Monthly Archives: March 2003

Craig Rosebraugh Urges Violent Action to Stop War Against Iraq

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Former Animal Liberation Front spokesman Craig Rosebraugh seems to have turned his support of violence to a new cause — stopping the impending war against Iraq. Not surprisingly, Rosebraugh has little use for the activists holding peaceful demonstrations, an instead calls for large scale riots and other acts of violence designed to force the United States to put police and even military units in American cities.

In a post on Philadelphia Independent Media Center, Rosebraugh offers the following seven steps that those opposed to the war should take,

1) Attack the financial centers of the country. Using covert or black block techniques, depending on the situation, physically shut down financial centers which regulate and assist the functioning of U.S. economy. This can be done in a variety of ways from massive property destruction, to online sabotage, to physical occupation of buildings. However the latter I would shy away from, especially the open civil disobedience type of activities which purposely involve arrests. This movement needs all the assistance it can get and absolutely NO good will come from going to jail. Allowing yourself to be purposely arrested demonstrates that an individual has at least some faith in the U.S. legal system. This is completely foolish. One primary objective is to engage in serious unrest and disruption and NOT to get caught. Not getting caught means you are able to continue the struggle the next day.

2) Large scale urban rioting. With massive unrest and even state of emergencies declared in major cities across the country, the U.S. government will be forced to send U.S. troops into the domestic arena thereby taking resources and political focus away from the war. Unstable conditions in much of the country also serve as a political embarrassment for the Administration and could assist in forcing them to stop the war to deal with domestic concerns. Rioting should be focused on governmental agencies and corporations -? especially those that are profiting from the war or destruction of life.

3) Attack the media centers of the country. It is the corporate media who has and continues to influence and control the minds of the mass body of people in the United States. These new media outlets cannot be utilized by the movement as they are owned by the very corporations one should be opposing. Using any means necessary, shut down the national networks of NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc. Not just occupations but actually engage in strategies and tactics which knock the networks off the air.

4) Spread the battle to the individuals responsible for the war and destruction of life -? the very heads of government and U.S. corporations. No longer should these people be able to hide behind their occupations, living their lives in peace while they simultaneously slaughter countless people. Hit them in their personal lives, visit their homes, and make them feel personally responsible for committing massive atrocities.

5) Make it known publicly that this movement DOES NOT support U.S. troops as long as they are serving an unjust and horrifying political regime. Create an atmosphere lacking of support to assist U.S. troops at home and abroad in losing their morale and will to fight. If you are supporting the troops you are supporting this war and the very U.S. government that is the primary terrorist regime in the international arena.

6) Actively target U.S. military establishments within the United States. Again, following the above stated goal of NOT getting caught, use any means necessary to slow down the functioning of the murdering body.

7) When engaging in the above six activities, strike hard and fast and retreat in anonymity. Select another location, strike again hard and fast and quickly retreat in anonymity. Engage only in actions where you will be victorious. Do not be concerned with alienating the mainstream sectors of the movement -? that mainstream has NEVER stopped a U.S. military activity or war. Do not get caught. DO NOT GET CAUGHT. Do not get sent to jail. Stay alert, keep active, and keep fighting. Remember, an action is only good (especially at this juncture in U.S. society) if it will serve to severely disrupt the political system of the country, its economy, and the corporate interests that drive this society.

Source:

Craig Rosebraugh on the Anti-War Struggle. Craig Rosebraugh, March 17, 2003.

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PETA Planning to Target March of Dimes in April and May

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent out a letter in early February seeking to find activists willing to participate in a walk to protest the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. According to its press release,

We need you to help us convince the March of Dimes to stop funding cruel, worthless experiments on animals. . .

. . .

The March of Dimes relies on donations from individuals who are unaware that their contributions are being used to torture animals instead of helping babies. Their single largest fundraiser is WalkAmerica, walk-a-thons held in major U.S. city throughout April and May.

Your presence at the WalkAmerica event in your area is vital to educating the March of Dimes supporters about the charity\’s choices when it comes to what to fund. It is critical that caring activists encourage WalkAmerica participants to designate their contributions to be used for only the best tests, i.e. for non-animal projects, like a Birth Defects Registry that could save countless babies\’ lives.

I hate to break it to PETA, but a birth defects registry is not a \”test.\” All states currently have birth defect registries, though some of them are substandard and the March of Dimes has done excellent legislative work on improving the quality of the data they produce.

The PETA letter, by the way, was posted to AR-NEWS by Friends of Animals activist Phyllis Bedford who is organizing a protest March for Centennial Park. Bedford is recruiting for people because, \”Some of us can\’t go to Centennial Park due to a past CD.\”

Source:

Letter. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, February 2003.

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Mouse Research Yields Gene Therapy Hope for Huntington\’s

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The BBC recently reported on a successful effort in mice to treat Huntington\’s with gene therapy. Huntington\’s is a genetic disease that is incurable and results in the degeneration of the brain and eventual death among sufferers.

Researchers at the University of Iowa used gene therapy to shut off the affected gene entirely in mice. Shutting off the gene entirely in human beings is not an option, but there is another possibility. Human beings have two copies of this gene, and in most Huntington\’s sufferers only one of the genes is defective. If researchers could turn off the defective gene, they could at least slow the progress of the disease.

So far, though, such gene therapy has shown limited success in slowing a similar disease human cells in laboratory conditions, but is still a long way from testing a gene therapy cure in human beings.

Source:

Gene therapy hope for Huntington\’s. The BBC, March 13, 2003.

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SHAC Plans to Target Japanese Customers of HLS

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Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty claims that it has received an extensive list of Huntingdon Life Sciences customers and contracts from a sympathizers within the company.

Among other things, SHAC plans to use the list to target Japanese companies who are customers of HLS. The Financial Times reports that some of Japan\’s large chemical companies including Sumitomo, Daiichi, Mitsui, Eisai, and Fujisawa are on SHAC\’s list of customers and are likely to be targets of SHAC\’s variety of animal rights extremism.

Convicted SHAC criminal Greg Avery told The Financial Times,

Our supporters in Japan are very keen but very inexperienced. We will send 10 or 15 people from the UK and five to 10 from Europe to supplement them.

According to the Financial Times, SHAC claims to have raised 20,000 pounds to support its Japanese campaign.

Meanwhile, SHAC is also extending its campaign to target Covance as well.

Source:

Animal activists expand campaign against HLS. David Firn and Patrick Jenkins, The Financial Times, March 14, 2003.

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The Fund for Animals Poll on Neiman Marcus

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The Fund for Animals issued a press release in February about its ongoing campaign against Neiman Marcus. On February 22 it was to hold a protest at a San Francisco Neiman Marcus. The Fund\’s Pierre Grzybowski said in the press release,

We are holding this vigil to draw attention to the millions of animals who suffer each year for the unnecessary fur trade. There are plenty of warm and elegant alternatives that don\’t involve animal cruelty. Causing animals to suffer will never be back in fashion.

But it was this paragraph at the end of the release that caught my attention,

Last fall, a Decision Research poll of high-income shoppers, conducted in four metropolitan areas where Neiman Marcus has stores, revealed that a majority of consumers consider selling fur to be socially irresponsible.

This poll was actually conducted by Decision Research in September 2001 rather than last Fall as The Fund claimed. But more importantly, there is very little on The Fund\’s web site about exactly what this poll asked individuals.

The Fund reported at the time that the poll found 54 percent of the 400 high-income shoppers interviewed for the poll said that stores selling fur were socially irresponsible. It also claimed that consumers overwhelmingly favored shopping at stores that did not carry fur.

But the actual poll questions and breakdown of answers is not available anywhere at The Fund\’s web site nor at Decision Research\’s web site.

The suspicion that this was likely a push poll is reinforced by Decision Research\’s blatant statement on its web site that it is not simply an objective polling organization, but considers itself to be actively trying to improve animal welfare. According to Decision Research,

Since the early 1990\’s Decision Research has been an active participant in efforts to use the ballot box to further animal welfare. Working closely with the Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare organizations, Decision Research has conducted focus groups and surveys on issues ranging from limits on factory farming to bans on hunting mountain lions to eliminating inhumane methods of trapping and hunting, and banning cockfighting outright. Our research has been critical to the success of a dozen ballot measures by helping determine the ballot language, and best arguments to use during the campaign.

Fine, but don\’t expect anyone to consider your polls about animal issue to be objective.

Sources:

Fund for Animals holds massive candlelight vigil to protest sale of fur at \”Neiman Carcass\”. Press Release, The Fund for Animals, February 20, 2003.

Public Policy Clients — Animal Welfare. Decision Research web page, Accessed: March 14, 2003.

Poll Reveals Upscale Shoppers Strongly Prefer Fur-Free Department Stores. Press Release, The Fund for Animals, October 24, 2001.

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Animal Extremists Vandalize Another McDonald\’s in Chico, California

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On March 4 Animal Liberation Front extremists tried but failed to set fire to a McDonald\’s restaurant in Chico, California (see this story for more background). The extremists apparently vandalized a second McDonald\’s in Chico on March 11.

Employees of the McDonald\’s contacted police at 7:15 a.m. on March 11 to report that a small fire had been set in an apparent attempt to burn down the restaurant. That failed, but there was some smoke damage to the building.

The words \”liberation\” and \”ALF\” were spray painted in red on the building.

Source:

Second McDonald\’s vandalized in Chico. Eleanor Cameron, Chico Enterprise-Record, March 11, 2003.

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Activists Suspected in Firebombing of New Mexico McDonald\’s, Arby\’s Restaurants

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Animal rights extremists are a possible suspect in the March 11 firebombing of two McDonald\’s restaurants and an Arby\’s restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

According to police, the perpetrators used Molotov cocktails and crude incendiary grenades to do varying amounts of damage to the restaurants. The two McDonald\’s sustained minor damage, but the damage estimate for the Arby\’s restaurant was $80,000.

Sources:

Molotov cocktails used in early morning restaurant fires. KOBTV.Com, March 11, 2003.

Fast-food shops hit in arson spree. Albquerque Tribune, March 11, 2003.

3 Albuquerque Restaurant Fires Believed Set by Same Arsonist. Associated Press, March 12, 2003.

Firebombs hit local eateries. Daily Lobo (University of New Mexico), March 12, 2003.

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Greyhound Racing Association Files Complaint Over Funding of Anti-Racing Groups

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The Greyhound Racing Association of America filed a complaint in January with the Massachusetts Attorney General complaining about how a group that receives a state grant related to greyhound racing dispenses that money.

In 2002 the Massachusetts legislature created a special fund to give grants to groups that encourage the adoption of greyhounds after they are no longer used for racing. The fund was created as part of a bill that expanded simulcasting of races on Massachusetts four greyhound racing tracks.

The Greyhound Racing Association of America charges that rather than giving the money to groups promoting adoption, the Greyhound Care and Adoption Council is instead giving the money to groups actively opposed to greyhound racing.

Greyhound Racing Association of America president Ron Hevener told The Taunton Gazette that two-thirds of the money dispensed by Massachusetts Greyhound Care goes to \”anti-racing\” groups. According to Hevener,

It is a blatant conflict of interest and misappropriation of funds, as well as possible collusion and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Diane Baedeker, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, which administers the fund on behalf of the Greyhound Care and Adoption Council, told the Taunton Gazette, \”We\’re confident that we followed all proper procedures.\”

Source:

Greyhound Association cries foul over grant allocation. Susan Weinstein, Taunton Gazette, January 19, 2003.

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Canadian Police Locate Alleged Cat Torturer

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In June 2001 two Canadian college students were arrested and charged with animal cruelty after a videotape of them and an unidentified man torturing and killing a cat was discovered. The students maintained they made the tape as part of an art project in order to highlight animal cruelty.

The third man in the tapes was finally arrested in March. Matthew Kaczorowski, 21, was arrested in Toronto and charged with mischief, theft under $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

The theft and stolen property charges stem from the fact that the cat that Kaczorowski and the other men killed for the video was a house cat that Kaczorowski stole in order to make the video.

Sources:

Man accuses of appearing in videotaped torture and killing of cat denied bail. The Canadian Press, March 12, 2003.

\’He\’s not smiling now, eh\’. Mike Strobel, Toronto Sun, March 13, 2003.

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Judge Seals File in PETA\’s Lawsuit vs. Ringling Brothers

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An odd item appeared recently in the Washington Post — the judge hearing a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus has ordered the lawsuit file to be sealed and ordered PETA to remove a copy of the file from its web site.

This is odd because neither PETA nor Ringling Brothers requested that the case file be sealed. According to The Washington Post, in Virginia case are generally only sealed after one party or the other convinces a judge that there is a compelling reason to do so.

The lawsuit stems from claims that Kenneth Feld, president of Feld Entertainment which owns Ringling Brothers, conspired to infiltrate and disrupt PETA. Aside from everything else, you have to love the irony of PETA suing Ringling because Ringling allegedly sent someone in undercover to infiltrate PETA. Gee, I wonder where they got that idea.

Feld and associate Richard Froemming, who is also named in the lawsuit, filed a motion last year asking that allegations that Feld and Froemming engaged in theft and lies about PETA be stricken from the lawsuit. The judge rejected that motion, but ruled that since allegations were being made about individuals not formally named in the lawsuit, that the court had a

. . . compelling interest to ensure that nonparties, who really have no standing to protect themselves in the context of this litigation, receive that kind of attention from the court, and I find that sealing the court\’s file is the least burdensome and most narrowly tailored way to do that.

PETA\’s attorney Philip Hirschkop has filed an appeal with the Virginia State Supreme Court seeking to overturn the sealing of the case file, telling The Washington Post, \”What the judge did is outrageous — there\’s no basis for it.\”

Source:

Fairfax Judge Seals File in PETA, Circus Suit. Tom Jackman, Washington Post, March 13, 2003.

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