"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that
matter." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


   ----------

http://www.phoenixproject.net/


--- End forwarded message ---

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that
matter." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


   ----------

http://www.h2pac.org/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
--- End forwarded message ---

Where will he stop? will he stop--and at what? We must
find out. We must wag this tail before this tail
rattles what political will is left in us all.

  Political will in people?  Long and extensive
measure, at our expense, BTW, were taken to counter
our intelligence, not only by the FBI, but by whomever
thru the media, education and entertainment systems.
They have divided and broken our organizations.  We
must reorganize until we get it right and get it
across that this will not stand!   Nick

Report: U.S. Uses Sensors Amid Al Qaeda Nuclear Fear
Sun Mar 3, 8:25 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fearing Osama bin Laden (news -
web sites)'s al Qaeda network may be making progress
in obtaining nuclear weapons, the Bush administration
has been placing sophisticated radiation sensors at
U.S. border positions and key locations around
Washington, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.


The administration also has placed the..... read the
rest and related stories at:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20020303/ts_nm/attack_nuclear_sensors_dc



______________________________________________________________________

Find, Connect, Date! http://personals.yahoo.ca
--- End forwarded message ---

The UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights was
never given a chance to get entrenched but in a few
small pockets (nations) of the world.  Mostly, this
was thanks to the US using its veto power to flout
international law ( http://www.un.org/law/ ) and hard
work to disempower the international courts (check out
"The Splendid Blond Beast: Money, Law and Genocide in
the 20th C
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Genocide/SplendidBlondeBeast.html
)  Rightly the US is referred to as "The Fugitive
Nation":

http://www.anarchymag.org/52/fugitive.html

Now globalization threatens a complete and worldwide
violation of human rights, not that the persistence of
slavery around the globe and the increase of wage
slavery worldwide isn't enough reason:

http://srch1.un.org/plweb-cgi/fastweb?state_id=1015205496&view=unsearch&docrank=\
1&numhitsfound=428&query=slavery&&docid=2269&docdb=pr2000&dbname=web&sorting=BYR\
ELEVANCE&operator=adj&TemplateName=predoc.tmpl&setCookie=1

http://docs.hrw.org/cgi-bin/htsearch?words=slavery&config=all&method=and&format=\
builtin-long&GO.x=29&GO.y=15

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/usadom/usadom0501-04.htm


We need supra-national reform as well as
across-the-board domestic reform as well. Accept
globalization on conditions of what our unions were
fighting for before they got busted, for the most
part: universal minimum wage, ergonomics and
comfortable workplace standards, healthcare, maternity
leave and so on... Bush is shoo'ing us in the opposite
direction--stop and reverse back over him.

Nick

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution
217 A (III) of 10 December 1948




On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the
United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which
appears in the following pages. Following this
historic act the Assembly called upon all Member
countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and
"to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and
expounded principally in schools and other educational
institutions, without distinction based on the
political status of countries or territories."
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have
resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the
conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in
which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and
belief and freedom from fear and want has been
proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled
to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion
against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of
friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the
Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human
rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person
and in the equal rights of men and women and have
determined to promote social progress and better
standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to
achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the
promotion of universal respect for and observance of
human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and
freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full
realization of this pledge,..........

http://www.un.org/english/




______________________________________________________________________
Find, Connect, Date! http://personals.yahoo.ca

Teamsters Union Claims Environmentalist Support for ANWR Oil Exploration

<http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR30102.html>

March 1, 2002

BACKGROUND: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a strong supporter
of President Bush's energy plan, issued a press release dated February 26,
2002 claiming the plan to drill in ANWR has the support of
environmentalists with past or current affiliations with the Sierra Club,
Nature Conservancy of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The Teamsters quote Doug Wheeler, former executive director of the Sierra
Club, as saying, "The exploration and development of energy resources in
the United States is governed by the world's most stringent environmental
constraints, and to force development elsewhere is to accept the
inevitability of less rigorous oversight."1

TEN SECOND RESPONSE: Responsible environmentalists, if they are being
6onest with themselves, know that U.S. oil exploration is
environmentally-friendly.

THIRTY SECOND RESPONSE: When former Sierra Club executive director Doug
Wheeler says that the alternative to oil exploration in the U.S. is to
force exploration to be done in other countries, under less
environmentally-safe standards, he is absolutely right. Even former
President Bill Clinton's Department of Energy agreed and supported
exploration in Alaska.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Bill Clinton's Department of Energy was a strong
supporter of Alaska oil exploration (while opposing ANWR drilling, the
Administration did open other areas in the North Slope of Alaska), citing
how environmentally friendly new techniques are. Their position is outlined
in "Bill Clinton's Department of Energy is on Record: Oil and Gas
Exploration is Environmentally-Friendly" at
http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR21302.html.
For a brief discussion of how significant exploring for oil in Alaska will
be to the U.S., see "Senate Democrats Fight Energy Bill" at
http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR101801.html.
For a discussion of why Alaskan exploration is so much more important than
"alternative" energy sources, see "Wishes Won't Fuel Our Economy: We Need
Oil Drilling" at http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA375.html.
To read about a virtually limitless source of safe, clean nuclear energy,
see "Integral Fast Reactors" Source of Safe, Abundant, Non-Polluting Power"
at http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA378.html.
For a look at how Senator Daschle's proposed energy bill raises unfounded
global warming issues which would increase energy costs, see "Senate
Democrats' Energy Bill Promotes Global Warming Theory" at
http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR121701.html.

by Tom Randall, Director
John P. McGovern, MD Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs
The National Center for Public Policy Research

Contact the author at: 773-857-5086 or TRandall@...
The National Center for Public Policy Research, Chicago office
3712 North Broadway - PMB 279
Chicago, IL 60613

Lynx fraud blamed on 'bad judgment'
<http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020302-68264130.htm>
The Washington Times
     "An investigation of federal scientists who submitted inauthentic
     samples to a national lynx survey found a lack of scientific
     rigor and poor judgment but no criminal intent, said a report by
     Inspector General Earl E. Devaney, released by the Interior
     Department" (03/02/02)

The Environmental Rap Sheet

<http://www.ff.org/events/rapsheet.html>

By Senator Malcolm Wallop and Christa L. Floresca
February 22, 2002

Arson, Vandalism, Burglary, Grand Larceny, Firebombing, Kidnapping,
Slander, Conspiracy, Computer Crimes, and Theft. If you think this sounds
like a rap sheet for a hardened, malicious criminal, you would be close.
It's your local neighborhood animal lover and tree hugger gone bezerk.
The once idealistic environmental movement has been blistered by the
actions of extremists. In a country that respects the marketplace of ideas,
these criminals apparently have only one idea in mind, the destruction of
anything they disagree with.  Free speech and free press were meant to
allow for the exchange of opposing viewpoints.  It is a principle upon
which our nation was founded. The Bill of Rights was never intended to
protect people who engage in acts of terrorism and violent behavior as a
means of communicating their ideas.
Extreme environmental groups such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and
the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) are laying siege to legitimate business
and medical research. Their illegal actions have cost citizens millions of
dollars. Are you outraged? Wake up America ... your neighborhoods are
riddled with home-grown terrorists. These extreme environmentalists have
even gone so far as to create websites with the names, addresses and
pictures of their next human targets ... encouraging other lunatics to help
them in their siege. While they openly brag about their 130+ illegal
activities in 2001 alone, these criminals are getting away with everything
but murder.
Our research has uncovered hundreds of violent, illegal and malicious acts
by these "animal rights activists" and "earth defenders". Something must be
done! The world watched in shock and horror at the events of September
11th. Our freedom was violated.  Our citizens demanded action, and our
government responded. Long before September 11 however, terrorism was an
everyday fact of life in this country, yet America has done nothing to stop
it. Citizens, third generation entrepreneurs, have lost everything at the
hands of extremists. Many an American dream has been left shattered because
an organization of zealots disagreed with the way they made their livelihood.
Let's further examine the industries and research that they have targeted
in recent years:
the University of Minnesota, working on cures for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's
and Cancer was vandalized; a Wisconsin vaccine research facility was raided
(dozens of released animals were killed by traffic on a nearby road);
numerous McDonalds restaurants (all small businesses) have been firebombed,
and fire was set to the Michigan State University genetic engineering crop
research facility, to name only a few. All in all the result has been
millions of dollars in damage, hundreds of jobs lost, employees and
citizens injured, maimed or killed, private property demolished, and
decades of research destroyed. And yes animals destroyed, starved, or lost.
These groups are brazen. They believe that they are untouchable. They
believe their warped sense of a "higher purpose" makes them above the law.
In recent statements, they claimed that "activists involved with
underground groups like the ALF and ELF will not be affected by these laws,
or any attempts by law enforcement to shut them down." They have issued a
challenge to law makers. Is Congress prepared to answer the call of
terrorists again?
Legislation dealing with eco-terrorism and environmental extremism has been
attempted in both sides of Congress. For purely partisan reasons, each
piece of legislation was never given its due, and ultimately did not get
passed. Most recently, a law was introduced by Congressman George
Nethercutt (R-WA). According to Nethercutt's Agroterrorism Prevention Act
of 2001, "whoever in the course of a violation of the law, maliciously
damages or destroys, or attempts to damage or destroy, by means of fire or
an explosive, any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property
used by an animal or plant enterprise shall be imprisoned for not less than
5 years and not more than 20 years."
It's about time that our nation's leaders choose to protect its citizens
from the wrath of the few extremists. I applaud the efforts to make laws
that make sense. Now let's get them passed. Private property owners and
legitimate businesses should not have to operate in fear, have their
livelihoods destroyed, and risk injury, just to earn a living.  Congress
should be united in its efforts to weed out domestic terrorists as well as
foreign ones. Until then, we'll watch in horror as the "rap sheet" of the
extreme environmental movement grows longer.
                        ------------------------------------------
Malcolm Wallop is a former U.S. Senator from Wyoming and chairman of
Frontiers of Freedom, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization
dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans and
restoring constitutional limits on the extent and power of government.
Christa L. Floresca is their Director of Development.

Urgent ELP! Bulletin (5th March 2002)

Dear friends

There are 28 people either facing or serving jail terms for last years
anti-globalisation protest in Sweden.  ELP has just learnt that three of
those activists would appreciate letters of support.

Hannes Westberg
Anstalten i Skänninge
box 214
596 29 SKÄNNINGE
Sweden
(sentenced to 8 months)

Ivar Andersén
Anstalten i Åby
Funbo, 755 97 UPPSALA
Sweden
(sentenced to 8 months)

Josse-Björn
Anstalten i Borås,
box 221 13
500 02 BORÅS
Sweden
(sentenced to 20 months)

Please send all three letters of support.  Also please circulate this e-mail
widely and encourage others to send those vital letters of support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Prison is a weapon used by the State to crush individuals who step out of
line" (Michael Collins - former Mayday 2000 prisoner)

Support All Animal & Earth Liberation Prisoners

Spirit of Freedom (Earth Liberation Prisoners)
c/o Cornerstone Resource Centre, Leeds, LS7 3HB, England
E-Mail < earthlibprisoner@... >
< www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk >

Earth Liberation Prisoners Newsletter/Urgent ELP! Bulletin
c/o BM Box 2407, London, WC1N 3XX, England
E-Mail < AnimalEarthLiberation@... >

North American Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
POB 50082, Eugene, OR 97405, USA
E-Mail < naelpsn@... >

don't know if this'll work, but as a bandaid for the earth and our
pocketbooks and until we're ready to stop atrophying our legs,
commuting rediculous distances and choking us all to death in this
great garage that's our biosphere; or until we're ready to adopt
hydrogen.....:

Erma Seabaugh <erma8@s...> wrote:
http://www.get113to138mpg.com

I have talked to this guy and he is giving this away to anyone who
wants it.

Erma
--- End forwarded message ---

Governments urged to restore forests for the poor

http://panda.org/news/press/news.cfm?id=2763

Governments attending a United Nations meeting on forests have been urged
to adopt approaches that provide livelihoods for poor people.

Nuclear testing blamed for thousands of global cancers

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-04-06.html

Atmospheric nuclear weapons testing exposed millions of people around the
globe to radioactive fallout, and may have led to the cancer deaths of more
than 15,000 people, according to the Institute for Energy and Environmental
Research.

March 4, 2002

Washington Post

A Baltimore Without Orioles?
Study Says Global Warming May Rob Md., Other States of Their
Official Birds

by Eric Pianin

Maryland's population of Baltimore orioles, long in decline,
could vanish altogether late this century because of dramatic
changes in migration patterns and declining habitats strongly
influenced by global warming.

A new study to be released this week by the National Wildlife
Federation and the American Bird Conservancy suggests that the
effects of global warming may be robbing Maryland and a
half-dozen other states of an important piece of their heritage
by hastening the departure of their state birds.

The report says the Earth's rising temperature, which scientists
attribute to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, is
already shifting songbird ranges, altering migration behavior and
perhaps diminishing some species' ability to survive.

The ranges of some state birds could shrink or shift entirely
outside the states they represent. That could mean Iowa and
Washington state would eventually lose the American goldfinch,
New Hampshire would say goodbye to the purple finch, California
would lose the California quails, Massachusetts' black-capped
chickadee would
vanish, Georgia would lose the brown thrasher and Maryland would
lose its beloved Baltimore oriole, according to the study, which
was provided to The Washington Post.

"Imagine Baltimore without the Baltimore oriole," said Mark Van
Putten, president of the National Wildlife Federation. "Left
unchecked, global warming could cause the birds we love to watch
and even celebrate on state emblems to disappear from places
they've lived for eons."

Peter Schultz, a global-warming expert with the nonprofit
National Research Council, cautions that long-term forecasts of
disruptions in bird migration patterns are difficult to do.

"I would be surprised if the distribution of state birds is not
changed down the road," he said. "But predicting precisely where
they'll be 50 years from now is very difficult, if not
impossible, with the current state of knowledge."

Baltimore orioles (Icterus galbula) were once so numerous that
famed naturalist painter John J. Audubon wrote about the delight
of hearing "the melody resulting from thousands of musical voices
that come from some neighboring tree."

The bird, a Maryland icon whose namesake is Baltimore's major
league baseball team, was officially designated the state bird in
1947.

The female oriole's feathers are brownish-olive and dull orange,
but the male's plumage is black and golden orange.

According to legend, George Calvert, the first baron of
Baltimore, fancied the oriole's plumage and took its colors for
his coat of arms.

Ornithologists and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have
warned for decades that many common songbird species, including
blue jays, wood thrushes and Baltimore orioles, were steadily
declining.

Scientists have blamed the Baltimore oriole's gradual decline
largely on the destruction of breeding habitat and forests both
in North America, where the bird spends its summers, and in
Central and South America, where it winters.

Now some scientists are shifting their attention to the long-term
effects of global warming on the migratory patterns of the oriole
and other popular songbirds.

"Climate change on top of fragmented habitat is the straw that
breaks the camel's back," said Patricia Glick, an expert on
climate change with the National Wildlife Federation.

The Earth's surface temperature warmed more during the last
century than any other century during the last thousand years,
the study says. Climate models used as part of a United
Nations-sponsored international climate change study predict that
average surface temperatures will rise an additional 2.5 to 10.4
degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.

That's more than 10 times the average rate of global temperature
change since the Ice Age.

Like those of many plants and animals, birds' life cycles and
behavior are closely linked to the changing seasons. For
Neotropical migrant species such as the Baltimore oriole,
warblers and other songbirds, changes in the weather help signal
when they should begin their long flights southward in the fall
and back again in the spring. Variables such as temperature and
precipitation also affect the timing and availability of flowers,
seeds and other food sources for the birds when they reach their
destination.

Studies in the United States and Europe have found that some
songbirds are migrating earlier in spring months, corresponding
with warmer temperatures.

For example, research on migratory birds in North America shows
that the arrival dates of 20 species were up to 21 days earlier
in 1994 than in 1965, while only a few species were later.

The new study asserts that as regional temperatures rise, the
climatic ranges of a number of species in the Northern Hemisphere
could shift north as they seek habitat and food to which they
have adapted. In the ranges they leave behind, these birds may be
replaced by species from the south.

Moving to a new range can be tricky, because the birds face new
prey, predators and competitors, as well as different habitats.

To determine how the future summer distributions of birds might
change, Jeff Price, director of climate change for the American
Bird Conservancy, developed large-scale statistical models of the
association between current bird distributions and a number of
significant variables, such as temperature and precipitation.

According to the study, the eastern Midwest and Great Lakes
region could be the hardest hit by the long-term effects of
global warming, with up to a 30 percent net loss in the number of
Neotropical migrant species summering in the region.

Affected species include olive-sided flycatchers, solitary vireos
and Cape May warblers, which are important in controlling insects
in forests and agricultural areas.

As many as 33 states could see a significant reduction in
American goldfinches in the summer. In addition, some migratory
bird species, such as the endangered golden-cheeked warbler in
Texas, could face extinction.

Environmentalists stress that although the long-term forecast is
gloomy, the loss of the birds could be averted if government and
industry agree on policies for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions
and improving the energy efficiency of cars, homes and offices.

"This is happening to species of birds we care about, but there's
something we can do about it," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, a
senior vice president of the National Wildlife Federation.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 18:00:27 +1100
From: patty mark <amag@...>

TASMANIAN BATTERY HENS RESCUED - TWO ACTIVISTS ARRESTED

Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV) joined with Pam Clarke (Tasmanian
veteran battery hen campaigner) for a week of action in Tasmania that
had the entire Australian Island State talking about battery hen
cruelty.

ALV's Action Animal Rescue Team (including activists from Victoria,
Tasmania and New Zealand) successfully saved the lives of 8 very
debilitated battery hens. The mutilated hens were removed from old
rusty bacteria laden cages in a shed filled with overwhelming noxious
fumes at the PUREFOODS egg factory in Longford (near Launceston).

MEDIA BLITZ

The rescue, followed by a press conference, followed by a storm on
the Minister's office, followed by another rescue attempt all over a
four day period captured intense media coverage including two FRONT
PAGE features in the Hobart MERCURY, (Tasmania's leading daily paper)
and eight TV NEWS stories running three nights in a row!  [ABC
(Channel 2) three nights in a row; WIN (Channel 9) three nights in a
row; and SOUTHERN CROSS (Channel 7) two nights in a row.] The
majority of all these TV news stories opened with dramatic footage of
activists cutting open the battery cages and freeing the hens (see
photos).  Pam Clarke and Patty Mark also did live radio interviews
and there were other newspaper articles.

ARRESTS

Pam Clarke (60) and Patty Mark (52) were both arrested by the CIB and
charged with burglary and stealing for removing the eight very ill
birds. The women were videotaped, fingerprinted and DNA tested in the
police station and bailed to appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court
on April 8, 2002


A brief diary of how the events occurred:

Monday, February 25,  2002

Rescue team attempts to enter shed at PUREFOODS EGG FACTORY in
Longford, Tasmania, but finds that access doors to hens have all been
alarmed.  (the rescue team has had several successful hen rescues at
this notoriously filthy battery hen factory in the past).  Four
security vehicles arrived within five minutes so rescue was
aborted...

Tuesday/Wednesday,  February 26/27

Rescue team members returned the next night (February 26) and stood
guard until the coast was clear. Then in the early hours of
Wednesday, February 27 about 2:30 am they were able to avoid security
alarms by entering a shed through a manure pit where feces from the
four tiers of battery hens were piled waist height. Wearing
protective clothing and breathing masks, the team worked quickly to
rescue some hens, as the smell in the shed was overwhelming...Pam
Clarke was gagging and nearly passed out. The only possible way to
reach the hens was to put a ladder over the manure and reach up with
boltcutters to cut out the bottom of the old rusty dirty cages (which
didn't need much cutting!).  The hens were in very bad condition
suffering long overgrown claws, badly mutilated beaks, anemic combs
and cloudy eyes.  Activists took the first eight hens in the bottom
row nearest the door.  Over 40,000 hens had to be left behind.

Thursday, February 28, 2002

The team organised a media conference at the Hobart Environment
Centre, showing their dramatic video footage and displaying two of
the hens. The media packed the room and Tassie's three main TV
stations ran stories that night and the Hobart MERCURY gave it front
page photo coverage the following morning (for more photos and
further details check out www.openrescue.org in the next day or
so.....)

Friday, March 1, 2002

The Government continued to ignore the issues (eg. animal cruelty,
public health risk and criminal activity) so the rescue team next
stormed David Llewellyn's office (he is both the Minister for Primary
Industries and the Police).  This event was again attended by heaps
of media and televised that night. However, after yet again being
ignored by the Minister's Department and phone calls to police, the
activists emailed a letter to the Minister with a cc to the Police
Commissioner and all media that they would again break into PUREFOODS
BATTERY HEN factory that night at 9 pm.  They arrived to find
numerous police officers all over the country road, a road block and
two CIB detectives. The Hobart MERCURY were on the scene and they
again featured this story on their front page the following morning!
The activists were escorted to the Launceston Police station, where
after questioning both Pam Clarke and Patty Mark were charged with
burglary and stealing.  It is ridiculous that such a stunt had to be
carried out to get the authorities to take this important issue
seriously! (to read the letter sent to the Minister check our website
www.alv.org.au in the next day or so...)

Meanwhile eight very lucky hens are living free under some beautiful
apple trees in sunny Tasmania!!!


PS This rescue was initially timed to coincide with the six monthly
meeting of all Australian and New Zealand Agriculture Ministers,
scheduled for Hobart on March 1.  This meeting was postponed until
April 18 at the last minute.  The rescue team is determined to see
that the agricultural ministers put battery hen cruelty back on the
Agenda. (In August 2000 they failed to ban the cage, only slightly
increasing cage sizes).  Tasmanian Agriculture Minister Llewellyn is
up for election later this year.

photo captions

one:  Noah cuts through the rusty old cage to free the battery hens
http://www.openrescue.org/rescues/20020226/1.jpg

two:  Noah hands battery hen to Pam, while Romeo films the footage
that was televised statewide photos: Patty Mark ALV
http://www.openrescue.org/rescues/20020226/2.jpg

------------------
Patty Mark, President
Animal Liberation Victoria

www.alv.org.au

_____________________________________________________________________
UNITED POULTRY CONCERNS                     http://www.UPC-online.org
Promoting the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl
             PO Box 150 Machipongo, VA 23405 * 757-678-7875
             The Moment You Turn Your Back You Are Involved

The Campaign Against Factory Farming is gaining momentum in New
Jersey! As the April 7th and 8th Factory Farming Forum and Rally
approaches, we are very excited to announce positive new developments.

On February 12, Morristown, NJ set a national precedent when it became
the first entity in America to formally recognize farm animals as
"sentient beings" and to acknowledge our "ethical responsibility" to
protect them from inhumane treatment. Just last night, Cedar Grove, NJ
became the second U.S. municipality to enact the sentient beings
proclamation!

On February 28, Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg introduced legislation
(A-1948) to prohibit cruel veal production in New Jersey. If enacted,
this will be the first law in the United States that bans factory
farming confinement.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has now received over 20,000
comments from concerned citizens, urging the drafting of meaningful
humane standards which ban inhumane factory farming systems.

Never before have we had such an great opportunity to stop factory
farming abuse!

Please help demonstrate your concern about farm animal suffering by
attending the Factory Farming Forum and Rally in Trenton, NJ on April
7 and 8. For more information on this important event for farm
animals, please see http://www.njfarms.org/njrally. Participants must
register by April 1, however the deadline for the discounted room
rates at the conference hotel is TOMORROW, March 6th.

If you live in New Jersey, please contact your state Assembly members
and urge them to support A-1948 to ban cruel veal production in New
Jersey. To find out the names of your Assembly members, please visit
www.njleg.state.nj.us or call 1-800-792-8630.

Thank you for caring, and for being a vital part of the campaign to
prevent factory farming abuse.

For more information about the Campaign Against Factory Farming in New
Jersey, please see http://www.njfarms.org.




Farm Sanctuary Campaigns campaign@...

'Fly-buy' data

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/lunar_future_010820-2.html

NASA could give the Moon the business. That is, a
program might be dedicated to not only support NASA
interests, but also the lunar science community and
commercial groups too.

One outcome from the Return to the Moon III meeting
last month was a call for NASA to establish a data
purchase plan.

Data can be had at the Moon beneficial to both
scientific and economic interests. That information
can aid in putting up commercial lunar hotels,
establishing mining facilities, as well as establish
planetary training grounds for future Mars explorers.

"The consensus is that NASA can open the door to
commercial lunar development if they'll implement this
data purchase program to encourage the gathering of
much-needed data from the Moon," said Rick Tumlinson,
Space Frontier Foundation president.

What needs to happen now is multi-pronged, Tumlinson
said.

First, a special research and peer review committee
should be set up to define the subjects and set
priorities for future "ground truth" research done
right at the Moon's surface, as well as from lunar
orbit;
Secondly, a pricing structure for each of the
different subject categories of data to be purchased
is needed;
Thirdly, a criterion for payment, calibration of data,
and verification that data acquired meets stipulated
specifications has to be established; and
Lastly, the U.S. Congress would be presented this
step-by-step plan. The goal for funding the new
approach is fiscal year 2003.
Nagging questions

Thanks to an onslaught of robotic probes and a dozen
moonwalkers, one could easily think of the Moon as a
been there, done that world.

That might be the view here in the United States.
Meanwhile, scientists at the European Space Agency
(ESA) and the National Space Development Agency
(NASDA) in Japan are readying their respective lunar
probes. ESA's SMART-1 and NASDA's Selene spacecraft
are being readied for launch.

The Moon still has much to teach us, counters Mike
Duke, a space scientist at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute in Houston and at the Colorado School of
Mines in Golden.

"It's important to know more about the science of the
Moon. We won't really understand the origin and early
evolution of our Solar System until we understand the
origin of the Moon. It's clearly a question that we
don't have the full answer to," Duke said.

Much of the science that can be done from lunar orbit
has been done, Duke said. "We need to send missions to
the surface to get the next scale of understanding."

And there is a solid list of lunar longings that
scientists are hungry to answer. One of the most
intriguing: Could life have formed on the Moon?


Peak of Eternal Light. Sunlight bathes mountaintop
while nearby craters are sun ray-free and may harbor
water ice.
Credit: Erven J.J. TiJl Press Press (Zwolle,
Netherlands)

Duke said that around four-and-a-half billion years
ago, the scene was one in which organic-rich objects
bombarded the lunar surface. Intense energy released
from these impacts was long-lived, making it a nice
environment for life to possibly take hold on the
Moon.

"In fact, there's probably just about as much reason
to think that life formed on the Moon in early lunar
periods as there is reason to believe that there's
life on Mars now," Duke said.

Would nagging questions about the origin and past
history of the Moon spark a scientific rationale for
replanting footprints on the lunar landscape. Duke
doesn't think so.

"We really need to push for human settlement on the
Moon. That will advance the cause of science.
Self-sufficient lunar settlements will be of maximum
benefit to the scientific exploration of the Moon,"
Duke said.

Icy real estate

What's needed is a detailed global assessment of the
Moon, said Alan Binder, director of the Lunar Research
Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

Binder is a major proponent of a commercial data
purchase plan. He sees it as the most cost effective
way to shed more light on the Moon, not just for
scientific reasons but to help define the potential
for economic utilization of Earth's natural satellite.

Due to the steady pace of revelations about other
worlds within our solar system, Binder points out that
"our next door neighbor in the heavens, the Moon, is
swiftly becoming one of our least explored celestial
bodies."

Binder is no stranger in a strange land when it comes
to the Moon. He was principal investigator for NASA's
Lunar Prospector that took a lunar look-see in
1998-1999. A key observation made by the probe was the
detection of hydrogen at the Moon's north and south
poles. Those concentrations of hydrogen could be
locked up in molecules of water ice.

"We mapped hydrogen and infer water," Binder told
SPACE.com. The certainty level that Lunar Prospector
detected water on the Moon, said the scientist, is in
the 95 percent range.

"Everything we see in the data seems to say it is
water. But until we're on the surface you don't know,"
Binder said. That water ice, if present, is held
captive in shadowed craters at both lunar poles. In
terms of quantity, north and south reservoirs
combined, a few hundred million metric tons may be
ready to tap, he said.

Unquestionably, this type of resource could be
harvested to yield drinkable water, oxygen and fuel.
Those resources could sustain a long-term human
presence on the Moon, Binder said.



Space Tourism in the 21st Century: High Hopes, High
Stakes


A Four-Star Hotel That's Out of this World


NASA Official Foresees Government Role in Space
Tourism


Rocket Guy: Oregon Man Set for Self-Launch


Taming the Lunar Frontier: Settlers Wanted






__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
http://mail.yahoo.com/

GLOBAL WARMING TO RAISE SEA LEVEL SHOCKINGLY HIGH AND OTHER STORIES
Beachfront property may not be such a great investment in
the coming decades. New calculations suggest that glacier
melt could raise sea levels to drastic heights in the 21st
century.   As recently as last year, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change estimated that glacier melt alone
would be responsible for a rise of 1 to 23 cm in sea level
by 2100. Now, using new data from North American glaciers,
researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder calculate
that glacier melt could be responsible for a 23 to 46 cm
rise by 2100.

Source: California Academy of Sciences

http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/03/03052002/s_46530.asp

Four arrested in bison protest
By CAROLYNN McLUSKEY, IR Staff Writer - 03/05/02

                             Four women were arrested Monday morning
following a peaceful protest of Montana's bison management
                             policies at the office of the executive
director of the Montana Department of Livestock.
                             The women - Emily Kodama, 25, Julia
Piaskowski, 23, Jennifer Schneider, 33, and Abbi Dunlap, 22, all of
                             West Yellowstone - were charged with
trespassing, disorderly conduct, obstructing a police officer and
                             resisting arrest, according to Helena
Police Chief Troy McGee.
                             McGee said officers were called to the
Scott Hart Building just before 11 a.m. when DOL Executive Marc
                             Bridges' assistant reported that the women
- arms clamped together with plaster casts - entered the office
                             and refused to leave.
                             Bridges was not in the office at the time.
                             "Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Protect the wild
buffalo," chanted the women as they sat cross-legged on the floor,
                             officers from the Helena Police Department
milling around them.
                             With DOL staffers and police officers
urging the women to take their protest elsewhere, the women demanded
                             that an immediate moratorium be imposed on
the killing of bison at Yellowstone National Park and that the
                             DOL cease its involvement in the
management of bison in the area.
                             "This plan doesn't protect buffalo, it
kills buffalo!" the women shouted. "The Department of Livestock should
                             be about life, not killing!"
                             The protesters were voicing their
objections to the recently signed Interagency Bison Management Plan,
                             according to a press release issued by the group.
                             The plan - aimed at controlling bison that
migrate from Yellowstone each winter and enter Montana - allows
                             for the hazing of bison back into the
park. The capture and testing of those that cannot be hazed for
                             brucellosis. The bison that test positive
for brucellosis are slaughtered.
                             Some state officials and cattle ranchers
fear the bison will pass brucellosis on to domestic cattle, causing
                             pregnant cows to abort their fetuses.
                             The protest follows a recent incident in
which four bison cows, two young bulls and three calves were captured
                             by DOL officials outside the park - five
of those were killed.
                             According to Karen Cooper, public
information officer for the DOL, the animals that were killed all
tested
                             positive for brucellosis.
                             "We continue to implement the plan as
mandated," said Cooper, adding that thousands of bison have been
                             hazed back into the park in the past five
years, with only about 130 being killed.
                             Critics of the plan - including Monday's
protesters - oppose the killing of any bison.
                             "The DOL is clearly demonstrating its
intention to slaughter as many buffalo as it can," said Schneider in a
                             press release. "This causes great concern
as the spring months are approaching and major migration of the
                             mixed herds is imminent."
                             When law enforcement officials' attempts
to convince the protesters to leave of their own accord failed, seven
                             officers were required to carry the
enjoined women to an elevator and outside to where a Dial-A-Ride bus
                             waited to transport the protesters to the
Lewis and Clark County Jail.
                             "Once they got up to the jail they were
very cooperative," said McGee, who added that the women voluntarily
                             detached the mechanism that linked their
arms throughout the protest after their arrival at the jail.
                             The women were held on $750 bond and are
scheduled to see City Court Judge Myron Pitch on the
                             misdemeanor charges against them today.
                             Several other protesters accompanied the
women to the DOL building - some holding a banner that read
                             "Honor and Respect the Buffalo" - but were
not cited.
                             Cooper said Monday's protest was not the
first experienced by DOL employees since Montana bison issues
                             came to the forefront, and they are
becoming more accustomed to coping with the problem.
                             "(Protests) make it uncomfortable for
everyone who has business in the building," she said, adding that
                             operations at the DOL were not halted.
                             Although the press release received by
news agencies Monday originated at the headquarters for the Buffalo
                             Field Campaign, a spokeswoman for the
protesters denied that the protest was sponsored by the group.
___________________________________________________________

To: Paul Leventhal, Nuclear Control Institute
From: Russell D. Hoffman, Concerned Citizen
Re: Your web site, public comments, etc.
Date: March 5th, 2002

Dear Sir,

I recently visited your web site and let me say I think you have a fine
team working on it.  The home page is loaded with information and is clear
and well-organized.  I wish I could be as complementary about some of your
public statements about nuclear power.

Don't you think it's time to publicly state that you are opposed to nuclear
power itself, and advocate, as I do, an immediate and permanent shutdown of
all the reactors around the world?

I'm not sure which to fear most: terrorism by 1000 different methods (from
air, sea, land, or a mixture, using mortars, truck bombs,
suicide-hang-gliders, RPGs, guided missiles, infiltration, a stolen tank or
"Cat", etc. etc.), embrittlement of the alloys surrounding the radioactive
materials, acts of God such as earthquakes and tsunamis, human error in the
control room or somewhere else in the fuel cycle, or, perhaps the most
dangerous thing is public indifference to the 10,000 pounds (at least) of
high-level radioactive waste created each day in America alone -- and many
times that amount of so-called low-level radioactive waste, which is just
high level radioactive waste with filler added, like brass, aluminum,
copper, iron, gold, silver, plastic, cloth, rubber, glass, air, and water,
etc. etc. etc. -- things that were once reusable, but now are less than
useless -- they are dangerous.

There is talk of 10-kiloton nuclear devices having already been stolen from
Russia, and being smuggled into America for possible use against our
beloved New York City.

But what if it were used against a nuclear power facility instead?  Even a
small nuclear device would be enough to cause a radiological disaster if it
were exploded near a Spent Fuel Pool, Dry Cask, or near a reactor -- or
around multiple reactors.

We have to close the nuclear power plants permanently, and in your position
as one of the most frequently quoted and interviewed spokespersons in
opposition to the Bush administration's planned nuclear juggernaut, we need
you to be unequivocal about this.  America needs the plants to be shut down
NOW.

Wind power, wave power, tide power, solar cells, biomass, hydroelectric,
geothermal, and other renewable energy solutions are all vastly superior to
nuclear power, yet we don't adopt any of them with any concerted
effort.  America has the ability to do better, but a substantial majority
of us all have to agree that it's the right thing to do.

While it's true that a properly operating coal power plant actually
releases more radioactive material on a daily basis than a properly
operating nuclear power plant, a coal-fired plant could only be considered
worse for society than nuclear if we make the crazy assumption that nuclear
power plants will never suffer catastrophic meltdowns.  But if we assume
that there will be even just one such accident in America -- and that's a
fair assumption considering all the threats (although two might be fairer,
and three fairer still) -- then the equation goes the other way, and even
those who despise coal energy should realize that nuclear is much, much worse.

Who do you think history will damn the most?  Those who didn't know any
better, and just let nuclear power happen around them?  Or those, nearly as
ignorant as the first group, who knowingly supported it because they could
see that electricity is a very useful thing, but could not grasp the
dangers from the nuclear industry's inevitable failures? Or will history
damn most, those who knew the dangers, yet did not sufficiently alert
others enough to stop it from happening?

The problem is that the nukes are still open, still running at full heat
and pressure, and still generating many tons of new nuclear waste every
day.  A fuel assembly is at least a million times more radioactive after it
has been used in a reactor than it was when it went in, just 4 to 5 years
earlier.

More useful than anti-aircraft batteries around the plants, which you
advocate, would be a huge pyramid of depleted-uranium armor around the
spent nuclear waste -- instead of the cheap cement and steel they now use
(or aluminum siding, in the case of GE Mark 1 BWRs).

Do you think society, 200 or 2,000 years from now, will care if an accident
which spreads nuclear waste came from a running nuclear power plant or from
the waste from one, which accumulates in quantities that could wipe out a
state EVERY SINGLE DAY?  Each new day's quantity of high-level waste is
enough to kill millions if simply spread around.  Department of Energy
accident scenarios for nuclear waste transport, spent fuel pool accidents,
dry cask storage accidents, and meltdowns, all assume the release of only a
tiny fraction -- sometimes .00001% or less -- of the full payload of
radioactive materials present at the time of the accident.  This is an
improper assumption for such calculations.  Then, at the other end of the
spectrum, the dose rate, they again improperly assume that low dose rates
are many times less harmful than they really are.

You know this and I know this, right?  Yet I hear you say, on CNN and CSPAN
and elsewhere, that you are not against nuclear power.  Why not?

Perhaps your advocacy position is based on political expedience -- but
nuclear weapons threatening America's major cities means political
expedience is useless -- we are all standing on the bow of the ship,
heading into the land mines, torpedos, and shoals.  Damn the torpedoes, Mr.
Leventhal -- condemn these plants with all your vigor!

Tomorrow's nuclear technology isn't going to be any better than today's --
but in all likelihood, it will be grandfathered in at current nuclear
licensee's facilities -- in other words, new nuclear plants will be coming
with little or no public review!

Sure, it would be nice if Pebble Bed Reactors were safe, but they won't
be.  To be safe, all manufacturing processes for the "pebbles" need to be
flawless, and of course, there's no containment dome.  And the radioactive
waste they will create is just more waste, which society doesn't need.

And another problem your advocacy position causes:

As long as we have to pretend that there is any money to be made in the
nuclear industry, we are reluctant to put the trillions of dollars that is
needed into the nuclear waste problem we have already created.

By keeping the plants open, the method of waste disposal -- whatever method
is eventually chosen, and I don't expect it to be Yucca Mountain, on
scientific grounds -- MUST fit into a financial scheme in which money is
still made by the nuclear industry, which right now sets a small amount
aside for waste disposal -- not nearly enough.  (Accidents, however, will
be paid out of a limited general insurance policy known as Price-Anderson,
perhaps the most abominable piece of legislation ever devised.)

We live in a madhouse, don't you agree?

Your web site looks great, and I've enjoyed seeing you on television --
most of the time.  But when are you going to advocate immediate closure of
all nuclear reactors?  After an accident?  Or, like Beedle, Meserve,
Cheney, and Bush, is it conceivable that even that tragedy wouldn't
dissuade you from your implicit support for the "Demon Hot Atom" and the
"Nuclear Mafia", when you state, as you often do, that the Nuclear Control
Institute is not against nuclear power?

You SHOULD be against it, and the world needs you to realize that, and to
state it publicly time and again, and post it at your web site.  Nuclear
power is a terrible way to accomplish the relatively mundane task of
putting large quantities of electrons into wires.  That can be done many
ways.  Simply reducing the losses in the lines, and using state-of-the-art
switching technologies, would allow us to shut most -- if not all -- of the
nuclear power plants in the United States all by itself.  Building a few
tens of thousands of windmills would likewise suffice all by itself -- and
they could all be built offshore.  Niagara Falls, if we simply diverted the
part which still goes over the falls, could allow us to shut down another 5
to 7 large nuclear power plants.  There is probably enough
non-environmentally sensitive potential hydroelectric capacity in America
to close the nukes 10 times over if we looked for it (and, of course,
history will damn any environmentalist who opposed hydro while leaving
others to fight against nuclear power in this day and age!).

There's no reason to keep the nuclear power plants open any longer, and all
reasonable Americans should be demanding their immediate closure.  There is
no room for compromise, and no time for throwing the bums out of office in
the next election.  The plants should be closed today, because the longer
they have cooled the safer they are, and because that way, they stop making
more waste.

I hope your voice can be counted on from now on regarding this important issue.

Sincerely,

Russell D. Hoffman
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, CA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Russell D. Hoffman,
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, California

List of every nuclear power plant in America, with history, activist orgs,
specs, etc.:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/nukelist.htm

List of over 250 books and videos about nuclear issues in my collection
(donations -- especially by the authors -- is always welcomed!):
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/mybooks.htm

Recent essays (2001 -- 2002):
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/index.htm

Peace Activist, Environmentalist, High Tech Guru:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/whoisrdh.htm

Founder and Editor of the Stop Cassini newsletter:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/index.htm

Learn about The Effects of Nuclear War here:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm

Most renewable energy solutions require a Global Energy Grid, invented
nearly a century ago by R. Buckminster Fuller.  Read about it here:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/geni/rh2000ge.htm

What is a half-life?  (Compares Plutonium 238 to Plutonium 239)
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0146.htm

What is the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)?  Is nuclear war winnable?
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0128.htm

Hug a tree!  Read why it should matter to you what happens to the great
Redwoods in California:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/misc/stories/redwoods/redwoods.htm

Why you need encryption: An interview with Phil Zimmerman:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hightech/philspgp.htm


************************************************************
** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** P.O. Box 1936
** Carlsbad CA 92018-1936
** (800) 551-2726
** (760) 720-7261
** Fax: (760) 720-7394
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
** http://www.animatedsoftware.com
************************************************************

From: McSpotlight <info@...>

>     02/03/02
>
>     p r e s s r e l e a s e from
>
>     McLibel Support Campaign
>
>     McLibel Defendant Trip To North America - radio interview
>
>     On Saturday March 2nd, 09.35am, Central US time, (15.35pm UK
> time) McLibel Defendant Dave Morris will be doing a live,
> continuous radio interview, maybe 25mins, for broadcast live in
> Chicago on WNUR 89.3 FM, Northwestern University radio, and live
> on the web via the website at www.thisishell.net
>
>     Dave Morris has been invited over to North America for a
> number of events and talks in March. This is his Schedule, as
> currently planned.
>
>     Friday 8th March CHICAGO
>
>     Info on Chicago events: Mike - 312-682-2821 voice/pager.
> mcyinyang2@...
>
>     - 7pm: Video & Potluck At the A-Zone [2129 N. Milwaukee, Cgo]
>
>     - 8pm: Presentation/Discussion - Fighting McDonalds &
> Globalization At the A-Zone.
>
>     Saturday 9th March CHICAGO
>
>     - Noon: McProtest at Rock-n-Roll McDonalds (Clark St &
> Ontario St).
>
>     - 1pm: McTour of stores and McDonalds World HQ.
>
>     Sunday 10th March WINNIPEG
>
>     - Evening: Attend movie showing by Winnipeg Vegetarian
> Association.
>
>     Monday 11th March WINNIPEG
>
>     - Noon: Speaking event at the University of Winnipeg
> organized by the UWSA.
>
>     - 6pm: Mondragon centre will be hosting an anti-McDonalds
> dinner
>
>     - 7.30pm-ish: Speaking event at Mondragon.
>
>     Thursday 14th March HOUSTON
>
>     Info on Houston events: 713 528 1817 (Irish Unity Committee)
>
>     - Noon: Lecture 'The McLibel Case: Beating The Fat Cats In
> The Courtroom.'
>
>     At Thurgood Marshall School of Law: Room 105, Texas Southern
> University (Corner of Wheeler and Sampson)
>
>     Friday 15th March HOUSTON
>
>     - 7pm: Reception / pot-luck dinner At: 603 Welch, Houston
> (Montrose area)
>
>     Saturday 16th March HOUSTON
>
>     - Noon: Press conference and leafletting in front of
> McDonald's (1302 Westheimer - Montrose area).
>
>     - 7pm: main lecture at University Center, Cougar Den,
> University of Houston
>
>     'Taking On McWorld: Fighting The Effects of the Fast Food
> Industry In Our Communities'.
>
>     Sunday 17th March WINNIPEG
>
>     - Possible Winnipeg event late afternoon/evening
>
>     Full and final Schedule to be circulated soon.
>
>     contact details
>
>     McLibel Support Campaign
>
>     5 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DX, UK.
>
>     Tel/Fax: +44 (207) 713 1269
>
>     E-mail: mclibel@...
>
>     Web: http://www.mcspotlight.org
>
>

Hi, Bob and Hello to All,

If I haven't told you enough, I deeply appreciate you
and the work of Hopedance. Going to the MTP conference
in DC really made me appreciate the importance of the
work we all do to save our respective little slices of
the earth. Everyone in attendance at the conference
was waging the good battle to save and restore their
own little precious place for their families and
future generations.
I looked on space.com yesterday and found an article
about congressional budget requests for deep space
spending. The quest for commercialization and
militarization of space is one that will leave this
earth devastated, with little caring for water, land,
air, or our very important critters such as the
magnificent primates.
Please know over and over again that the 1000's of
hours put in by every single worker of hopedance is so
important and crucial for the battle to save planet
earth. Many thanks also to Military Toxics Project for
bringing folks from all over the world together in DC
to share our concerns and work. The spirit of
Hopedance was definitely with me.

Finally, If I can't go to potlucks and other HD
events, I still think of all of you and appreciate you
so much. Long live and prosper Hopedance and Military
Toxics Project!

With Deep Fondness,
-sheila baker
Citizen Opposition to Rocket Pollution (CORP), VAFB
Project

--- Hopedance@... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 3/5/02 11:12:46 PM,
> rjkauffman@... writes:
>
> << NEWS FROM EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE.
> Eco-Economy Update 2002-3       (Share This Update
> With a Friend.)
> For Immediate Release
> March 5, 2002
> Copyright Earth Policy Institute 2002
>
> OUR CLOSEST RELATIVES ARE DISAPPEARING
> http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update7.htm
>
> Janet Larsen
>
> After more than a century of no known primate
> extinctions, scientists
> recently confirmed the disappearance of a subspecies
> of a West African
> monkey. The loss of this monkey, known as Miss
> Waldron's red colobus, may be
> a harbinger of future losses of our closest
> evolutionary relatives.
>
> Out of some 240 known primate species, 19 are
> critically endangered, up from
> 13 in 1996. This classification refers to species
> that have suffered extreme
> and rapid reductions in population or habitat. Their
> remaining numbers range
> from less than a few hundred to, at most, a few
> thousand individuals. If
> their populations continue to shrink at recent
> rates, some species will not
> survive this decade. This group, according to the
> World Conservation Union's
> 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, includes 8
> monkeys from Brazil's
> Atlantic rainforest, where 97 percent of the forest
> has been lost, 2 apes
> and a monkey from Indonesia, 3 monkeys from Viet
> Nam, 1 each from Kenya and
> Peru, and 3 lemur species from Madagascar.
>
> At the endangered level, the IUCN's next degree of
> threat, there are 46
> primate species, up from 29 in 1996. These species
> face a very high
> probability of extinction, some within the next 20
> years. An additional 51
> species are listed as vulnerable. These primates
> have slightly larger
> populations but still may disappear within this
> century. Critically
> endangered, endangered, and vulnerable species
> together total 116, or nearly
> half of the 240 some primate species. (See table
> http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update7.htm.)
>
> When the last Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago,
> baboons outnumbered humans by
> at least 2 to 1. If all non-human primate
> populations were counted together,
> including the large populations of some of the
> smaller species, they dwarfed
> the human population. Now that has changed. The
> development of agriculture
> allowed for rapid human population growth, and about
> 2,000 years ago,
> humans--numbering 300 million--became the most
> abundant of the primates. By
> 1930, the human population of 2 billion likely
> outnumbered all other
> primates combined.
>
> Today, at 6.1 billion and climbing, we are
> threatening the survival of many
> of our primate cousins, including our closest living
> relatives, the
> chimpanzees and bonobos, with which we share over 98
> percent of our genome.
> The other apes are quite close to us as well, not
> only genetically, but also
> in observed behavior. Yet with the 300,000 human
> babies born each day
> exceeding the total population of the great apes,
> even our evolutionary
> proximity may not prevent us from eradicating our
> near-kin.
>
> While humans now inhabit every corner of the earth,
> most other primates
> exhibit strong endemism, meaning that a species is
> restricted to a
> particular area. Almost three quarters of all
> primates live in just four
> countries: Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the
> Congo (formerly Zaire),
> Indonesia, and Madagascar. In each of these
> countries, forest cover is
> decreasing. Because habitat loss is a danger to 90
> percent of threatened
> primates, their concentration in a few countries
> greatly increases their
> vulnerability.
>
> In Indonesia, diverse forests and wild inhabitants
> have suffered from
> logging fueled by corruption and political
> instability. Within the past
> decade, deforestation rates doubled, claiming almost
> 2 million hectares each
> year. As deforestation rates doubled, orangutan
> numbers dropped by half. By
> 2005, the country faces the loss of all lowland
> forest from Sumatra, and
> thus the extinction of the critically endangered
> Sumatran orangutan, among
> many other species. The Borneo orangutan, after
> suffering from logging,
> hunting, and the catastrophic fires of 1997, is not
> likely to survive beyond
> 2010 if current trends continue.
>
> Our closest relative, the bonobo, is endemic to the
> Congo, a country plagued
> by civil war and occupation by foreign military and
> rebel groups. Along with
> many other primates in the region, the slow-breeding
> bonobo has seen a rapid
> decline. In 1980 there were close to 100,000
> bonobos; now there may be fewer
> than 10,000.
>
> Although the civil war has created millions of human
> refugees and may have
> elevated the demand for meat from wild animals
> (bushmeat), the resulting
> sluggish economic development may have slowed
> logging in the Congo, the
> country containing half of Africa's remaining
> tropical moist forests. If
> political stability returns, tree cutting could
> increase several fold in the
> next few years, accelerating what could be the first
> great ape extinction.
>
> Gorilla populations have dropped to dangerously low
> levels, largely from
> illegal commercial bushmeat hunting. Fewer than 325
> mountain gorillas exist,
> and all are in one subpopulation spanning Rwanda,
> the Congo, and Uganda. The
> rarest, the Cross River Gorilla, is limited to only
> 150 to 200 individuals
> scattered among several lingering subpopulations on
> the Cameroon/Nigeria
> border region.
>
> In parts of West and Central Africa, hunting is an
> even greater threat than
> forest loss. There the bushmeat trade, consisting
> primarily of forest
> antelope, pigs, and primates, is worth over $1
> billion a year. In areas
> where social turmoil has ravaged traditional
> economic activities, and the
> average annual family income is less than $100, the
> lure of earning $300 to
> $1,000 each year as a hunter has enticed many.
> Logging and, to a lesser
> extent, mining companies have penetrated forests,
> with their settlements
> increasing bushmeat demand, while their roads
> facilitate hunting.
>
> Exploitative hunting is not profitable in the long
> term, however, because
> wild populations, especially those of the large and
> slow-reproducing apes,
> are soon decimated. Over 1 million tons of wild meat
> is consumed annually in
> the Congo Basin, almost 6 times more than the
> forests' sustainable yield.
> Commercial hunting has emptied forests that were
> once full of animals.
>
> Though rural communities have long subsisted on wild
> animals and other
> forest foods, with up to 60 percent of their protein
> coming from bushmeat,
> most bushmeat from this region is now consumed in
> cities. Almost half of the
> 30 million people living in the forested regions of
> Central Africa are
> city-dwellers who are being fed with bushmeat from
> collapsing wildlife
> populations. As cities grow and bushmeat hunting
> accelerates to meet rising
> demand, it is estimated that hunting could eliminate
> all
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
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Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
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Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 20:17:23 -0800

From: Allen Gunn <gunner@...>
Subject: Ruckus Society Tech Toolbox Action Camp Update and DATES!

Greetings friends,

Well, the wait is finally over. We have dates and a location for the
Ruckus Society Tech Toolbox Action Camp!

If you're getting this email, you have signed up online or at some
time expressed interest in staying informed about the camp formerly
known as 'eGenius', The Ruckus Society's Tech Toolbox Action Camp. If
this is in error, you can remove yourself from this list by following
the instructions at the bottom of this message.

Before coughing up the details, I would like to thank everyone for
their patience; some of you have been waiting months for date and
location information, and we've finally got it! Also, if we haven't
replied directly to your inquiry, we apologize for that as well;
we've received hundreds of inquiries, and the volume has kept us from
delivering as much individual attention as we would like. If this
email and the updates on the web site don't give you the info you
need, don't be shy about giving us another shout :^)

That being said, here's the story:

WHERE: The camp will be held at Ocean Song in Occidental, California.
It is several hours north of San Francisco, up in the hills above the
coast and very beautiful. Its rustic charm will serve as a perfect
backdrop for topics both geeky and activist.

WHEN AND HOW: After much wonderful input, we've decided to schedule
the camp as two overlapping gatherings: a tech activist skillshare,
leading into a tech activist training. The dates are as follows:

Monday 6/24/02 - Wednesday, 6/26/02 Tech Activist Skillshare.
Approximately 50 tech activists currently applying technology in
their campaigns/activism will gather to discuss the state of tech
activism, share techniques, compare notes, and brainstorm. Attendees
will be strongly encouraged to stay through the week, continuing
discussions while participating in and helping with training .

Thursday 6/27/02 - Tuesday 7/2/03 Tech Activist Training, as
described at http://www.ruckus.org/techcamp.html, will offer training
to approximately 100 activists seeking to improve their understanding
of how and when to apply technology in their campaigns as well as who
else is applying it.

The following will be key dates leading up to the camp:

3/15/02 Tech Toolbox Action Camp application posted to Ruckus web site
4/12/02 Camp applications due
5/6/02 Applicants notified of application status
5/6/02 to 5/2702 Attendee participation confirmations (RSVP's)

We've also posted a FAQ on the web site
(http://www.ruckus.org/techcampfaq.html) to address some of the most
commonly asked questions about the camp; check it out and let us know
what we've missed!

We're still looking for lots of input and help in planning and
pulling off the camp, and will be mailing out more specific requests
for assistance and feedback in the near future. In the meantime,
please SPREAD THE WORD about the camp FAR and WIDE!

That's all the big news for now, look for more in the near future,

gunner

PS Please note that replies to this email are routed into an
automated folder and may not be promptly addressed.

To be removed from this list, reply to this email with REMOVE in the
subject line.

-------------------
Allen Gunn
gunner@...
www.ruckus.org
-------------------

-------------------
Allen Gunn
gunner@...
www.ruckus.org
-------------------

Canada Lynx Study:  Unauthorized Hair Samples Submitted for Analysis, by
Ronald Malfi, acting managing director for special investigations, before
the House Committee on Resources. GAO-02-496T, March 6.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-496T

----- Original Message -----
From: Vermont Health Care for ALL
To: vthca@...
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 4:46 PM
Subject: NOBODY LEFT BUT US


please circulate widely
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOBODY LEFT BUT US

IF YOU'RE WAITING FOR SOMEONE IN POWER to do something useful about this
mess, forget it. The axis of violence  Bin Laden, Sharon, and Bush  has
turned this into a war of alternative terrors, the only certainty being
that, by their bidding,  somewhere, somehow, more innocent people will be
killed or maimed. In this country, those  of influence who should rebel
against the madness are too cowardly, incompetent, or complicit to raise
their voices. And even if they did, the media would pay them no mind,
preferring instead the sociopathic festival of death and brutality in the
name of nationhood and patriotism.

So it pretty much comes down to us. Just as in every great moment of moral
crisis, the fatal flaw of power is to prefer position to principle and to
assume that position is an outward and visible sign of inner, invisible
grace. Just as in every great moment of moral crisis, it is left to the weak
to speak the truth, the outsider to find resolution, and the unannointed to
carry out responsibilities that our elected representatives swore to fulfill
but have so carelessly jettisoned.

There is a great coalition of conscience waiting to be formed, but at the
moment it consists of millions who, thanks to the effectiveness of
government and media propaganda, have yet to realize that they are not
alone. Once that discovery has been made  and oh how the apostles of
violence seek to prevent it  then the way to sanity will start to open. If,
say, those opposed to the present course represent just twenty percent of
the country that's bigger than any lobbying group in America. If that twenty
percent were to demand a few basic policies such as Palestinian statehood,
an end to the Iraqi embargo, and the commitment to non-violent resolution,
the illusionary national unanimity  so heavily based merely on fear of
offending or looking foolish  would start to unravel.

Any community could help to get this rolling by bringing together concerned
citizens willing to stand with others and to say in a group what they have
been reluctant to express singly. Religious leaders, writers, teachers, and
others not a part of the machinery of power could play a major part as could
those whose reputations are not dependent on the blessing of the political
and media structure. What started as a few people setting an example could
spread until it becomes a national and international movement.

There could also be a non-official initiative in the form of a  national or
global Internet petition to those in power to cease their earth-threatening
behavior and to accept a few basic principles of decency.

And finally, there could be some symbol  perhaps a revival of the peace icon
of the 60s  to make visible our rejection of the ways of our leaders and our
commitment to an alternative.

There are, to be sure, a wealth of other tactics  demonstrations, boycotts,
civil disobedience. But it seems that nothing could do more sooner than to
find a number of ways in which those who do not wish to join the axis of
violence can declare their rejection and know they are not alone.  SAM SMITH


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The terrorists you don't hear about

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0302/0302enviroterrorists.htm

By Tom DeWeese
March 4, 2002

While the public's attention is focused on the prospect of more terrorist
acts by Islamic fundamentalists, the terrorists who have posed the greatest
threat to property, to scientific inquiry, and to medical research in
America are still at large. And they are bragging about their accomplishments!

They are the members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth
Liberation Front (ELF). James Jarboe, the chief of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Counterterrorism Division for domestic terrorism, testified
recently for a congressional subcommittee that at least 26 FBI field
offices have pending investigations underway regarding these two groups. In
addition, 44 Joint Terrorism Task Forces around the nation have taken up
the challenge of eco-terrorism.

If you have not heard anything about this on network evening news programs
or read much about it in your local daily newspaper, you are not alone. Why
has most of the mainstream media virtually ignored the ALF and ELF, shadowy
organizations that have carried out 600 attacks since 1996 and are emerging
in the eyes of law enforcement officials as the largest and most active
US-based terrorist groups?

While many, including myself, have legitimate concerns about the recently
passed "Patriot Act" granting vast powers to law enforcement authorities to
root out the menace of Islamic terrorism, those powers may also finally
yield some results with regard to both ELF and ALF. Since 1996, the cost of
their criminality is estimated at $43 million.

In January, ALF had the audacity to release its own report regarding its
previous year of arsons, tree spikings, laboratory attacks and other
illegal acts committed in the name of saving animals and the environment.

Prior to 9.11, their report cited 137 acts, among which was an arson
causing $5.3 million in damage to the University of Washington in May, by
far the most destructive act in 2001, excluding the attacks on the World
Trade Center and Pentagon. ALF also took credit for an April $1.5 million
arson in Washington State directed against an egg farm. The result of the
UW attack was to destroy research involving trees, rare plants, wetlands
and urban landscapes.

The roster of crimes committed by ALF and ELF included the smashing of
windows at a Wendy's restaurant in Gaithersburg, MD, and a $700,000 arson
at a cotton gin in Visalia, CA. In June, these groups smashed windows at a
Bed, Bath & Beyond store in Salt Lake City, but it was New York and Texas
that accounted for nearly half of all the animal rights actions with 17
incidents each. Fifteen other States and the District of Columbia also were
subject to their domestic terrorism.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) scheduled February 12th
as a "National Day of Actions Against State Repression" to protest a
congressional hearing held in Washington, DC. At that hearing, ALF/ELF
spokesman, Craig Rosebraugh, evoked the Fifth Amendment fifty times in
response to questions asked by subcommittee members.

Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO), chairman of the hearing, called ALF/ELF members
"hardened criminals." He described them, saying "They are dangerous, they
are well-funded, they are savvy, sophisticated and stealthy, and if their
violence continues to escalate, it is only a matter of time before their
parade of terror results in a lost human life."

Only now has one industry affected by these terrorist acts begun a public
campaign to focus attention on the dangers posed by ALF and ELF. In
January, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a coalition of restaurant
and tavern operators announced they would underwrite an advertising
campaign against what they called "notorious and extreme groups" that want
to restrict people's food and beverage choices. They are taking aim at
PeTA, Greenpeace, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

A 1992 congressional report by the US Office of Technology Assessment,
entitled "The Terrorist Threat," quoted the FBI as saying, "PeTA leaders
are reported to have acted as intermediaries to the press for the ALF,
including distributing a videotape of an ALF break-in." One can only hope
that elements of the Patriot Act will now be used to undertake a thorough
investigation of PeTA and other such groups.

ALF, ELF and seemingly mainstream advocacy groups have been given free
reign to undertake acts of terrorism or to seek public acceptance for such
acts. That day must now end. They must been given the same priority as
al-Qaida and other Muslim terrorists. Their objectives may differ, but
their crimes do not.

ELP INFORMATION BULLETIN
(International Women's Day Special - 8th March)

To celebrate International Women's Day ELP has teamed up with some wimmin
prisoner support activists to bring you this special ELP Information
Bulletin.

Contents of Bulletin:

1) British anti-globalisation activist, Emily Apple, due to be sentenced
2) Prisoner Profile:  Fran Thompson
3) Amazing Prison Statistics
4) More Info & Useful addresses

==============

EMILY APPLE DUE TO BE SENTENCED
Emily Apple, a British die-hard anti-capitalist non-stop direct action
activist is being sentenced on Wednesday the 13th of March for obstruction
of the railways during protests against DSEi  (Defence Systems Exhibition
International) in September 2001. DSEi is Europe's biggest arms fair,
catering for dictators and oppressive regimes throughout the world, selling
landmines (banned under UN law), hawkjets, cluster bombs, rocket launchers,
anti-ballistic missiles, you name it.  She and a friend handcuffed
themselves to a DLR train containing delegates to DSEi, stopping them,
literally, in their tracks, from reaching the place. Her friend has been
aquitted but Emily was convicted and now faces up to two years in prison -
for a fluffy, non-violent, effective bit of direct action to prevent a
global breach of the peace!  Emily's supporters are asking for people in
London to attend court on March 13th to support Emily.  So for vegan
munchies, bracing beverages, song, dance and continuing resistance go to
Snaresbrook Crown Court, 75 Hollybush Hill, London E11 at 9am. Bring
balloons, streamers, banners, flowers, confetti, tasty vegan food, musical
instruments and friends.  For more info contact - 07789 528 043.

=============

PRISONER PROFILE:  FRAN THOMPSON

Regular readers of the ELP Newsletter will be aware of the name Fran
Thompson.  In the Newsletter, ELP lists her as "An eco-activist serving Life
for shooting dead, in self-defence, a stalker who had broken into her home".
But who is Fran?  Fran is your typical eco-activist.  On the outside she
campaigned long and hard for the issues she cared about.  Her campaigning
included protesting against nuclear industry, intensive animal farming and
environmental destruction.  This campaigning made her unpopular in her home
area, which was a rural farming area in Nebraska.  Now one day, one of Fran'
s farming neighbours decided that he wanted to get his hands on the land
which Fran owned.  To obtain the land he asked Fran to marry him.  Fran
declined.  However this guy was not going to take no for an answer and
started stalking her.  The stalking got so bad that one-day he broke into
her house.  Terrified of what he might do to her, Fran grabbed a gun and
defended herself.  He sadly died from a gunshot wound.  At her trial the
Judge refused to allow the Jury to consider a plea of self-defence and Fran
was convicted of murder.  Fran hates "poor little Fran" articles being
written about her and has never sort out prisoner support.  In fact the
international eco-prisoner support movement may never of heard about Fran if
it wasn't for the fact in 1997 she contacted the British "Vegan Prisoners
Support Group" asking them if they could help her secure vegan food.  The
VPSG passed on Fran's details to an ELP volunteer and ELP has supported Fran
from then on.  Fran is a lovely woman who deserves all the support we can
offer her.  ELP urges everyone to write letters of support to Fran at: Fran
Thompson, 1107 Recharge Rd., York NE 68467, USA.   For more information
about Fran's case contact support group 'Free Fran Movement', 333 Agro
Avenue, San Antonio, TX 78209, USA.

=============

AMAZING PRISON STATISTICS
In the last six years the female prison population in England & Wales rose
from 1,560 inmates to 4,119 inmates.  Between November 2000 to November 2001
there was a 19% increase in the female prison population.  This compares to
a 6% increase in the male prison population for the same period.  (Source:
The Big Issue - 25/02/02)

Mothers make up 60 per cent of the female prison population.  It is
estimated that around 8,000 children under 15 are affected every year when
their mothers are sent to jail.  With just 62 toddler spaces in prison
mother & baby units, scores of youngsters are taken into care by social
services when their mothers are jailed.  More than a fifth of women are
jailed over 100 miles from their home towns.   Also nearly half of all
female inmates expect to be homeless on release. (Source:
http://www.ivillage.co.uk/newspol/newspolfeatures/newsviews/articles/0,10233
,166155_183081-3,00.html)

=============

More Info & Useful Addresses

ELP & our friends are currently trying to create a comprehensive list of
female prisoners.  This list is nowhere near complete.  However if you know
of a female prisoner who is in need of support please get in contact.  Or
alternatively if you'd like a draft copy of our Female Prisoner List please
let us know by writing to:

Wimmin Prisoner Support
c/o BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX, England
e-mail < AnimalEarthLiberation@... >

A couple of other useful addresses include:

Women in Prison unit 3b 22 Highbury Grove, London, N5 2EA, England.
Telephone: 020 7226 5879.  Website www.womeninprison.org.uk  e-mail <
admin@... > A British based support group for women in
prison run by former female prisoners.

Women's Prison Book Project, c/o Arise Bookstore, 2441 Lyndale Ave S,
Minneapolis, MN 55405, USA.  website http://www.prisonactivist.org/wpbp
e-mail < wpbp@... >

Using Violence to Advance Political Goals is Terrorism, Plain and Simple

<http://www.rightturns.com/columnists/guest/gw/gwcurrent.htm>

by GREG WALDEN, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE
March 1, 2002

Among citizens of the West who make their living from agriculture and
natural resource production, more often than not good stewardship of the
land is more than just a principle - it's a way of life.  That's why it's
so infuriating to see private property needlessly destroyed by terrorists
who use vandalism and arson to advance their own radical notion of what it
means to care for the environment.
On February 12, the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House
Resources Committee held an oversight hearing entitled, "Eco-terrorism and
Lawlessness on the National Forests" to address criminal acts committed by
two criminal organizations known as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and
the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).  I testified at the hearing about the
considerable destruction of property ELF/ALF has caused within Oregon's
Second Congressional District, which I represent in Congress.  The message
I delivered was simple: regardless of which side of the political spectrum
you occupy, committing acts of violence to further your views is
fundamentally wrong.
In recent years, an alarming number of violent, destructive acts of
eco-terrorism have been committed by ELF/ALF, who often jointly claim
'credit' for these attacks.  Let's call ELF and ALF what they truly are -
TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS.  Their combatants wear no uniform.  They blend in
with the civilian population.  They destroy private and government
property.  They teach others how to conduct dangerous and illegal
acts.  And they try to intimidate those who speak against them.
My district has seen three acts of terrorism committed by ELF or ELF/ALF in
recent years.  Numerous other acts of violence and destruction of private
property remain un-claimed, but appear in the recent ELF/ALF 2001 Year-End
Direct Action Report.
On July 21, 1997 an arson fire at Cavel West meatpacking plant in Redmond,
Oregon resulted in $1.4-million in damage, a jointly claimed
act.  According to Captain Wayne Shortreed of the Redmond Police
Department, at one point the blaze was so hot that it threatened a propane
storage facility approximately 100 yards away in a densely populated area.
Four months later, this firebombing was followed by a November 29, 1997
jointly claimed attack on several BLM horse corrals in Burns, Oregon, also
in my district. This direct action resulted in over $450,000 in damage and
the release of 539 horses and burros.  It also resulted in the scuttling of
a planned adoption of 100 wild horses and 40 burros that had been scheduled
to take place on December 6-7, 1997.
And on December 27, 1998 ELF firebombed the U.S. Forest Industries
headquarters in Medford, Oregon causing more than $900,000 in damage.  It
is this last attack on U.S. Forest Industries, claimed only by ELF, that I
focused on during my testimony.
On the morning of December 28, 1998, the employees of U.S. Forest
Industries arrived at work to find their offices smoldering.  The scene is
reminiscent of what we saw of the damaged part of the Pentagon after
September 11th. It didn't take a jetliner to destroy this office; an ELF
firebomb did the job.  And while fortunately there was no loss of life, the
destruction was just as severe.
Amazingly, and by sheer force of will, U.S. Forest Industries operations
were shut down for only four hours on Monday, December 28, because the
company was able to relocate its 15 employees to its mill operations plant
in White City, Oregon.  In the words of U.S. Forest Industries President,
Jerry Bramwell, 'We didn't want to give ELF the satisfaction of putting us
out of business.'
It didn't take long for ELF to claim responsibility for this attack as the
following January 16, 1999 ALF press release illustrates.
'To celebrate the holidays we decided on a bonfire. Unfortunately for
U.S.  Forest Industries it was at their corporate office headquarters in
Medford, Oregon.'  The press release then states in the fourth paragraph:
'This was done in retribution for all the wild forests and animals lost to
feed the wallets of greedy (expletive deleted), like Jerry Bramwell, USFI
President.'
The attack was not conducted because USFI was harvesting timber from public
lands.  Rather, they were harvesting timber from private lands in
Colorado.  The so-called 'communiqué' continued, 'This action is payback
and it is a warning to all others responsible, we do not sleep and we won't
quit.'  Clearly, the threat remains.
Featured on ELF's website (www.earthliberationfront.com) is a page entitled
'Setting Fires with Electrical Timers: An Earth Liberation Front Guide.'  I
think the intent of the guide is dramatically and blatantly clear.  They're
actively enlisting and training others to carry out additional attacks in
our country.
Now, ELF and ALF's claim that no 'human or non-human animal' will be hurt
by their attacks.  But this assertion is ludicrous in light of the severity
and violent nature of many attacks perpetrated over the last four years.  I
think an editorial in the January 24, 1999, edition of the Oregonian said
it best when it stated '...ELF's followers think they have the power to
plan their violence so that no [human or non-human animal ] will ever be
hurt. What are they going to say if man, woman or child just happens to be
in the wrong place when ELF makes its next statement by fire.  There is no
sense in what ELF offers to the world and no honor.'
I couldn't agree more with the words expressed in this editorial.  It is
only a matter of time before an innocent life is lost in a future ELF/ALF
attack.  That is why it is imperative to treat all acts of terrorism
equally.  The terrorists behind the attacks of September 11, 2001, and
December 27, 1998, both used terror and destruction to further their cause.
Terrorism is terrorism whether it is international, domestic, economic,
religious, social or environmental.  I call on our Justice Department to
redouble its efforts to track down, apprehend and convict those responsible
for these acts.  It's time to break up this terrorist network, too.
---------
Write to Congressman Walden at greg.walden@...
--------
Greg Walden has served as United States Representative for the Oregon's
Second Congressional District since being elected in 1998. The Second
Congressional District includes the 20 counties of southern, central and
eastern Oregon. At more than 70,000 square miles, it is geographically
larger than most states. Congressman Walden entered Congress with a solid
record of private and public sector experience. He and his wife Mylene have
owned and managed Columbia Gorge Broadcasters since 1986. They employ 17
people, operate four radio stations and an application to build a fifth
station was recently approved. His experience as a small business owner and
manager has helped Walden become a leading advocate for small business
issues in the House. In 2000, Walden received the "Guardian for Small
Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business for
his support of policies to help Oregon small businesses and their employees
succeed in the global market. Before his election to Congress, Walden
served eight years in the Oregon Legislature and twice was chosen as the
House Majority Leader. During his two years in the State Senate he served
as Assistant Majority Leader.

If you really believe that commercial outer space will
be different than commercial planet earth, start
checking out http://www.space.com/spacenews/index.html
Funding is big corporate aerospace welfare.  -sheila

This is in response to the World Treaty Banning Space
Based Weapons aka, Peace in Space

Lawmakers Question Merits of EchoStar-Hughes Deal
EchoStar’s proposed acquisition of Hughes Electronics
Corp. received a chilly reception on Capitol Hill
March 6, with one lawmaker suggesting the deal would
violate U.S. antitrust law by creating a single,
dominant satellite TV provider in the United States.


'Fly-buy' data

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/lunar_future_010820-2.html

NASA could give the Moon the business. That is, a
program might be dedicated to not only support NASA
interests, but also the lunar science community and
commercial groups too.

One outcome from the Return to the Moon III meeting
last month was a call for NASA to establish a data
purchase plan.

Data can be had at the Moon beneficial to both
scientific and economic interests. That information
can aid in putting up commercial lunar hotels,
establishing mining facilities, as well as establish
planetary training grounds for future Mars explorers.

"The consensus is that NASA can open the door to
commercial lunar development if they'll implement this
data purchase program to encourage the gathering of
much-needed data from the Moon," said Rick Tumlinson,
Space Frontier Foundation president.

What needs to happen now is multi-pronged, Tumlinson
said.

First, a special research and peer review committee
should be set up to define the subjects and set
priorities for future "ground truth" research done
right at the Moon's surface, as well as from lunar
orbit;
Secondly, a pricing structure for each of the
different subject categories of data to be purchased
is needed;
Thirdly, a criterion for payment, calibration of data,
and verification that data acquired meets stipulated
specifications has to be established; and
Lastly, the U.S. Congress would be presented this
step-by-step plan. The goal for funding the new
approach is fiscal year 2003.
Nagging questions

Thanks to an onslaught of robotic probes and a dozen
moonwalkers, one could easily think of the Moon as a
been there, done that world.

That might be the view here in the United States.
Meanwhile, scientists at the European Space Agency
(ESA) and the National Space Development Agency
(NASDA) in Japan are readying their respective lunar
probes. ESA's SMART-1 and NASDA's Selene spacecraft
are being readied for launch.

The Moon still has much to teach us, counters Mike
Duke, a space scientist at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute in Houston and at the Colorado School of
Mines in Golden.

"It's important to know more about the science of the
Moon. We won't really understand the origin and early
evolution of our Solar System until we understand the
origin of the Moon. It's clearly a question that we
don't have the full answer to," Duke said.

Much of the science that can be done from lunar orbit
has been done, Duke said. "We need to send missions to
the surface to get the next scale of understanding."

And there is a solid list of lunar longings that
scientists are hungry to answer. One of the most
intriguing: Could life have formed on the Moon?


Peak of Eternal Light. Sunlight bathes mountaintop
while nearby craters are sun ray-free and may harbor
water ice.
Credit: Erven J.J. TiJl Press Press (Zwolle,
Netherlands)

Duke said that around four-and-a-half billion years
ago, the scene was one in which organic-rich objects
bombarded the lunar surface. Intense energy released
from these impacts was long-lived, making it a nice
environment for life to possibly take hold on the
Moon.

"In fact, there's probably just about as much reason
to think that life formed on the Moon in early lunar
periods as there is reason to believe that there's
life on Mars now," Duke said.

Would nagging questions about the origin and past
history of the Moon spark a scientific rationale for
replanting footprints on the lunar landscape. Duke
doesn't think so.

"We really need to push for human settlement on the
Moon. That will advance the cause of science.
Self-sufficient lunar settlements will be of maximum
benefit to the scientific exploration of the Moon,"
Duke said.

Icy real estate

What's needed is a detailed global assessment of the
Moon, said Alan Binder, director of the Lunar Research
Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

Binder is a major proponent of a commercial data
purchase plan. He sees it as the most cost effective
way to shed more light on the Moon, not just for
scientific reasons but to help define the potential
for economic utilization of Earth's natural satellite.

Due to the steady pace of revelations about other
worlds within our solar system, Binder points out that
"our next door neighbor in the heavens, the Moon, is
swiftly becoming one of our least explored celestial
bodies."

Binder is no stranger in a strange land when it comes
to the Moon. He was principal investigator for NASA's
Lunar Prospector that took a lunar look-see in
1998-1999. A key observation made by the probe was the
detection of hydrogen at the Moon's north and south
poles. Those concentrations of hydrogen could be
locked up in molecules of water ice.

"We mapped hydrogen and infer water," Binder told
SPACE.com. The certainty level that Lunar Prospector
detected water on the Moon, said the scientist, is in
the 95 percent range.

"Everything we see in the data seems to say it is
water. But until we're on the surface you don't know,"
Binder said. That water ice, if present, is held
captive in shadowed craters at both lunar poles. In
terms of quantity, north and south reservoirs
combined, a few hundred million metric tons may be
ready to tap, he said.

Unquestionably, this type of resource could be
harvested to yield drinkable water, oxygen and fuel.
Those resources could sustain a long-term human
presence on the Moon, Binder said.



Space Tourism in the 21st Century: High Hopes, High
Stakes


A Four-Star Hotel That's Out of this World


NASA Official Foresees Government Role in Space
Tourism


Rocket Guy: Oregon Man Set for Self-Launch


Taming the Lunar Frontier: Settlers Wanted


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THE PETA-ELF CONNECTION

By STEFAN C. FRIEDMAN
New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/42906.htm

March 7, 2002 -- NEARLY six years after the Earth Liberation Front set off
its first firebomb in the United States, the feds may have gotten their
first break in figuring out who runs this dangerous eco-terrorist group.

In congressional testimony last month, Richard Berman, of the Center for
Consumer Freedom, produced a tax return from the People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA). It turns out PETA isn't just funding anti-milk
and anti-fur organizations.

It's funding arsonists.

On April 20, 2001, PETA donated $1,500 to the North American Earth
Liberation Front to "support their [sic] program activities."

One need look no further than ELF's Web site to see what those activities
are: The page features a building engulfed in flames.

According to James Jarboe, domestic-terrorism chief of the FBI's
Counterterrorism Division, ELF is "the largest and most active U.S.-based
terrorist group" and has already caused more than $43 million in damage
since 1996.

The discovery of the donation is crucial not only because it sheds more
light on PETA's misguided sympathies, but also because it could lead to the
names of individuals connected to ELF - names that have so far eluded
authorities.

This is not the first time PETA has been linked with domestic terrorists.
PETA served as "spokesgroup" for the Animal Liberation Front, ELF's close
counterpart, from 1989 to 1990.

And while scouring PETA's financials, Berman's folks also found that:

* It donated $70,200 to the defense of Rodney Coronado, an ALF member
convicted of a fire-bombing at Michigan State University. He pleaded guilty
to similar crimes at Oregon and Washington State universities.

* In 1999, PETA gave $2,000 to David Wilson, an ALF activist who once
bragged about the movement's expansion into "wildlife actions."

* In 2000, PETA gave $5,000 to the "Josh Harper Support Committee." Harper
is an ALF member arrested on numerous occasions.

PETA's cuddly image has also been tarnished by its own staff. Spokesman
Bruce Friedrich sounded more like an active ELF member than a crusader for
animal rights when he said, "It would be great if all the fast-food
outlets, slaughterhouses, these laboratories and the banks who fund them
exploded tomorrow."

PETA's board of directors later had to censure him.

As for the donation to ELF, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk admits giving the
money, but claims it was an honest mistake, that the money was supposed to
go toward "public education about destruction of habitat."

Maybe, maybe not.

But in a letter to Newkirk, Rep. Scott McInnis (R.-Colo.) poses seven
questions, including why PETA made the donation and if it intends to donate
again. And, most important: "Whose signature appeared on the returned check
that PETA gave ELF?"

If the feds can get that name, it might be able to bust this ring of
eco-terrorists wide open.

Now, PETA claims to be a peaceful animal-rights group opposed to illegal
activities. If that's true, Newkirk will answer McInnis' questions.

So far, she's not saying what she'll do. But if she doesn't talk, there may
be dire consequences for PETA.

Monday, the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, a Bellvue, Wash.,
-based group that tracks criminal attacks against businesses, sent a
complaint to the IRS, asking that PETA's tax-exempt status be stripped
because there is "information [that] strongly suggests that PETA induces or
encourages the commission of unlawful acts."

Certainly, time is of the essence. As McInnis says, if ELF is not brought
to heel, "it's just a matter of time before a human life is taken."

>Using Violence to Advance Political Goals is Terrorism, Plain and Simple
>
><http://www.rightturns.com/columnists/guest/gw/gwcurrent.htm>
>
>by GREG WALDEN, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE
>March 1, 2002
>
>Among citizens of the West who make their living from agriculture and
>natural resource production, more often than not good stewardship of the
>land is more than just a principle - it's a way of life.  That's why it's
>so infuriating to see private property needlessly destroyed by terrorists
>who use vandalism and arson to advance their own radical notion of what it
>means to care for the environment.

I agree, and I am waiting for Greg Walden to introduce legislation
ending arms production, abolishing a standing military, halting support for
oppressive regimes, jailing police officers that kill unarmed people and
generally stop funding and support the use of terror by government and
corporations against their citizens, efforts to advance their own radical
notions.

http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/cr9902we.htm
From Carol Rosin, Institute For Cooperation in Space
... ALL WE HAVE TO TO IS TO RECOGNIZE THE GOOD IN THE
MILTARY, THE GOOD IN THE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX...AND
FOCUS OUR ATTENTION AND THEIRS ON HOW WE CAN CONTINUE
TO MOVE INTO A DIRECTION THAT BRINGS THE WORLD'S R&D
PROGRAMS FORWARD WITH THE INTENTION OF LIVING IN A NEW
WAY...ON EARTH AND IN SPACE...BROUGH TO US BY THE
NATURE OF OUR WORKING INCLUSIVELY TOGETHER ON EARTH
MIDST OUR R&D TO TRAVEL, TO LIVE AND TO WORK IN THE
SPACE FRONTIER...


-sheila baker

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