How Close
Does "First Strike" Come To "Bite Back"?
How Close
Does "HSUS" Come To "PETA"?
How Close
Does
Come To
?
The very name of this publication is intended to prep pre-teens to identify with the terrorist Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which has long used the phrase "bite back" as a rallying cry for violent crime. ALF members and supporters also maintain an entire organization called "Bite Back." Here's how the group describes itself: "Formed in 2002 too [sic] feed an animal rights movement hungry for ALF advocacy, Bite Back is all volunteer [sic], grassroots organization..."
There's Bite Back magazine, the most recent issue of which includes an interview with PETA President Ingrid Newkirk and an article penned by convicted ALF arsonist and PETA grantee Rodney Coronado. Coronado dubbed his own early-1990's arson spree "Operation Bite Back."
A graphic on Bite Back's website parodies the MasterCard commercials, flashing: "gloves $4; balaclava $8; boltcutters $24; liberation, priceless." That rhetoric echoes Rodney Coronado's words as he demonstrated how to build an incendiary device before about 300 young people at American University this January:
Here's a little model I'm going to show you here. I didn't have any incense, but -- this is a crude incendiary device. It is a simple plastic jug, which you fill with gasoline and oil. You put in a sponge, which is soaked also in flammable liquid -- I couldn't find an incense stick, but this represents that. You put the incense stick in here, light it, place it -- underneath the 'weapon of mass destruction,' light the incense stick -- sandalwood works nice -- and you destroy the profits that are brought about through animal and earth abuse. That's about -- two dollars.
Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, has contacted Wisconsin's Consumer Protection Legal Division and asked it to examine the legality of an ad campaign run by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that casts doubt on the health benefits of milk. Suder said he might ask Attorney General Peggy Lautenschlager to investigate the organization's practices in the near future.
As part of the campaign, PETA sent a letter to Gov. Jim Doyle asking him to permanently change the official state beverage from milk to beer. The group claims humans who consume cows' milk support an industry that treats animals poorly and are more susceptible to a wide range of health problems.
"They've crossed the line this time," Suder said. "They state in their letter that milk causes breast cancer, osteoporosis and a whole host of other diseases."
It is these claims, Suder says, that are potentially in violation of Wisconsin's false advertising laws, which prohibit any person or organization from making claims in the media that contain untrue or deceptive messages.
Suder said the PETA argument bases itself on quack medical science that has linked milk to everything from heart disease to acne.
"Beer in moderation is good for you, while even one glass of milk supports animal abuse and harms your health," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA director of vegan outreach, in a release. Friedrich sent Doyle the letter.
PETA's "Got Beer?" campaign first started in 2000, when it advertised the health benefits of beer as greater than those of milk. The advertisement initially enraged the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving for promoting the use of alcohol. As part of the campaign, PETA distributed bottle openers and drink cozies on college campuses.
The campaign continued to draw criticism from a broadening range of groups, and PETA ceased its efforts before reintroducing the ad campaign with new information from Harvard studies showing negative impacts of dairy consumption.
"They're on college campuses, and they don't just pick out students who are of legal drinking age. I'm not certain that it's necessarily illegal, but that type of behavior is definitely suspect," Suder said.
PETA member Andrew Butler organized a "Got Beer?" event April 24 at Madison's Angelic Brewing Company. According to Angelic manager Steve Keviel, around 30 people attended and were photographed by Butler with beer mustaches in exchange for a beer and a bowl of vegetarian chili, all put on PETA's tab. PETA's reason for increased presence in Madison was threefold, according to regional officials: the city is the capital of Wisconsin, which calls itself "America's Dairyland;" is home to one of the largest dairy-science departments of any university; and has often been ranked as one of the hardest-partying college towns.
Suder said he felt the group has a history of absurd claims. PETA had suggested in the past to former Gov. Tommy Thompson that milk be ousted as official state beverage because certain minority populations are usually more lactose-intolerant and therefore making a dairy drink the state's beverage was racist.
"I consider the group to be fringe. I usually ignore PETA because I think they're a bunch of idiots," Suder said.
Suder said he could not ignore the current situation, which he called an assault on Wisconsin's farm families.
Source: http://www.badgerherald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/29/3eade4aecee89
U-WIRE-04/30/2003-U. Kansas: Legislation to peck out cockfighting in Kansas ©
2002 University Daily Kansan Via U-WIRE By Aaron Showalter & Mandalee Meisner, University Daily Kansan (U.
Kansas) LAWRENCE, Kan. -- This time last year, Wayne Woody spent 10 hours a day
caring for his 200 roosters. Now, only empty pens greet him in the morning on
his property outside of Baldwin City, Kansas. Last summer, Woody, a 1954 graduate of the University of Kansas, gave away
all of his chickens because he knew that impending laws would soon make his
hobby -- breeding roosters for fighting -- pointless. "Up until last year, the Legislature didn't see anything wrong with it,"
Woody said. "It's not just about chickens. People got to stop and figure out
they're taking our freedoms away." Next month, a federal law will take effect that prohibits the transport of
roosters across state lines for the purposes of fighting. Although animal rights
activists scored a major victory with the new anti-cockfighting legislation,
breeders like Woody see it as a loss of a long-standing and cherished rural
pastime. Cockfighting has been illegal in Kansas since 1976, but some breeders skirted
the law by merely raising roosters in the state and taking them elsewhere -- to
Oklahoma, for example, where cockfighting is still legal in some counties. A federal bill passed in May 2002 prohibits breeders from carrying roosters
across state or international lines for the purposes of fighting, however,
making it virtually impossible for breeders in Kansas to sell their prized
birds. The law gave breeders one year to make arrangements for their fighting
chickens, because on May 13, transporting, buying or selling fighting roosters
will become punishable by up to $15,000 and a year in jail. Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Humane
Society of the United States, hopes this federal law will eliminate cockfighting
altogether -- but he's not convinced that will happen. Pacelle instigated the
interstate legislation in 1999. "Illegal cockfighting is far more common than most people realize," Pacelle
said. "There's a group of people who are devoted enthusiasts of this
blood-sport, and you can find them by going into many counties in Kansas." Pacelle wants to see the sport gone. He said it represented the very
definition of animal cruelty. "These individuals place healthy birds in a pit to hack each other to death
for mere human amusement," Pacelle said. "This is an activity that cannot be
justified." Woody said most breeders didn't see cockfighting as inhumane. His roosters
receive better treatment than those farmed for food. He points out that each
rooster has its own separate pen and is hand-fed and watered each day. Whereas
most farm chickens are slaughtered at eight weeks, successful fighting roosters
can live for years. "Our chickens are the healthiest in the world," Woody said. "I took better
care of my roosters than my wife." Woody's father took him to his first cockfight at age 12 in a time when "they
fought chickens everywhere in the state of Kansas," and he fell in love right
away. In 1959, he started breeding his own roosters after receiving a family of
chickens as a gift. Although he never profited from his hobby, other breeders and businesses that
support the industry may feel ripples of financial hardship from the new
legislation. Howard Knisley, who raises milo, wheat and roosters on his farm outside of
Derby, Kan., says his income will take a hit this year. Knisley usually ships
his roosters to the Philippines and Guam, two major markets for U.S. fighting
roosters. The sale of chickens generates millions of dollars in Kansas and billions
nationwide for breeders, Knisley said. Woody and Knisley have both cut back the amount of grain they purchase to
feed the roosters significantly. Woody said a feed provider in Bonner Springs,
Kan., no longer had the business of those who have quit the game fowl practice.
While Knisley usually buys $10,000 worth of grain a year, this year he spent
only $1,500. "I've been very hurt over this whole situation," Knisley said. "It'll hurt
everybody 'cause the farmer can't sell his grain, and we can't sell our
chickens." Pacelle disagreed, calling cockfighting an isolated industry with very little
spill over into communities, and says he has no pity for "criminals" who may
lose money from their now-worthless game fowl. "Drug dealers lose economic activity when they're not allowed to sell crack.
Dog owners lose money when they're not allowed to sell fighting pit bulls,"
Pacelle said. "So be it." Nonetheless, breeders like Woody see it as an unconstitutional infringement
on the rights of rural citizens. "It just seems like it's just another case of urban people with money messing
with the business of us rural folks," he said. "I've always loved rooster
fighting, and I still do. "I love the roosters. They're magnificent, they really are." Source: http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR200305013600.14_0935001b75ced9a8
H.R.1532 Source: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.01532: S.736 Source: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.00736:
.........Pacelle instigated the interstate
legislation in 1999..........
How Many
Individuals And How Many Millions Of Dollars Would It Take To Stop The
Erosion Of Individual Rights At The Hands Of "Legislative
Terrorism"?
Title: To amend the Animal Welfare Act
to strengthen enforcement of provisions relating to animal fighting, and for
other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] (introduced
4/1/2003) Cosponsors: 5
Latest Major
Action: 4/1/2003 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House
Committee on Agriculture.
Title: A bill to amend the Animal Welfare
Act to strengthen enforcement of provisions relating to animal fighting, and for
other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Ensign, John E. [NV] (introduced
3/27/2003) Cosponsors: 11
Latest
Major Action: 3/27/2003 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry.
JAMES FREEMAN
A THORNY issue that has divided animal rights activists and anglers for years may have finally been answered after scientists said they had proof fish could feel pain.................
The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist over a caustic dissent by liberal justices, applies to foreigners who are "permanent residents," often known as green-card holders, and who have been convicted of a crime that can lead to deportation. Those crimes include most felonies, and gun and drug violations. (Related audio: USA TODAY's Joan Biskupic: Decision could have wide-ranging effects.)
After they are freed from prison, green-card holders can be taken into custody immediately while U.S. immigration officials decide whether to deport them. Under the 1996 federal law upheld Tuesday, such immigrants can be detained without a hearing to assess whether they are dangerous or are a flight risk.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-29-scotus-immigrants_x.htm