A n i m a l   W r i t e s © sm

The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter

  

 

 

    Publisher   ~ EnglandGal@aol.com                                         Issue # 03/29/00

        Editor    ~ JJswans@aol.com

    Journalists ~ PrkStRangr@aol.com

                     ~ MRivera008@aol.com

                     ~ SavingLife@aol.com

 

    THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:

  

    1  ~ Robert Cohen Speaks In El Paso And Kitty Litter Cake Recipe

                                    by PrkStRangr@aol.com

    2  ~ Why We Are Fighting An Uphill Battle by MRivera008@aol.com

    3  ~ AR2000 Early Registration Extended

    4  ~ 20/20 Laughs At Dairy Industry

    5  ~ The Animals' Agenda

    6  ~ Cetacean Story Follow-up

    7  ~ HorseAid Florida

    8  ~ The Glass Wall by WantNoMeat@aol.com 

    9  ~ Quote To Remember

 

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Robert Cohen Speaks In El Paso

And Kitty Litter Cake Recipe

by PrkStRangr@aol.com

 

Last weekend, Robert Cohen, author of "Milk, the Deadly Poison", was the guest speaker at a dinner hosted by the Vegetarian Society of El Paso.  One hundred and twenty people (about a third were non-members interested in learning more about vegetarianism) listened to the story of how milk causes everything from breast and prostate cancers to ear infections and asthma in children. 

 

Minds were opened, books were sold, many went away either mad at the dairy industry, scared, awed or with their worst fears about milk confirmed.  I am sure that a good number of our ovo-lacto vegetarian members were moved down the path to veganism.

 

see Cohen's site for the facts about milk

The NOTMILK Homepage! (MILK is a bad-news substance!)

http://www.notmilk.com/

 

Cohen is a fascinating personality.  With a seemingly photographic memory and a background in biology, he has studied thousands of scientific and government research documents about the hormones in milk and their effect on the human body. 

 

He is one of the biggest threats to the Dairy Industry and the Monsanto Company (manufacturers of recombinant bovine growth hormone, rBGH) and they have employees who keep track of Cohen, and what he says, and try to come up with damage control.  At one of his speeches at a university, Tom and Jerry's gave away free ice cream to the students.

 

Robert Cohen's largest battle right now is a petition he filed against the Food and Drug Administration to have Monsanto's rBGH taken off the market, and things look pretty good that this will happen.  Robert has been on a hunger strike, consuming only liquids, since November 7th and so he didn't get to enjoy the bountiful vegan buffet the veg society enjoyed. 

 

HUNGERSTRIKE! Diary for March 2000

http://www.hungerstrike.com/diary03.html#119

 

On Saturday, the board of directors of the veg society held a potluck supper with about 15 people.  I brought a veganized version of a recipe I found on the internet called Kitty Litter Cake.  In a new kitty litter pan, with a litter scooper to serve, the dessert consists of cake crumbs, lemon pudding globs covered with crumbs, and carefully shaped semi-sweet (vegan, not milk chocolate) morsels.

 

Cohen was intrigued by it and said, "This looks absolutely delicious."

"I was hoping it would tempt you off your hunger strike," I said.

"Almost," he said.  "You must give me the recipe."

 

So, here it is Robert, and thanks for visiting with us.

 

Kitty Litter Cake (vegan)

 

            1 new kitty litter pan (pick a small size)

            1 new scooper

            1 box white cake mix (a flavor helps like coconut or banana, I did spice

                        cake but the crumbs were a bit dark)

            Soymilk

            EnerG brand egg replacer or other egg substitute

            1 tub Spectrum Spread or other margarine without trans-fat

            1 box lemon pudding mix (or make a pudding with cornstarch, sugar,

                        lemon juice and water)

            2 cups semi-sweet chocolate

 

In a double boiler or in the microwave, melt the chocolate.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  When nearly hardened, spoon onto wax paper and shape the pieces.  Be sure to taper at least one end.  Make lemon pudding and chill.  Bake cake according to directions using soymilk, margarine and egg replacer.  (Hint: I use blenderized tofu to replace half of the margarine called for).  Allow to cool. 

 

Wash kitty litter pan and then crumble the cake into it (I used a grater to make small crumbs).  Spoon globs of lemon pudding into the crumbs and mix it around a bit.  Decorate with the chocolate shapes pushing some of them under the crumbs.  As a nice finishing touch I used crumbled green fruit loops to simulate the little odor eating crystals in the brand I use.

 

Surprise your family and friends with this unique cake for April Fools Day, but make sure the family cat doesn't see it.

  

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Why We Are Fighting An Uphill Battle

by Michelle Rivera    MRivera008@aol.com

 

Most of us that have been animal rights activists for a while have become moderately familiar with all the famous people who have been quoted for their views on animal rights.  And while Winston Churchill has never been among those famous folks, there is one thing that he is credited with saying that could truly be interpreted as a jewel of an animal rights sentiment. 

 

Winston Churchill said:  “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened”.

 

What makes this pronouncement so significant to the animal-rights movement is that it succinctly describes the brick wall most of us run into when we attempt to educate our beloved friends, co-workers and family members.  How often do we hear "I’m an animal-lover” from a fur and leather clad friend who is holding a purebred, petstore-bought puppy and eating a hot dog?  Most decent people, people WE know, would never think of deliberately harming an animal, or putting an animal in danger.  Yet, they think nothing of attending a rodeo or circus, purchasing a puppy from a petstore and, yes, eating a Big Mac. 

 

We have ranted from the rooftops, we have taken out ads and billboards, we have worn t-shirts with slogans and we have subjected our friends to graphic photos, videos and books.  Yet, incredibly, they still eat meat, they still wear leather, they still drink milk and they still patronize animal exploitation events.  These people aren’t monsters. They have seen the truth and yet somehow they are able to “hurry off as if nothing had happened”.

 

What makes us different from them?  How is it that we can watch a video of footage taken inside a slaughterhouse and swear we will never again eat meat while someone we love and cherish can watch the same video without consequence?  How many of us have seen the brood bitches in puppy mills and the squalor in which they live and felt a physical pain while others seem unaffected?  Now that we know, without a doubt, how circus elephants are treated, why is it we can never again enjoy a circus while others are oblivious to the cruelty?

 

That which is learned can never be unlearned.  Could it be that the non-animal rights people, those “others” choose not to learn in the first place?  I have a friend who is a registered nurse working in a gynecologists’ office.  She’s a good soul, she rescues stray animals, would never wear fur, likes cats and dogs of every size and shape and would never think of harming an animal.  One day I told her that I was helping with the campaign against Premarin by taking photos of all my friends with PeTA’s famous sign -- “I will never use Premarin!” and sending the photos to Wyeth-Ayrst.  She stopped me cold and said “Oh, don’t tell me!  I take Premarin and I don’t want to know!”  Famous last words, I Don’t Want To Know.  Of course you don’t.  I don’t want to know either. But I do, and now that I do I can never go back to not knowing.  Ignorance truly is bliss.  This friend’s adult son is an animal-rights activist so I enlisted his help.  I gave him the materials to give to his mother and asked him to make sure she read them. How can she ignore her own son?  Well, of course, not only did she stop taking Premarin, but she got her doctor to stop prescribing it to other patients as well!  If I had just respected her wishes to “not know”, she and all the other patients would still be Premarin customers, and the suffering horses would be suffering in their names.  Most of us don’t go to such great lengths to teach a friend something they don’t want to learn because we risk losing the friendship.  Indeed, many of us have lost friends over the issues that we try to discuss but cannot because, “they don’t want to know”. 

 

And how are we to fight the dairy industry when they have convinced the American public that we MUST drink milk in order to survive as a species?  We read the literature about milk and bovine growth hormones, we know how milk consumption contributes to untold cruelty in the veal market, the arguments make perfect sense to us and yet, when we try to educate others, we are fighting against a belief that is so ingrained that it is un-American to believe otherwise!  Elsie is a happy cow!  Of course she is, just look at that smile!

 

The reason people are slow to embrace animal-rights philosophy is because it means they might have to change and that makes them uncomfortable.  Humans resist change with great skill and effort.  We put milk on our cereal, we eat hamburgers on the Fourth of July, and turkey at Thanksgiving. It is all part of the American experience.  We don’t want to give that up and become “different” so we close our eyes to the truth.  Tell them about soymilk and garden burgers and tofurkey and they say “yuck” without even trying it!  They say “yuck” to these healthy, cruelty-free foods while burying bacteria-laden corpses in their bellies!  But once you see how animals die for your taste, your comfort, your entertainment, you can never, never deny that if you aren’t part of the solution you are part of the problem. 

 

“Animal rights” means that animals have the right to do what their nature dictates without interference by humans.  We don’t even have to necessarily love animals to believe they should have the same rights as any other sentient being.  And animals aren’t even lovable a lot of the time!  Just watch the videos of how a lion pride takes down a zebra, or an orca pod’s cruelty toward seals and you’ll see just how unlovable they can truly be.  So those who say they “love animals” really don’t get it, because animals aren’t asking for love, they are asking for respect.  They deserve that much because they are sentient, because they are here for their own purpose, and because they are deserving of our stewardship and our protection.  There was a time when slavery was “the American way”.  The free people who fought for the freedom of slaves didn’t do so out of “love” for enslaved people, they did it out of recognition and respect for right of all people to be free. 

 

Don’t ever let someone “pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened”. Keep speaking up for the animals. Insist on telling the truth.  The truth will, in time, set the animals free.

 

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AR2000 Early Registration Extended

 

The deadline for the AR2000 early registration rate of $140 has been extended to March 31 (postmark) to account for some of the late postings.

 

New additions to the speaker lineup include attorney/author Steve Wise, PETA co-founder Alex Pacheco, Maddie's Fund director Richard Avanzino, DDAL director Holly Hazard, and vegan author Erik Marcus.

 

BE THERE FOR THE ANIMALS AND BRING A FRIEND!

 

Source: FARM <farm@farmusa.org>

 

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20/20 Laughs At Dairy Industry

 

You may recall that the dairy industry's attempts to get the FDA to ban the use of the term soymilk made the front page of the Washington Post and was a DawnWatch email action alert less than a month ago.

 

John Stossel's GIVE ME A BREAK segment on 20/20, Friday March 24, featured the soymilk debate.  The segment played like a lengthy advertisement for soy milk. It included footage of taste tests with women in supermarkets saying how much they liked the soymilk. Stossel told us that in blind taste tests he conducted, soy milk was often preferred to cows milk. He also told us that soy milk "may be better for you. It has just as much calcium, but less saturated fat and less salt. The government says soy foods help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease."

 

Stossel said of the dairy industry: "It's no surprise that again, this industry's trying to use government and laws to defeat the competition. Its political action committees give millions of dollars to politicians every year, and it's come to expect protection."  He challenged, or practically taunted dairy industry representatives with comments such as, "Some research shows soy milk was made in China 2,000 years ago. So, maybe, they were first, and they should get the name milk and you should have to call your product cow juice."

 

He told them that they were trying to stack the deck. When they said that they were looking for fairness in labeling and accurate information for consumers, the Stossel voice over responded, "It's all because they're worried about consumers being hurt. GIVE ME A BREAK!"

 

John Stossel asks for feedback on his segment at

 

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/stossel_suggestions__mailform.html

 

Please take a moment to give him a big thumbs up!

 

Source: KarenDawn1@aol.com

www.DawnWatch.com

 

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The Animals' Agenda

 

The Animals' Agenda is a bimonthly news magazine dedicated to informing people about animal rights and cruelty-free living for the purpose of inspiring action for animals. The Animals' Agenda is committed to serving -- and fostering cooperation among -- a combined audience of animal advocates, interested individuals, and the entire animal rights movement. The Animals' Agenda is published by The Animal Rights Network Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization founded in 1979.

 

Movement Unity and Professionalism

The Animals' Agenda encourages individuals to act for animals at the level which is most effective for them and to support those organizations, and their programs and activities, which they believe to be the most effective for advancing animal rights. The Animals' Agenda is committed to fostering cooperation among individuals and organizations in the animal rights movement by seeking to represent as wide a spectrum as possible of animal rights perspectives without resorting to gratuitous criticism of individuals or organizations. Accordingly, The Animals' Agenda will not accept ads from individuals, organizations, or any other entities which are critical of another.

 

Cruelty-Free Living

The Animals' Agenda does not want to support the use of products which derive from animals or products which reinforce the use of materials from animals. The Animals' Agenda realizes, however, that as increasing numbers of companies take the "cruelty-free" pledge, the process of producing consumer products free from animal exploitation and animal ingredients continues to develop rapidly. The policy, therefore, regarding product purity must be practical. The Animals' Agenda is a major medium for those manufacturers who wish to sell to consumers who care about animals. The Animals' Agenda plays an important role in encouraging these new companies and established businesses toward vegan (totally animal-free) manufacturing goals. Accordingly, The Animals' Agenda may accept advertising from manufacturers who are making good faith, well-paced efforts toward these goals. The Animals' Agenda will assess these efforts based on the manufacturer's responses to criticisms and suggestions put forth by animal advocates and the magazine's readers. The Animals' Agenda declines to advertise products that obviously reinforce or derive from cruelty and exploitation; i.e., we will not accept advertising for any product containing meat or slaughterhouse by-products, nor ads that directly or indirectly promote dairy or egg products.  Vegetarian products that contain minute portions of these derivatives, but offer unique alternatives to animal-based products, will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

 

OUR AGENDA IS TO . . .

* Educate about the human-animal relationship

* Promote an end to the exploitation and suffering of animals, while respecting human interests

* Promote a vegetarian or vegan cruelty-free lifestyle to benefit humans and animals

* Encourage activism at any level of effort

* Foster cooperation in the animal advocacy movement and offer the widest range of perspectives

* Promote products, services, and methods that benefit animals

 

OUR READERS . . . are progressive individuals who care deeply about animals and the environment. They are business professionals, mostly women, who do much of their shopping for food and personal care items in health food stores.  Because of concerns for animals, our readers seek vegetarian and vegan food products, apparel, and personal care items that do not rely on animal ingredients or testing. They are also active supporters of environmental and animal protection campaigns and organizations.

 

WE OWN OUR MARKET. Really? Says who?

"The Animals' Agenda is our number one source for advertising. For the past seven years, we have counted on this magazine to bring us a constant and loyal customer base."

                                    -Greg Bracken, Owner, Wild Wear

 

"When the Doris Day Animal League needs to reach a broad cross-section of those concerned with animal protection, we always turn first to The Animals' Agenda. This is a publication with a loyal following that not only reads, but acts."

                                    -Holly Hazard, Executive Director, Doris Day Animal League

 

"Our students use this magazine more than any other to argue for animal rights."

                                    -Lincoln Memorial University Library

 

NEED MORE CONVINCING?

The nation's two leading animal rights magazines, The Animals' Agenda and The Animals' Voice Magazine, have combined paws and claws under the aegis of The Animals' Agenda. Now your advertising reaches even more people!

 

Advertising in the Animals' Agenda can help you:

 

* Promote campaigns for animal rights

* Sell humane products

* Attract customers/members to you business or organization

* Educate concerned persons about current issues and events (including conferences, seminars, and training)

* Enhance fundraising efforts to support your activities

 

ADVERTISING POLICY

The Animals' Agenda does not accept ads for products or services that promote the exploitation of animals. Products must be vegan, meaning vegetarian, but also excluding animal-derived products such as dairy, honey, and of course, fur and feather.

 

CIRCULATION INFORMATION

The Animals' Agenda provides advertisers with a readership approaching 66,000, with a circulation of 22,000 including subscriptions and newsstand sales. More than 1,000 copies go to high school, college, and public libraries.

 

All ads must be pre-paid. No agency discounts. A 10% discount is available for not-for-profit organizations. Frequency discounts will be given for pre-paid ads inserted in consecutive issues. Only one discount applies for each insertion.

 

The Animals' Agenda is published bi-monthly. Insertion orders are due seven weeks before the issue date and may not be canceled after that date, with finalized materials due one week later. Examples: Orders for March/April issue are due January 11.

 

All advertising is accepted subject to the editor's approval upon determination that materials are in keeping with the philosophy and standards of The Animals' Agenda.

 

THE ANIMALS' AGENDA READERSHIP BASE

* Vegetarians/Vegans

* College and High School

* Grassroots Organizations

* National Groups

* Caring, Interested People

* Environmentally Concerned Citizens

* Local Humane Societies

* ANIMAL RIGHTS SUPPORTERS

 

  For more information:

  1301 S. Baylis Street, Suite 325

  P.O. Box 25881

  Baltimore, MD 21224

  TEL: (410) 675-4566     FAX: (410) 675-0066

  E-MAIL: office@animalsagenda.org

  www.animalsagenda.org

 

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Cetacean Story Follow-up

 

SUDDEN MASS DOLPHIN AND WHALE STRANDINGS in the Bahamas beginning on March 14 have coincided with nearby U.S. Navy acoustical tests -- including low frequency active sonar (LFAS). Evidence of a connection between such tests and a rash of worldwide strandings has been growing, and such esteemed organizations as the Natural Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have joined a lawsuit already underway in trying to get the Navy to stop these highly risky and apparently illegal activities.

 

Source: BSANDOZ@aol.com

 

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HorseAid Florida

 

Hi my name is Amanda Taylor, and I am writing to spread the word of a great NEW horse Abuse/Neglect Organization "HorseAid Florida"!  In which this is new to Florida it has actually been around since 1975, and was originally located in California, and is still heavily active.  Due to the Great responses to the program it has had great success and we hope with our Florida office we may continue this Great success!  HorseAid currently has over 10 chapters WORLDWIDE!  

 

* NOTE *

We are not asking for money, actually we would rather have your help in one of our many volunteer programs, such as helping spread the word of HorseAid, or reporting abuse to HorseAid, or become an Action Volunteer, or you may become a HorseAid Safehouse Member and help our homeless Horses!  There are many ways you can assist HorseAid.  Please remember HorseAid is a non-profit organization!  Thank You!  HorseAid contact information located below. 

 

To reach HorseAid Florida:

 

            HorseAid Florida

            P.O Box 5941

            Titusville, Fl

            32783 - 5941

 

            E-Mail: HorseAidFL@aol.com

        or

            Chapter Coordinator at: Rmerritt@igha.org

 

            Website: HorseAid Florida!        

http://members.aol.com/rmer59410/HotdogExpress.html

 

Source:  HorseAidFL@aol.com

 

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The Glass Wall

by WantNoMeat@aol.com

 

If slaughterhouses had a glass wall

and you had to see your dinner fall

would you still eat with no concern,

or from it, would you learn?

 

Whose flesh should be in your bun?

could you point and choose which one?

They're trapped in line to die for you

lives resting on what you do

 

Terrified they watch as another dies

what if through glass, you locked eyes?

Now it's your dinner's turn - what do you say

as he struggles for life - to get away

 

You can hear his agonizing bellow

as his head takes the final blow

He's lifted by a single chain

just for your taste -- sound insane?

 

His throat is sliced and he's bled

disembowelment is straight ahead

Your food's true cost, becoming clear

as dinner time draws near

 

You sit in front of your plate

after witnessing such a brutal fate

A blood stained and shocking sight

would it ruin your appetite?

 

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Quote To Remember

 

  "Forget the pig is an animal.  Treat him just like a machine in a factory."

                                                               -- Hog Farm Management

  

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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com

Animal Rights Online

P O Box 7053

Tampa, Fl 33673-7053

http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/

-=Animal Rights Online=-

Message boards:  http://www.envirolink.org/express/

Animal Rights Resource Site

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