A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue #
05/13/01
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ The Milk of Humane Kindness? by
Park StRanger@aol.com
2 ~ The WTO and the New Global Realities by
Dr. Steven Best
3 ~ Animal Rights 2001 Program Schedule Up!
4 ~ They Are Not Our Property
5 ~ New Anti-Puppymill Education
6 ~ Veggie Burgers
7 ~ Judaism & Vegetarianism
8 ~ Jamaican Cows by Malini Patel
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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The Milk of Humane Kindness?
Mother's
Day and the Cow Connection
by Park StRanger@aol.com
We celebrate Mother's Day today, but it's also
the day of the National Veal Ban Campaign, which is coordinated each year by
FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement), a nonprofit group which works to expose the
harmful effects of factory farming on human health, the environment, and animal
well-being. FARM chose Mother's Day as the day for this event because the
cow is a symbol of motherhood around the world. And yet we treat
this animal with incredible cruelty.
National Veal Ban Campaign Director David Pryor has explained that the gross
violation of the sacred bond between bovine mother and child led to scheduling
the national protest on Mother's Day. David has said "We hope that
Americans will honor their mothers on this day by refusing to eat veal."
You are concerned about animal welfare and animal rights or you wouldn't be
reading this newsletter. You wouldn't consider eating veal. You
know how it is made. You know how the baby calves are taken away from
their mothers soon after their birth and placed in small crates and fed a
liquid milk substitute lacking in iron to make them anemic so their flesh is
white and preferred by the compassionless gourmands of the world.
You know how they are chained by the neck to prevent movement, so that they
can't turn around, or even lie down, so that their muscles can't develop, so
that their flesh stays tender.
You know how these poor animals are fed large amounts of antibiotics to combat
the filthy, diseased conditions they are raised in. You know how the
residues of these antibiotics are passed on to humans making them less immune
to infections.
You know how these calves never see the sun, never walk in the fields, never
graze in the meadows, never even suckle at their mothers' breasts. You
know how these babies are slaughtered after sixteen weeks of torment.
What you probably don't realize is that veal is a by-product of the dairy
industry, and that by using dairy products you support the veal industry.
To make dairy cows produce milk, they are made pregnant once a year for the
five short years of their lives. Cows can live beyond twenty years of age
but their production of milk decreases, so most are turned into hamburger after
five years. The female calves are raised as milk producers to replace
those overworked five year olds, most of the males become beef
and veal.
For twenty years I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian, and I only faced the fact that
I was still part of the cycle of cruelty four years ago. I regret that I
didn't see the light much earlier. You know the facts, please go vegan
this Mother's Day. Write us for assistance, we want to help you help the
animals.
Milk, it Does No Body
Good.
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The WTO and the New Global
Realities
by Dr. Steven Best - sbest1@elp.rr.com
“If Americans wish to repair their own decayed democracy, they must
also make themselves into large-minded citizens of the world.”
~~ William Greider
With the recent, turbulent events in Quebec City surrounding the Free Trade
Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), it is clear that the New World Order,
currently under the “leadership” of a blatantly pro-corporate U.S. president,
is aggressively advancing. The FTAA would be the most comprehensive “free
trade” agreement ever developed. It is an extension of NAFTA (North American
Free Trade Agreement) to most of the Western hemisphere, from Alaska to
Argentina, as it cobbles together aspects of other world trade institutions and
treaties.
The various acronyms of the New World Order –- NAFTA, FTAA, GATT (General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), IMF (International Monetary Fund), WTO (World
Trade Organization), and so on, spell one basic thing: corporate domination on
a global scale. They mean the end of national sovereignty, the erosion of
social services, species extinction, attacks on workers, war against indigenous
peoples, the unleashing of genetic engineering and agribusiness, biopiracy (the
theft of genetic stock), and the
rape of nature.
The New World Order of global capitalism involves trade without geographical
boundaries or ecological and moral considerations that are rejected as unfair
“restrictions” on “free trade.” The reorganization of capitalism signals a
shift of power from national to international structures. Since it is difficult
enough to influence local or national governments, it becomes all the more
challenging to control what transpires behind the closed doors of multinational
corporate bodies.
The Gospel of Globalism is presented to us in positive terms of modernization,
liberalization, and enhanced prosperity and democracy for all. In fact, in
these turbulent waters where all boats are supposed to float, ever more people
are starting to drown. The new global trade treaties are a Trojan horse for
greater centralization of markets on behalf of the dominant world powers, and
therefore exacerbate every existing social and environmental problem.
Organizations such as the WTO and treaties like FTAA are viruses for
deregulation, privatization, and marketization of all social infrastructures
and relationships.
In their wake, the New World Order has brought fewer jobs and more poverty,
environmental ruin, and animal exploitation. It is common knowledge that in the
last few decades the gap between the rich and poor both nationally and
internationally has been widening. By the 1990s, the richest one percent of
Americans owned twice as much as the poorest 80 percent; the 3 richest people
in the U.S. have more money than the combined GNP of the 48 least developed
countries.
The “Battle of Seattle” in December 1999 was a turning point in oppositional
politics. It demonstrated a heightened awareness that the intricate global
trade treaties being fashioned are not abstract or irrelevant to our lives, but
rather are having a huge impact on people, animals, and the earth. It reflected a new consciousness that as
capitalism globalizes, so too must the struggles against it. Activists understand,
moreover, that these resistances can no longer be separated. U.S. workers, for
example, can best protect their own wages by helping foreign workers raise
their own living standards, and labor and environmental causes must be
interlinked, as “teamsters” and “turtles” share a common enemy.
And so 50,000 activists from around the world, representing dozens of different
causes, largely mobilized through the Internet, took to the streets in Seattle,
and effectively disrupted the proceedings aimed at greater world dominance.
Such anti-globalization struggles have been repeated in Washington, Prague, and
Quebec. Everywhere the New World Order tries to solidify its control over life
on this planet, activists are uniting against it. Against media misrepresentations, the new militancy is not
anti-trade (the jobs of many workers depend on global trade); rather it rejects
“free trade” (the freedom of the rich to further exploit the poor) in favor of
fair trade.
The backbone of the New World Order is the WTO, which grew out of GATT trade
agreements in a 1948 compact among 23 nations. Currently, the WTO has 135
member nations and is responsible for over 90 percent of world trade. Its goals
and responsibilities are to remove all barriers to global markets, to arbitrate
trade disputes, and to create new international power structures dominated by
the strongest nations. Trade disputes are discussed in Geneva, behind closed
doors, by a panel of 3-5 people stacked with pro-corporate representatives. If
they overrule a country’s law, the offending nation must either change the law,
or suffer stiff fines and trade sanctions.
In most cases, criticisms against the WTO concern its impact on jobs and the
environment, and one rarely hears or reads about its toll on animals. Yet many animal protection groups consider
the WTO to be the single most dangerous threat to animals. A few examples
illustrate why this fear is justified.
Sea Turtles: The shrimp fishing industry catches sea turtles in their
treacherous nets where they drown, and pushes them to the brink of extinction.
New nets were devised that allowed the turtles to escape if entangled, and the
U.S. refused to import shrimp from any country not using “turtle exclusion
devices.” But upon complaints from 4 Asian nations in 1996, a WTO dispute panel
found this policy in violation of free trade rules, and so the US was forced to
accept imports of shrimp from countries using turtle-killing nets.
“Dolphin-Safe” Tuna: As tuna swim near dolphins, they are caught by
encircling dolphins. The U.S. banned the sale of tuna snared by chasing and
killing dolphins, and established a “dolphin-safe” tuna label. Mexico
challenged this law as an unfair trade barrier, and the U.S. agreed to changes
in the labeling law that allowed tuna caught by killing dolphins to be
fraudulently labeled as “dolphin-free.”
Steel-Jaw Trap Ban: Lest one think the U.S. government is the “good
guy,” it too has challenged trade laws it found to its economic
disadvantage. In fact, the U.S.
initiated almost half of the 117 WTO challenges issued between 1995 and 2000.
In 1995, for example, the EU passed legislation against the vicious steel-leg
hold trap and banned the import of fur from nations that used them. The U.S.
protested this to the WTO in 1997, and the WTO forced the EU to weaken and
delay implementation of the ban.
Dozens of progressive laws concerning workers’ safety, public health, the
environment, and animal welfare have been struck down in this way, rejected as
barriers to free trade. The U.S. Clean Air Act was challenged by the WTO, as
was the EU ban on hormones in beef. Not only are old laws being dismantled, new
laws are not being shaped from fear they won't withstand a WTO challenge. The
WTO willfully discounts the process or means of production of a “commodity,”
and so from the “free trade” standpoint, it is irrelevant whether an animal was
raised on a family or factory farm, whether it was killed “humanely” or was
skinned or dismembered while aware and alive. In the New World Order, no
country can justify a ban on animal imports on the grounds that they were
raised and/or killed in conditions of extreme cruelty. The WTO is concerned
strictly with products, not processes, with economic issues, not ethical
considerations.
The multinationals have declared war on the planet, and we must fight back and
resist. Citizens must understand the new global realities and create
appropriately new political maps and tactics. Activists must struggle on
numerous fronts and form strategic alliances as often as possible, including
across national borders. The humane treatment of people and animals must remain
fundamental rights, and not be redefined as “barriers to trade.”
With Seattle, a new worldwide social movement has arisen, one that has
demonstrated global corporate power is contestable and vulnerable.
Globalization is irreversible; the question is what form will it take?
Globalization from above, or below? Free trade or fair trade? Will it satisfy
the needs of life or of profit? Only through new modes of education and
organization can people exercise power against globalization from above and
preserve what little is left of human rights, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
Steve Best is Associate Professor of Philosophy and
Humanities at the University of Texas, El Paso. He is Vice-President of the
Vegetarian Society of El Paso, a long time vegan and animal rights activist,
and author of numerous books and articles in the areas of social theory,
postmodernism, and cultural studies. Some of his writings are posted at http://utminers.utep.edu/best/
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Animal Rights 2001 Program Schedule Up!
Deadline Tuesday
from FARM - farm@farmusa.org
We
are pleased to announce that the tentative program schedule for the Animal
Rights 2001 20th anniversary national conference is now available at
http://www.animalrights2001.org/schedule.html
Tentative assignments will be sent to speakers
next week and the final program with speaker assignments should be available by
the end of this month. The conference will be held on June 30 - July 4 at the
McLean Hilton just outside the nation's capital.
Please remember that the postmark deadline for reduced registration rate of
$140 is Tuesday, May 15. (The deadline for current fabulous hotel rates is May
31.) You can register with a credit card on-line at
http://www.animalrights2001.org/registration.html
or
by phone (1-888-FARM-USA). You can also mail a completed registration form from
the web site with a check (to AR2001, 10101 Ashburton Lane, Bethesda, MD
20817). For more details, contact
register@animalrights2001.org.
In reviewing the program schedule, note that the daytime sessions are arranged
along four tracks: Issues, Organizing, Remedies, and 'Raps' or Campaign
Reports. Each time slot contains a sequential session from each of the tracks,
listed in the order above. For example, if you are fairly new to the movement,
you would want to catch the Newcomer Orientation, then the first session in
each time slot (to learn about the issues) or the second (to learn how to
become more effective). Exhibits and videos will be running concurrently,
providing a total of six choices at any one time. The plenary sessions
run consecutively, with no competing events scheduled. Audio tapes of each
session (except for the Raps and Campaign Reports) are available for purchase
shortly after the session.
This conference marks the beginning of the new millennium and the 20th
anniversary of our movement. DON'T MISS THIS HISTORIC OCCASION!
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They Are Not Our Property
Source: Gretchen Hersman, IDA Alerts Coordinator
If
you have not already done so, please join IDA's "They Are Not Our
Property, We Are Not Their Owners" campaign. You can begin by using the
word "guardian" in place of "owner" when referring to
companion animals. If "owner" must be used, put the word in quotation
marks to indicate a negative connotation.
Taking this step will help promote a greater responsibility to and a deeper
respect for the animals with whom we share our planet. For more information,
please visit: http://www.idausa.org
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New Anti-Puppymill Education
from foa@igc.org
Friends
of Animals has added a new feature to its Web site that will help educate
people who are thinking of buying a puppy from a pet store.
www.friendsofanimals.org/puppies.htm describes the deceptive tactics pet stores
are now using to dupe customers into believing that pet store puppies no longer
come from puppy mills. It discusses puppy mills, health problems, and pet
store "guarantees" and directs people to consumer protection
agencies. There is a complaint form for people who purchased a puppy in a
Maryland pet store to fill out and return to FoA (this is an extension of our
Just Puppies campaign). It also directs people to adoption
and rescue links.
Bill Dollinger
Washington DC Director
Friends of Animals
2000 P Street NW Ste 415
Washington, DC 20036
phone: 202-296-2172
fax: 202-296-2190
e-mail: foa@igc.org
web site: http://www.friendsofanimals.org
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Veggie Burgers
from - Bruce Friedrich - BruceF@PETA-Online.org
PeTA
is compiling a list of veggie burgers at chain restaurants in North America.
Please let me know at
Denny's -- Boca Burger, vegan (menu says it's not, but it is)
Johnny Rockets -- Boca Burger, vegan
Bennigan's -- Boca Burger, vegan
Ruby Tuesday's -- vegan
TGI Friday's -- not vegan
Chili's -- black bean burger -- maybe vegan (conflicting info)
Burger King's of Canada -- vegan
Subway -- Veggie Patty for their Subs, not Vegan
Blimpie's -- array of faux meat sandwiches, none vegan
A&W -- veggie burger, not vegan (??)
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"Judaism & Vegetarianism"
Book Challenges Jew's Diets
INTERNATIONAL VEGETARIAN UNION
from the IVU ONLINE NEWS - Number 29 - April 2001
http://www.ivu.org/news
An
updated and thoroughly revised edition of "Judaism and Vegetarianism"
by Professor Richard H, Schwartz [IVU Supporter] has just been published by
Lantern Books [ also an IVU Supporter - http://www.lanternbooks.com ].
Previous editions of this book have been called a "classic" and the
"Bible of the Jewish vegetarian movement," since it is the most
comprehensive coverage of the topic in print.
Written from a very positive Jewish perspective, Dr. Schwartz's book challenges
Jews (and others who take religious teachings seriously) to live up to the
highest values and mandates of their religion by shifting toward a vegetarian
diet. Using an abundance of recent statistics, he argues that such a shift is a
societal imperative because the production and consumption of animal products
contributes significantly to global climate change; many environmental threats,
including the destruction of tropical rainforests; scarcities of water, energy,
and other resources; widespread hunger; and the very cruel treatment and
slaughter of almost ten billion animals annually in the U.S. alone. Paul
Peabody asserted in Fellowship magazine that "it would be hard for anyone
ethically sensitive - Jew or non-Jew - to read
this book and not take up the vegetarian cause."
To make Judaism and Vegetarianism as useful as possible, it also contains
biographies of famous Jewish vegetarians, discussions of Jewish vegetarian
groups and their activities in the U.S., Israel, and England, over 60 questions
and answers, an annotated bibliography, nutritional suggestions, action ideas
for promoting vegetarianism, and a detailed index.
The book is endorsed by Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of
Haifa, Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, and other prominent
Jews and non-Jews, including John Robbins and Howard Lyman.
Richard Schwartz has been researching the topic of vegetarianism from a Jewish
perspective, and writing and speaking about his findings, for over 20 years. He
is an acknowledged expert in this field and in 1988 he was chosen as the
"Jewish Vegetarian of the Year" by the Jewish Vegetarians of North
America. He has over 100 articles on connections between Judaism and
vegetarianism on the Internet at http://schwartz.enviroweb.org. Among these are
articles connecting vegetarianism to each of the Jewish festivals, questions
and answers on all aspects of the topic, and challenging articles, such as
"What Diet Does God Prefer for People?"
For further information about the book and/or the campaign being built around
it to get vegetarianism onto the Jewish and other agendas, contact Professor
Schwartz at rschw12345@aol.com
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Jamaican Cows
by Malini Patel
Oh blessed sweet cows
What have you done
to deserve such agony
Roasting in the hot sun.
You are tied to a post
with little to drink
alone with your sorrow
It's unbearable to think.
What a God-awful feeling
No shade in sight
Only mean, barbaric people
and no will left to fight.
For your destiny is empty
Little chance for peace.
Love, comfort, contentment
is unknown to you.
You deserve so much more
All the pain you've endured
I want you to know...
Your silent cries are heard.
There's little I can do
to change your now life
But I will fight for your justice
to end this cruel strife.
Copyright © 2000 by Malini Patel. All Rights Reserved
May be used in unchanged form by avowed Animal Rightists if
accompanied by this copyright message.
Animal Rights Counterculture
http://www.animalsong.org
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Quote To Remember
"All the arguments to
prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact:
In suffering, the animals are our
equals."
~ Professor Peter
Singer,
from the book 'Animal
Liberation'
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
&
Advisory Board Member, Animal Rights Network Inc.,
not-for-profit publisher of The Animals' Agenda Magazine
http://www.animalsagenda.org/
The Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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