A n i m a l W r i t e
s © sm
The official ANIMAL
RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Established 1997
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Issue # 09/07/03
Publisher
~ Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Journalists ~ Greg Lawson -
ParkStRanger@aol.com
~ Michelle Rivera -
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ Dr. Steve Best -
sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ How A Bill Becomes A Law By Michelle Rivera
2 ~ Website of Note
3 ~ Free To Good Home
4 ~ "Veganic" Gardening By M. Katz, Gentle World
5 ~ Scientists Highlight Fish Intelligence
6 ~ Diamond's Dream
7 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
How A Bill Becomes A Law
(Part two of a three-part series on helping animals through legislative action)
By Michelle Rivera -
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
One of my more popular humane education lessons is a high school
lesson offering called "Civics." During this lesson, I teach middle
and high school students about how our laws are made. I typically use an animal
bill as a model and tell the story of how a county ordinance came to pass.
One day, a woman just like you or me or anyone (could be a man too, of course)
was driving along. She noticed that the car in front of her was a pick up
truck. In the back of the truck was an unrestrained dog. The driver of the
truck swerved to avoid an accident and the dog bounced out of the truck. The
woman driving behind had to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting the injured
dog, causing the car behind her to hit her.
She, of course, was outraged! "There oughta be a law against dogs in the
back of pickup trucks!" she cried.
Indeed.
She wrote to her county commissioner who was a little lukewarm on the whole
matter. So she had a few friends write as well. The "cause" took on a
life of it's own and within a year, several hundred letters had been received
in the offices of the county commissioners. They knew they had to take some
action. They called the county attorney and asked her to draft a bill that says
that dogs must be safely restrained while riding in the back of a pick up
truck. After several evolutions, the bill was created. It states that dogs must
be either in a crate or cage that is secured to the bed or sides of the truck
OR they must be double-tethered from either side while riding in the back of a
pickup truck. (Personally, I prefer they be in the air-conditioned or heated
CAB of the truck with the driver, but that's not the point of this story.)
The bill was created, the commissioners voted on it and it became a county
ordinance. In much the same way, our state and federal laws are made. Here's a
breakdown of how that occurs:
ö A member of Congress introduces a bill in his/her chamber of Congress (the
House or Senate). He or she will do this because a constituent has requested
it. A constituent just like the woman driving behind the back of the pick up
truck.
ö The bill is referred to the appropriate committee(s) and the committee(s)
refers the bill to the appropriate subcommittee(s). Each committee contains
subcommittees which specialize in an area overseen by the committee. Some bills
may be referred to more than one committee and therefore more than one
subcommittee.
ö The subcommittee(s) considers the bill and may hold a hearing on it and even
try to amend it. The subcommittee(s) then votes on the bill and reports it to
the full committee.
ö The committee(s) considers the bill, may hold a hearing on it, may amend it
and then vote on it. Once a bill passes a committee, it is reported to the
floor.
ö Members of the chamber (House or Senate) debate the bill on the floor and
then likely vote on it.
ö After one chamber has passed the bill, the bill is sent to the other chamber
and the process is repeated. If both chambers pass the bill, it is sent to the
president.
ö If the other chamber, however, passes a bill which varies slightly from the
previous bill, both versions are sent to a conference committee which
reconciles the difference between the two bills in a conference report. The
conference committee submits the conference report to be approved by both
chambers.
ö Congress sends the approved bill to the president to be signed into law.
ö If the president vetoes the bill, two-thirds of each chamber must vote to
override the veto in order for the bill to become a law.
FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
Your first step may be to ask your legislators to introduce (sponsor) a bill.
When a bill is introduced in the House of Representatives and/or the Senate, it
is referred to the committee that handles the general subject area. That
committee may then refer the bill to a subcommittee within its jurisdiction. If
a bill has already been sponsored and introduced by a legislator from another
state or district, you may want your legislators to cosponsor the bill-that is,
officially add their names to the list of representatives or senators who are
in favor of that bill. Typically, the greater number of cosponsors of a bill,
the greater the chance that a bill will gain additional consideration.
Remember, not all bills introduced in Congress are taken up for a vote.
As a bill makes its way through a committee and perhaps a subcommittee, it can
be amended. During this process, you may want to ask your legislator to introduce
an amendment to a bill or to support or oppose another legislator's amendment
to the bill.
A bill destined for a vote must be approved by the subcommittee and then the
committee. Members of the appropriate subcommittee and committee play a major
role in the passage of a bill. If members of the subcommittee or committee do
not vote in favor of the bill, the bill will never reach the floor for a vote.
After the committee reports the bill to House or Senate leadership, the bill is
brought to the floor-placed on the calendar for debate by the full House or
Senate.
A bill needs to pass in both the House and the Senate before it is sent to the
president to sign or veto. If a bill of similar content is passed separately in
the House and the Senate with slight differences, that bill is sent to
conference committee consisting of members of both the House and the Senate.
The conference committee will work out the differences between the two
versions. Once the bill leaves the conference committee, it will be voted upon
again by the full House and Senate. If the bill passes both chambers, it will
be sent to the president.
STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
Although the legislative process at the state level is generally similar to the
federal process, it does differ slightly from state to state. Contact The HSUS
or your state's legislative website to see how your state legislature operates.
One major difference between the federal and state process is that in almost
all states, committees will hold a public hearing on a bill before committee
members place their vote. This allows the citizen lobbyist the opportunity to
testify for or against a particular bill and have the testimony put on the
record. The committee then votes on the bill, and if it passes (as introduced
or with amendments) it is sent to the full floor for consideration. If the bill
passes on the floor, it is sent to the other side of the legislature to follow
the same process (except in the case of unicameral legislatures). If the second
chamber amends the bill it will go back to the first chamber for approval and
if there is disagreement, the bill is sent to a conference committee. If the
bill is not further amended, it is sent to the Governor to be signed into law
or to be vetoed.
If the Governor allows the deadline to pass without signing it or vetoing it,
it passes. This happened in two cases recently in Florida, both for and against
the animals. The Animal Fighting Bill sat on Gov. Bush's desk past midnight on
the designated date and became law. However, the bill allowing slot machines at
higher stakes at Greyhound racing tracks also sat on the governor's desk and
passed without his lifting a finger to stop it.
The Humane Activist Network, a project of the Fund for Animals and the Humane
Society of the United States, helps activists to navigate this series of events
and tells us when to get involved and how at each stage of the bill-making
process. They may ask for letters to the committees or to our representatives
at various times while the bill is making it's way through. To join the Humane
Activist Network and help animals through legislation, please contact
JGoodwin@hsus.org.
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~2~
Website of Note
This web site provides Animal Rights supporters “Sound
Bites” that can be used to effectively converse with Religious Christians
regarding Animal Rights. Attempt to be kind and compassionate. Pick and choose
the sound bites that you feel most comfortable using.
www.ARBibleSoundBites.org
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~3~
Free To Good Home
Free to a Good Home: A Death Sentence
Unfortunately, "free" is too often seen as "worthless" in
the eye of the beholder. This is how some people see your giveaway pet:
FREE bait to train fighting dogs and greyhounds
FREE snake food
FREE sacrifice for satanic rituals
FREE animal for malicious pranks
FREE to a good home to breed indiscriminately
FREE fish bait
FREE money from the research lab
FREE animal to set on fire
FREE animal to insert a firecracker into
PLEASE don't offer your companions FREE to a good home unless you just don't
care what happens to them. Volunteers who work endless hours to save pets from
the horror of abuse and homelessness bring this message to you. Permission to
reproduce this information and distribute is granted, encouraged and greatly
appreciated.
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~4~
"Veganic" Gardening
M. Katz, Gentle World -
gentle@aloha.net
Co-author of: Incredibly Delicious; Recipes for a New Paradigm
At the weekly farmers market, I asked the many local organic
growers if they used blood and bone to grow their produce. Most of them replied
"yes." I didn't know what to purchase with our dollars: food grown
with chemicals that endangers the fertility of the soil as well as our own
health, or food grown in blood and bone which, somehow, repulsed me! I went on
an organic inspection along with the local certifier, which made buying organic
food less desirable because of my strong stance on veganism. I needed a
solution to this problem. I never thought I would get my hands in the dirt with
the worms (nor would anyone else I know ever think this of me), but I decided
to grow the food (vegan-organic) for Gentle Worlds Vegan Paradigm Center on the
north island of New Zealand, called Shangri-La.
We started with two large plots for vegetables which were a success --
watermelons beyond what we could eat, delicious sweet corn, excellent potatoes,
and tomatoes to give away free to everyone we knew! Yes, the gardens could have
been more successful, but it was enough to inspire me to want to learn all I
could. We added more garden plots for next season. These 4 large garden plots
are surrounded by native bush. The pristine rivers that come straight to us
from the surrounding forest flow by the gardens as our irrigation source, if
necessary. (It usually rains enough to water the gardens naturally.) We grow all
our own vegetables, as well as watermelons. In addition, we planted hundreds of
various fruit trees: mandarins, oranges and various citrus, avocados, pears,
plums, apples, feijoas, blueberries, bananas, peaches, nectarines, cherimoyas,
sapotes, guava, figs, loquats, macadamias and almonds.
Gentle Worlds Vegan Paradigm Center in Hawaii also has a vegan-organic garden,
but it does not supply us with all our produce. Here we use a raised bed system
with minimal tilling, which is more gentle on the earth and the worms!
The "Veganic" gardening system we use avoids chemicals, as well as
livestock manures and animal remains from slaughterhouses/processing plants.
Alternatively, fertility of the soil is maintained with vegetable compost, crop
rotation, mulching, and other methods. We cover all four of our gardens with a
thick layer of hay mulch or a nitrogen-fixing cover crop of lupines or broad
beans (fava beans) and put them to sleep for the winter. By growing our food
veganically, there is also a greater hope of eliminating transmittable diseases
and bacteria. We find growing "veganic" to be a healthier and more
compassionate alternative.
Soil conditioners and fertilizers that we use include: lime, gypsum, rock
phosphorus, dolomite, rock dusts, rock potash, wood ash, hay mulches, composted
organic matter (fruit and vegetable rinds, leaves, and grass clippings), green
manure or nitrogen-fixing crops, liquid feeds such as comfrey or nettles, and
seaweed (fresh, liquid or meal) for trace elements. Seaweed is best used
harvested fresh from the sea as opposed to washed up and sitting on beaches.
Marigolds have a root system that improves the soil and repels insect pests, so
we plant them around the garden. For now, these are the methods we are using.
Returning to Hawaii, I went to a natural food store and found tomatoes with a
sticker saying "Vegan Tomatoes"; organically grown with neem oil and
vegan fertilizer. There must be others who feel similar thoughts and are
demanding the growers to elevate the standards. I also received word that one
of New Zealand's organic certifiers has recently modified their standards by
not allowing the use of blood and bone anymore. I believe this is because of
United Kingdoms problems with mad cow and hoof and mouth disease.
Veganic gardening in our magnificent setting in New Zealand has been fulfilling
to my soul and beyond anything I ever conceived of before. For those interested
in seeing pictures of the land, please visit the web site: www.gentleworld.org
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~5~
Scientists Highlight Fish 'Intelligence'
BBC NEWS |
England | West Yorkshire | Scientists highlight fish 'intelligence'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/3189941.stm
Fish are socially intelligent creatures who do not deserve their
reputation as the dim-wits of the animal kingdom, according to a group of
leading scientists.
Rather than simply being instinct-driven, the group says fish are cunning,
manipulative and even cultured.
The three experts from the universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews and Leeds said
there had been huge changes in science's understanding of the psychological and
mental abilities of fish in the last few years.
Writing in the journal Fish and Fisheries, biologists Calum Brown, Keven Laland
and Jens Krause said fish were now seen as highly intelligent creatures.
They said: "Gone (or at least obsolete) is the image of fish as drudging
and dim-witted pea-brains, driven largely by 'instinct,' with what little
behavioural flexibility they possess being severely hampered by an infamous
'three-second memory'.
Behaviour patterns
"Now, fish are regarded as steeped in social intelligence, pursuing
Machiavellian strategies of manipulation, punishment and reconciliation,
exhibiting stable cultural traditions, and co-operating to inspect predators
and catch food."
Recent research had shown that fish recognised individual "shoal mates,"
social prestige and even tracked relationships.
Scientists had also observed them using tools, building complex nests and
exhibiting long-term memories.
The scientists added: "Although it may seem extraordinary to those
comfortably used to pre-judging animal intelligence on the basis of brain
volume, in some cognitive domains, fishes can even be favourably compared to
non-human primates."
They said fish were the most ancient of the major vertebrate groups, giving
them "ample time" to evolve complex, adaptable and diverse behaviour
patterns that rivaled those of other vertebrates.
"These developments warrant a re-appraisal of the behavioural flexibility
of fishes, and highlight the need for a deeper understanding of the learning
processes that underpin the newly recognised behavioural and social
sophistication of this taxon," said the scientists.
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~6~
Diamond's Dream
By Arlene Millman - chyron24@hotmail.com
Diamond is his brand new name
No one knows from whence he came
Settled in a loving home
No more need to search or roam.
A diamond shape on his face
In a conspicuous place
A label the world can see
Stands for strength and harmony.
Diamond, tame and kind and sweet
Wandered and begged in the street
Hoping with his breaking heart
For a chance at life, a start.
Diamond's fervent daily prayer:
"Please, please send someone to care
Water, food, a clean soft bed
A safe place to rest my head."
Diamond felt so sad and blue
Then one day, his dream came true!
A secure home, filled with love
A priceless gift, from above.
<> <> <>
National Dog Week is 9/21 to 9/27/03
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~7~
Memorable Quote
"It is unrealistic to expect that the justness of a
cause facilitates the fight. On the contrary, a just
cause must presuppose strong opposition from vested
interests firmly entrenched in the existing
educational, political and social structure. All good
causes have rich, mighty and ruthless opponents. It is
by its enemies that the goodness of a cause is
demonstrated. It also means that the cause can't win
by wish alone."
~ Hans Ruesch
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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=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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