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To alleviate the problem of articles from other press sources being reposted on this IMC site, this section allows users to link to articles published elsewhere, and to contribute and read comments on those pieces. [Posting a new item has been removed in this static archive of the site.] |
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News: Media |
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Wireless World: Smart-cards vs. RFID tags |
Submitted by: UPI / 02 Apr 2005
Publisher: UPI
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A story about government abusing civil rights.
CHICAGO, April 1 (UPI) -- Very soon, international travelers will be able to breeze through customs checkpoints using passports outfitted with contactless smart-cards, experts told UPI's Wireless World. With the new technology, travelers will present their passports to customs agents, who simply will swipe them across a card reader, just as checkout clerks run bags of potato chips over a laser scanner at a grocery store. Likewise, as part of a directive signed by President George W. Bush, the Department of Homeland Security is planning to issue smart-card identification badges that will include digital images of fingerprints. The smart-cards, which contain wireless chips, will be inserted by the U.S. State Department into all new American passports starting later this year. They will contain up to 64 bits of memory, storing each traveler's name, date of birth, city of origin and other identifying information -- including a digital image. Because of its growth potential, major manufacturers such as Philips Semiconductors, Symbol Technologies, On Track Innovations Ltd. and others have entered the smart-card field. Though they are similar in function to radio frequency identification devices, or RFIDs, smart-card advocates are quick to point out their differences."These are passive tags," said Dave Engberg, chief technology officer at CoreStreet, a technology developer in Cambridge, Mass. "That means they don't have a power source in them. All the power comes from the induction of the magnetic field generated by the device that reads the chips." By Gene Koprowski |
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News: Environment : Human Rights : International : Organizing : Politics |
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Sea Shepherd Seal Hunt Protesters Beaten, Arrested |
Submitted by: petrinavegan (at ) yahoo.com / 02 Apr 2005
Publisher: Environment News Service
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By Captain Paul Watson
ABOARD THE FARLEY MOWAT, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, April 1, 2005 (ENS) - The Farley Mowat is locked into the ice. We must go where the ice takes us and it has moved us some 50 miles from the point close to the Magdalen Islands where we were when the storm moved in. The ice pressure continues to build.
Of the nearly 100 sealing ships that were in the ice on March 29th, only about 30 vessels remain. Two have sunk, others have been abandoned and others have been damaged, their hulls being squeezed by the increasing pressure. Most have returned to port.
One Newfoundland sealer was overheard to say on the radio, "These seals ain't worth this trouble b'ye."
The radio was alive with desperate sealers calling for help from the Coast Guard.
But one Coast Guard ice-breaker was busy elsewhere. They dropped all their other activities to respond to a complaint from the Newfoundland sealer Brady Mariner that some Sea Shepherd crew were taking pictures of their activities.
At 1330 Hours, 18 crew from the Farley Mowat had crossed a mile of ice to witness and photograph sealers from the Brady Mariner. Eight sealers came towards them armed with hak-a-pics and began to shout and swear at them.
Within minutes the sealers became violent and attacked the Sea Shepherd crew. Nineteen year old Lisa Moises from Germany was slapped in the face and punched in the stomach by one burly sealer.
A sealer with a club, locally called a hak-a-pic, assaults a member of the Sea Shepherd crew. Another attacked photographer Ian Robichaud with a hak-a-pik, striking his camera and hitting him in the side of the head. Adrian Haley was struck in the face. Jonathan Batchlor was punched in the mouth. Jonny Vasic was hit in the side of the head with a club. Petite Lisa Shalom of Montreal was struck by a sealer as she took pictures of the assault on her crewmates. When another sealer swung his hak-a-pik to strike Jonny Vasic's camera, Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a surgeon from Los Angeles, jumped in his way and took the blow across the face.
The crew radioed back to Captain Paul Watson that they had been attacked. Captain Watson called the Coast Guard Icebreaker Amundsen and requested that the Mounted Police officers on Board investigate the assault. They did not reply.
Instead, a helicopter was dispatched to arrest the Sea Shepherd crew on the ice. Of the 18 who left to document the sealers, only seven were able to return. They barely made it. The Amundsen was charging through the ice to cut off their path of retreat to the Farley Mowat.
Lisa Moises and Ian Robichaud barely made it back to the Farley Mowat. They watched as the massive red hull of the Coast Guard Icebreaker Amundsen bore quickly down on them in an attempt to cut them off. They could see chunks of ice flying out from the bow of the ice breaker but they kept focused on the Farley Mowat and managed to make it across.
Behind them Jonny Vasic and Jon Batchelor raced to cross the ice before the Amundsen could cut them off. Jonny saw the hull looming above him and felt the ice tremble as a jagged cut slithered before the bow and opened up. He could see the dark black water widening as he jumped and made it across, relieved to see that Jon Batchelor had done the same. Both of them raced towards the Farley Mowat.
Behind them Alex Cornelissen and Lisa Shalom were not so lucky. They were cut off and unable to cross the treacherous lead that the Amundsen had opened up. They saw helicopters approaching and police officers debarking the ice-breaker, their hands on their guns approaching them.
The eleven captured were manhandled into helicopters and taken to the Amundsen and charged.
The Amundsen then came towards the Farley Mowat in an intimidating manner and stopped only a few hundred feet off the starboard side of Farley Mowat for over an hour. No one on the Amundsen said anything or would provide information on the crew they had taken into custody.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans officers arrest Lisa Shalom and Laura Dakin on board the Amundsen. Captain Watson spoke with the Mounted Police in Charlottetown and officially requested an investigation into the assault charges. The entire assault was documented on the crews’ video cameras.
The fate of the eleven arrested crew is uncertain. They have all vowed to refuse bail and to refuse food. The 11 represent five different nationalitie: Dr. Jerry Vlasak, Colin Biroc and Andre Casanave of California; Megan Southern and Ian Fritz of Arizona; Ryan Goyette of Rhode Island; Matt Schwartz of Texas; Lisa Shalom of Montreal, Quebec; Alex Cornelissen of the Netherlands, Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden; and Laura Dakin, an Australian citizen and resident of Bermuda.
Assaulted with a deadly weapon, injured, and then arrested, and all this because they attempted to take a picture of a sealer.
You can almost smell the bananas growing in Canada these days. What kind of a democracy makes it a crime to take a photograph or shoot film of a wildlife slaughter? What kind of democracy responds to an assault by arresting the victim? What kind of nation prides itself in the massacre of hundreds of thousands of baby animals? What kind of government demands that permits be picked up in the one place where the applicants will be assaulted and where there is a history of violent assaults against them? What kind of nation could irresponsibly send ill-equipped vessels into treacherous ice conditions so that seals can be slaughtered?
The chaos that has erupted in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this week - the sinking of sealing vessels, the numerous distress calls, the assaults, and the arrests illustrate yet once again that the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is an incompetent bureaucracy.
It is the same incompetence that led to the collapse of the cod fishery, the same incompetence that led to charges of dumping waste by DFO vessels in Halifax harbor, and the same incompetence that is mismanaging and threatening the harp and hood seal populations.
The DFO officers have turned a blind eye to the cruelty and the violations by sealers for decades. They have fixated on protecting the killers from view of the world and they have demonstrated that they have lost all sense of objectivity and balance in their approach to ocean resource issues.
Fourteen crew remain on the Farley Mowat. Eleven are being held prisoner on the Amundsen. The seal slaughter has ended it's third day in the Gulf. Tomorrow morning will be the fourth day of this circus of blood, gore, and violence by the arrogantly ignorant.
Yet we are still here – the guardians and defenders of the seals. Here we will remain until our ship is sunk or driven out or we are captured or die out here on the ice doing what we came here to do – to be shepherds to these young and beautiful creatures – the harp seals. |
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News: Human Rights |
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What's up with the Today? (An Interview with Dahr Jamal) |
Submitted by: Jamie Phillips / 01 Apr 2005
Publisher: Socialist Worker Magazine
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April 1, 2005
Independent journalist Dahr Jamail: 'Life in Falluja is a horror story'
Interview with ERIC RUDER, Socialist Worker Magazine
April 1, 2005 - DAHR JAMAIL spent eight months working as an independent journalist in Iraq. As one of the few journalists not 'embedded' with U.S. forces, his reports earned a reputation for being an uncompromising look at life under occupation.
Currently, Jamail is back in the U.S. on a speaking tour that will take him to several West Coast cities. He spoke to Socialist Worker's ERIC RUDER about the destruction unleashed on Iraq by the U.S. during two years of occupation.
ER-YOUR REPORTS have given a radically different view of what's going on in Iraq compared to the other media. Can you talk about what you saw?
DJ-I HAD done a little bit of journalism before, not a whole lot, and I was watching the discrepancies in reporting between the mainstream here in the U.S., and independent journalists, the alternative media and the foreign media. I grew more and more disturbed by this huge discrepancy, and so I decided to head over to Iraq to report on it myself. My first trip was in November 2003.
I was in Falluja during the April siege last year for a couple of days, and then I went back in May several times to report on what happened. But I didn't go in November, because the military cordoned off the city and maintains that cordon to this day. They're not letting any journalists in there. I've been getting information by interviewing refugees, or through some of my colleagues who have been in and out of the city several times.
Life there is horrendous. At least 65 percent of the buildings have been bombed to the ground, and what's left has been severely damaged. There's no water, no electricity and, of course, no jobs. And when people go back into the city, they have to get a retina scan and get fingerprinted, and then they're issued an ID card.
Then they go inside to find what's left of their homes, and in a really horrible situation in which the military remains in total control of the town. There are snipers everywhere, and the ambulances aren't able really to run--they're still being targeted by the military. The one remaining hospital--Falluja General Hospital--is barely functioning, because people have to go through checkpoints to get there.
Life in Falluja is really a horror story. Most of the city's residents are refugees and will continue to be refugees for quite some time. They're scattered in small towns on the outskirts of Falluja, as well as Baghdad and other cities. The last estimate I heard was about 25,000--maybe a little bit more than that--had returned back to a city that once had a population of 350,000.
ER-WHEN THE U.S. announced its assault on Falluja, it claimed its goal was to root out the resistance. Can you talk about the strategic goal that the U.S. set for itself and also whether it succeeded?
DJ-I BASICALLY heard two reasons for going in and doing what they did to Falluja: what you mentioned, as well as another primary goal--providing 'security and stability' for the January 30 elections.
What happened was that most of the fighters in the city left even before the siege began--even the military admitted to that. So of the roughly 3,000 people killed, the vast majority were civilians. Falluja was declared a 'free-fire' zone for the military, meaning that they were not distinguishing between civilians and fighters, which is, of course, a violation of international law in a city where there might be civilians.
As far as accomplishing this goal of 'rooting out fighters' and/or providing 'security and stability' for the January 30 election, we can see that neither have been accomplished.
They have effectively spread the resistance further around the country. We have another sort of 'mini-Falluja' situation in Ramadi, where rather than sectioning off the entire city and doing what they did to Falluja, they're doing it neighborhood by neighborhood. In essence, any fighters who are there are moving to a different neighborhood when one is being hit, and then moving back when the military goes to another neighborhood.
They're going to have to employ the same strategy in Samarra, in Baquba, in Bayji, in Mosul and even in parts of Baghdad. It's a strategy that the U.S. military has been using since almost the beginning of the occupation--using very heavy-handed tactics to fight the resistance. But by doing so, they're just spreading the resistance to other areas around the city or the country, and essentially creating more resistance.
ER-WHEN YOU say the U.S. is spreading the resistance, is that because actual individuals go to other cities and start recruiting and organizing there? Or, is it because the horrors that the U.S. has caused have angered people who then join the resistance?
DJ-IT'S BOTH. Most fighters know when the U.S. is going to launch a new offensive, so they take off. It's a guerrilla war. Some of the basics of guerrilla warfare are that you don't attack when you're expected to attack, and you do attack when you're not expected. They're not going to try to go toe to toe with the U.S. military, so they take off.
Plus, if you and I are brothers, and we're living in a predominantly tribal culture like Iraq, and someone kills you, if I don't go avenge your death, then I dishonor the family. In that way, when we look at the fact that well over 100,000 Iraqis are estimated to have died during the occupation--the vast majority of them at the hands of occupation forces--it's a simple matter of doing the math to figure out how many people are in the resistance.
ER-LAST WEEK, there was triumphant talk by U.S. officials of an assault on an insurgent camp led by Iraqi ground forces with U.S. air support. Do you think this is a new turn in the occupation?
DJ-NO, ACTUALLY I think it's an old propaganda tactic being used by the military in Iraq, and being trumpeted by the media here in the U.S. We're already seeing massive discrepancies in the reporting on this situation.
It's similar to a situation I reported on back in December 2003, which happened in Samarra, where the U.S. military claimed that they were attacked by a large contingent of resistance and killed 48. Then, magically, the number went up overnight to 54.
I went up to Samarra myself to report on that. I interviewed doctors at the hospital. I went to the morgue. I interviewed civilians at the scene. Everyone said that eight people were killed, and they were all civilians. It was simply a propaganda smokescreen spewed out by the military to try to cover up the fact that they made a mistake, they were attacked and they killed some civilians.
Already, with the situation you just discussed, Reuters initially reported that Iraqi government commandos attacked an isolated camp 100 miles north of Baghdad. But there have been discrepancies in different reports coming from the military, from Reuters, from the Associated Press, Agence France Presse, which dispute where this took place, when exactly this took place, and how many people were killed.
There's much confusion, and it's going to take some time to get to the actual truth of it. But it does look pretty clear already that the truth will be quite a bit different than the initial report released by the military.
ER-MEANWHILE, ONE of the things missing from the U.S. media is reporting on the increasingly frequent bombing of Iraq by the U.S.
DJ-THAT'S A very important point. It definitely is one of the most underreported things in Iraq. Daily, there are many, many air missions being flown, and huge amounts of bombs being dropped. In fact, the vast majority of Iraqi civilians killed have died as a result of U.S. warplanes dropping bombs.
For example, in Falluja, it's pretty safe to say that a large percentage of the estimated 3,000 people killed there were killed by U.S. warplanes. I can't tell you how many reports I heard from refugees discussing how entire houses, entire blocks of houses, were bombed to the ground by U.S. warplanes. Even to this day, bodies lay under the rubble of houses because of this.
This is without a doubt the leading cause of the civilian casualties. They think that they're bombing fighters, and they think that by doing this, they're sending a message that if you continue to resist the occupation, you will be bombed, and anyone around you will be bombed.
It's a form of collective punishment, and it is definitely intended to send a clear message that if you mess with the U.S. military, you and anyone around you is going to be blown out of existence. More often than not, it's the case that when these bombs drop, it's civilians who are caught in them, not the fighters.
For example, several people reported to me that the way the U.S. military was getting its intelligence on where to bomb in Falluja prior to the siege of the city in November was that any Iraqi could literally go up to the U.S. base outside of Falluja and say, "Yes, in this house, there's a fighter." They were paid between $100 and $500, and then that house was bombed. So this was a method that many people used to settle old scores and make some cash.
On the flip side, of course, sometimes, they were right. Sometimes, there were fighters there, and they would be killed. But more often than not, as you can imagine, that wasn't the case.
ER-THE BUSH administration says the Iraqi elections show that "democracy is on the march," and that this is justification enough for the invasion and occupation.
DJ-WE CERTAINLY can't say that there's democracy in Iraq just because there's been an election, or something resembling an election. An election does not mean democracy. Democracy means the will of the people is being carried out by the government that they voted into place. And so far in Iraq, that isn't happening.
If we're going to measure success in Iraq, I think we could measure it by how many promises of the Bush administration have come to reality on the ground. Promises like bringing Iraqis jobs and a better life. Letting them rebuild their country. And letting them have a truly representative government--a government of their choosing.
None of this has happened. Electricity remains far below prewar levels. The amount of oil being pumped out remains far below prewar levels. Security is an abomination. There's a gasoline crisis in Iraq, something that never existed before. People are struggling every day just to get by.
On just about every level you would measure it, things are worse now in Iraq than they were prior to the invasion. It's two years into the occupation, and there's certainly been enough time for the U.S. to get its act together and try to provide some of these things.
People ask me, "What are the success stories," or "What good has come of it?" I've heard Iraqis say that the only thing good that has come from the invasion is the fact that Saddam Hussein has been removed. But aside from that--and I'm just quoting Iraqis here--in every other aspect, things on the ground there have gotten worse since the invasion.
ER-ONE FEATURE of mainstream media coverage has been the idea that there is a deep-seated antagonism in Iraq between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Do you think Iraq is moving toward civil war?
DJ-THERE IS definitely an over-focus in the Western media about this threat of civil war between the Shia and the Sunni. There are some politicians and some religious leaders in Iraq who think it is definitely a possibility, but most other people--and certainly the common people I interviewed--said, "No, this is really not a threat. We've never had a civil war."
In fact, when I would ask people if they were Shia or Sunni, the most common response was, "I am Muslim, and I am Iraqi," and they wouldn't even tell me.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Iraq is primarily a tribal culture. Many of these tribes are half-Shia and half-Sunni, and so many marriages are [between] Shia and Sunni. When I would ask them what they thought of the potential for civil war, people would joke with me, "Oh, civil war? That means I would have to attack my wife?" They laughed at it.
(c)2004, 2005 Dahr Jamail.
All images and text are protected by United States and international copyright law. If you would like to reprint Dahr's Dispatches on the web, you need to include this copyright notice and a prominent link to the DahrJamailIraq.com website. Any other use of images and text including, but not limited to, reproduction, use on another website, copying and printing requires the permission of Dahr Jamail. Of course, feel free to forward Dahr's dispatches via email. |
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Announcement: DNC |
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free bilingual Underwood's texts |
Submitted by: Ini / 01 Apr 2005
Publisher: Ini
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this is a small collection of Underwood's texts, that we want to share
we are a group of british and argentinian readers, and we're posting underwood's texts in the internet , cause theyre not easy to find...
thanks
http://underwood.f2g.net |
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News: International : Organizing |
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Arab Soccer Players Rescue Israeli Team |
Submitted by: sofiushka / 01 Apr 2005
Publisher: AP
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By KRISTEN STEVENS, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israel suddenly has two Arab heroes. In a country where Jewish-Arab alienation runs deep, a pair of critical goals in World Cup soccer has created an instant connection across the divide.
For years, Abas Suan and Walid Badir endured racist taunts from the bleachers. Now they're the toast of the predominantly Jewish state.
Badir scored Israel's only goal in a 1-1 tie with France on Wednesday in a World Cup qualifying match, repeating Suan's feat in a Saturday match against Ireland — and keeping Israel in contention for a tournament slot.
The two are among Israel's minority Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of Israel's 6.8 million people. Many Israeli Arabs complain they are second-class citizens and targets of discrimination in employment, education and living conditions.
Their rage has spilled over from time to time. Conversely, four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence has kindled Jewish anger against Israeli Arabs for identifying with their relatives in the West Bank and Gaza.
Most Israeli soccer teams have Arab players, and often they are greeted with racist chants. "No Arabs, no terrorism," goes one.
Now that the two Arab players have rescued Israel's World Cup hopes, though, there's a new slogan being carried in banner headlines in Israeli newspapers: "No Arabs, no goals."
Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab lawmaker, said Arabs have mixed feelings about rooting for Israel in the fervor following the goals by Suan and Badir.
"As Arabs, we're normally pushed away from the Israeli political issues, and then suddenly we're pulled into this ultra-national patriotism," Tibi said.
The euphoria and goodwill of the moment may be transitory, said Zouheir Bahloul, an Israeli Arab sportscaster for Israel Radio and TV.
Part of the problem is how Israel's Arab citizens fit into the nation, dominated by its Jewish majority.
Bahloul said when Israeli Arabs see the athletic accomplishments of Suan and Badir, they feel more a part of Israel. But sports creates a virtual reality, he said, generating successful examples for Arabs while doors continue to close in other areas.
"If the state can create more opportunities in other fields, this type of inspiration gives Arabs the confidence to make things happen for themselves," Bahloul said.
Badir, a tall, rangy defender, burst into the penalty area Wednesday and headed a bullet shot past famed French goaltender Fabien Barthez, salvaging a tie score.
Badir's first comments were about his sport. "You have to give 200 percent in your job. I'm doing my best to fulfill my dream of reaching the World Cup," he said.
But his family's history in Israel is tainted by conflict and tragedy. His grandfather was one of about 50 Arabs killed by Israeli border police in 1956 at the Arab town of Kafr Kassem in an incident described by Jewish Israelis as a terrible mishap and by Arabs as a massacre.
Yet Badir stands at attention with the rest of the Israeli national soccer team as the Israeli anthem is sung before games, with its lyrics about Jews returning to their ancient land. It makes him uncomfortable, he says.
At a conference on racism in soccer last year, Badir said he hoped that one day the anthem would incorporate something that represents him as an Arab Israeli.
"Then I'll be able to sing it as well," he said.
As for Suan, he hopes the goodwill can endure.
After scoring his fateful goal, he told The Associated Press: "Now Jews and Arabs have something to agree on ... I only hope that Israelis will respect Arabs."
A native of Sakhnin, an Arab town in northern Israel, Suan said that through sports, athletes can set an example by relating to each other through friendship and dialogue.
"I think we get along better than politicians do," Suan said. |
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News: Environment : Human Rights : Organizing : Politics |
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Seal hunt protesters arrested on Gulf ice floes |
Submitted by: petrinavegan (at ) yahoo.com / 31 Mar 2005
Publisher: Canadian Press
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CHARLOTTETOWN Hostility between sealers and seal hunt protesters turned to violence Thursday as a scuffle led to several arrests on the ice floes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Animal rights activist Paul Watson, captain of the protest ship Farley Mowat, said 11 members of his crew were taken into custody by the RCMP after they attempted to photograph sealers taking part in the annual hunt near the Magdalen Islands.
Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said he witnessed one of the crew members from his ship being attacked by a sealer.
"One of my crew, Jonny Vasic, who is from Los Angeles was attacked by one of the sealers, smashed in the face and injured,'' Watson said in an interview from his ship via cellphone.
"They broke his camera. I immediately called the coast guard and asked the RCMP to charge the sealer with assault. They responded by sending a helicopter to arrest Jonny Vasic.''
Sgt. Dave Thibault, spokesman for the RCMP, confirmed police are investigating the allegations but no arrests have been made. He said it would take several days to interview witnesses.
The sealer involved in the scuffle said he was just defending himself.
"I had sealers on the ice and they interfered with my sealers,'' Rendell Genge, captain of the Brady Mariner, said in an interview via ship-to-shore radio.
"I called (Fisheries officials) and told them I was taking appropriate action to defend my men ... I'm the captain and I hit one guy with ... my fist to defend myself.''
Genge, from Anchor Point, Nfld., said he had no choice.
"Four men came at me. I fell down and when I got up I was underneath, and the only alternative I had was to defend myself ... I just gave him one punch. I wasn't hitting anymore ... They had 15 to 20 men on the ice and there were only eight of us.''
Watson later issued a statement confirming 19 members of his crew approached the sealing vessel. But he said they remained one half nautical mile away, as required by regulations under the federal Fisheries Act.
However, the statement went on to suggest sealers from Genge's vessel had punched and clubbed six of his crew members.
Michel Therien, a spokesman for the Fisheries Department, said three members of the Farley Mowat crew were arrested by Fisheries officers for allegedly violating the regulations that prohibit protesters from getting too close to sealing vessels.
Therien said more arrests were possible.
"Three members of the crew of the Farley Mowat have been arrested and charged with being less than half a nautical mile from seal hunt operations,'' Therien said. "These individuals have been taken into custody to Charlottetown.''
Watson's group and several other animal protection organizations are monitoring the annual slaughter in a bid to re-ignite international opposition.
Sealers in the Gulf have a catch limit of 90,000 seals, but bad weather has hampered the hunt this year. During the first three days of the hunt, just over 34,000 seals have been killed.
Many of the mostly small fishing vessels taking part in the hunt headed for port on Thursday due to high winds and heavy seas.
So far, two boats have been lost, both requiring dramatic and dangerous rescues.
On Tuesday, nine sealers were rescued from the floes by the Canadian Coast Guard ship Edward Cornwallis. On Wednesday, five fishermen were plucked from the water by a Cormorant helicopter off the coast of Prince Edward Island.
Watson said the Canadian government should call off the hunt before someone is seriously hurt or killed.
Rebecca Aldworth, a Montreal-based director of the Humane Society of the United States, was on her way to the airport to board a helicopter when she heard of the incident involving the Farley Mowat.
She said it's infuriating that opponents of the hunt are arrested when violence occurs on the ice floes.
"When sealers show aggression to observers the law weighs in on their side rather than protecting the people who are observing,'' she said.
She said the incident won't discourage her from observing the hunt.
"We are there to film and document. We plan to approach up to 10 metres from sealers and document the ways that they're killing seal pups,'' she said.
"This is a challenging environment to operate in. Every year we face aggression from sealers. They clearly don't like us filming them.''
About 70 boats were involved at the start of the hunt. But by Thursday, only about 30 were still out, battling the elements.
More hunters will descend on the ice floes off the north coast of Newfoundland on April 12.
This spring marks the last season for a three-year federal plan that allowed sealers to harvest a total of 975,000 seals. The total allowable catch remaining for 2005 is nearly 320,000.
With the harp seal population estimated at more than five million, Fisheries officials say the hunt is a humane, sustainable enterprise for thousands of fishermen in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
Watson and other animal rights activists describe the hunt as barbaric. |
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News: Environment : Globalization : International : Organizing : Politics |
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Animal Protection Legislation in Massachusetts |
Submitted by: petrinavegan (at ) yahoo.com / 31 Mar 2005
Publisher: Common Dreams
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Farm Sanctuary's Farm Animal Forum and Rally Launches Campaign to Pass Animal Protection Legislation in Massachusetts
Â
BOSTON -- March 14 -- Farm Sanctuary, a leading farm animal shelter and advocacy organization, has launched a campaign to urge legislators to pass two bills that would prevent unnecessary and cruel confinement for veal calves and breeding pigs, as well as ban the inhumane force feeding of birds for foie gras production. The nation's leading animal protection experts and celebrity activists convened on the steps of the State House to speak out in support of this pending legislation.
"We brought the Farm Animal Forum to Boston to raise awareness about problems associated with industrialized farming and to advocate for humane reforms," said Farm Sanctuary president, Gene Bauston. "Given its long history as a forward-looking state, Massachusetts is positioned to be a leader in efforts to stop the systematic abuse of animals on factory farms,"
Legislation has been filed in the Massachusetts State Legislature that would ban the use of veal and gestation crates. Veal crates and gestation crates are small enclosures in which the animals cannot walk, turn around or lie down with any comfort. They spend their entire lives unable to enjoy even the most basic movements. Confined in this manner, calves and sows suffer numerous physical and psychological maladies.
Senator Steven Tolman and Rep Brad Hill have sponsored a bill that would put an end to these cruelties. Co-sponsors of the Massachusetts Veal and Gestation Crate bill include, Sen. Sue Fargo, Sen. Pam Resor, Sen. Richard Tisei, Rep. Frank Hayes, Rep. Lou Kafka, Rep. Pat Jehlen, Rep. Susan Pope and Rep. Anne Paulsen. In 2002, Florida voters passed an initiative to ban gestation crates, which was the first law enacted to prohibit a standard factory farming practice in the U.S.
Outside of the U.S., foie gras production is banned in at least a dozen European countries, as well as Israel, once the world's third-largest producer of the product. Late last year, California became the first state to ban the force feeding of birds to make foie gras, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law SB1520. The success of SB1520 has prompted the introduction of anti-foie gras bills in Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon and New York, which has the largest foie gras production facilities in the U.S. Last week, SB413 in Illinois passed the Senate Executive Committee with a unanimous vote.
Senator Sue Fargo has sponsored a bill that would prohibit these egregious practices from taking place within Massachusetts, as well as to prohibit the sale of any product produced in this manner. Co-sponsors of the Massachusetts Foie Gras bill include Sen. Richard Tisei, Rep. Susan Pope, Rep. Jim Leary, Rep. Anne Paulsen and Rep. Tom O'Brien.
Speakers at the 2005 Farm Animal Forum included Gene Bauston, Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, lauren Ornelas, executive director of Viva! USA, Holly Cheever, D.V.M., vice president of AVAR and NYSHA, Brenda Davis, R.D., noted vegan nutritionist and author, Michael Greger, M.D., author and Farm Sanctuary's Chief Investigator of Mad Cow Disease and celebrity activists, Corey Feldman and Persia White of UPN's top-rated sitcom, "Girlfriends."
Following the speaker presentations, all Forum participants attended the "Cowtail Party" social, where they had an opportunity to sample vegetable-based "faux gras" prepared by Andrea Mason, owner and chef of Boston's premiere caterer, Dinner is Served. In addition, noted authors Brenda Davis and Michael Greger were on hand for book signings, followed by a performance from the band, 27.
About Foie Gras
A recent Zogby poll found that nearly 80 percent of Americans, when educated about how foie gras is produced, support a ban on the force feeding of birds to make this expensive food item. Foie gras, a French term meaning "fatty liver," is the enlarged, diseased liver of ducks or geese that are force fed as a pipe is shoved down their throats several times daily. Confined in small pens or individual cages barely larger than their own bodies, these birds are forced to ingest amounts of food far in excess of what they would eat in the wild. In a matter of weeks, their livers expand up to ten times their normal size until they reach the diseased state of "hepatic lipidosis," in which they no longer function properly. It is this diseased, fatty mass that is sold as foie gras.
More information about foie gras production and legislation banning foie gras production in both the U.S. and worldwide can be found at http://www.NoFoieGras.org.
About Veal
In order to produce veal, young calves are taken from their mothers and chained by the neck in crates measuring just two feet wide. They cannot turn around, stretch their limbs, or even lie down comfortably. This severe confinement prevents the calves' muscles from developing - the greater the muscles atrophy, the more "tender" the meat.
Published scientific research indicates that calves confined in crates experience "chronic stress" and require approximately five times more medication than calves living in more spacious conditions. Researchers have also reported that calves confined in crates exhibit abnormal coping behaviors associated with frustration. These include head tossing, head shaking, kicking, scratching and abnormal chewing. Confined calves also experience leg and joint disorders and an impaired ability to walk.
Veal calves are fed an all-liquid milk substitute, which is purposely deficient in iron and fiber. It is intended to encourage borderline anemia, which results in the pale-colored flesh that the veal industry serves up as "gourmet." At approximately twenty weeks of age, these weak animals are slaughtered and marketed as "white" veal (also known as "fancy," "milk-fed," "special-fed," and "formula-fed" veal).
More information on efforts to stop veal production in the U.S. can be found at http://www.NoVeal.org.
About Gestation Crates
Modern breeding sows are treated like piglet-making machines. Living a continuous cycle of impregnation and birth, each sow has more than 20 piglets per year. After being impregnated, the sows are confined in gestation crates - small metal pens just two feet wide that prevent sows from turning around or even lying down comfortably. At the end of their four-month pregnancies, they are transferred to similarly cramped farrowing crates to give birth. With barely enough room to stand up and lie down and no straw or other type of bedding to speak of, many suffer from sores on their shoulders and knees.
Numerous research studies conducted over the last 25 years have pointed to physical and psychological maladies experienced by sows in confinement. The unnatural flooring and lack of exercise causes obesity and crippling leg disorders, while the deprived environment produces neurotic coping behaviors such as repetitive bar biting and sham chewing (chewing nothing).
After the sows give birth and nurse their young for two to three weeks, the piglets are taken away. When the sow is no longer deemed a productive breeder, she is sent to slaughter.
More information on gestation crates and other factory farming abuses can be found at http://www.FactoryFarming.org.
Farm Sanctuary, the nation's largest farm animal rescue and protection organization, operates shelters in Orland, CA and Watkins Glen, NY and has rescued and placed hundreds of abused farm animals. With a membership of over 100,000 people, Farm Sanctuary runs several advocacy campaigns and educational outreach projects. More information can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org.
CONTACT: Farm SanctuaryÂ
Alison Stoll, 917-710-7390 or astoll@farmsanctuary.org
Tricia Ritterbusch, 650-868-5461 or tritterbusch@farmsanctuary.org
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News: GLBT/Queer |
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The Homophobes Won't Give Up--New Petition to Ban Gay Marriage and Civil Unions |
Submitted by: Matthew Williams / 30 Mar 2005
Publisher: Boston Globe
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Gay marriage foes eye new petition
Push for total ban may aim for 2008
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | March 30, 2005
A leading conservative group, which has been in discussion with the Romney administration, is readying a push for an outright ban on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
The move could significantly alter the debate on Beacon Hill over same-sex unions this year and undercut support for a compromise measure approved by the Legislature last year that outlawed gay marriage but established civil unions.
Kris Mineau, the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said the group plans to unveil the new strategy next month, but he would not elaborate. However, legislators said that they have been briefed by the group about a proposal to mount a new citizens petition campaign to place a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage on the 2008 ballot.
Mineau said he and his group are adamantly opposed to creating a civil unions system for gay couples. ''We've got a new strategy to deal with the situation," he said.
Mineau said his group has been in contact with Governor Mitt Romney's deputy chief of staff, Peter Flaherty, about the new strategy. ''We've having a good dialogue," Mineau said.
The compromise that bans same-sex marriage and establishes civil unions must pass the Legislature once more to reach the 2006 ballot. But an alternative amendment to ban gay marriage could reach voters no sooner than 2008, possibly sidelining the issue while Romney decides whether to seek reelection or run for president.
Romney opposes civil unions, but supported the amendment approved last year because, he said, it was the best option at the time to continue a legal challenge to same-sex marriage. But the governor said in an interview last month that he was open to exploring other options to the amendment before the Legislature. His communications director, Eric Fehrnstrom, recently acknowledged that aides in the governor's office and the Massachusetts Family Institute have been discussing strategy on the same-sex marriage issue.
Romney's record of backing the current amendment has opened him up to attacks from social conservatives. During political trips this year, he has emphasized his opposition to both civil unions and same-sex marriage, drawing criticism from Democrats who say he is reinventing himself as a conservative to run for president.
The Massachusetts Family Institute's plans would allow Romney to avoid a politically awkward position similar to that faced by John F. Kerry, who was accused of flip-flopping on the Iraq war and other issues. Romney invoked that image when he insisted in last month's interview that ''I'm not pulling a John Kerry, playing both sides of the issue."
Fehrnstrom confirmed that the governor's staff has been communicating with the conservative group since the Supreme Judicial Court legalized same-sex marriage in November 2003.
''As the governor has said, he would have preferred an amendment that simply banned same-sex marriage and left it to the Legislature to decide what benefits to extend to gay couples," Fehrnstrom said. ''If the Massachusetts Family Institute brings forward a new amendment, we'll certainly take a look at it, but it would be premature to speculate on what will happen."
One lawmaker -- House minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., Republican of North Reading -- said that he was briefed earlier this year by the Massachusetts Family Institute on its strategy, but that he had concerns about the approach. Jones said the group at the time had not officially adopted the strategy.
He said an initiative petition, while needing only 50 votes in the Legislature, faces huge hurdles, including a tough fight just to persuade lawmakers to put it on the agenda of its constitutional convention.
''It's worth it from their perspective, I suppose, but the hurdles are more daunting than they think they are," Jones said. In 2002, a petition banning same-sex marriage died in a constitutional convention on Beacon Hill when Senate president Thomas F. Birmingham refused to take up the issue. Last year, Jones voted against the amendment now before the lawmakers.
Mineau said the political dynamics are far different now, because same-sex marriage has a much higher profile than in 2002. ''It's a new era," he said.
To get a petition before a joint session of the House and Senate meeting as a constitutional convention, the Massachusetts Family Institute and its supporters would have to gather 65,825 signatures of certified voters next fall. It then must muster 50 votes in two successively elected Legislatures, beginning in 2006. |
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