"BAMBI LOVES HUNTING ACCIDENTS"
......the life of a deer is as important as the life of a person......
 
.........Coalition for Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, Humane Alternatives, Watchung Wildlife, Humane South Orange, Win Animal Rights and the Mercer County Deer Alliance.........
 
 
 
Slaughter' of deer spurs Hillsboro rally
By GREG MARANO Staff Writer
 
Published in the Courier News on January 9, 2005

HILLSBOROUGH -- Jenn Kaplan believes that the life of a deer is as important as the life of a person. The Jersey City resident, a law student at Rutgers-Newark who describes herself as a vegan -- a strict vegetarian who also does not eat dairy products -- was one of about a dozen protesters representing several animal-rights groups standing roadside in Saturday's rain to denounce hunting on the Duke estate.

Administrators of the estate, which is privately operated, announced in November that the grounds would be opened to hunters as a means of culling the deer population. The number of deer on the 2,700-acre property has grown to an estimated 1,200 to 1,300.

"We think when people are fool enough to shoot deer ... if they happen to be injured in the process, they deserve what they get," said Kaplan, holding up a sign: "BAMBI LOVES HUNTING ACCIDENTS."

"They've authorized a slaughter of deer on her (Doris Duke's) estate, which is against her express wishes," said Janet Piszar, who lives in Millburn and is an officer with the Coalition For Animals and a member of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance.

Before she died in 1993, Doris Duke, heiress to the prodigious tobacco fortune left by her father, James Buchanan Duke, directed that her estate be used to support various programs, including agricultural studies and wildlife preservation.

Duke officials have said the deer hunt is necessary to maintain a healthy ecological balance on the grounds.

"Ms. Duke was a true fan and an avid supporter of all animals, but she would not have wanted to see some animals sacrificed, some wildlife sacrificed for others," Duke Farms spokeswoman Karen Kessler said late last year. "If it means we have to take certain steps to restore the balance of nature on Duke Farms, we believe Ms. Duke would have supported that."

Bird species and some small mammal species have suffered because of the estate's deer population, Kessler said. She said the deer eat some basic plants faster than the plants can replenish themselves, throwing off the ecological balance.

By fall 2004, Kessler said late last year, Duke Farms had spent $500,000 trying to control the deer population through methods such as contraception and containment.

But protesters questioned those claims Saturday.

Animal-rights activists said they contacted the state and found that Duke Farms officials never received a state permit to study immunocontraceptive methods.

Susan Dyckman, another Duke Farms spokeswoman, said last week that Duke Farms didn't obtain a permit but that the contractor hired to conduct the hunt did.

"I feel like people are looking for an excuse to hunt the deer," said Sharon Valencik of Lake Hiawatha. Holding a sign, "TRUSTEES LIED," Valencik said much of the problem with deer population lies with development that encroaches on the land where the deer live. She said she's opposed to hunting in general, and especially in this case because the deer are in an enclosed area.

Emily Fabiano of Bound Brook said she has enjoyed touring the Duke estate but was protesting Saturday because she believes the deer hunt is tarnishing the wildlife situation on its grounds.

"One of the joys of coming is the natural beauty, and by hunting they're destroying the natural beauty," Fabiano said.

Val Larson of Princeton, a member of the Mercer County Deer Alliance, conceded that she doesn't know all the details about the reasons put forward for the hunt but said it amounts to nothing less than slaughter.

"It's the trustees, evidently, that are not adhering to Doris Duke's will," Larson said.

Organizations that had representatives at the protest included the Coalition for Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, Humane Alternatives, Watchung Wildlife, Humane South Orange, Win Animal Rights and the Mercer County Deer Alliance.

"I'll do anything for the animals," said Greg Novara of Westbury, N.Y. A member of the New York-based Win Animal Rights, Novara used a bullhorn to address drivers passing by on Route 206 and those who were using the jughandle near the estate's entrance.

"I think we owe it to Doris Duke to be out here," Novara said.

-Greg Marano can be reached at (908) 707-3148 or gmarano@c-n.com. ON THE WEB: To read Doris Duke's will, visit www.courttv.com/people/wills/duke.html.

from the Courier News website www.c-n.com

 
Source: http://www.c-n.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,1169766,00.html
 
 
 
WASHINGTON – JANUARY 2005

There isn’t much for rural people and natural resource users to be happy about today. The Endangered Species Act continues to expand. Federal powers over fish and wildlife and plants continues to expand and State governments are less and less relevant. Property owners from ranchers and farmers to rural retirees and small communities continue to see their way of life erode around them. The Animal Welfare Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Wilderness Act all complement the Endangered Species Act and with it eliminate property rights; exterminate the management of natural resources; and steadily shut down the uses of natural resources, the uses of domestic animals, the use of public lands, and traditions from hunting and fishing to ranching and logging.

Recent scandals in government have gone unpunished and, as expected, then spawned other abuses of the public trust. Five years ago the General Accounting Office (the auditors for Congress) determined that the US Fish and Wildlife Service had stolen (the synonym most often used was “diverted”) $45 Million to $60 Million in two years in the mid 1990’s to do things Congress would not approve (wolf introduction in Yellowstone and opening a new California office) and to pay themselves bonuses. The money was stolen from the annual collection of excise taxes on hunting and fishing paraphernalia that is, by law, only for State fish and wildlife restoration by State fish and wildlife agencies. The wolves were never removed (ask anyone in the western Sates), the California office was staffed by the child of a powerful politician so it remains today, the money was never repaid (as Sates would have had to do if they misspent the funds), AND no one ever even missed their bonuses much less were admonished, disciplined, fined, charged, or fired. The State fish and wildlife agencies never even demanded that the money be repaid though they are continually crying that they need money while hunting and fishing are being decimated (thereby forcing down license revenue) by Endangered Species and other Federal programs.

Congress did limit Federal access to the funds after the scandal by making the funds available for Federal “administration” very specific but alas, even that is now in the crosshairs of those we think of as allies and protectors. Last year, the States’ lobby group and Federal bureaucrats and representatives of hunting and fishing item manufacturers subject to the excise taxes (over $½ Billion per year) tried unsuccessfully to increase the “administration” funds kept in Washington where they would be used by themselves instead of the State fish and wildlife agencies intended by Congress and the law. Thanks to alert and honest Congressional staff, the covert attempt to change the law was frustrated. At the same time however, professional lobbying by archery manufacturers got the tax removed from many bows and certain arrows. Similarly the fishing tackle manufacturers got the tax on tackle boxes reduced dramatically. Together these two actions resulted in the loss to State fish and wildlife agencies of many millions of dollars annually. Again there was no outcry or even token opposition.

Only recently the IRS, ATF, and US Customs have become aware of and are moving to correct the fact that the gun, fishing tackle, and archery manufacturers have together been underpaying their annual taxes by over $70 Million per year. The lone US Fish and Wildlife Service employee that uncovered this and has worked to get it corrected was recently forced to retire with no fanfare or recognition from either the US Fish and Wildlife Service or the State fish and wildlife agencies. It remains to be seen if anyone is able to or allowed to continue this important work.

The upcoming session of Congress will see a concerted but covert lobby campaign to either remove or reduce the excise tax on more hunting and fishing equipment AND to increase the excise taxes kept in Washington for “administration.” These funds will be used by Federal bureaucrats, the State lobby group, and “national” conservation groups instead of going to State fish and wildlife agencies for fish and wildlife restoration as stated in the law.

I have written of these things to the point of being called a “bore” by those that benefit from the chicanery. The national conservation organizations staffs jump to agencies and agency staffs jump to lobby groups and lobby groups jump to agencies and conservation groups. The result is an unholy alliance of Federal and State bureaucrats with lobbyists, national conservation groups, and something even more ominous. Some “national conservation” groups (Trout Unlimited and Rocky mountain Elk) are openly calling for “partnerships” with organizations like the Sierra Club which then opens up the future path to merger with all the Sierra Club “partners” who are the environmental and animal rights radicals behind 75% or more of all the problems we face today.

Consider these things. 1.)Unprecedented power flowing to the Federal government from former State Constitutional rights and individual freedoms. 2.) UN CONVENTIONS like CITES that are the legal basis for an Endangered Species Act that subverts our historical freedoms and way of life by becoming THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND. 3.) Laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Animal Welfare Act, and the Wilderness Act steadily increasing Federal power and changing the power and shape of our central government and our way of life. 4,) A Federal bureaucracy that has perverted State agencies and State governments by the power they wield and the funds they control. 5.) A business/conservation/government “complex” far worse and more corrupt than the military/industrial complex President Eisenhower once warned us of. 6.) A Federal bureaucracy that, like similar bureaucracies down through history becomes more remote and harmful as it becomes richer and more powerful. But wait, (as they say in the knife ads on TV) what of the future?

There is a small bright spot and two very ominous clouds on the horizon.

First, the good news. The reelection of the President and the control of both the US House and Senate by his party have led to a cacophony of calls and plans for “reform”. Social Security and the tax code are most often heard but listen close and you can hear the environmentalists and their animal rights’ cousins squawking in the papers and in the news about “stripping” and “weakening” these Acts that cry out for reform. This means that they think they can make some money from contributions (probably right) AND that they think there is a small chance that some politicians might just be doing more than posturing about “reform” of these environmental (Halloween-movie) laws. Time will tell but make no mistake that if we let this opportunity slip by, it may never come again until it is too late.

Second, the bad news. The UN Department for Disarmament is holding international meetings several every few months. Their main Vision Statement on their website states: “Our department seeks to promote global norms of disarmament”. One of their stated objectives regarding weapons of mass destruction “along with excess stocks and illicit transfers of conventional arms” is “We believe that the global dangers posed by such weapons cannot be eliminated by the actions of any one country. We are convinced that the UN is the place to forge multilateral approaches to alleviate such threats. We also believe this effort requires a focal point within the UN system to integrate these activities and to meet the expectations of Member States.” Although they carefully avoid the mention of the words “Convention” or “Treaty” they are clearly tending in that direction. The UN Disarmament Commission’s own small arms working group reports that the UN should “Develop legally binding international instruments regulating tracing, marking, and brokering of Small Arms and Light Weapons expeditiously. The present negotiations should be pursued with expediency.” Make no mistake, “legally binding international instruments” are a Convention or Treaty. Such documents, just like CITES, will supercede the US Constitution and do what CITES did to property rights and States rights. That is to say it will do away with the 2nd Amendment just like property rights and States rights were diminished by CITES. The “right to keep and bear arms” will become another excuse for Federal growth and an anomaly to succeeding generations. A major UN Conference in 2006 is described as, “• This meeting, coming five years after the groundbreaking 2001 UN Conference on Small Arms, will be a critical point for assessing progress by governments, regional organisations and the international system, in implementing steps outlined in the UN Programme of Action.” Signing anything at such a Conference must be done very carefully and with knowledge of how the effort to “save species in peril” turned into the Endangered species debacle of today.

The other cloud on the horizon is Invasive Species Federal legislative proposals and the parallel effort to involve the UN and obtain a Convention for Invasive Species (a synonym for Native Ecosystems) programs. Like UN gun control and CITES, the impact in the US will be to turn our government into an even stronger central government and make property ownership and States rights disappear. I have written at length about the costs and fallacies of the entire Invasive Species fairy tale and how it will, even more than Endangered Species be a vehicle for a never-ending, incredible tax eating Federal program that will enhance bureaucracies and central government power and nothing else. Over the years, UN personnel pop up in Washington at Federal and private Invasive Species hearings and meetings. They are quiet but friendly with the federal bureaucrats pushing the Invasive Species agenda for the environmentalists and animal rights radicals that hope to piggy-back their agenda on such a program. Note the following announcement:
n SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCEMENT --

Top-Down, Bottom-Up Growth of a
Global Invasive Species Information Network
n American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting
(17-21 February 2005)

Symposium Synopsis:
The transport, translocation and introduction of invasive alien species are globally recognized threats to biosecurity. Early detection, prevention and management of invasive alien species and their impacts on the environment present great diplomatic challenges. Meeting these goals will require international cooperation in developing a comprehensive knowledge base and technology that makes that knowledge available to individuals addressing the issue at national, regional, and global levels. The development of a Global Invasive Species Information Network, or GISIN, was proposed at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held at The Hague in April of 2002. Important first steps towards implementing such a global information system involve international collaboration and sharing of ideas among contributors and users of the proposed information system; identification and agreement on common data types; adoption of information.

At the risk of being accused of being a black helicopter observer, I think we should be aware that the UN involvement in the Invasive Species drive for Federal power in the US is ominous.

Put them all together and what do you have?
-Endangered Species, to reform or not to reform?
-Marine Mammal Protection, Animal Welfare, and Wilderness Acts growing and establishing precedents for further growth.
-Washington complexes of groups perceived as protectors but in fact quite the opposite.
-An uncontrolled (uncontrollable?) Federal bureaucracy that oppresses rather than serves the American public and our environment.
-A hunting and fishing financial support system that, along with the States’ jurisdiction over fish and wildlife is crumbling before our eyes.
-UN progress on proposing new conventions that will take our right to bear arms and any remaining State responsibility for the natural environment and things like hunting and fishing and seal it away in Washington bureaucratic coffers to be used only for Federal agency funding requests and to write endless new regulations.

So if anybody tells you things are looking up or getting better, tell them. “baloney.” We have more challenges ahead of us than ever and the opportunities, other than the chance for Endangered Species reforms over the next year, are far fewer than the dangers that are all around us.

Jim Beers
8 January 2005

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Jim Beers is available for consulting or to speak. Contact:
JimBeers7@earthlink.net
 
 
 
 
 
 
If anyone knows Judith Crosson (the author of the following article) or someone at the Reuters News Service (the parent evidently of the international “Planet Ark” from which this article was published), please forward this to them since there is no means of contacting them on their website. Thank you. Jim Beers

MYTHS & LIES


Once-Hated Grey Wolf Thrives in the US Rockies

USA: January 7, 2005
DENVER - As the grey wolf hovered on the brink of extinction a decade ago, US officials embarked on a controversial plan to open the vast refuge of Yellowstone National Park to the pack-based predators in the hopes of rebuilding the species.

<snip>
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just How Many AR Coerced Laws Are Like This?
 

Police chief admits officers won't know if hunts are breaking the law
By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor
(Filed: 09/01/2005)

A police chief has admitted that his officers will struggle to identify an illegal fox hunt when the Government's ban comes into force next month.

Nigel Yeo, the assistant chief constable of Sussex Police, expressed his concerns about enforcing the ban on hunting with hounds in a letter to Alastair Jackson, the director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association.

Mr Yeo is spokesman on public order for the Association of Chief Police Officers and responsible for providing guidance on implementing the Hunting Act. He points out in his letter that because drag hunting will still be legal, as will using hounds to flush out a fox towards a gun, it will be difficult to tell when the law is actually being broken.

"You will be aware that one of the recommendations for people who intend to continue country pursuits is that they stop fox hunting once it becomes banned on 18 February and convert to drag hunting or hunting of the 'clean boot' as it is referred to," Mr Yeo wrote.

"In preparing the guidance for the police service as I am bound to do, I would greatly welcome your assistance in any guidance I can give to police officers on how to identify the difference between these and fox hunting."

Mr Jackson replied: "With respect, I would consider it almost impossible for anyone to know if a pack of hounds was hunting a fox or a drag. I do not envy you your job."

Mr Jackson added that from February 18 his organisation would no longer have "disciplinary powers" and "hunts will not be regulated".

With 250 hunts preparing a mass outing on the day of the ban's implementation, police have approached dozens of hunt members for information. As The Sunday Telegraph revealed last month, some have been offered payments to act as informants.

Under the legislation, hunts will be able to meet legally by re-classifying themselves as drag hunts or "hound exercise clubs". They will not be able to use a pack to chase and kill an animal. Huntsmen will, however, be able to use two hounds to flush a fox towards a gun. They could also use the excuse that a fox was caught accidentally by hounds running out of control. Much confusion is expected to result from the fact that this will look little different from traditional hunting.

It is also unclear whether the ban will be introduced on the date expected. A "secret deal" between Downing Street and the Countryside Alliance, under which the Government will not oppose an application for a delaying injunction against the Hunting Act, has led many to believe that the sport has been granted a reprieve.

Constitutional lawyers say they know of no case where a similar order - to suspend an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament - has been granted.

Some hunt supporters are angry at the delay, believing that it will assist the Government by defusing the issue in the run-up to the general election, expected in May.

The Countryside Alliance will seek the injunction, which could delay the ban until September, if its first challenge to the legality of the Bill falls, as expected. The challenge to the 1949 Parliament Act will begin in the High Court on January 24. A decision is expected within a week or two.

If the High Court rejects the case, the Countryside Alliance will go to the Court of Appeal and seek an injunction from the High Court to suspend the operation of the Hunting Act until the case finishes.

At the same time, a human rights challenge to the ban will be launched. This will go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, via the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. If an injunction has been granted pending the Parliament Act case, the Alliance would apply to the High Court for another, pending the human rights case, which it says could last three years.

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said that Mr Yeo's letter showed that legislation to ban hunting was flawed and "practically unenforceable". "How on earth is a village bobby going to be able to tell if a hunt is acting legally or illegally," he said.

Source: http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/09/nhunt09.xml
 
Cockfighting: Favorite pastime of Filipinos
By Edwin G. Espejo

BY THE roar of the crowd alone, you will already know which cock won the fight even from a distance. Each powerful slash by the underdog cock on the verge of victory will be met with deafening approvals from bettors who had defied the odds.

In less than twenty-five seconds, the fight will be over and folded crisp P1,000 and P500 bills will be thrown into the direction of 'kristos' and bettors.

So go these scenes at the cockpit arena. Where the high and the mighty nonchalantly rub elbows with the peons and trike drivers. Where the time-honored tradition of honesty and art of gentlemanship will never be lost as long as Filipinos continue to indulge in the game that provides a thousand thrill a minute.

Cockfighting in the Philippines dates back to the country's pre-historic era. When the Spanish colonizers arrived in the Philippines, they noted that cockfighting were already popular in the islands.

In fact, some historians believe that the modern cock had its origins in Asia where the red jungle fowls (labuyo) are found.

In an article posted in the website www.sabong.net.ph, the authors theorize that it might have been the Filipinos who actually invented the sports of cockfighting - just as the Spaniards are known to have invented the art of bullfighting.

Other accounts say cocks have been beating the lights out of each other some 2,000 B.C. in India. This game of feathered gladiators pecking and hacking each other to death found its way into the coliseums of the Roman Empire where Julius Caesar was said to have endorsed the sports. Eventually, it reached the shores of the Americas where some of the fiercest and durable fighting cocks are now found.

According to accounts, millions of Filipinos are now into cockfighting and that at least 12 million fighting cocks are raised either in the backyards or cockfarms all over the country.

Today, it is not only a pastime. Raising cocks could be a good business activity too.

Last Friday, I went to the New Alkor Gallera in Koronadal City where a 5-cock derby was on its second day of the elimination round.

There were 94 entries in all. The guaranteed prize is P1.2 million. When I arrived at the arena, two handlers were about to let go of their prized cocks. It was the fourth match for the evening.

Antes placed by their entry owners were announced over the microphone. One match, although even in weight, had the other cock a heavy betting underdog. The difference was over P74,000.

After the cockpit manager motioned his hands pointing to bettors by the ringside, the fight was called on.

The oddsmakers and 'kristos' immediately shouted their hearts out. The betting odd went I-s'ko. The shouting continued until the sheath of the cocks' gaffs were removed.

There was a hush silence as the two cocks were brought into the center of the arena for the customary pecking.
Then the handlers released their cocks some two meters apart.

In a flash, the two cocks collide in mid-air, catching air between their wings to gain the advantage of height.
Action was fast and furious. About eight seconds later, one of the cocks, the betting favorite, limped. He was wounded on the leg. There were huge roars from the gallery.

Like sharks, fighting cocks grow fiercer by the smell of blood. They like to move in for the kill. After a brief shuffle on the ground, the betting favorite's face turned from red to purple. It was catching its last breath. More roars from the crowd. The cuyme quickly picked up the two roosters and brought them to face to face for pecking.

The dying cock pecked once. The underdog pecked twice. The roar reached close to how many decibels, for all I know. And then, they were put on the ground but the odds-on-favorite no longer showed signs of fighting. They were once more raised face to face but the dying cock would peck no more.

After motioning a count of three, the cuyme declared the underdog the winner. The roars became even louder until it faded into eerie silence. By then crumpled bills were flying all over the place.

Funny, but any bill that landed on the ground always found its way to the rightful winner. It is thrown to the guy who is supposed to receive it. No questions asked. Only a nod signifying thank you for the kind gesture.
If only everybody could be as honest as the bettors and gamecock aficionados are, the country could go a long way.

(January 10, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2005/01/10/feat/cockfighting.favorite.pastime.of.filipinos.html