haven't had anyone keel over, or react
badly to a tour, yet. And I don't expect to."


Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 19:28:52 +0800 (SST)
>From: vadivu 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: jwed@hkstar.com
Subject: (KH) Stray dogs to help deminers
Message-ID: <199704061128.TAA23285@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Cambodia Times  March 17 - 23, 1997

Stray dogs to help deminers
Reaksmey Kongkea

Dogs will be used to assist in demining activities in 
the future.

The Cambodian Mines Action Centre (CMAC) believe that man's best friend can
be trained not only to detect but to verify a mine.

CMAC national director Sam Sotha said 11 of the canines were sent to Sweden
last year and they are expected to return in July to assist demining teams
throughout the kingdom.

Sotha said the dogs would have been trained by Swedish experts on "mine
verification and marking".

This will be the first time that CMAC is using dogs in demining activities.
It may also be the first time that canines are used for demining tasks in
the region.

Although dogs have been used in various other fields, such as sniffing out
drugs or other concealed substances, they are not known to detect mines.

And if the venture is a success, CMAC may well find a solution to its
manpower needs as the dogs it sent to Sweden are not of pedigree breed but
the common stray dogs that are found everywhere.

"Cambodia has a lot of dogs. They may not be smart dogs but some of them can
be trained to help locate a mine", Sotha told the Cambodia Times last week.

He said that local deminers have also been sent to Sweden to learn how to
handle the dogs and become trainers.

Sotha added that CMAC would eventually train dogs on its own.

"The dogs will be of great help to us in expanding our activities to cover
more areas in Cambodia", he said, adding that the dogs would complement the
activities of the mine verification and marking teams.

The teams are responsible for locating and marking the areas which  are
mined. These areas would be cordoned off for the deminer to do the
painstaking job of deactivating the mines.

For its continuing efforts, CMAC has been acknowledged as a leader in
demining at a conference on anti-personnel mines in Tokyo on March 6.

Sotha said the world has now recognised CMAC's capabilities in carrying out
demining work and implementation of projects.

"The conference has given Cambodia the opportunity to share our problems and
successes with other countries facing similar predicament.

"Some of the countries had asked for our assistance in the form of sending
deminers to train their own people", Sotha said.

He said CMAC is ready to lend a hand to these countries if there is an
official request from the government.

Sotha said CMAC expects to set up another 120 demining units this year as
part of its expansion programme.

He said CMAC would focus on training people in the provinces as they are
more familiar with the areas to be mined.

Some 3,600 square kilometres of Cambodia is filled with mines and demining
work now being carried out covers an area of 1,300 square kilometres. CMAC
has successfully demined 690 square kilometres of land and returned them to
local authorities for further use.

CMAC's main training centre at Kop Srov can train up to 4,000 people in
various aspects of demining work annually.

The centre's director Bun Thoeurn said most of the trainees are former
soldiers and those who are victims of mines.

Since its inception in 1995, Bun Thoeurn said, the centre has produced 6,000
deminers.

"Most of them find work in the mine fields under CMAC. Others find jobs as
trainers", he said.

Sotha said CMAC has enough capable deminers to carry on its work but still
need foreign assistance in the form of technical expertise and equipment.

He said CMAC needs about US$8 million annually to finance its operations.
The money has so far come from the United States, Australia, United Kingdom,
Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Holland and Germany.



Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 21:00:09 +0800 (SST)
>From: vadivu 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (JP) High tin levels found in tuna
Message-ID: <199704061300.VAA30101@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


> The Japan Times, April 4, 1997

High tin levels found in tuna

A joint research team has discovered that tuna and bonito in the seas around
Japan have high concentrations of organic tin from paints used on ship hulls
and material used to protect fish nets.

The team, made up of scientists from Ehime University's Agriculture School
and Kyoto University's Fishery Experimental Station, is scheduled to
announce its findings during a meeting of the Japan Society of Fisheries
that opened Apr. 4 at Tokyo University of Fisheries.

The chemical concentration levels are many times that found in fish in the
south Pacific and Indian Ocean, but not high enough to harm humans,
according to the team. The team believes that the seas around Japan are now
sources of organic tin contamination of fishery resources, and migratory
fish like bonitos and tunas are believed to have absorbed the chemicals
while migrating through the area.

Shinsuke Tanabe, a professor at Ehime University's Agriculture School, and
his team members collected 47 tuna and bonito from the central Sea of Japan,
the waters off Kochi Prefecture, Papua New Guinea, the Indian Ocean and five
other areas, from 1983 through last year. By analyzing organic tin chemicals
in the livers of the fish, tuna caught in the central Sea of Japan were
found to have the highest concentration of tributyl (320 nanograms -- 1
nanogram is equal to 1 billionth of a gram) and two other tins.

Tuna caught off Kochi Prefecture followed with 310 nanograms, followed by 300 nanograms in bonito caught in the central Sea of Japan, according to the team. The concentration levels are comparable to those found in fish living in contaminated waters like Tokyo Bay or off the Italian coast, they said. In the fish caught in the south Pacific or around the Philippines, the team found only 24 to 50 nanograms of tin. Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 21:00:18 +0800 (SST) >From: vadivu To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (SG) Reclamation 'may lead to sea cow's extinction' here Message-ID: <199704061300.VAA29547@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >The Straits Times, 6 Apr 97 Reclamation 'may lead to sea cow's extinction' here By Sharon Vasoo PROPOSED reclamation works on Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong may cause the endangered dugong or sea cow to become extinct here, warned the Nature Society (Singapore) yesterday. The mammal's only source of food supply is sea grasses and these will be wiped out by landfill works. Although the islands were slated as protected nature areas, the latest development guide plan by the Urban Redevelopment Authority did not indicate how these nature areas would be protected, said Dr Ho Hua Chew yesterday. He was speaking at a conference on the state of Singapore's natural environment, organised by the society. In an interview, Dr Ho, the chairman of the society's conservation committee, said: "They are already endangered and if their food supply is cut, they may just simply disappear altogether. However this situation can be prevented if the islands were legally protected." An estimated 20 to 25 dugongs were reported to be living around the two islands five years ago. But the situation has worsened due to water pollution, reclamation and the rise in leisure boat activities in these areas, said the Nature Society. "You'll be lucky if you do spot one now," said Dr Ho. He added that another mammal, the finless porpoise, which looks like a baby dolphin is under similar threat. "It's sad because they were driven away by the result of such activities. Something should be done to try to improve the situation." At the seminar, participants reviewed the Singapore Green Plan issued in 1983 by the Government. The plan identified 19 nature sites and four coral sites along the Southern Islands for conservation as nature areas. This includes the islands of Pulau Tekong and part of Pulau Ubin. But the URA's development guide plan covering the island indicate that two land parcels on Pulau Ubin have already been tendered out for rustic holiday accommodation or an outdoor activity centre. The plans, said Dr Ho also did not specify the conservation boundaries on these islands. He said: "It seems that the authorities have simply chosen to forget their claims to conserve these areas." The URA could not be reached for comment yesterday. At the end of the seminar, the society said that to step up conservation efforts, it will make several recommendations to the Government at year's end. These include clear boundaries of the nature areas so that new developments cannot encroach and mandatory checks to ensure that nearby developments do not harm these areas. In addition, it will ask for legal protection for nature areas. Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 21:00:40 +0800 (SST) >From: vadivu To: ar-news@envirolink.org Cc: jwed@hkstar.com Subject: (LK) Zoo animals moved Message-ID: <199704061300.VAA30282@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" (SRI LANKA) >Sunday Observer, 06, April 1997 Ahungalla animals moved Under police guard OFFICIALS OF the Department of Wildlife Conservation yesterday removed the animals from the Ahungalle Private Zoo to the National Zoological Gardens, Dehiwela. All animals except the crocodiles and some birds which will be removed today, all other animals including elephants, lions, leopards, bears etc. were loaded into trucks and brought to Dehiwela. Commenting on the operation that commenced yesterday, Wildlife Conservation Director, N. W. Dissanayake told the Sunday Observer that the operation was kept a well guarded secret and his men moved into the Ahungalle Zoo without prior notice. The DIG Southern Province provided nearly 150 armed policemen for the security of officials and other men who went to Ahungalle. Mr. Dissanayake said that this was done in view of the Department's earlier experience where there were organised gangs protesting the removal of animals. They were refused entry into the zoo and had to turn back following threats by the organised gangs. Court ordered the closure of the private zoo following allegations that the animals were drugged and not tamed as claimed by the zoo authorities. The owner of the zoo denied this allegation and challenged the authorities to test the animals for any traces of drugs. However the whole episode culminated with the killing of a school boy by a lion a few weeks ago. Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 09:45:39 -0400 >From: Vegetarian Resource Center To: AR-NEWS@envirolink.org Subject: Sears Boycott called Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406004001.00d301b0@pop.tiac.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sears has decided to become the dream come true for the puppy mill industry in Raliegh, N.C. They have dogs for sale like cars on monthly credit. Large banner reads "Take a puppy or Kitten home in 15 minutes or less for as little as$20.01 >per month its a snap." also a sign on the door behind the puppy display reads "Start a home business breeding small animals for this pet store chain. Its a fun, profitable, and educational way for children and adults to earn mone while learning about business, animal sciences and responsibility. Hamsters Rabbits Gerbils Rats Guinea Pigs Reptiles Birds Kittens Puppies " Complaints about selling dogs and encouraging irresponsble backyard breeding should be addressed to : store manager Mike Bianchi (919) 782-9745 and Sears & Roebuck Co. National Customer Relations Dept. 3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60179 phone 800-762-3048 or E-mail http://www.sears.com/cserv/compln.htm where they recieve comments/complaints I am cutting up my Sears card and telling them I got my card to buy tools and long underwear! NOT to support the puppymill industry. And until that atrocity of ignorance is removed I will boycott and inform everyone I can. Join me if you agree. Susan EnglandGal@aol.com Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 07:43:44 -0700 >From: pmligotti@earthlink.net (Peter M. Ligotti) To: veg-news@envirolink.org, ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Genetically Safe Foods and Companies Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To get this periodic update on Genetically Safe Food, request to be on the "Shopping list" to Marie Zenack >From: Marie Zenack Subject: Shopping List 3/22/97 GENETICALLY ORIGINAL SHOPPING is intended to find out and share as much info as possoble about purchasing genetically original food. (If you don't want to receive this, let me know. If you have friends who want the info, have them send me a message to that effect. Thanks. Please review the list to make sure everyone agrees that it is as accurate as we can tell, or to make suggestions, etc. At the end of this list are suggestions on how to research a company. This list can really grow if everyone takes their favorite five companies. If your begin to research a particular company, let me know and I will put it on the 'in process' list so that we do not duplicate efforts. Once you have a response from the company, let me know. If it is positive, please fax or snail mail me a copy. Marie Zenack, 701 S. 2nd St. Fairfield, IA 52556, USA, Phone/Faxs-515-472-6948. It is important that any info we get be in writing because, for legal reasons, companies are very careful about what they put in writing. We have developed a webb site (www.lisco.com/mothersfornaturallaw) where the good guys can find each other. If we have a company's response in writing, we will call them back about being on the webb site. COMPANIES ON BOARD: DAIRY: All lifestock fed 100% organic feed. All products rGBH free. If dairy produces cheese, they use genetically original rennet. Radiance Dairy, 1745 Brookville Rd, Fairfield, IA, USA Researcher: Nov,96) Organic Valley Cropp cooperative, LaFarge WI 608-625-2602 (Info is on label.) Horizon Dairy - (Dec, 96,PO Box 17577 Boulder, CO 80308, Researcher: or Harmony Hills Organic Dairy: Researcher: Morningland Dairy, Rt 1 Box 188 B Mountain View, MO 65548 Eggs from Diana(DJ) and Bill Runyan, sold starting this week through Everybody's Market under the name of Iowa Oasis. GREENS PLUS - I have researched this company and found it to be gene free. Contains only organic and hydroponic elements. Company spokesperson is Elise Masheleau at 1-800-258-0444. Researcher: (I have not received the fax of company response yet but researcher will send it. Marie Zenack) GARDENING: Richter Herbs wrote: All of our seeds are either collected from wild plants or produced in traditional ways practiced for millenia. We do not offer genetically engineered plants or seeds. Goodwood, ON L0C 1A0, Canada,Tel +1-905-640-6677 Fax 640-6641, Info:info@richters.com, Catalog Requests: catalog@richters.com, Website: www.richters.com researcher: Arbico Environmentals: Providing sustainable alternatives for home and business. "We can personally certify that our Bt sprays and other products are not genetically engineered or produced from a genetically engineered organizm or process." 1-800-827-2847 researcher: sunrider@kdsi.net Apparently BOUNTIFUL GARDENS, SEEDS OF CHANGE, NATIVE SEEDS/SEARCH are all using open pollinated seeds. SOY PRODUCTS: Eden Foods, which makes Eden soy products, etc, are very strong in their stand to only use non-gen eng. ingredients. Their purchaser said on the phone that they source all their ingredients from the farmer to the consumer. Sent the following in writing: "Please let this letter serve as our affidavit and your assurance that Eden foods will not purchase or sell any food or food ingredient known to be genetically engineered and that we will act to best insure our avoidance of such." Eden foods, Inc. 701 Tecumsey Rd., Clinton, MI 49236.517-456-7424) Researcher: Jan, 97) Nature farm foods, Inc. All grains OCIA certified organic. 850 NBC Center, Lincoln, NE 68508, 402-474-7576, Fax: 402-474-7591 Researcher: Cathy Bortz, 2000 N. Court # 15C, Fairfield, IA 52556. January, 1997 Sunrider, which makes NuPlus, an herbal powder which also contains soy beans. Sent the following in writing: "Dr. Chen wanted me to advise you that he has complete cotrol over all ingredients used in Sunrider products, and Sunrider definitely does not use any genetic engineered foods." 1625 Abalone Ave,Torrance CA 90501,310-781-8096. Researcher:, Oct, 9.1996 YEAST: RED STAR YEAST does not use genetic engineering in their processes. Did not promise to avoid in the future. Nov. 96. Universal foods Corporation, Technical Center, 6143 N. 60th street, Milwaukee, WI 53218. Red Star Yeast is distributed through Frontier Herbs. Researcher: TOMATO SAUCE: Millinas Finest, Morgan Hill, CA 95037. Info is on label. But read it anyway in case things change! Researcher: WholeFoods is a retailer and probably at this point they cannot be sure of all their products. But apparently soon they will be able to be more certain and this is definitely a significant step. We are waiting for their written or public statement. COMPANIES BEING INTERVIEWED: ??AMY'S FOOD COMPANY. researcher: suzaraa@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu ??ALVARADO STREET BREAD: Researcher: ??ALL ONE GOD FAITH: (Dr. Bronners) Jim Bronner called to say he was sending the info packet on to their supplier. He sent for info from Genetic ID. Researcher: ??FLEISCHMAN'S YEAST: Have not faxed back, even after reminder. researcher: ??GHEE PRODUCERS: Researcher ??LIGHTFOODS, INC of Greenfield, MA, makers of Wonderdogs(tm) vegetarian hot dogs, is interested in the use of non ge soy beans and wheat though at the moment their suppliers have informed them that they can not promise them that. I am preparing to send them some info and will keep you updated on the results. Researcher: merrygold@pobox.com ??LIVE FOODS PRODUCTS, (BRAGGS): said they are researching this issue. Researcher: ??SAN-J SOY SAUCE: (About that little bit of alcohol made from CORN) Said they would be requiring genetic verification from supplier of alcohol and lab. Took info on genetic id test. Researcher: ??SPRINGTOWN GROCERY in Kalona: an Amish Coop that delivers the eggs to Everybody's Market in Fairfield - What are their chickens and lifestock eating? What kind of rennet do they use to make cheese?Researcher: WHOLESOME & HEARTY FOODS researcher: suzaraa@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu WHOLE FOODS RETAIL MARKETS: See above, in Companies on Board. researcher: COMPANIES NOT ON BOARD: !!MOST HOME GARDENING CATALOGS ARE NOW CARRYING GENETICALLY ALTERED POTATOES. !!Alta-Dena contracts out their products and so cannot always guarantee what is in or not in them. Researcher: !!Barbara's Bakery sees nothing wrong with genetically engineered food. researcher: !!"Land of Lakes will never be on board". Fredlud@aol.com !!"Land of Lake does genetic research and have genetically manipulated the rhizobium bacteria through their company called Research Seeds. This bacteria could contaminate the earth." Researcher Eileen Dannemann NCOW c/o !!Cabot Creamery was taken over by AgriMark more than 5 years ago. About a year ago they came out as proponents of rBGH use. AgriMark is one of the largest distributors of milk in New England, mostly selling to other companies for processing. researcher: briant@sun.goddard.edu (Brian Tokar) !!Carnation Infant formula wrote back that concerns about genetically engineered soy beans is unfounded because the FDA says they are safe. Researcher:Eileen Dannemann, NCOW c/o < (Please add address) !!The Infant Formula council says that parents and health professionals don't need to worry because the industry conforms to FDA industry standards. 5775 Peachtree, Dunwoody Rd, Suite 500, Atlanta, Georgia 30342, 404-252-3663 Fax 404-252-0774 Researcher: Eileen Danneman NCOW c/o !!Frito-Lay, Inc. 1-800-352-4477, P.O. Box 660634, Attn: Nutritionist 3B-167, Dallas, TX 75266-0634 , Inc. 1-800-352-4477, "The corn used in Frito-Lay product is grown specifically for Frito-Lay and are not genetically engineered. However, from time to time, we do purchase small amounts of corn on the open market. Since genetically engineered corn is not required to be labeled, it is possible that minute amounts of genetically engineered corn could find its way into FRITOS, DORITOS or TOSTITOS." They then go on to say that the FDA, USDA and EPA say that ge corn is safe. Researcher: <105147.3144@compuserve.com> SEED COMPANIES AND GARDENING CATALOGS: !!ICI/Garst Seed Co wrote: "We are offering genetically engineered seeds to our customers. To get our official stand on these issues I would suggest contacting our Communications Mgr in Coon Rapids, IA. His name is Mike Smidt, and his phone number is (712)684-3243." researcher: Dec, 96.) OTHER INFO: A genetic Id test for soy and corn is available from Genetic Id, 500 N. 3rd St., suite 208, Fairfield, Ia 52556. USA. 515-472-9979 Fax: 515-472-9198 Send a message to: and they will fax info to the company. What we have learned about butter by following the issue closely last year is that most comanies seem to give butter their lowest priority in terms of using their best milk, vs. whatever they ca get on the spot market. In this country there are four types of rennet available: 1)From the calf's stomach (rarely used since BSE crisis) 2) genetically engeneered cow's rennet 3) a natural enzyme from a mold that produces the same effect as rennet, 4) a genetically altered version of this natural enzyme. Obviously only number 3 is acceptable. We have been checking with the manufacturers and have found some good supplies. The two trade names for g.e. rennet are "Chymosin" and "chymax". You can still get the genetically unaltered vegetable rennet, "Mucor Mihei", sometimes called "microbial enzyme" on the cheese package, but this name has also been used to describe the enetically engineered rennnet. Any cheese supplier is able to supply vegetable rennet. For example ,Chr. Hansen in Wisconsin at 1-800-558-0802 , Nov. 96) NEEDED: Someone to research seed catalogs. Ask them 1) Their position on genetic engineering. 2) Their position on hybrid seeds and the patenting of life forms. 3) Do they product their own seeds or are they brokering them for someone else? Notice that is researching some and so ask me which ones she is researching before you begin. Someone to educate the tomato sauce industry and find us some safe sauce. Someone to educate the bread makers. Some Concerns are: Soy lecithin must be organic. Yeast must be genetically unaltered. Let them know that Red Star is genetically unalteredSho. All corn, soy, canola must be organic. Notice that is researching Alvarado Street Bread. HOW TO RESEARCH: Here are a few tips that I have found as I call companies. Step 1 is always to call the company and ask for the purchaser. Introduce yourself, and tell them that you are going to send a packet of information on the genetic engineering of our food supply. ASK FOR THEIR NAME. This is to keep you from having to send a dozen packets before you get someone to respond. Step 2 is to send the packet, or a copy of the packet, from Mother's for Natural Law, available by sending $3. to P.O. box 1177 fairfield, IA 52556. Don't underestimate the power of this packet. It lets them know that there is a whole movement behind your phone call. Include your personal cover letter, professionally done. In the letter make the following clear: a) Genetically engineered food is being mixed in the market and cannot be distinguished from other food. Therefore, only organically produced foods can be certified as genetically original. b) The American Campaign to Ban Genetically Engineered Food is compiling a list of food suppliers who provide genetically original foods. c) If they can tell us in writing or on their label that they use entirely organically certified ingredients, or if they can tell us in writing that they are in contact with their farmers and personally verify that the foods are genetically original, we will include them on the list and MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS. Step 3 is to call the person back and make sure they got the packet, get their response, and go from there. It will usually become clear if the company doesn't want to be bothered, or if they are on board, or if they would like to be on board. If they are on board, ask for it in writing. If they want to be on board, ask them what they need, and get back to me or post it on Ban-GEF. A local organic farmers cooperative is forming in Iowa and surrounding states. We may be able to connect them with a source of organic ingredients. Also we are beginning to network with other Organic Cooperatives. If you have a question or problem as you go along, send me an email messsage and I'll try to get back ASAP. Don't forget to tell them about the genetic Id test for soy and corn that is available from Genetic Id, 500 N. 3rd St., suite 208, Fairfield, Ia 52556. USA. 515-472-9979 Fax: 515-472-9198 This list of steps is not definitive. If you come up with other ideas, please let me know. "It is better to lightone candle than to curse the darkness". ----- Marie Zenack sunrider@kdsi.net ----- Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:06:40 -0400 >From: "H. Morris" To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" Subject: (US) THe Ethics of Hunting Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406120620.0070bba0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This article appeared in today's (SUnday) NY Times. I would like someone who is informed on hunting to write a letter to the editor. Please post to ar-views if you are interested. April 6, 1997 Outdoors: The Ethics of Hunting By PETER BODO The ritual occurs every blessed day when you return home. As you approach, your dog Max, is hurling himself at the door. He knows it is you and not the Fed Ex guy. Whimpering and moaning, Max beats his tail against the umbrella stand and the tower of old newspapers and takeout menus bound up for recycling. An ordinary person usually takes this display to mean that slobbering Max really, truly does love you, and experiences reckless joy at the mere prospect of your presence. A classically trained scientist will chuckle at this sentimental idea and insist that love and joy as we know them have nothing to do with it. Max is merely exhibiting a specific set of behaviors proved over time to contain survival advantages. End of story. Or is it? In their absorbing 1995 book, "When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals" (Delacorte), Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy catalogued and explored a remarkable range of incidents suggesting what most pet owners believe -- that animals, far from being mere survival machines, not only appear to have emotions, but also often exhibit behaviors that are determined by them. These authors are part of a growing chorus that challenges one of the scientific community's overarching commandments: Thou Shalt Not Anthropomorphize. In other words, don't ever attribute emotions such as joy, fear or anger to animals, because they cannot be proved to exist. The heretical notion that animals have "sensibility" has profound implications. For instance, it poses a serious threat to the tidy empirical world built upon the work of Charles Darwin. Although the concepts of animal sensibility and evolution are in many ways compatible, the idea that living creatures may be driven by factors other than pure survival throws a monkey wrench into the commonly held notion that life is merely a matter of chemistry and adaptation. Life becomes precious and miraculous, instead of merely interesting, when it represents something greater than the organic sum of its components. If there is such a thing as animal sensibility, how can you justify hunting deer, duck, rabbit or turkey, or even practice catch-and-release fly fishing? I believe in animal sensibility. I try to avoid foods made tender or rich through cruel methods (such as veal and pate). But I also hunt, and cannot accept the "animal rights" agenda that grows from the biodemocratic notion that life is a guaranteed, equal right of all creatures. I embrace the world view articulated by the ultimate authority in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Bible. I believe mankind is radically, spiritually different from animals -- even animals that are capable of feeling. Our power is remarkable, and much too often horrifying. The scientifically tidy idea that we are just an evolutionary hop, skip and a jump removed from the apes seems to me simultaneously preposterous and empirically supportable. This is not contradictory to me because I accept science but cannot give it ascendancy over the authority of my God. And as I understand the plan of the creator, we are not equal partners on the planet. As human beings, we are both superior to, and responsible for, the welfare of all creatures. It is inarguable that in nature, prey and predator relationships are complex and essential. Life and death in the outdoors are not ethically supercharged issues, but, rather, part of an astonishing, beautiful process. Animals may have feelings, but that doesn't elevate them out of the natural order. Nature is a kind of society, but unlike our own, it is one in which death and killing are not synonymous with murder. Nevertheless, the idea that animals have sensibility should make us think that much harder about what we kill, and why and how we kill it. The hunter's role is to fill the niche left by the eradication or scarcity of traditional predators. The hunter is a manager, a damage control specialist, who harvests food in a traditional and increasingly quaint way, under regulations designed to maintain the balance of nature. Harvesting food is infinitely more humane than manufacturing it. The grouse shot and eaten by a hunter has led a far better life than a chicken raised in a horrid, cramped pen indoors under artificial lights. This is why I can believe that animals have emotions, and also justify taking their lives. And it is also why I wouldn't hold it against Max if he killed a squirrel. And why I wouldn't take that act to mean that the dog has no feelings. Copyright 1997 The New York Times Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:07:46 -0400 >From: "H. Morris" To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" Subject: (US) Vet CLinic for Homeless Animals Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406120739.0070bba0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" April 6, 1997 A Veterinary Clinic Serving the Homeless SEATTLE -- Every second and fourth Saturday dozens of people go to the basement of the Union Gospel Mission to see Dr. Stanley Coe. They carry oddly sagging duffel bags or push grocery carts covered with blankets. They have cats that will not eat unless the owners are next to them and dogs that have chewed hindquarters until no hair remains. The Doney Memorial Pet Clinic, in its 12th year, may be the lone free clinic for pets of homeless and indigent people in the nation. Situated near the original Skid Row, the clinic has served more than 7,200 animals. The legends include one about Irish Jack, who drank himself to death, leaving behind his dog, and another about Joe and his dog Freeway, who died together in a burning abandoned trailer. Coe had to remove one of Freeway's eyes after an accident, and Joe's other dog, Theresa, was hit by a car when Joe was in jail drying out. The nicer stories include one about Kadatha, a shepherd-rottweiler mix who protected his owner, Jeani Coolbaugh, through two and a half years on the street. Another is about Umista and Tyger, pit bulls who keep people from sitting next to Norma Harris. When Ms. Harris took the dogs for vaccinations, she followed Coe's instructions, scratching behind their ears to distract them while he vaccinated them. He laughed when they licked his face. Pet ownership can be an incentive for homeless people to get back on their feet, to provide for their animals, said Coe, a colleague of the late founder of the clinic, Dr. Charles Doney. The people, Coe said, often take better care of their animals than they do of themselves. "It's unconditional love they get from their pet," he added. "It doesn't matter if they're an alcoholic or have a problem with drugs. I'm sure that keeps them going longer than they would otherwise." Many visitors are no longer in touch with their families and spend 24 hours a day with their animals, who become particularly sociable. "That bond between them is really strong," the veterinarian said. Every other week he and helpers deliver eight cartons of donated medical supplies and bags of donated food to the mission, a center for the homeless. The volunteers see up to 70 patients in the two hours they work. Coe refers animals with broken legs or other serious ailments to Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, his regular practice, where he usually renders free treatment. The requests at the clinic can include the unusual. "One lady came in and said, 'Do you see rabbits?' " recalled a volunteer, Don Rolf. "She had a very large backpack on her back and unzipped it. There must've been eight rabbits in there. We looked them over. They were fine." The clinic also sees occasional birds and pot-bellied pigs. The animals have names like Major Pain, BoBoe, Cuddles and Alvin. The dogs wear spiked collars, stars-and-stripes bandanas or, a few years back, hand-knit sweaters made by volunteers from a nearby church. The dogs look like they are chosen for their beseeching eyes. They are not decorative, but edgy guardians who protect their owners on streets where the homeless are frequent victims of violence. Donovan Wright, a man in his 20s with tattered thermal underwear showing through torn jeans, had Eek, a 3-year-old rottweiler-pit bull cross with a sore ear. "She's my best friend and companion," Donovan said. "She won't turn her back on me like, like all the others." Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:12:12 -0400 >From: "H. Morris" To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" Subject: (US) Moose Pop. Plummets Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406121203.0070bba0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" April 1, 1997 Winter Devastates Island's Moose By LES LINE When Dr. Rolf Peterson reported a year ago that the moose population on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior had collapsed from a peak of 2,400 animals in the winter of 1994-95 to 1,200, he did not anticipate that the spectacular crash had barely begun. New surveys show that there are only about 500 moose left on the 210-square-mile wilderness island, the lowest number in 40 years. He said this is good news indeed for a badly overbrowsed forest. "The plants will breathe a sigh of relief," said Peterson, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University in Houghton. "A lot of trees went through this winter without being eaten at all, and we should see a major regrowth of the Isle Royale forest." The park's wolf population continue to build, if slowly. While five wolf deaths occurred over the last 12 months, seven pups survived from last year's litters and there are now 24 wolves in the park. That is double the all-time low in the winter of 1991-92, when there was concern for the survival of an aging wolf population that was producing few young. Every winter, Peterson and his colleagues spend seven weeks on the otherwise uninhabited island, continuing a study of the dynamic relationship between a predator, its primary prey and their environment that was begun in 1958 by Dr. Durward Allen of Purdue University. The 1996 field work was completed on Feb. 29, and Peterson reported at the time that one of the hardest winters on record had left the moose herd severely stressed from a lack of food, three feet of snow, temperatures as low as 43 degrees below zero, and a heavy infestation of blood-engorging winter ticks, which cause hair loss and can weaken even a 900-pound bull moose. "But I never believed a catastrophe would occur," he said. The Isle Royale moose, the scientist said, were dealt another blow by the late arrival of spring, and heavy mortality continued through May and even into June. "The length of winter was costly for calves and older, weaker moose, but it also killed a surprising number of young adults," Peterson said. What saved the survivors was an abundance of balsam fir browse on the east end of the island, he said. Those trees had grown up after wolves reduced the moose herd to 700 to 800 animals in the 1970s, before an outbreak of canine parvovirus in 1981 ravaged the wolf packs and allowed moose numbers to explode. As for the park's wolves, they had to work harder for food during the 1996-97 winter, Peterson said. "There were only a few calves for them to eat," he said. "Some wolves even dug up the carcasses of dead moose and ate their sun-dried hides. I'd never seen that before. But most of them were making a normal living." And it will be the wolves that determine the next events in the long-running Isle Royale wildlife drama, the scientist said. "If the wolves continue to increase," he said, "they will maintain the moose population around this level for the foreseeable future." Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:17:41 -0400 >From: "H. Morris" To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" Subject: (US) Trout Season in NYS Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406121730.0070bba0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" March 31, 1997 Outdoors: Urge to Fish Grows Before Opening Day By NELSON BRYANT The hunger to angle on April 1 affects all ages. Old-timers are wont to stake out a certain pool on a certain stream and to remain there until their legs are numb, after which they retreat to shore to perch on a log or boulder and perhaps enjoy a nip from a pocket flask. Youngsters are prone to scamper from place to place through the leafless shrubbery, all the while calling to each other like newly arrived red-winged blackbirds in quest of nesting sites. Those planning to sally forth Tuesday for this year's opening day of the New York state trout season should encounter better conditions than they did in 1996, when the Northeast was emerging from a ferocious winter. This time around, the winter was relatively mild, but the latter part of February was unusually cold, as was most of March. According to Ed Van Put, a state wildlife technician who lives in Livingston Manor, N.Y., Catskill streams are running a bit below normal for this time of year. This is good news for anglers. The bad news is the cold weather. "It looks fairly good, but it's still winter here," Van Put said a few days ago. "Save for the south slopes, we still have snow at the higher elevations and at the headwaters of the Catskill streams." He noted that there were a few springlike days a couple of weeks ago, but added that some mornings recently the Willowemoc was filled with slushy ice created by the extreme cold -- temperatures at zero or below -- of the evenings before. "Today, even though it was sunny, it never went above 10 degrees," he said. However, Van Put said that he had just come back from a trip to Westchester and Putnam Counties and that such streams as the East and West branches of the Croton River, and the Amawalk, as well, looked great. "Those streams will fish good on opening day," he said. "We did a survey on the Amawalk late last summer, and it was absolutely fantastic," Van Put said. "I've been taking part in that for 20 years, and I've never seen so many fish and so many large ones." Ron Pierce, a state fisheries biologist who is in charge of the Croton and Amawalk water systems, concurs, saying that the Amawalk was in beautiful shape when he visited it a short while ago. He added that partly as a result of the aforementioned survey, the daily creel limit has been altered this year to three trout no less than 12 inches long. Last year it was three fish, minimum length 10 inches. Only flies or lures, no bait, are permitted on the Amawalk. "We haven't stocked the Amawalk since 1992," said Pierce, "so its fish are wild." The preponderance of them are browns. The Amawalk and the Croton River branches are only about 80 miles southeast, as the crow flies, from where Van Put lives hard by the Willowemoc, but they are about 1,000 feet lower in elevation. This results in warmer temperatures and less snow, and their reservoirs absorb spring runoff. The state's Department of Environmental Conservation is saying that the cool, wet summer of 1996 provided good conditions for trout survival, and predicts that there should be more holdover fish for opening day anglers. The department's 1997 spring stocking will include 1.73 million brown trout, 545,000 rainbow trout and 99,000 brook trout. Streams will receive 778,000 of these fish. April 1 has stirred winter-weary anglers for more than a century, even if it sometimes has more to do with socializing than catching trout. According to John Merwin in his "The New American Trout Fishing" (Macmillan, 1994), April 1 in 1882 was opening day of the trout season in New York state, as well as the day the new Fulton Fish Market in lower Manhattan opened for business. Merwin describes how Eugene Blackford, the state's fish commissioner, "opened a grand display of trout at his fish stall on the Beekman Street side of the market that was apparently more appealing on this day than the cold streams of the Long Island trout clubs. There were other guests from as far away as Virginia and Boston; for the socially inclined angler it was an event not to be missed." Merwin writes that there were rows and rows of brook trout on moss and ice from as far away as Quebec and Vermont, as well as brook trout, rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, splake (a cross between a brook trout and lake trout that is still around), and black bass from a New York state hatchery, and rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout from California. Then, as now, there were those who favored the brook trout above all others. One such gentleman came down from Boston to take a look at the rainbow trout, which he had never before seen. After the viewing, according to Merwin, the Boston angler wrote "Forest and Stream," observing, in part: "I felt the need to observe the rainbow's beauties I have beheld them. I don't want to see any more. The great, coarse, black, ugly beasts!" He added, "I wouldn't eat one of those fever-flushed things unless starved." One suspects that the Bostonian would have reacted similarly to the brown trout, but that European species had not yet been introduced to North America. It came the following year via a shipment of German brown trout eggs from Lucius von Behr of Berlin that arrived in New York Harbor in February. The brown is a sagacious critter, so its arrival did much to hone the skill of American fly fishers. Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:19:47 -0400 >From: "H. Morris" To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" Subject: Evil Dupont/Good Babbitt Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406121936.0070bba0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" April 4, 1997 U.S. Says No in Advance of Mining Plan By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr. FOLKSTON, Ga. -- Standing at the Okefenokee swamp, an alligator lounging behind him, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt took an unequivocal public stand Thursday against the Du Pont Co.'s plans to strip mine along the eastern ridge bordering this wildlife refuge. Babbitt rejected in advance any and all arguments that plans by the company to mine titanium ore would not harm the 395,000-acre Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge wetland, with its rare wildlife, forests of pine and cyprus trees, and swamps covered with grasses and lilypads as far as the eye can see. "You can study this, you can write all the documents in the world," Babbitt said, "but they are not going to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there will be no impact." "These studies can't possibly yield a conclusion which will be satisfactory to me," he said. "It isn't going to happen." Babbitt said the proposed operation posed unacceptable risks to the water flows, as well as the wildlife and vegetation of the wetland wilderness at the headwaters of the Suwanee River and the St. Mary's River on Georgia's southern border. The land Du Pont wants to mine for titanium dioxide, a whitening pigment used in paper and other products, is a nearly imperceptible ridge running down the entire eastern flank of the refuge. Indeed, Babbitt called it the natural levee that holds the swamp itself in place. "It is apparent on the face of it that this refuge and this mining project are not compatible," he said while on a tour of the area. Without waiting for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. to apply for the required state and federal permits, Babbitt came here to state his rejection of the project that in any case would be years from fruition. This highly unusual public effort by a senior Clinton administration figure caught Du Pont off guard. "We are surprised that the secretary has taken a position before all the facts are known," said Jon Samborski, director of environmental affairs for the mining project. "We would not be proposing to do this unless we were confident that we can operate the project and protect Okefenokee at the same time." Du Pont figures the cost of building the project at about $150 million and has been working closely with the wildlife service. The giant chemical company has not yet applied for the required state and federal permits for mining on the 38,000 acres it owns or leases here for a project that would not begin for several years. While it was unusual for Babbitt to try to abort a development project at such an early stage, it was the latest example of the administration trying to hinder development just outside the boundaries of national parks, refuges and other sensitive public lands. Last year, the government blocked a gold mine just outside Yellowstone National Park. In the Okefenokee swamp, the DuPont Co. would need to sift the ore from the sandy soil. First it would clearcut sections of trees and peel off a foot-thick layer of topsoil, then build mile-square impoundments and begin to dig. The company would float dredging barges on the brackish water that builds up in these pools to suck up the mucky sand, carving ponds to depths of 50 feet. A floating mill would separate the valuable minerals from the sand, and the unwanted materials would be used to fill in the wounds. After replacing the topsoil, the company would plant new pine seedlings and the operation would move to the next square in the grid, a creeping progression that would last for 50 years. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists said that they were worried that these changes could alter the little-understood water balances, and they warned that even slight changes could cause major effects in the finely balanced ecology of this wetland that is recognized worldwide as a significant biological resource. John Kasbohm, an ecologist at the refuge, said the mining "threatens the very character of the swamp." "If you change the hydrology, you change everything," he said. "The stakes are real high, the risks are real high. This mining operation is a very risky business." The company would have to get permits from the Army Corps of Engineers before dredging and filling wetlands, and the Environmental Protection Agency can veto decisions by the Army Corps, although this power is rarely used. Babbitt's agency, the interior department, which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service and the refuge system, is consulted in these decisions but does not make the major decisions. An environmental impact study would probably be conducted in the deliberations on the permits, and Interior's scientists would play a crucial role in that process. But Babbitt plainly has made up his mind already, and his view was only reinforced in a helicopter tour of the region, including a look at a similar mine in Florida. He urged Du Pont to "do the people of Georgia and the people of the United States who care about God's creation a favor, by simply withdrawing the proposal once and for all." He said that the titanium is readily available elsewhere, that the few dozen jobs involved are dwarfed by the economic importance of the refuge as a tourist attraction, and that logging timber is an acceptable way to develop the property without risking damage to the swamp. But he said he was not contemplating any compensation for Du Pont, like trading other land or paying it not to mine. In contrast, when the administration blocked the gold mine near Yellowstone it agreed to pay Crown Butte, the American subsidiary of the Canadian conglomerate Noranda, $60 million in other mineral rights on public lands. Environmental groups welcomed Babbitt's stand, which they said was surprisingly strong. "You couldn't pick a worse place to put a mine," said Josh Marks, a conservation organizer for the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club. Steve and Jo Knight, a husband and wife who last year bought a junkyard near the refuge and turned it into a campground, said that they were dismayed by the project, which they thought would put their investment at risk. "It could kill the tourism on this side of the swamp," Knight said after Babbitt spoke to a crowd at the refuge, where 400,000 people visit every year. Other Places of Interest on the Web National Wildlife Refuge , from the Great Outdoors Recreation Pages http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_nwr/ga_okefe.htm U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory http://www.nwi.fws.gov/ Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States , from the http://www.nwi.fws.gov/classman.html U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov/ Safety, Health and Environment , from the http://www.dupont.com/corp/gbl-company/she/ DuPont Site http://www.dupont.com/ Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:22:30 -0400 >From: "H. Morris" To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" Subject: (US) NJ Bears Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970406122223.0070bba0@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Interesting article including info about upcioming hunt. NJARA--who can we write about this? Pls post to ar-views. Hillary April 3, 1997 N.J. Column: Like Showers, Bears Appear Each April By EVELYN NIEVES WEST MILFORD, N.J. -- Winter blew in for half a day, and life here tumbled back about a hundred years. The 2 feet of snow on Route 23 kept the kids home from school, toppled trees over the power lines and turned the fireplace into the hub of the household. This is not something people get used to, even when it happens time and time again. Jeanne Rennalls has lived here 19 years, long enough to know the woods behind her house as well as her kitchen cupboard, and she still gets that helpless feeling when the power is out. Snowbound from her job as a nursery school teacher, she could think of one good thing about having April begin like December: the bears have gone back into the deepest forest, where they belong. "It's just better for everybody," she said with a touch of resignation. "No problems that way." Well, the bears may be snowed in like everybody else, but they'll be out and about soon enough. And bears are something people here just cannot get used to, even though they're old neighbors, going back 10 years at least. This is the black bear mecca of the metropolitan region, and April is bear time. Big, beautiful bear tracks grace the snow-capped woods, just off Route 23. The talk is turning to bear sightings, nuisance bears and not-so-neighborly debates about "the bear problem." The problem, for some, is that bears are thriving. About 450 bears live in wooded towns in northwest New Jersey. This from fewer than 30 bears 20 years ago. The 450 or so bears, in a state with 8 million people, have come to be seen as too many bears. There are people, from farmers with vulnerable sheep to mothers with vulnerable children, who cannot stand the bears, want them dead sooner than later and will even kill them themselves if they get the OK, which could happen. There are also people who live deep in the woods who feed the bears, against the wishes of their neighbors, against the advice of the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and against the law, imposed in West Milford three years ago, that makes feeding bears punishable by fines of up to $1,000. Ms. Rennalls is an active member of a school of thought that holds that the bears cause problems only if people let them. Behind the house where she and her husband and 11-year-old daughter live, bears traipse back and forth on their evening strolls. She says nothing bad has come of it. "We'll see two or three a night," she said. "It's not a problem because we've been very careful with our garbage and our recycling. I have an electric fence that I can plug in. If the bears get too close, they'll get a rude little shock." In 19 years, she said, she has had her garbage toppled by bears just four times. "I've always taken the attitude that if you don't like what's here when you move here, don't move here," she said. "We have rattlesnakes and coyotes. People complain about them, too." Every complaint about the bears gives the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife ammunition for a plan it will pitch later this year to start a limited bear hunt. (The division, which receives $12 million of its $15 million annual budget from hunting and fishing fees, has received one complaint already this year, from a farmer who lost two sheep.) Mostly, people gripe about bears getting into trash cans. Ms. Rennalls regularly visits neighbors who complain. She offers advice: Keep garbage inside. Use boat horns to scare the bears away. Never, ever feed them. She has had limited success. After she visited Abby Hunt, a school bus driver who lives with her husband and two children in a suburbanlike development with no woods around, Ms. Hunt remained convinced that the bears should be shot. "Most people I know feel the same way," she said. No bear has ever attacked a human being in New Jersey, and throughout North America, bears have killed 38 people since 1900, most of those long ago. But you never know, Ms. Hunt said. "Jeanne Rennalls said I should put up an electronic fence," she added. "Well, that to me is like putting my children in prison. I don't feel I should have to do that." (Her small lot already has a fence around it; Ms. Hunt said enough is enough.) "I've had to use a boat horn and sit on the porch and shoo bears away while my children played outside," she said. Ms. Hunt is already anticipating the letters she'll write, urging a hunt. "I haven't seen any yet," she said, "but I have a feeling this is going to be a bad year for bears." Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 13:24:50 -0400 >From: Shirley McGreal To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Safari Club forms links to zoos Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19970406172450.008963c8@awod.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The Safari Club International is an organization dedicated to the well-being of trophy hunters. The Club got itself a black eye in 1978 when it applied to import trophies of hundreds of animals belonging to endangered species, including gorillas and orangutans, to the United States. Since then its P.R. has improved! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This comes from the April 1997 issue of the Communique - the American Zoo Association newletter. Safari Club Initiative Roy Stroup, Education Coordinator for Safari Club International (SCI) has extended an invitation to the education curator/director at each AZA [American Zoo Association] institution to form a joint venture with SCI to educate the visually impaired by utilizing taxidermied wild game. These displays would be located at each participating zoological park and arranged in an educational setting to allow the blind and visually impaired to explore the animals by touching, feeling, smelling, etc. All items are described in both large print and Braille directories. In November SCI opened its first permanent "Sensory Safari" at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired. The Greater Baton Rouge Zoo has been involved with "Sensory Safari" since its debut and Director Paul Price strongly recommends the program to other AZA institutions. You can reach Ray Stroup at 520-620-1220 x 223. For more information call SCI Director of Development Jerry Niselson at 520-620-1220 x 276. END OF STORY Please keep an eye on your local zoo and see if it goes to bed with the trophy hunters. Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman International Primate Protection League, POB 766 Summerville SC 29484 USA Phone: 803-871-2280 Fax: 803-871-7988 E-mail ippl@sc.net and ippl@awod.com Web page (revised January 1997): http://www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/ Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 14:01:17 -0400 >From: Shirley McGreal To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: National Geographic Tiger Special Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19970406180117.009a1f08@awod.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Does anyone have any further information about the project shown on last night's National Geographic TV special on the Siberian tiger shown in the USA on prime time television? I'd appreciate others' opinions by personal e-mail or on AR-Views. The introduction showed a US national darting a Siberian tiger. The scientists nearly killed one of the 300 remaining Siberian tigers by OD-ing the animal with tranquillizer, and then "rescued" the animal by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. They tormented other hapless animals with helicopter chases, always presented as "dangerous" to the humans with the copters almost crashing or almost running out of gas as they got ever closer to the tigers to dart and radio collar them to acquire information allegedly or genuinely crucial to the species' survival. Among the scenes: Tigers on their backs with dazed eyes, a moribund captive-born cub dying (a pair of tigers was enclosed in Siberia in the hope they will breed to produce tigers to be released into the disappearing wild), the surviving tiger cub exported to a US zoo, a captive tiger running down a rabbit released into his enclosure. And so on. A few minutes, if that, of natural wild tigers behaving like wild tigers. Interspersed throughout were commercials for Exxon, of Valdez oil spill fame. Exxon the killer of sea otters and ocean birds was polishing its corporate image as the tigers' best friend in alliance with the National Geographic Society. Exxon has links with the US Fish and Wildlife Foundation. An 800 number was shown (can someone please post this?) for more information. It was something like 1-800 then a number (5?) I didn't catch, followed by T-I-G-E-R-S. An 888 number was provided for the Hornocker Foundation which has worked with mountain lions in Idaho and is now active in Siberia. There was NO mention of the fine work done by Siberia's anti-poaching patrols, EIA, the Investigative Network, or the Tiger Trust. Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman International Primate Protection League, POB 766 Summerville SC 29484 USA Phone: 803-871-2280 Fax: 803-871-7988 E-mail ippl@sc.net and ippl@awod.com Web page (revised January 1997): http://www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/ Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 14:01:59 -0400 (EDT) >From: BHGazette@aol.com To: AR-NEWS@envirolink.org Subject: Re: Sears Boycott called Message-ID: <970406140158_182638887@emout05.mail.aol.com> In a message dated 97-04-06 09:47:55 EDT, vrc@tiac.net (Vegetarian Resource Center) writes: << Sears has decided to become the dream come true for the puppy mill industry in Raliegh, N.C. >> According to info I received a month or so ago, Sears has responded to protests and will not longer sell live animals. JD Jackson Bunny Huggers' Gazette Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 13:13:41 -0700 >From: Andrew Gach To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Human cloning Message-ID: <334803F5.1556@worldnet.att.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The sheep that shocked the world boggles the human mind The Associated Press WASHINGTON (Apr 6, 1997 2:13 p.m. EDT) -- "The human imagination runs riot," declared the Church of Scotland when word came of what one of its countrymen had wrought. "We have got toask the question, 'What if?"' And indeed, in the weeks since scientist Ian Wilmut cloned the sheep that shocked the world, the question has been asked everywhere: What if someone clones a person? Wilmut's cloning achievement makes philosophers of everyone. A clone: a person with a DNA gene donor rather than parents. A person made to order. Replicated rather than conceived. Carried by a woman who is more delivery vehicle than mother. Not a son or a daughter, but an identical twin to someone older. A parent who is the twin of its child. The mind boggles. In the hand-wringing that followed the sheep named Dolly, a consensus has emerged: Human cloning will one day be achievable, and what can be done will be done. Though not necessarily soon. Mankind will not stand still for much failed experimentation involving spoiled human embryos or fetuses. Wilmut had 227 misses before he brought Dolly into being. Cloning is one of those drumbeat-of-history events that challenges mankind's understanding of the nature of nature. Such events seem to occur every generation -- Sputnik in the 1950s (with its promise that man could leave the confines of Earth) or in vitro fertilization in the 1970s (test tube babies, made without sexual contact). As with IVF births, Americans at first blush seemed appalled at the notion of cloning a human. In polls, the common theme was that people should not "play God." Even Wilmut agreed: "Similar experiments with humans would be totally unacceptable." Dr. Ward Cassells, chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Medical School, thinks this squeamishness is needless and short-lived. "Three or four years from now some couple is going to have the courage and persistence to be the first to do this," Cassells said in an interview. "They'll have a beautiful little baby and the critics will be quiet." He cites a practical purpose: using the genes of a child suffering from incurable leukemia to clone a child who would than provide lifesaving bone marrow to his older twin. "Would it be immoral to save the life of a 2-year-old baby?" he asks. Others, of course, see far more heinous, far less selfless purposes. They envision cloning to create a master race or a slave class. Cloning to duplicate celebrities. Cloning to provide organs for an ill person to "harvest." Cloning as an egomaniac's way to ensure his own immortality. Or cloning to create an unbeatable basketball team? Michael Jordan emerged as a front-running favorite in cloning speculation. But would a Jordan clone play as well? His brawn could be cloned. But his brain with its billions of accumulated memories can't be duplicated. And his brain has a lot to do with his basketball prowess. Jordan clones could turn out to be more adept at playing the piano. Or one might play chess, another Shakespeare, another the market, another gin rummy. Policy researcher Jessica Matthews explains that humans are the result of genes and environment -- nature and nurture -- and of the "constant interplay between them." "A cloned sheep proves that it will probably soon be possible to make a genetically identical copy of a person, but that is not remotely the same thing as making another you or another me," she wrote in a post-Dolly essay. Once human cloning starts, the ancient nature vs. nurture debate will get an injection of evidence. But just as it is already clear that the personhoods of lookalike twins differ, a person's clone, born in a different womb and into a different world perhaps decades after his gene donor, would differ even more in psychology and personality. For one thing, genes takes a beating going through life, and that damage could make the clone a different person. Unlike the Frankenstein monster in Mary Shelley's famous novel, a cloned person enters life as a baby, not fully grown. So if the cloning of Michael Jordan were to start today, he'd be well into middle age before seeing his clone take his first dribble. The biology of it all aside, the ethical issues that cloning raises are unsettling and unending. Opinions range from the prohibitive to the permissive. From a Roman Catholic theologian, the Rev. Albert Moraczewski, who calls human cloning "an affront to human dignity," to a philosophy professor, Jeffrey Reiman of American University, who says, "I don't think it is any different than having a baby the old-fashioned way." Reiman is untroubled by the prospect of cloning to "harvest" medical parts, or by parents cloning to create a mirror image of themselves ("Well, sometimes people treat children who aren't identical as extensions of themselves"), but draws a line at cloning to create a slave class. "That starts to have nasty implications," he said. "Not that it creates a moral problem; we already know what to think about slavery." And, into this ethical stew, medical anthropologist Lesley Sharp of New York's Barnard College, throws a new angle. She says cloning must be looked at from the clone's viewpoint. "Would you want to be a clone?" she asks. Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 13:26:24 -0700 >From: Andrew Gach To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: The Animals of the Homeless Message-ID: <334806F0.1FAE@worldnet.att.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit April 6, 1997 - New York Times Online A Veterinary Clinic Serving the Homeless SEATTLE -- Every second and fourth Saturday dozens of people go to the basement of the Union Gospel Mission to see Dr. Stanley Coe. They carry oddly sagging duffel bags or push grocery carts covered with blankets. They have cats that will not eat unless the owners are next to them and dogs that have chewed hindquarters until no hair remains. The Doney Memorial Pet Clinic, in its 12th year, may be the lone free clinic for pets of homeless and indigent people in the nation. Situated near the original Skid Row, the clinic has served more than 7,200 animals. The legends include one about Irish Jack, who drank himself to death, leaving behind his dog, and another about Joe and his dog Freeway, who died together in a burning abandoned trailer. Coe had to remove one of Freeway's eyes after an accident, and Joe's other dog, Theresa, was hit by a car when Joe was in jail drying out. The nicer stories include one about Kadatha, a shepherd-rottweiler mix who protected his owner, Jeani Coolbaugh, through two and a half years on the street. Another is about Umista and Tyger, pit bulls who keep people from sitting next to Norma Harris. When Ms. Harris took the dogs for vaccinations, she followed Coe's instructions, scratching behind their ears to distract them while he vaccinated them. He laughed when they licked his face. Pet ownership can be an incentive for homeless people to get back on their feet, to provide for their animals, said Coe, a colleague of the late founder of the clinic, Dr. Charles Doney. The people, Coe said, often take better care of their animals than they do of themselves. "It's unconditional love they get from their pet," he added. "It doesn't matter if they're an alcoholic or have a problem with drugs. I'm sure that keeps them going longer than they would otherwise." Many visitors are no longer in touch with their families and spend 24 hours a day with their animals, who become particularly sociable. "That bond between them is really strong," the veterinarian said. Every other week he and helpers deliver eight cartons of donated medical supplies and bags of donated food to the mission, a center for the homeless. The volunteers see up to 70 patients in the two hours they work. Coe refers animals with broken legs or other serious ailments to Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, his regular practice, where he usually renders free treatment. The requests at the clinic can include the unusual. "One lady came in and said, 'Do you see rabbits?' " recalled a volunteer, Don Rolf. "She had a very large backpack on her back and unzipped it. There must've been eight rabbits in there. We looked them over. They were fine." The clinic also sees occasional birds and pot-bellied pigs. The animals have names like Major Pain, BoBoe, Cuddles and Alvin. The dogs wear spiked collars, stars-and-stripes bandanas or, a few years back, hand-knit sweaters made by volunteers from a nearby church. The dogs look like they are chosen for their beseeching eyes. They are not decorative, but edgy guardians who protect their owners on streets where the homeless are frequent victims of violence. Donovan Wright, a man in his 20s with tattered thermal underwear showing through torn jeans, had Eek, a 3-year-old rottweiler-pit bull cross with a sore ear. "She's my best friend and companion," Donovan said. "She won't turn her back on me like, like all the others." Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 15:31:10 -0700 >From: Aldina A Cornett <"cornett@mctc.com"@cei.net> To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: proctor & gamble Message-ID: <199704062027.PAA19434@mail.cei.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am writing a paper on Proctor & Gamble for school. I was wondering if you had any statistics on last years animal death due to testing. I was also curious if P&G test their products other than on animals. Thank you Aldina Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 14:12:44 -0700 >From: Andrew Gach To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Police roughs up AIDS activists for anti-drug-company demonstration Message-ID: <334811CC.3D0E@worldnet.att.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit AIDS GROUPS DENOUNCES BRUTAL POLICE RIOT By Shelley Ettinger New York At a March 29 news conference, members of ACT UP denounced New York police officers for beating, kicking and punching AIDS activists at a Wall Street demonstration five days earlier. According to ACT UP members and other witnesses, police brutalized people who were protesting drug-company profiteering at the headquarters of finance capital March 24. While they pummeled the protesters--including people with AIDS--cops screamed anti-gay and AIDS-phobic epithets and threatened to kill them. Cops threw people to the ground. They dragged people by the hair. They banged their heads on the pavement. They arrested 73 activists. One man says he struggled to breathe as officers held his face smashed against the seat in a police van. Cops knelt on his back and held him down with a nightstick as the van was driven to the precinct station. There, cops strip-searched women and men. HOLDING MAYOR RESPONSIBLE Bill Thorne of ACT UP/Golden Gate has been an activist for 15 years. He had come from San Francisco to mark ACT UP's 10th anniversary--and ended up in the hospital after police beat him bloody. He told reporters he still doesn't know the extent of his injuries. Thorne said police attacked him from behind and pinned him to the ground. "They slammed my head over and over on the pavement. Then they scraped my head on the asphalt--a piece of which stayed embedded in my head for several days. "They kicked me and punched me repeatedly." Cops slammed Thea Mateu, a Puerto Rican lesbian, onto the ground. Then, she said, one stood with his foot on her neck, screaming: "I'm going to break your f-----g neck! I'm going to kill you!" Longtime ACT UP member Eric Sawyer commented: "The responsibility for the violent behavior of police officers lies squarely at the feet of the mayor. ... As [he has] with many communities in our city, the mayor [Rudolph Giuliani] has made a political decision to use the police to teach us the lesson to keep quiet, not to object to certain policies and to stay in our place. However ... we must confront the drug company profiteers at the root of this treatment-access crisis, and we cannot let the mayor stand in our way." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. Web: http://workers.org) Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 14:20:06 -0700 >From: Andrew Gach To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Patenting life forms Message-ID: <33481386.176F@worldnet.att.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit THE NEWSPAPER FOR THE PEOPLE OF WASHINGTON STATE * * * * * MORNING EDITION * * * * * EDITOR: John DiNardo From the free airwaves of The People's Pacifica Radio Network station: WBAI-FM (99.5) 505 Eighth Ave., 19th Fl. New York, NY 10018 (212) 279-0707 Part 5, CLONING For The New Global Slave State ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANDREW KIMBRELL [author of "The Human Body Shop: The Engineering and Marketing of Life"]: One thing that I did want to mention -- and I describe this in the book, and I think that it's terribly important for people who just have not heard this yet -- is that researchers in corporations ARE patenting life forms. One of the cases I describe in the book is a really shocking case where Grenada BioSciences in Texas actually has attempted, in Europe, to patent a WOMAN who would be genetically engineered to produce valuable pharmaceuticals in her mammary glands. I was absolutely in DISBELIEF when I heard this, but, as I documented in the book, I had spoken with their attorneys and documented the fact that this was actually the intent of the company. Our own U.S. Government researchers at the National Institutes of Health are trying to patent BRAIN genes in the hope of actually owning the patent that might be responsible for intelligence. Now, you and I know that they're never going to find these purported genes responsible for behaviors, but these scientists are doing a genetic land grab to try and get all of this. For anyone who is interested in animal [rights] issues, they've got to keep up with biotechnology because, as I describe in the book, they are cloning larger mammals. I describe a truly horrific experiment in England where cloning led to the creation of some really horrifying cows. They are currently under study. And I recently learned that at Texas A.& M. University they are cloning cows that produce the perfect marble steak. They're actually making Xerox copies of the animal kingdom. In other words, they're treating virtually all of life, at this point, as if it was genetic information -- as if it was machines. ROBERT KNIGHT: Andrew, the policies that are being made now, the very quiet decisions about patent ownership, the chilling stories about milking women .... there is legislation, there are business protocols being formed on the use of materials that are found in the pristine territories such as in the rain forests, the jungles, and so on. In fact, just recently, that issue was advocated or lobbied by members of the Clinton Administration. Was it not? ANDREW KIMBRELL: That's right. This is such a key point. Just as we saw the first stage of colonialism where the First World went into the Third World in order to get their resources, be it tin or rubber. They went in to try to get those inanimate minerals (e.g. ore, fossil fuels) from the Third World. Now, we're seeing a new wave of GENETIC colonialism wherein First World corporations and governments are going into the rain forests, going into the Third World in order to expropriate their resources. In October, my organization [The Foundation on Economic Trends, of Washington, D.C., phone: (202)466-2823] is working with the Third World Network. We're going to have worldwide demonstrations and a legal action against W.R. Grace Corporation and other corporations which have gone into India. They`ve taken the neme[sp] tree. Now, many of your listeners may know that the neme is sort of a magic tree in India. They use it as a natural pesticide. They use its bark as a dentifrice. That's why their teeth are in such an extraordinary condition. They use it for a number of cures for diseases, including cancer. Well, First World corporations have heard about this. They've gone into India and other places, got the neme tree and they've patented it. There are twelve patents by W.R. Grace Corporation and others on various aspects of the neme tree. And now, W.R. Grace is planning to build a factory in India where they are going to use the neme tree and, no doubt, exhaust much of the resources of the neme tree that are being used by the indigenous peoples there -- by the local communities there. ROBERT KNIGHT: Andy, we are just about out of time. Please take a minute or so to give us a sense of why this issue is important -- why one must be on the forefront of it, as you are. ANDREW KIMBRELL: I think that, as we've been saying, the genetic revolution is going to transform virtually every aspect of our lives. We are going to see genetically-engineered foods in our supermarkets. We are going to see reproductive technology, surrogate motherhood, using a variety of reproductive techniques whereby they're doing terrible things to women's bodies. We are going to be seeing genetic engineering used in warfare. We are going to be seeing it used in industry. We are going to be seeing it used as a whole new wave of colonialism against the Third World. These battles are in place right now. They will be controlling our lives and the lives of our fellow creatures. They will be controlling the lives of many of the indigenous Third World peoples around the World. It's TERRIBLY important to be informed. And I will add that very few broadcast stations give the truth about this technology. Very few show its risks as well as its benefits. WBAI is one of those rare stations, and that's why many of us, including myself, here in Washington, are so grateful that WBAI exists. ROBERT KNIGHT: And we're grateful for your work. Thank you, Andrew Kimbrell, author of "The Human Body Shop: The Engineering and Marketing of Life". One of the points that we've talked about, Michio, is that there were four environmental organizations. But, on this issue of First and Third World patenting, and on issues like using women for body fluids, and so on, even THEY got fooled. I mention that to point out that even the best of minds can be confused. It's a whole new issue, and we're trying to reveal it here. MICHIO KAKU: Remember. Ignore this new technology at your own peril! You might be like an ostrich, sticking your head in the sand, only to find this gigantic freight train called biotechnology headed your way. Just think of it: sixty-six laboratories within the United States investigating designer germ warfare -- twenty-four human genes that have been inserted into animals, creating all sorts of grotesque forms of life -- forty accidents that have taken place at the Fort Detrick Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, right outside of Washington, D.C. -- and the possibility of SUPER AIDS. I mean, that is chilling; an airborne ... get that, an airborne super AIDS virus that may be accidentally created, as the entire genome of the AIDS virus is injected into mice for the very first time. ROBERT KNIGHT: Women being milked, as if victims trapped in the spider web of technology, for their body fluids. PEOPLE being patented! Animals being patented. Tomatoes that bounce. All of these things are taking place, and that can happen only because we do not understand the technology. But we're changing that. That's why we're here -- so that you can change that. ~~ TO BE CONTINUED ~~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 20:07:01 -0400 >From: Wyandotte Animal Group To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Phone tapping Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970407000701.2f671d3a@mail.heritage.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Has anyone had their phone tapped before? I am looking for ways to be able to check if a phone has a tap on it. Are there any ways to determine this? With the recent mink release in Canada having a local connection to me in which several activists apparently had phone books on them when they were caught, it would not surprise me the FBI is reaching for as much as possible. So far, my phone constantly clicks while I am on it, once I picked up the phone to make a call and swear I heard someone talking on it, and have received a few calls from "interested people" wondering what my group is all about and how they can get more involved. Usually people call our answering machine for that kinda stuff, not my home number. Of course I have nothing to hide from the police since I know nothing of the recent raid, it's just eerie and aggrivating thinking of the possibilities they are doing. Any tips appreciated. Thanks. Jason Alley Wyandotte Animal Group wag@heritage.com Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 22:23:29 EDT >From: chris.p.carrot@juno.com (Christophe P Carotte) To: BHGazette@aol.com Cc: AR-NEWS@envirolink.org Subject: Sears Circus boycott called. Message-ID: <19970406.212245.4799.4.chris.p.carrot@juno.com> No one is free when others are oppressed . . Animal liberation is human liberation. STOP THE EXECUTION OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL! The death penalty is genocide. On Sun, 6 Apr 1997 14:01:59 -0400 (EDT) BHGazette@aol.com writes: >In a message dated 97-04-06 09:47:55 EDT, vrc@tiac.net (Vegetarian >Resource >Center) writes: > ><< Sears has decided to become the dream come true for the puppy mill >industry > in Raliegh, N.C. >> > >According to info I received a month or so ago, Sears has responded to >protests and will not longer sell live animals. >JD Jackson >Bunny Huggers' Gazette However, Sears still supports the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus ;^) Other major Ringling supporters include Visa, Frookies, McDonald's & First Card. C.P. Carrot Veggies & Animals Coalition
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