AR-NEWS Digest 635

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) GENETIC ENGINEERING WILL NOT FEED THE WORLD
     by bunny 
  2) [China] Honk Kong Flu - bird to human
     by bunny 
  3) (Kenya)Hemorrhagic fever "out of control"
     by bunny 
  4) (FL) Even Plants have Feelings -- Letter to the Editor
     by Mesia Quartano 
  5) (US - CO) WELCOME STOCK SHOW
     by Mesia Quartano 
  6) Human birth defects studied in chickens
     by Andrew Gach 
  7) The effects of stress - a clinical study
     by Andrew Gach 
  8) Protestors Raid Italy Fur Boutique
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
  9) Loma Linda professor wants to redefine vegetarianism
     by Andrew Gach 
 10) Monsanto opposes licensing cow hormone in Vermont
     by Andrew Gach 
 11) 50,000 animals infested with screwworm in Iraq
     by Andrew Gach 
 12) AR Conference
     by KELE5490 
 13) GREEN PARTY - TRAINING FOR CANVASSING - LONDON 17.1.98
     by Katy Andrews 
 14) [Fwd: [Fwd: Loma Linda professor wants to redefine vegetarianism]]
     by Katy Andrews 
 15) LA Shelter to use Microchip implants
     by Liz Grayson 
 16) Lion on the loose in Essex
     by Katy Andrews 
 17) Leyton Relief Road - eco document - apostrophes
     by Katy Andrews 
 18) (HK) SPCA Press Release
     by jwed 
 19) Reptile/Amphibian Alert.
     by Dtbartlett 
 20) (HK) Jackie Chan makes Plea for Endangered Species
     by jwed 
 21) Hunter Arrested Eating Evidence
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
 22) PIGS & SQUIRRELS
     by Katy Andrews 
 23) Teaming With Wildlife
     by Friends of Animals 
 24) Action Alert -- Starving Cows Need Help!
     by "The Animals' Agenda" 
 25) Fairfax, VA: Deer Hunt Protest 1/26
     by Michael Markarian 
 26) 
     by dribs@ix.netcom.com
 27) Chimp language
     by Katy Andrews 
 28) Quarantine
     by Katy Andrews 
 29) (US-FL) Prosecutors undecided on tiger shooting 
     by Mesia Quartano 
 30) Consumer Reports - Feb. '98 Issue
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
 31) [US] AfA Monkey Protection Fund
     by Steve Barney 
 32) Vilas Monkeys update...
     by "Alliance for Animals" 
 33) USDA Amends Animal Welfare Act Wire Flooring Requirements
     by Wyandotte Animal Group 
 34) Subscription Options--Admin Note
     by allen schubert 
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 13:11:37 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: GENETIC ENGINEERING WILL NOT FEED THE WORLD
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980116130421.2f274a2e@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Welcome to 1998 everyone. Use the following as you wish.

GENETIC ENGINEERING WILL NOT FEED THE WORLD
By Bob Phelps

First the Green Revolution, and now the Gene Revolution, are promoted as
the cure-all for world hunger. Agribusiness may appear to deliver cheap
food and fibre to Western consumers through global markets but the huge
environmental, social and health costs are largely hidden, especially from
urban dwellers. Genetic engineering will intensify, not solve, these
problems.

Chemical/industrial agriculture has produced rural poverty and
dispossession in Australia, while hundreds of millions of Third World
people suffer chronic starvation, landlessness, unemployment and urban
slums. CSIRO's Land and Water Division says two hundred years of
Euro-centred farming has caused massive soil loss, salination, water
pollution, species extinctions and desertification. Our ecosystems are
being depleted at a rate far beyond replacement. For example, each kilo of
grain fed to feedlot beef and battery chickens costs up to five kilos of
topsoil, washed or blown away. We must reform the ways we are fed, clothed
and housed.

Two main choices for agricultural production are now offered - the Gene
Revolution or Sustainable Ecological Farming Systems. Genetic engineering
would entrench industrial agriculture, through greater corporate control,
just when The World Watch Institute is warning that the amount of food it
can produce is in long term decline. In contrast, organics promise truly
fresh, clean, green production, more employment and local food security.

Australian governments, committed to free trade and global markets, back
the factory farming model and genetic engineering. Hundreds of millions of
taxpayer dollars are being pumped into engineering plants, animals and
microbes that suit our degraded environments, to grow bulk commodities for
trade.

But as former CSIRO Chair Professor Adrienne Clarke laments, most of the
genes being manipulated are already patented by foreign seed, chemical and
food processing giants. These are the companies which have pushed
mechanisation, synthetic chemicals and crop monocultures for the past fifty
years. Their aim is monopoly control, with every organism creating a flow
of royalties and profits back to head office.

The first genetically engineered whole food is Monsanto's Roundup Ready
Soybean, engineered to tolerate Monsanto's own herbicide Roundup. It has
been met with protests and boycotts in over forty countries. United States
growers can spray the toxic chemical over their fields and plants, more
often, less carefully, and at higher doses, to kill weeds better. Though
grown separately, Monsanto's beans are mixed after harvest with
conventional soybeans. Two thirds of Australia's soybean supply comes from
the USA.

Roundup persists in the environment and food. Monsanto has asked the
Australia NZ Food Authority (ANZFA) for a 200-fold increase (.1mg/kg to 20
mg/kg) in allowable Roundup residues in imported soybeans. We are all
affected as a majority of processed foods - bread, infant formulas, pizza
toppings, manufactured meats, etc. - contain soy or soy products. Roundup
Ready soy contains potential allergens - microbial genes never in food
before, new proteins, and increased chemical residues. They have no history
of safe use, underwent no premarket human tests, and are not labelled.

In contrast to the genetic/chemical option, Modern Ecological Farming
Systems could feed the world, produce environmental benefits, create
permanent jobs, revitalise rural communities, strengthen local food
self-reliance, and offer a healthier diet to all. A large body of modern,
sustainable farming knowhow already exists in Permaculture, Organic and
Biodynamic methods, built on experience from the past four thousand years.
These systems are being successfully applied, as grower, seed-saver and
other networks use natural processes, ban synthetic chemicals, conserve
scarce water, and restore depleted soils.

More official support is urgently needed for the transition from
agri-business to agri-culture but governments offer few research and
development resources as organic management methods, traditional wisdom,
and natural seed varieties cannot be patented or monopolised. Without
patent royalties, companies are denied control and profits and are
disinterested.

Support the transition by spending your food dollars wisely, on foods from
Ecological Farming Systems. Choose foods certified organic or biodynamic.
Avoid any product with "soy protein isolate" or "soy protein" on its list
of ingredients. Buy those products labelled as free from genetically
engineered ingredients. Together, we can make a difference.
___________________________________________________________________________


Bob Phelps
Director
Australian GeneEthics Network
c/- ACF 340 Gore Street, Fitzroy. 3065 Australia
Tel: (03) 9416.2222 Fax: (03) 9416.0767 {Int Code (613)}
email: acfgenet@peg.apc.org
WWW: http://www.peg.apc.org/~acfgenet  (under construction)


========================================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
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       )6 6(
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      /'-^-'\
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 jgs  \_/^\_/

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
 - Voltaire














Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 13:38:35 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [China] Honk Kong Flu - bird to human
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980116133119.2f5fbdbc@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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INFLUENZA H5N1, HUMAN - CHINA (HONG KONG) (03)
**********************************************
A ProMED-mail post 


Source: Hong Kong Standard Jan 15, 1998



It was learned on Wednesday that a woman, 34, who died on Sunday from the
chronic ailment lupus also was infected with bird flu [influenza A/H5N1].
She was the fifth person with the H5N1 influenza virus to die and the 18th
confirmed case so far.  One suspected case remains.  

But Department of Health officials said the new case did not mean there was
a resurgence of the bird flu as her illness began a day before the
slaughter of chickens on 29 December.   

A spokesman believed Hong Kong to be in the clear as no new cases have been
reported in the past two weeks.   

"We can say that the high risk period is over" as the incubation period of
the H5N1 virus was estimated to be between seven to 14 days, he said.   

The local woman was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 28 December
suffering from multiple complications due to systemic lupus erythromatrosis
(SLE), a multi-system infection caused by a depressed immune system.  

Dr Lily Chiu, deputy hospital chief executive at Queen Elizabeth, said,
"She presented with a lot of complications of SLE and we were treating her
for that."  The woman had pneumonia, septicaemia (blood poisoning) and
kidney failure when admitted. She had been sick for two weeks at home
before her admission.  She was transferred to the hospital's intensive care
unit on 7 January and died four days later.   

Dr Chiu said it was not until 9 January that the hospital took samples from
the patient for influenza A tests.  But the quick test at the hospital
laboratory proved negative.  The results of further tests for H5N1 which
came in only on Wednesday showed the woman had the bird flu.  

Dr Chiu said the anti-viral drug, amantadine, which could cure H5N1, was
not administered to the woman because she had kidney failure. She was
treated with antibiotics.  "She's not like any other patient in which you
would suspect the flu.  She had ample reasons for the pneumonia and the
fever with the flare-up of the SLE," she said. 
========================================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
 - Voltaire














Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 13:40:56 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (Kenya)Hemorrhagic fever "out of control"
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980116133340.2f5faaae@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE - KENYA (16)
********************************

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 10:32:04 -0400

Source: Agence France Presse, 15 Jan 1998


Agence France Presse reports today that officials of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies say that the epidemic of
hemorrhagic fever [tentatively diagnosed as Rift Valley Fever] is "out of
control".  The Red Cross puts the epidemic toll at "more than 450",
although members of the Kenyan parliament announced in a press conference
that 5 thousand have died from both the epidemic and starvation.    

The Red Cross says the disease can be transmitted through "breathing", as
well as by handling infected animals and mosquito bites.  

The Red Cross statement said "We have to establish the magnitude of the
thing and still we are unsure precisely what we are dealing with. We are
sure there is Rift Valley fever, but is that all?  We are seeing some
strange phenomena and there may be something else out there."   

It called for a helicopter operation to reach inaccessible areas,
vaccination of livestock, and supply of masks, gloves, and disinfectants
for the disposal of corpses. 
========================================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
 - Voltaire














Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 00:38:36 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: (FL) Even Plants have Feelings -- Letter to the Editor
Message-ID: <34BF1C8C.3AB42429@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
(Sarasota Herald-Tribune; 01/13/98)

Even plants have feelings

The animal rights extremists are confusing to me. They, the vegetarian
ethicists, feel that animals have rights. They feel it is unethical to
eat
meat. What animals should not eat meat? Why, humans, of course. But it's
OK for other mammals to eat meat.

Reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and even a plant (Venus' flytrap)
eat meat. Some animals eat plants like plankton. Vegans kill and eat
plants. Are they unaware that plants have feelings, too? There was a
study where plants were exposed to classical and hard rock music. The
plants listening to classical music grew better than normal. Hard-rock
plants hardly grew at all. Now if these vegan ethicists would just stop
breathing, we could save billions of airborne microbes that are just
minding their own business.

Michael Ottjepka
Sarasota


Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 00:41:57 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: (US - CO) WELCOME STOCK SHOW
Message-ID: <34BF1D55.D26D543C@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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EDITORIALS
(Denver Post; 01/11/98)

WELCOME STOCK SHOW

At a longitude of 105 degrees, there's no disputing that Denver sits in
the heart of the West. But this week, Denver also will show that its
heart belongs to the West, both the West of myth and that of real
working ranches. The 92nd National Western Stock Show and Rodeo is
rolling into town.

The National Western is as shadowed by paradoxes as it is populated by
cowboys.

Denver hasn't claimed agriculture as its chief industry for many
generations, yet the National Western sells more than a half-million
tickets annually, and ticket sales this year are ahead of 1997's tally.

Although the National Western includes many traditional events like
rodeo and wool-judging contests, new attractions offer more exotic fare
as diverse as miniature horses, llamas and yaks.

All these critters might seem to be fairly removed from urban interests
- yet most people who attend the stock show aren't ranchers, but
townsfolk.

Certainly the National Western relies heavily on pop-culture images of
the Old West, including an old-fashioned "Wild West Show," but cultural
events like the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza rank high as popular
attractions.

The National Western is as diverse as rough-and-tumble bullriding
contests, as refined as fine art displays, and as up-to-date as
performances by the hottest country and western recording stars.

The myriad contrasts highlight how the National Western has evolved and
grown with Denver, even as it has held onto its roots and reminded urban
dwellers of their city's past.

In this spirit, The Denver Post once more joins the people of Denver in
welcoming National Western Stock Show participants and viewers to
Colorado.


Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:54:54 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Human birth defects studied in chickens
Message-ID: <34BEF62D.73FE@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Study says cough medicine ingredient causes chicken defects

The Associated Press 

OMAHA, Neb. (January 15, 1998 5:19 p.m. EST)

A key ingredient in cough syrups and tablets such as Robitussin, Nyquil
and Tylenol Cold caused severe defects in chicken embryos and should be
avoided by pregnant women, researchers warned Thursday.

However, other studies have shown no link between dextromethorphan and
birth defects in humans, and experts said more study is needed.

"I think it would take a lot more than chicken embryos to get me
concerned," said Dick Leavitt, director of science information at the
March of Dimes.

Detromethorphan is in a wide variety of over-the-counter cold and flu
medications, including Tylenol Cold, Tylenol Flu, Vicks Dayquil,
Robitussin Maximum Strength, Sudafed Severe Cold Formula, Nyquil and
Dimetapp DM.

The study, published in January's issue of the journal Pediatric
Research, used more than 3,000 chicken embryos to see how they were
affected by three classes of drugs called NMDA receptor blockers. All
three classes generally caused defects, but dextromethorphan was one of
the worst.

"I would be telling my children don't take it, the defects are so
severe," said the leader of the study, Thomas H. Rosenquist, a biologist
and chairman of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's cell biology
and anatomy department.

Dextromethorphan stops coughing by blocking a receptor of the central
nervous system. However, in embryos it knocked out the receptor, causing
the defects, Rosenquist said.

Alcohol, already known to cause birth defects, does much the same thing,
said Dan Monaghan, a pharmacologist who also worked on the study.

"It's a lot like telling women not to drink alcohol. It stops this kind
of receptor," he said.

Ron Schmidt, a spokesman for McNeil Consumer Products Co., the maker of
Tylenol cold medication, noted the medication has a warning label urging
pregnant women to consult their doctor before using it.

While Rosenquist said early embryos of chickens are good indicators of
what happens in early development of human embryos, the March of Dimes'
Leavitt said more studies have to be done on mammals.

A 1977 study of 300 women exposed to the drug in their first four months
of pregnancy and a 1985 study of 59 women exposed to the drug in their
first trimester showed no problems.

In the new study, researchers gave three different levels of
dextromethorphan to 467 chicken embryos developed to the equivalent of
three to four weeks of a human embryo.

Of those, 21 percent died and 8 percent of the survivors developed some
kind of defect, including no brain, spina bifida and cleft palate.

In a control group of nearly 700 embryos, only 1.5 percent died and 1
percent developed defects.

Of 104 embryos that survived and received a dose of dextromethorphan
estimated at what would reach a human embryo if a pregnant woman used
one recommended dose of cough medicine, 7 percent developed defects.

"There was no level at which there was never a defect," Rosenquist said.
"We feel that a single dose is capable of causing a birth defect and
that ultimately it could be the cause of a woman to have a miscarriage."

By JOE RUFF, The Associated Press

*********************************************************

The question of whether cough syrup causes birth defects in humans can't
be answered by experimenting on chicken embryos or on non-human
mammalian species.  

Remember thalidomide? Experimenting on several animal species (including
monkeys) failed to predict the disastrous effect of the drug on human
embryos.  It took years to produce similar effects in non-human animals,
long after the drug had been proven to cause human birth defects!

Time and funds will be wasted on lab experiments involving other
mammalian species, as proposed by the March of Dimes animal researchers,
but no valid evidence will be found until epidemiological studies are
conducted on human populations.

Andy
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:57:12 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The effects of stress - a clinical study
Message-ID: <34BEF6B8.22FF@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Repeated stress can stressful

Copyright ⌐ 1998 Nando.net
Copyright ⌐ 1998 Scripps Howard 

(January 15, 1998 4:31 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) -- Like a rubber
band stretched too many times, the human body's ability to respond to
stressful events can become worn and turn against itself.

A researcher at New York's Rockefeller University, Bruce McEwen, has
come up with a set of physical indicators that can help measure a
person's stress load.

In a review of his and others' work published Thursday in The New
England Journal of Medicine, McEwen says the long-term effects of how
people respond physically to stress -- a set of physical baggage he and
colleagues have termed the "allostatic load" -- can be a key indicator
of health that doctors need to take into account.

Whenever we're under stress, our bodies produce stress hormones that
gear up the nervous, immune, circulatory and other systems to cope with
the pressure of the moment, whether it's adjusting to a noisy, crowded
room, a heated argument with a spouse or boss or a more long-lasting
problem like a death in the family or job loss.

"During episodes of acute stress, stress hormones provide a protective
function by activating the body's defenses, but when these same
protective hormones are produced repeatedly, or in excess, because of
chronic stress, they create a gradual and steady cascade of harmful
physiological changes," McEwen said.

Over time, the stress responses can make people more susceptible to
infection, constricted arteries, weakened muscles and thinner bones, as
well as a greater tendency to a spare tire around the abdomen due to
increased insulin levels. There's even evidence from both rat and human
studies that a heavy lifetime stress load on the body can accelerate
changes in the brain that lead to memory loss.

In a study of elderly people several years ago, McEwen and colleagues
used measures such as blood pressure, good and bad cholesterol levels,
blood glucose levels, nighttime stress hormone excretion and abdominal
fat to identify those with a high stress load compared with those coping
normally.

They found those with the highest allostatic loads were most likely to
have newly diagnosed heart disease and significantly more likely to have
declines in their physical and mental function over a three year period.

McEwen noted numerous studies that have found a relationship between
high-stress jobs -- including jobs in which workers felt helpless -- and
adverse health effects. He also pointed to environmental stress, such as
living in poverty, as an influence that researchers are only beginning
to understand.

The stress-response system can cause damage in several ways, the
researcher said. Too much repeated stress can cause blood pressure
surges that restrict arteries, or people can fail to adapt to repeated
stressors of the same type, like public speaking, for instance. In other
cases, the stress responses don't recover even after the stress passes;
in still others, some parts of the stress response system don't react
properly, putting greater strain on other systems.

McEwen said the best way to counteract the effects of daily stress on
health is to exercise, although he also suggests that physicians and
other health professionals help patients learn coping and relaxation
skills.

Researchers from Duke University reported last fall that even people
already suffering from heart disease can reduce their risk of further
heart attacks or having cardiac surgery by up to 74 percent by learning
how to recognize and control their responses to stress.

But McEwen said "of all the things we can do to lower stress levels and
counteract allostatic load, exercise seems to be the most effective,
along with a prudent diet. Exercise breaks insulin resistance and often
helps to end the vicious cycles of stress-eating, overindulging in
alcohol, cigarette smoking and other unhealthy habits."

By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service

************************************************************

A good illustration of how a well thought-out clinical study on humans
can produce valid findings, in contrast to decades of contrived stress
experiments on animals that never produced anything but continued
funding for the researchers.

Andy
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 00:18:09 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Protestors Raid Italy Fur Boutique
Message-ID: <199801160602.BAA01649@mailnfs0.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

From: AOL News 
Subject: Protestors Raid Italy Fur Boutique
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 18:49:18 EST
Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com)


Protestors Raid Italy Fur
Boutique.c The Associated Press

 Copyright 1997 The Associated
Press.  The information contained in the AP news report may not be
published,broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior
written authority of The Associated Press. Protestors
Raid Italy Fur Boutique.c The Associated Press