Carey's Fur Coat Lost in the Mail

A $7,500 fur coat Mariah Carey donated to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been lost by the United Parcel Service.

The coat was en route to Mongolia, where it was to be given to refugees to help them keep warm this winter.

Animal-lover Carey sent two floor-length mink coats she received from a rich admirer to PETA bosses, asking them to donate the furs to the charity's annual winter drive to help clothe homeless and needy refugees around the world.

According to PETA sources, one coat was on its way to Switzerland, where it was to be packaged in a sealed container bound for Mongolia to be included in a Swiss Animal Protection Society drive -- but the coat never arrived.

UPS tells PETA the coat cannot be located and is lost. After filing a claim, the anti-fur charity will be reimbursed the full $7,500.

Entire Article Available At: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=10804

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proposition 204 is one of 19 ballot measures before voters this year, and would require hog and cattle farmers to provide enough room for pregnant pigs and calves being raised for veal to lie down and move about freely in their pens.

Friday morning in Phoenix, Johnson attended a press conference held by the No on Prop 204 group.

"I told them our country protects different points of view. We have the right to assemble and protest. We live in a free society," he stated. But threats cross the line, Johnson added.

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office had not received any information on the case as of Friday afternoon, spokesperson Trish Carter said. The FBI officer responsible for the investigation could not be reached for comment.

No on Prop 204 spokesman Ian Calkins said he receives "hate mail" on a regular basis from animal rights groups.

"I would like to write it off as a nutcase, but we take a threat like that extremely seriously."

According to Calkins, the perpetrator apparently went to their Web page to obtain the names of No on Prop 204 supporters. Then the perpetrator subsequently sent an e-mail containing the threat and the list of names to the No on Prop 204 organization. The list on the Web site contains more than 40 Arizona elected officials, including Johnson, State Representative Russell Pearce (R-Mesa), State Senator Jake Flake (R-Snowflake) and the mayors of Williams and Snowflake.

The endorsement list also includes veterinarians, dairy farmers and others, but they were not mentioned in the threat, Calkins stated.

This is not the first time the supervisor representing Lake Havasu City in District 3 has received a threat. One anonymous caller made a threat against his life in 1998, Johnson said, while in another instance, vandals torched his car while it sat in his driveway for no apparent reason.

"I figure I can protect myself. I feel secure, but I worry about other people," said Johnson.

From a group that dotted the state with "It's hogwash" signs, No on Prop 204 is funded by Arizona Cattle Feeders Association, Arizona Pork Council, and Arizona Farm Bureau Federation, among others.

Calkins said this is the first threat to specifically name public officials and their families. In a statement, No on Prop 204 said: "These public officials have the courage to stand up to intimidation tactics and will publicly denounce these criminal acts," adding that some have accused the group of using the issue as a publicity ploy.

You may reach the reporter at hays@havasunews.com

 

Source: http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2006/11/04/news/news03.txt

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - One woman sleeping on a boat ramp was thrown into a river and drowned. A man was beaten to death with baseball bats. Another was set ablaze in his wheelchair.

These are just a few examples of a perverse trend among US teenagers and young adults that involves hunting down homeless people and beating them or killing them for no apparent reason other than to get a "thrill."

Homeless advocates and criminologists say the practice, known as "bum-hunting," has resulted in at least one homeless person being killed every month over the past five years.

So far this year, 16 homeless people have been killed across the United States, many of them by teens.

Read Entire Article At: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061104/ts_alt_afp/afplifestyleushomeless_061104204851

 

 

 

Six men who made up a human trafficking gang that forced Malaysian women to work as prostitutes in the UK have today been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The men, of Malaysian or Vietnamese nationality, were handed the jail terms at Southwark crown court after pleading guilty to trafficking women into UK for purposes of sexual exploitation and controlling prostitution for gain.

The gang coerced women into leaving the south-east Asian country with false promises of the prospect of legitimate jobs in the hotel and services industry, with one women even believing she was visiting London on a sightseeing trip.

Upon arriving in Britain their passports and return tickets were seized by a member of the gang, who then forced the women to work in one of their brothels to pay off the debt of the plane tickets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BlueDogState

If you count dog ownership among your civil rights, you're in a Blue Dog State of mind.

Testicle Wars:
the Battle for Control of Your Dog's Balls
http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

CCF To AZ: Animal Activists Should 'Mind Their Own Business'

Arizonans, beleaguered and besieged by animal rights campaigns this fall, have three new voices on their side. They belong to the women in our latest television commercial, which will begin airing this weekend in the Grand Canyon State. The ad reminds Arizonans that "animal-rights lunatics want to put farmers out of business, and make us all vegetarians." And that they "would rather stop medical research using mice and rats than cure breast cancer."

To see our other provocative Arizona TV ad, click here. We've also been using newspaper ads (click here, here, and here) and mobile-billboard trucks to bring a little sanity back to the American Southwest.

Source: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3171

 

Did You Hear About The FBI Probe Through The Pet Door?

 

Santa Monica police, FBI raid homes in probe of Animal Liberation Front

Santa Monica police and FBI agents raided the homes of several controversial animal rights activists this week as part of an investigation into the underground Animal Liberation Front.

Among the targets were Dr. Jerry Vlasak and his wife, Pamelyn Ferdin, two well-known activists who regularly protest against Los Angeles animal services officials. They were not at their Agoura Hills home when police conducted the search. Vlasak said an officer had to enter through a pet door to get inside.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-alf3nov03,1,1788203.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, PETA distributed a letter from Out 100's Martina Navratilova, protesting experiments on gay sheep. "These experiments involve surgically installing an estrogen device in rams in an effort to alter gay sheep's sexual preferences and using drugs to alter sex hormones in fetal sheep," the letter said.

The sheep research has been under way for a number of years, with interesting results.

"How can it be that, in the year 2006, a major university would host such homophobic and cruel experiments? Oregon State's justifications offered to PETA, which can only be surmised as an attempt to develop a prenatal treatment for various sexual conditions, are nonsense," she wrote.

Actually, not so fast, Martina my lamb. It could also be surmised that the experiments are an attempt to learn what relation hormone-handling in the brain has to being gay. PETA's involvement makes sense—after all, researchers are cutting up sheep brains, and PETA generally opposes that sort of thing. Many other people find sheep unbearably tasty.

A few years back, sheep research from the Oregon Health and Science University was responsible for discovering enlarged parts of the hypothalmus in rams who have sex with rams, which also confirmed once-controversial human cadaver research by Simon LeVay. Effects of an enlarged hormone-handling preoptic nucleus is still unknown. Do hormones in prenatal development make ya gay? Or do genetics lead to one handling hormones differently? Hence, the research.

Photo: Getty Images
—Choire Sicha

 

 

 

 

Arizonans Get An Animal-Rights Reality Check

The people who brought you constitutional rights for pigs and the "Fish Empathy Project" have descended on the Copper State. And through a series of crafty campaigns of bait-and-switch, they're hoping to impose their destructive ideology on the good people of Arizona. But we're pushing back. With mobile billboards, full-page ads in major newspapers, and opinion pieces -- like the one in today's Arizona Daily Star -- we're telling Arizonans the truth about exactly who it is they're dealing with. As we wrote in the Star:

 

 

 

Kerry Issues Apology

(CNSNews.com) - After two days of pressure from Republicans and even some Democrats, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Wednesday issued an apology for comments he made Monday that appeared to insult American soldiers. "I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop," Kerry said in a statement posted on his website. "I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended," he said. Full Story

Kerry Sought Out Families at Soldiers' Funerals, Authors Say

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. John Kerry, whose "botched joke" on education and the war in Iraq has sparked a national controversy, approached the families of fallen soldiers at their sons' funerals to seek their help in undermining the war on terror during his 2004 presidential campaign, according to the authors of a new book. Catherine Moy and Melanie Morgan, authors of "American Mourning" - which examines how the death of two U.S. soldiers in Iraq affected their families - told Cybercast News Service that they consider the Massachusetts Democrat's treatment of American troops "disgusting." One of the families Moy and Morgan discuss in their book is that of Justin Johnson from Rome, Ga., who was killed during an April 2004 ambush in Sadr City, Iraq. Full Story

Levin Says Kerry Should Apologize

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Wednesday criticized Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for making remarks that appeared to imply American soldiers were uneducated. Calling him a "former candidate who doesn't represent the party," Levin said Kerry should apologize for his comments, according to the Grand Rapids Press. Read News on the Web

Some Dems in Close Races Call for Kerry Apology

(CNSNews.com) - At least three Democrats locked in close U.S. Senate races have joined calls from Republican leaders for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to apologize for comments viewed as insulting to American troops. "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well," Kerry told students in Pasadena while campaigning for California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," he added. Conservatives felt Kerry had insulted the troops by implying that they joined the military and ended up in Iraq because they were stupid or poorly educated. Several Republicans including President Bush and Sen. John McCain called on Kerry to apologize. Full Story

Hometown Paper Boos Kerry

(CNSNews.com) - "The real shame is that while John Kerry stumps around the country, building up chits for his own possible presidential campaign rerun, he still has that D-Mass. after his name. And that's an embarrassment to the good people of this state who sent him to the U.S. Senate," the Boston Herald editorialized on Wednesday. " An apology would have been the way to go, but sometimes Kerry just can't help himself," the Herald editorial said. Read News on the Web

Sidebar: 'Wrong Man'

(CNSNews.com) - The Boston Herald, never a big fan of native son John Kerry, endorsed President Bush for re-election in 2004. Here's some of what the paper said. Read Fact-O-Rama

A Few Liberal Bloggers Not Happy With Kerry

(CNSNews.com) - Democratic blogs are full of praise for John Kerry who is finally "fighting back." That's why the very few comments criticizing Kerry stood out. Full Story

Kerry Cancels Wednesday Campaign Appearances

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. John F. Kerry, blasted for his comments about the intelligence level of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, has canceled his campaign stops on behalf of Democratic candidates. Kerry canceled Wednesday's planned campaign stops in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, saying "I don't want to be a distraction to these campaigns." Read News on the Web

 

 

Like humans, shrimp who are sick with bacteria infections have lower activity levels and would rather spend the day resting. Instead, shrimp spend their waking hours "running" in search of food, from predators and migrating in order to survive.

Scholnick built an underwater treadmill to test how fast up to nine healthy and sick Pacific White shrimp run using six pairs of "legs" in the abdomen and tail. Five pairs of legs in front help the three-inch-long critter navigate its territory.

He filmed a minute and a half video demonstrating a shrimp running on a treadmill, which he posted on his personal Web page. An employee in Pacific's communications department last week posted the piece on YouTube, a Web site that contains millions of personal videos. The site was recently purchased by Google. Along with the video was a link to Scholnick's Web page that contains his phone number.

Scholnick's video was removed from YouTube a couple days later, but his fame had already grown to more than a million viewers. He received around a dozen phone calls including inquiries from media including National Geographic and Good Morning America.

Unknown fans and animal rights activists wanted details like the shrimp's name and species. They were not interested in the video's scientific background, Scholnick explained.

Read Entire Article At: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/1162319472182010.xml&coll=6