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 161 Hudson St., NY, NY 10013 212-386-3600 |
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Rainforest Action Network Alerts People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Alerts |
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Activists
want Halt to Pesticide Spraying
SEMINAR
IN ANIMAL CRUELTY: Billing it as *an event too decadent to
miss,* the Wine Tasting Association of Alexandria, Virginia is conducting
a *Foie Gras Seminar* on Wed., October 18th to promote the French *delicacy*
of foie gras (which translates, literally, into *fat liver*). What the
Association is not mentioning in its promotions are the actual methods
by which this *delicacy* is produced - which are anything BUT delicate.
While event brochures explain that *when raised to specifications, the
Moulard duck features the enlarged foie gras liver, * they fail to disclose
the true nature of these *specifications,* which include force-feeding
ducks and geese through tubes attached to mechanical pumps. The result
is an animal with a grossly enlarged liver, and very often, fatalities
from ruptured internal organs and torn esophagi. HELP LIBERATE CAPTIVE DOLPHINS! Please
take a minute to voice your opposition to holding dolphins captive in
a shopping mall. Tell Maui you are against building new prisons for
dolphins. URGENT LETTER PROTESTING ABUSE OF DOG AT A HIGH SCHOOL Click
here
for background info. SOURCE:
Member of Great Dane Club of Las Vegas If you think this is bad enough, read on. This has not been publicly made known on the news, but she was SEXUALLY abused with either these sicko's own penises or with a not so blunt object. She was then urinated upon. As you all know, sexual crimes are about power not sex. These jerks tortured a defenseless, sweet dog because of a stupid, childish, football game rivalry. Blue was treated at the ARK animal clinic (702 648-8583), and has been released, but she's now battling severe internal injuries and infection. The principle of Mojave High School has downplayed the event not wanting to spoil the school's image and has even COMPLAINED about police interviewing his football team over, a stupid dog. The Centennial High School students have raised $1000 as a reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible, but the Code of Silence amongst Mojave students is in full force, so the case has been frustrating to the Metro police department. Please, please, please write to KVBC, and forward this to other lists! - Claudia Baker, Durango Great Danes , Henderson, Nevada WHAT
YOU CAN DO: PLEASE DO NOT LET THESE STUDENTS GET AWAY WITH THIS!!
SEND THE FOLLOWING LETTERS. I'm sure most of you have heard about the China bile bear industry, in which 10,000 bears are cramped in tiny cages on "bear farms" and milked for their bile. The bears have no room to move, stand up, or turn around. They lie down horizontally and are "milked" for their bile twice a day. The process is so painful that they roar, mutilate or kill themselves. They spend their whole lives like this, usually 10, but up to 20 years! The bile is used for "ancient Chinese remedies," (which are not even proven to work), aphrodisiacs, shampoo, and even wine! The active chemical can be synthesized, so this cruelty is not even necessary! The UK-based World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has uncovered evidence that American's black bears are getting caught up in this cruel business. "Captive-breeding programs in China are not sufficient to meet the demand for bears and their gall bladders," reports WSPA's Susan Sherwin. As wild populations continue to dwindle, producers are forced to look elsewhere for their raw materials--and we have found that North American black bears, as well as bears in Asia and South America, are being killed for their gall bladders." To
help halt the exploitation of bears, WSPA is urging U.S. citizens to
press their legislative officials for the passage of H.R.2166, the Bear
Protection Act, which would ban the import, export and interstate trade
in bear organs and products. In
New Jersey: The Hon. Frank Lautenberg, U.S. Senate (NJ) For
House representatives, you can write to: Activists File Lawsuit Seeking Halt to Pesticide Spraying in Light of Threats to Health and Safety, Legal Violations NEW YORK, N.Y. - Environmental activists filed suit against the City of New York in federal court today for violations of federal and state environmental statutes in the city¹s mosquito-control pesticide-spray program. Activists charge the city with engaging in unlawful discharge of toxic chemicals into and over air, land and waters around New York City, which has put the health of residents at serious risk and threatens critical environmental wildlife habitat. They have asked the court to stop the spraying because of the health and safety risks and violations of the approved labels and the law. The suit lists a series of violations associated with the 1999 spraying in which hazardous insecticides were sprayed from helicopters and trucks. This week, the city began spraying of a hazardous pesticide in Staten Island. Activists tie the pesticides in use at the time and proposed for use this season to dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, skin irritation, loss of coordination, twitching and seizures, as well as delayed long-term neurotoxic effects, including optic and peripheral neuropathy. The pesticides may also be a cause of breast cancer. The suit is being brought by the New York City-based No Spray Coalition, Disabled in Action, Save Organic Standards - NY and the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. Also on the suit as plaintiffs are city residents Robert Lederman, Valerie Sheppard, Eva Yaa Asantewaa and Mitchel Cohen. According to the lawsuit, wind currents caused pesticides to draft or were directly sprayed over water bodies of New York City, accumulating in the city¹s waters and sediments, harming aquatic invertebrates and aquatic life stages of amphibians, fish, shellfish and other organisms. Also stated as a concern is the impact of the spraying on critical environmental habitats for birds, including migratory and uncommon species. The lawsuit charges violations of the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation Recovery Act, the State Environmental Quality Review Act, and the City Environmental Quality Review regulations. The plaintiffs allege that the city failed to apply for the appropriate permits, neglected to conduct Environmental Impact Statements, and violated pesticide product label restrictions under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act(FIFRA), the federal pesticide-control law. "The spraying continued without concern for risk to people with asthma or compromised immune systems," said Eva Yaa Asantewaa, a Plaintiff and board member of the No Spray Coalition. "Our neighborhoods have a very high number of both, particularly among people of color." Due to pressure from anti-pesticide activists, the city has been forced to stop future use of malathion, but sprayed Staten Island with sumithrin. Sumithrin and resmithrin, another pesticide used by the city, are pyrethroids. Inhaling pyrethroid insecticides can cause coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, runny or stuffy nose, chest pain or difficulty breathing. Skin contact can cause a rash, itching, or blisters. According to Mitchel Cohen, of the No Spray Coalition and the Brooklyn Greens, "The brand of sumithrin used by the city, Anvil, includes piperonyl butoxide, which can cause skin and eye irritation. All the health effects of this chemical have not been fully researched, but pyrethroids could be a cause of breast cancer - laboratory tests have indicated the disruption of the endocrine system by mimicking the effects of the female sex hormone estrogen." What you Can Do: · Donate. The lawsuit takes money! Although our lawyer, Joel Kupferman, of the NY Law and Environmental Justice Project, has donated his time (as have ALL of us!), we still need thousands of dollars just to transcribe the testimonies we'll be taking of all the officials involved, including the Mayor, and proceed with the lawsuit. We cannot underplay our need for funds. Whatever you can give, whether it be $5 or $5,000, it is greatly appreciated and will be put to excellent use. Please make out checks to the No Spray Coalition, and mail to: PO Box 334, Peck Slip Station, NYC 10272-0334. All funds are tax exempt. · Call us and find out what you can do to help! We need people to donate their TIME as well as funds. Ask us for flyers you can distribute. We have several pamphlets geared to distribution at elementary schools, municipal workers' and their unions, science professionals, health care providers, and others. Set up a meeting at which we could speak. We have an excellent group of public speakers on this issue. Ask organizations to which you belong to join the No Spray Coalition. Call the "No Spray Hotline" at (718) 670-7110 to get regular updates of events, and to volunteer to help! The No Spray Coalition, PO Box 334, Peck Slip Station, NYC, NY 10272-0334 The No Spray Hotline (718) 670-7110
Since
the corporations who continue to invest in Burma play such an important
role in propping up the military regime, one of the most effective ways
we can support democracy in Burma is to encourage those corporations
to withdraw. Please contact the companies who invest in Burma to express
your concern. Dear
Roger Beach, Continuing the campaign to convince UNOCAL to leave Burma by contacting members of their boards of directors, please write to a board member of Unocal, Mr. John Amerman, retired CEO of Mattel Inc., the toy manufacturer. Please send Mr. Amerman a brief note about Unocal and Burma. Also send a copy of your note to Ms. Jill Barad, the current CEO of Mattel. Ms. Barad is currently having a lot of difficulty with falling share prices and profit at Mattel. Mr.
John Amerman Ms.
Jill Barad Dear
Mr. Amerman, Best
Western International Inc Dear
Best Western, Suzuki Dear
Suzuki, ***PLEASE FORWARD VERY VERY WIDELY!!!!***
Dear Friend, The protestors experienced unbelievable amounts of state repression, including tear gassings, beatings, and the suspension of their constitutional rights. Five hundred and seventy-six people were arrested for raising their voices against the human rights abuses and environmental destruction fostered by the WTO. These defendants need your help. The defendants have shown incredible courage both in jail and in court, with over ninety eight percent maintaining solidarity agreements. The majority of the cases have been dropped because of this amazing solidarity and with the help of the Direct Action Network (DAN) Legal Team. Now the real fun is just beginning, as the DAN Legal Team gears up to give trial support to those defendants whose cases have not been dismissed. The DAN Legal Team is hard at work helping these defendants with legal information, housing, and travel expenses. The concentrated resources of the activist community and the DAN Legal Team, coupled with the astounding flimsiness of the cases against the WTO defendants, means that justice will prevail - but we need you to help make it happen! Your donation to the DAN Legal Defense Fund will help to pay for defendants' travel expenses and DAN Legal Office expenses. Please make checks payable to the DAN Legal Team. You can mail your donation to: DAN Legal Team, PO Box 95113, Seattle, WA 98145. Please feel free to contact Amanda Jarman at (206) 632-9482 or dan_legal@yahoo.com with any comments or questions. Thank you for your generous support. With your help, the WTO defendants will win at their trials! Cordially, URGENT PETITION FOR ACTION: PETROLEUM ACTIVITIES IN THE MAYA BIOSPHERE RESERVE VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF GUATEMALAN CITIZENS (Please distribute as wide as posible) A great fear that petroleum companies will continue operating with business as usual, and that the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) will be destroyed forever, was recently provoked by the Guatemalan Government's halfhearted and contradictory responses to Guatemala's Attorney General for Human Rights who concluded that petroleum activities in the Maya Biosphere Reserve constitute a violation of the fundamental rights of all Guatemalans. On February 7th, Guatemala's Attorney General for Human Rights ruled that the petroleum activities in the Maya Biosphere violate human rights "each time they disrupt the right to a clean environment, to the right of individual dignity, to the right of the preservation of the cultural and natural patrimony of the country, and to the right to social and economic development". The ruling also affirms that the violation of the Law of Protected Areas constitutes "an administrative tendency detrimental to the citizens of Guatemala, and especially, to the communities neighboring the ravaged protected areas." However, the official reaction focused exclusively on one of the nine concessions illegally approved in the Maya Biosphere. In doing so, the government failed to address the preoccupations of communities such as Carmelita and Uaxactún who have been threatened by the pending approval of petroleum concessions that will overlap forest areas which they have inhabited for over a century. Despite the fact that the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) has been protected by law since 1989, continuous violations of the law by authorities have allowed approximately 50% of the MBR Buffer Zone, as well as 40% of the MBR Multiple Use Zone and Core Zone to be opened, or auctioned off, for petroleum extraction. Using disingenuous legal trickery, nine new contracts for exploration or extraction have been approved since 1992 in the heart of the MBR and in the Buffer Zone, in addition to the two new proposals which affect the communities of Carmelita and Uaxactún. The Maya Biosphere is located in the northernmost part of Guatemala, forming the frontier with Mexico and Belize. It also serves as the heart of the greater Maya Forest (or Selva Maya), which is shared among the three countries. With an area of 1.6 million hectares in the Guatemalan part alone, the Maya Forest is considered as the second most important remaining tract of tropical forest in the Americas, second only to the Amazon. Among the potentially illegal new contracts recently approved, only three contain producing wells. Upon commencing exploration and extraction in the six pending concessions including Carmelita and Uaxactún, the reserve would be irreparably damaged as would be the forest cultures and communities in the area. The incoherent government response to the Attorney General for Human Rights' recent condemnation of petroleum activities was highlighted by the contradictions between two government agencies: the Secretary of the Environment, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Indeed, the Secretary's failure to mention all petroleum concessions apart from the Laguna Del Tigre contract (1-92), and the subsequent reaction by the Minister of Energy and Mines in which he belittled the Secretary of the Environment's authority to comment, amplify the fear that petroleum activities will continue destroying the Maya Biosphere Reserve. There is ample evidence to suggest that Guatemalan government's efforts to subdue the negative consequences of petroleum activities will be focused only on Laguna Del Tigre, allowing the remaining concessions to continue as a time bomb in the MBR. We urgently ask for your support. You can help by sending an email message to the Guatemalan government at: Copredeh@guate.net, with copy to the Ministry of Energy and Mines (unimem1@pronet.net.gt) and Tropico Verde (tropicoverde@guate.net), expressing: 1) Your preoccupation that the environmental authorities in Guatemala have focused only upon the legality of contract 1-92, in Laguna Del Tigre, and that they have not mentioned contracts 1-91, 5-93, 1-95, 2-95, A-9-96, >A-11-96, A-1-97 (Carmelita), A-2-97 (Uaxactún), 1-98, and 2-98, that were also approved after the creation of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, or are >currently pending. 2) That the Law of Protected Areas clearly establishes that within Guatemalan protected areas, including buffer zones, destructive activities such as petroleum extraction are prohibited, and that all the above listed contracts are within the Maya Biosphere and the MBR Buffer Zone. 3) That the Maya Biosphere Reserve is included within UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program, and that citizens of all countries have the obligation to resist its reckless destruction. 4) Your desire that the Guatemalan Government immediately suspend all petroleum contracts in the MBR signed after the establishment of the reserve. By failing to do so, the current government will be running the risk of being charged with violating the fundamental human rights of the local people along with previous administrations who supported the clearly illegal contracts. 5) That the following signatories of this letter of concern will continue to vigil regarding the Guatemalan government's response to this crisis, and until a solution respectful of the natural patrimony of the Guatemalan people, and indeed all people, is found. Below, a sample letter is provided that can be sent in its entirety, or modified as desired. President
Alfonso Portillo - Republic of Guatemala, We are bothered by the contradictions emitted by your functionaries and advisors in response to the recent ruling, and by the fact that all government personnel have only considered the legality of contract 1-92, in Laguna Del Tigre, having otherwise failed to discuss the legality of contracts 1-91, 5-93, 1-95, 2-95, A-9-96, A-11-96, A-1-97 (Carmelita), A-2-97 (Uaxactún), 1-98, and 2-98. All of the above contracts are situated within the Maya Biosphere Reserve and its buffer zone. All were approved after the declaration of the reserve. Especially confusing is the government's position regarding contracts A-1-97 (Carmelita), and A-2-97 (Uaxactún), both offered for concession in 1998, and both encountered within the Multiple Use Zone. The Guatemalan Law of Protected Areas clearly establishes that destructive activities are prohibited within all protected areas and their surrounding buffer zones. As a result, all authorizations of petroleum activities within the Maya Biosphere Reserve after 1990 are a clear violation of the law. We remind that all the previously mentioned contracts were approved after that date. Your government now faces the responsibility of choosing between two paths: one against popular opinion, that would do tremendous harm to your country's environmental legacy; the other the path of permanently suspending all concessions in the Maya Biosphere subsequent to the establishment of the reserve. This second path would allow you to demonstrate your respect for the fundamental rights of your citizens, while complying with the laws of your country. In
consideration of the above, we urge: We will continue monitoring the measures taken by your government to remedy the problem. We urge you to quickly respond to this crisis, and at the same time we remind you that the Maya Biosphere Reserve is included within UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program, making it the responsibility of all citizens everywhere to vigil for its protection. Sincerely, Tropico
Verde
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Action
Alerts!!