By the time you read this, I will be on the last leg of my time here at Federal Correctional Facility-Fort Dix, if not already out on the streets.  To say that my incarceration went smoothly is an understatement.  Time flew past.

Being this close to the end does offer me some perspective.  After everything I have been through, what I feel the most is hope.

First, the support I have received from across the country and around the world has reminded me what an incredible movement I am fortunate enough to be a part of.  Every single card and letter reminded me that whatever separates us—be it miles, oceans, or barbed wire fences—I am never alone. 

Hope can not grow in the shadow of fear.  Perhaps this case was meant to teach me a lesson, but what I learned is not what they intended.  I learned to never fear them again.  I Have seen the worst that they can do to us, and it is nothing to fear.  An inconvenience.  This experience is one I hope not to repeat, but if that is what it comes to, I am no longer afraid.

But what truly gives me hope is the undying courage of those still on the outside fighting.  We know that the government spent years and millions of dollars to build the SHAC 7 case.  They simply cannot and will not prosecute many activists in this way.  Their intent is obvious—persecute a few to scare the many.

I have to be honest, at first I believed their plan had worked.  At the time I came in, very little activism of any kind seemed to be happening.  But then letters began arriving.  Letters from people who had heard about our case and were angry.  Not afraid, just angry.  In that anger, people found inspiration.  Some became active for the first time.  Others who had moved on rejoined the struggle.  Those who were not already, went vegan.  Grassroots materialized in old strongholds like Boston and Chicago, while others appeared in the most unexpected of places.  The new hotbed of animal liberation…Milwaukee??  But of course it is action that matters most.  It is the battles waged and won over the past year that afford me the most hope.  What an incredible year it has been.  Victories have come on all fronts, from conservative, to militant and above ground to underground.  From New Jersey's bear hunt being cancelled, to the successfully campaigns against POM and Schumacher furs, to legislation in Arizona outlawing gestation crates and veal crates—it has been remarkable.

Closest to my heart, of course, is the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences.  They may have hoped that the SHAC 7 case would mark the end of the road.  We now know it was just another bump along the way, and there's plenty of fuel still in the tank.  The year end financial statements—showing a loss of over $14 million for 2006 and HLS's total debt now over $100 million—tell me what I have always believed:  we will win.  There could be no better support for my codefendants than knowing they will one day be released into a world without Huntingdon Life Sciences.  With a little bit of hope and a little bit of action, we can make that world a reality.

Here's the latest from SHAC 7 Prisoner Andy Stepanian, written from his cell at FCI Butner

Dear Friends,

If I were to scream right now, there would be an echo that would resonate within the confines of my 9'X5' cell.  Unlike the prisons depicted on television, there are no steel barred gates or tin cups for me to sweep and clang against the bars while I sing Kumbaya in some sort of throw-back romantic fashion.  Instead, it's clean, virtually soundproof and the door is solid, sterile.  There are disciplines here that I tow the line with; things like how between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., no more than two photographs can be atop one's locker within your cell.  I'm not sure why this is, but I obey anyway because I need to pick my battles.  I'm thankful for the two photographs; they're my escape from the white walls, grey floor and window that overlooks concrete walls and coils of razor wire.  Past the concrete and wire I see treetops swaying, birds flying and shades of color depicted nowhere else within here except in my two photographs.  If I were to scream right now, there would be an echo inside my white walled room, but the heavy door and thick walls would remain the same, the razor wire would be right where it was and the tree-tops far off would remain in their dance.
 
I see such freedoms past these gates.  I see it in the birds.  I see it in the moving air pushing the treetops.  I smell it while I'm out on the yard.  I feel like a little kid all over again when some birds will gather near me on the yard; so little, but their hearts are so big, they beat so fast and hence they're constantly eating.  They sing and fly and dance amidst the razor wire.  When I see them I see freedom.  Freedom is not defined by where you are, nor is freedom restricted by walls or limitations on personal effects within one's cell.  Freedom is a mindset.  Freedom is defined by how you live and how you see.  As I write this, there is a Chicano man doing push-ups, thinking about the children he loves, who he will see again one day.  He may be locked up, but no one can shackle his heart.  No one can cage his soul.  With each push-up he is home, tucking in his children, kissing them goodnight and a few cells down from mine, my man Slim is singing off key, smiling, dancing alone.  Who could ever take that from him? 

Outside the birds eat.  They pass food off to their young.  They sing sweet songs and frolic amidst the coils of razor wire.  It's in their nature to be free and inasmuch it is in our nature to be free.  Now I've studied Biology, and I know how children are made, and I am not such an egotist to think that I was made differently.  I am much the same.

You see…

Little tiny birds flew into my mother's womb and into the delivery room, I burst and I bloom.  I was born with a fire inside of m; one that cannot be put out until the day I die.

They have not killed me…
I'm not dead…
I don't even have the wind knocked out of me.

I once saw a button that read, "Words mean nothing—actions mean everything."  I remember liking what I saw.  It felt raw and straight forward.  But my case that has landed me in this cell, United States v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, has made me take another look at that phrase.  The government contends that our words, printed or spoken, were so potent that we must be jailed.  It makes you want to re-think the first half of the phrase reading, "Words mean nothing."  I could only guess that the government is not so much concerned with words as they are of the hearts and minds that govern the lungs that expel wind, that control the vocal chords, or steer this pen across this pad in my cell right now.  You see, we, you and I, hate oppression, because we love freedom, and freedom scares the shit out of our captors.  The people that hold you and me within a 9 to 5 work week, the captors that keep you doing something you hate, and at the same time, keep us away from our families, our children, in a cubicle or a jail cell.  I write from a medium/high security institution within our capitalist system, and you listen within the comforts of our minimum security wing.  When we yell, unfocused outcries against oppression, our captors understand us.  Better yet, they expect it.  When we start talking about freedom, they get scared.  Freedom is a word that has become so lost amidst our culture that the mere mention of it invokes emotions.  One only need look out their window and see billboards using the female body to sell products, commodifying womyn and using their figure as a marketing tool, or to see a "For Sale" sign on a piece of land, assigning it a dollar amount and proclaiming how to procure it.  One need only go as far as a local market to see refrigerators filled with Styrofoam trays and cellophane packages of meat for $2.99.  Nowhere is there mention of the words "cow" or "hen," but rather we see words like "Brisket" or "Tender." 

Being that they think words can be so scary, let's look at the roots of the word "Capitalism."  Capitalism is derived from the Latin word "Capita," meaning "head."  Today, capitalism literally places a dollar value on the head of every living thing, and if it's a headless form, let's say a tree, then its trunk or its roots or leaves are assigned a dollar value.  If it's a non-living thing like a coal mine or a boom box, they too get assigned a dollar value.  In many ways, our capitalist system wants to race for the future and never look back, using everything as a means for profit, or as a medium in which to promote profit.  Labeling everything and the kitchen sink as a component in the hustle, and as this race has reached a frenzied pace, we have forgotten that beautiful living creatures were what we call burgers, or that womyn are beautiful as they are; they don't have to look like the ones on the billboards, and they don't exist as commodities or as marketing tools, or articles for conquest; they are womyn.  And as simply put as saying womyn are womyn, and not commodities, land is land and not property, no one owned this land before our culture, how could they now?

A forest is a forest, not a stand or cut; an estuary is an estuary and not a fishery; a womyn in a swimsuit does not exist to sell beer from a billboard, her name is Monica and she wants to study botany; a mountain top is a mountain top and not a claim, and a monkey being mutilated on a necropsy table inside Huntingdon Life Sciences is not a subject in a Colgate-Palmolive test, his name was James.  An undercover investigator named him James.  He was so social, he loved to play with the investigator's hair, much as he would if he were free to be with his brethren and groom them.  I came to jail for James, and I will never regret that.  James would have been assigned a number by the technicians at HLS had it not been for the activist posing as worker at the lab.  HLS had and still has a policy of assigning animals subject numbers because they feel that names develop an affinity for the animals and impedes worker productivity.

We have drifted so far away from life and freedom in our culture that those who defend it and shout out its definition stand to lose what little of it they have left.  If we stop and look outward toward nature, and inward toward ourselves, you'll see something, you'll hear something; a dissatisfaction with every aspect of our culture as not meeting the needs of one's soul.  Dollars or cars or clothes can never take the place of first kisses, or dreams of flying, or sunsets.  So our voids grow bigger and bigger, and in turn our culture grows sicker and more polarized.  "Ecoterrorism," as my captors call it, is not a sickness.  It's a symptom of a sick culture; it's reactionary.  It's a reflex to push freedom out of the way of an oncoming truck, climbing on board, sabotaging what makes that truck go, or flattening its tires before it even leaves the lot.

Special people don't do this; common folks do.  People like me and you.  James needed to be saved from inside HLS, and not a day goes by where I'm not pained by the fact that he was not.  I'm sure I am not alone in this pain.  You feel the same way too when you turn on the television and see a Lebanese or Iraqi parent pulling their child's broken body out of rubble, or see the last wild lands in our nation turned out for cutting, or red that one in five black males with spend a third of their lives in jail.  You feel the same sense of futility.  You want to do something.  You wonder if you're alone in feeling this way, and if you're not, then where is everyone else on this issue?

And that's part of the reason why we sing our songs, why we come to shows and community spaces to share our time with people who think like us, eat like us and want change just like us.  You see, if I screamed right now, an echo would resonate inside my cell and would go no further, but in these words I now get to be here, today, with you, and I can tell you that I have never felt this free.  I love freedom and I love all of you guys, and as long as I am alive, I will continue to have this flame burning in me.  They can never take that away from me, and neither from you.

I get a lot of letters from a lot of wonderful people labeling me a hero, but I am no different than she/he who has written, nor are you any different.  I did not go into battle with HLS with any more or less tools than any of you have.  I'm not more experienced in a field or more heroic, or empathetic.  The people who will save this world from war, from ecological collapse, from famine, from a capitalist culture bent on stripping everything and everyone of their inherent worth, to assign them a dollar worth, are you.  Those people are you.  The next Harriet Tubbman, Rosa Parks, Jane Goodall, is right here today.  You don't need to go further than your bathroom mirror to see the future's hope.  You see, you and I were born with fires inside us.  They have not killed us, we're not dead, in fact, we don't even have the wind knocked out of us.

So it starts today, right this second, as I sit in my cell, we will say this together:

They have not killed me…
I don't even have the wind knocked out of me…

They have not killed me…
I don't even have the wind knocked out me…

They have not killed me…
I don't even have the wind knocked out of me…

They have not killed me...
I don't even have the wind knocked out of me…

Andrew Stepanian
26399-050
FCI BUTNER MEDIUM II
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 1500
BUTNER, NC 27509

What's Happening with the SHAC 7 Shirts?

We've received lots of inquiries about when the shirts will be available.  We're just about to get them printed and they will be available sometime in July.  We're sorry about the delay--but they are in the works and should look awesome.  So stay tuned!

T-Shirt Contest

We received tons of great submissions for shirts, and got lots of great feedback.  We've picked a shirt (The Until Every Cage is Empty design) and plan on having those printed up by the end of May.  We'll post info on where to get them.

Updates on Everyone

Josh Harper is still in the hole...it's been well over a month and he's still not been charged with anything.  Please keep writing.

Jake Conroy's prison is still on lockdown--this is the end of his third week on lockdown.  He said letters are keeping him going because the lack of food on lockdown sure isn't.

Lauren Gazzola and Andy Stepanian still have no phone privileges and won't for many more months.  Lauren recently had a great article published in Jane magazine.  Check it out here.

May 16th is the 6 month anniversary for Kevin, Lauren, Jake, Josh and Dari starting their sentences.  Please keep writing!

Benefits

There are tons of benefits always happening in Portland--so check them out (they're on our calendar).  There's also an awesome hardcore benefit CD coming out soon.  More details as soon as the CD is ready.

Announcing the SHAC 7 Design a Tshirt Contest

Do you have a good shirt idea to help raise funds for the SHAC 7? We need your help!

We are holding a contest of sorts and asking supporters to submit their best t-shirt design idea. We want the focus to be on generating support for the SHAC 7 and we want the design idea to be both compelling and attractive, so lots of folks want to buy and wear them!

What do you win? We can't offer much besides a huge thank you from the support committee and Jake, Josh, Lauren, Andy, Dari, and Kevin, but we will send the winner a t-shirt once we get them printed up!

Guidelines: We are open to ink and shirt color, but designs should be limited to two colors.

Submitting Designs: While we prefer to receive actual designs, we certainly won't turn down a good idea! If you don't do design yourself, consider asking a friend to put your idea down on paper/computer. You can submit your design by snail mail or email. Email files should be PDF or jpegs and sent to: info@shac7.com.

You can snail mail designs to:

SHAC 7 Support Fund
740A 14th St. #237
San Francisco, CA 94114

We will announce a winner on April 15, 2007--so get to work!

It's holiday time…. time to remember our friends in prison during the SHAC 7 Days of Christmas!

There's nothing like being a prisoner during the holidays.  While we're
stocking up on Tofurkeys with all the trimmings, buying and making gifts,
and spending time with loved ones, the SHAC 7 are behind bars and unable to
participate in any of the festivities we get to enjoy.  Let's let them
know that they're not forgotten!

That SHAC 7 Support Committee invites everyone to participate in a festive
SHAC 7 Days of Christmas Celebration.  From Monday December 11th through
Sunday December 17th we'll count down with you the days leading into
Christmas week, with daily suggestions of small ways you can help Jake, Darius, Lauren, Josh, Kevin, and Andy feel a little less lonely this holiday season.  We'll
post updates and resources on SHAC7.com to keep everyone in the loop, and
to keep it FUN!

It goes like this….

December 11- On the first day of Christmas, the SHAC 7 said to me, "It'd be
great to get pictures- nice, inspiring, or funny!"

December 12- On the second day of Christmas, the SHAC 7 said to you, "Would
you please send us a card or two?"

December 13- On the third day of Christmas, the SHAC 7 said to me, "Getting
a book or magazine would make us so happy!"

December 14- On the fourth day of Christmas, the SHAC 7 really meant,
"Please have a donation to our support fund sent!"

December 15- On the first day of Christmas, the SHAC 7 said to me,
"Organize a letter-writing party!"

December 16- On the sixth day of Christmas, the SHAC 7'd like to hear,
"Organize an event, kick injustice in the rear!"

December 17- On the seventh day of Christmas, the SHAC 7 gave a clue, "Keep
fighting and send some good news!"

In layman's terms (for all you non-xmas-song types),

Day 1- Mail the SHAC 7 folks a picture or two to brighten their holiday.
No polaroids, but usually computer prints and normal size photos are
acceptable (tip- write their name and prisoner ID# on the back so they
don't get lost).

Day 2- Buy or make cards for the SHAC 7.  Add a note inside and get 'em in
the mail (don't forget not to send anything with glue, stickers, or
gel-pen).

Day 3- Check out the wishlists or contact info@shac7.com for info about what book or magazine to buy for the SHAC 7 prisoners.

Day 4- Donate to the SHAC 7 fund (www.shac7.com for details).  Try to
collect a few dollars from everyone you know, add in what you can afford,
and send it off to help make things a little less hard for the SHAC 7.

Day 5- Organize a letter-writing party.  Consider the upcoming weekend-
easy enough to gather some folks and get letters out in time for Xmas!

Day 6- Get active!  Perhaps organize a protest or outreach event in your
area.  Nothing helps support the SHAC 7 more than the use of our rights to
speech and demonstration.

Day 7- Don't back down- keep on rolling with support and protest efforts
for the SHAC7, all political prisoners, and especially for the animals.
Update the SHAC7 about interesting and positive things going on around the
world- we are their only good news source!

Your support is the best and only gift the SHAC 7 can receive this year, so
let's make it great!

For ideas, more info, and updates please visit www.SHAC7.com now and often.

Thanks!
The SHAC7 Support Committee

Prison Letter from Lauren Gazzola

"11/19/06
So here I am, comin' correct at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT. I figured I'd write a brief note to let everyone know how I'm doing.

I got here on Thursday, (11/16). The officer who processed me in commented on how calm I was. What can I say - I've become a zen-like creature. The prison is overcrowded, so I have been in the SHU (Special Housing Unit) since my arrival. There are 3 of us in a 2 person cell, 2 on a bunk bed and one on a mattress on the floor. I am happy to be on the top bunk. The SHU is locked down 24 hours a day, with one hour of rec 3 days a week in a tiny pen outside. But I have not yet gone out since we're in T-Shirts and this is CT in November. Perhaps I'll brave it on Monday.

When I first walked into the office in the housing unit, the officers were looking at a google search on my name. Quite a grand welcome if you ask me.

Despite the intellectual absurdity of having me report to a facility where there is no room, rather then have me spend a bit longer on house arrest (where I'd been for 8 1/2 months already), being here isn't all that bad. I assure you, 24 hour lockdown has not been as bad as it sounds. My cellmates are both nice, and the prison has actually made an effort to get me vegan food (so far it's been mostly raw veggies and beans, but certainly better that the usual nothing I've received elsewhere).

And I've actually enjoyed not having anything to do. It's kind of a treat, as I usually have 47 things to do by yesterday. I haven't gotten mail yet (no mail on weekends, but hopefully Monday), so I'm reading this terrible book by Patricia Cornwell that was in my cell, and I'm loving every minute of it (except it really is terrible, and so I don't think I'll be able to stand much more of her after the novelty of laziness wears off, so please, no Patricia Cornwell when you mail book! :)

Anyway, I really am doing quite well. Anyone familiar with my sunny disposition can rest assured that, thus far, it has held up in here. Just make sure all of you are out there fighting HLS, otherwise I will surely end up crying myself to sleep every night. Please send my support to Jake, Josh, Andy, Kevin and Darius.

Fight Hard,
Lauren"

(NOTE: Lauren has now begun to receive letters, this message was written right when she went into the factility. WRITE HER OFTEN!)

Also, don't forget to write the other SHAC 7 Prisoners!

Lauren Gazzola
#93497-011
FCI Danbury
Federal Correctional Institution
Route #37
Danbury, CT 06811

JACOB CONROY, #93501-011
FCI VICTORVILLE MEDIUM I
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5300
ADELANTO, CA 92301

DARIUS FULMER .. 26397-050
FCI FORT DIX
P.O. BOX 2000
FORT DIX, NJ 08640

JOSHUA HARPER .. 29429-086
FCI SHERIDAN
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5000
SHERIDAN, OR 97378

KEVIN KJONAAS .. 93502-011
FCI SANDSTONE
P.O. BOX 1000
SANDSTONE, MN 55072

ANDREW STEPANIAN .. 26399-050
FCI BUTNER MEDIUM II
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 1500
BUTNER, NC 27509

11.28.06

By now, we have heard from Darius, Jake, Josh, Kevin, Lauren, and Andy, and all are holding up ok.  One of the hardest things seems being able to get enough food to subsist on.  Fortunately, we have been able to send in money from the support fund to help them buy peanut butter and other items from the commissary to help supplement the prison's lacking diet.

They have all said the mail is starting to come in and mail call is by far the best part of the day.  That is when they hear from family, old friends, and new friends they have never met before.  Please take a few minutes to send a letter or a card and support the SHAC 7 prisoners!

Below is a statement from SHAC 7 prisoner Jake Conroythat he wrote after a week and a half in prison.  Stay tuned for prison statements from the others!

::JAKE'S FIRST STATEMENT FROM PRISON
(also available at www.SupportJake.org )

Today marks the 10th day since I arrived here at Victorville. After traveling to New Jersey in January, sitting through a month long trial, spending 5 days in a New Jersey county jail, and then nine months of home confinement, it was nice to return to the West Coast. Having left my life on hold in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was granted a few days to return, pack up and tie up some loose ends, before surrendering to prison on November 16th. The time I got to spend with my partner, her dogs, and my friends was invaluable. I wouldn't have traded those days for anything.

But like all good things, it came to an end as I walked through the gates of Victorville Federal Correctional Institution and soon after became #93501-011. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. For someone who has never been to prison before, it was an unusual feeling to be pointed toward a cell, and then left to figure everything out. From when to eat, how to make a phone call, to mailing a letter—they drop you in the deep end and don't care much if you can swim.

The first person I met passed me a book and a pencil, the next some shower shoes and the next a place to sit and eat. After a few days I was moved to a new unit, where my new cell mate has done more than his fare share in pointing the 'youngster' in the right direction.

As someone who has been a big advocate of prisoner support, yet very rarely put pen to paper, I have to admit I'm somewhat ashamed. After a few days not knowing what it felt like to have your name called at mail call, I now know the feeling is like no other. It's by far the best part of the day, and I regret that I rarely gave that joy to others. To get a letter or two brightens the day and gives you a connection to the outside world. So please, it doesn't take much—spend 10 minutes writing a letter to a prisoner!

I can't really say it enough—thank you. The support you gave us during our trial was overwhelming. And to show up at sentencing and see 150 smiling faces was a shot in the arm. Sitting on house arrest for so long, with very little connection to the movement, it was easy to feel forgotten about (and not that I would blame anyone—there is a lot to keep active with!) but to see everyone there was incredible and I thank you. And hope that the energy and support and spirit of resistance that was there that day is what all of you every day. Whatever your cause is, recognize your gift of freedom and use it well—and often!

I also want to thank my mother and my partner again—two women who continue to inspire me and make me proud.

Lastly, and most importantly, keep your heads up, your mind focuses, and your eyes on the prize. Now, more than ever, is the time to buckle down and double your efforts. Never give up, and keep fighting!

Jake Conroy
11.26.06

Write the SHAC 7 Prisoners!

JACOB CONROY, # 93501-011
FCI VICTORVILLE MEDIUM I
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5300
ADELANTO, CA 92301

DARIUS FULMER # 26397-050
FCI FORT DIX
P.O. BOX 2000
FORT DIX, NJ 08640

LAUREN GAZZOLA # 93497-011
FCI DANBURY
ROUTE #37
33 1/2 PEMBROKE ROAD
DANBURY, CT 06811

JOSHUA HARPER # 29429-086
FCI SHERIDAN
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5000
SHERIDAN, OR 97378

KEVIN KJONAAS # 93502-011
FCI SANDSTONE
P.O. BOX 1000
SANDSTONE, MN 55072

ANDY STEPANIAN # 26399-050
FCI BUTNER MEDIUM II
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 1500
BUTNER, NC 27509

It's been 9 months since the SHAC 7 were found guilty in New Jersey, and
as of today, all 6 individual defendants are in prison. They are serving
lengthy sentences for simply speaking out on behalf of animals and need
your support. Jake, Darius, Lauren, Kevin, Josh, and Andy all have
expressed their deepest thanks to all those who have been supportive since this case began--please keep up the great work and keep fighting for
animals!

Please take a few minutes to write them, even if you don't know them. A
prisoner's only line to the outside is letters and mail call is the most
important time of day. Let's flood Jake, Lauren, Darius, Andy,
Josh, and Kevin with letters of support to make the next few years go by
as quickly as possible. Ideas for letters and other ways to help out are
listed below the addresses.

Please write often and think about organizing a prisoner letter writing
night in your area. And don't forget the other animal liberation
prisoners out there!

JACOB CONROY, # 93501-011
FCI VICTORVILLE MEDIUM I
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5300
ADELANTO, CA 92301

www.SupportJake.org

Darius Fullmer 26397-050
FCI Fort Dix
P.O. BOX 2000
Fort Dix, NJ 08640

LAUREN GAZZOLA # 93497-011
FCI DANBURY
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
ROUTE #37
DANBURY, CT 06811

www.SupportLauren.com

JOSHUA HARPER # 29429-086
FCI SHERIDAN
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5000
SHERIDAN, OR 97378

www.JoshHarper.org

KEVIN KJONAAS # 93502-011
FCI SANDSTONE
P.O. BOX 1000
SANDSTONE, MN 55072

ANDY STEPANIAN # 26399-050
FCI BUTNER MEDIUM II
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 1500
BUTNER, NC 27509

www.AndyStepanian.com

At the end of the day, even short messages help to remind prisoners of the
large number of supporters they have on the outside, and the great efforts
for the animals so many others continue to take across the globe.

Federal prisoners are permitted to receive a very small variety of items
from "the outside". Inmates are allowed to receive an unlimited number of
cards, letters, and photographs (but no Polaroids) from anyone. They may
also receive an unlimited number of magazines and periodicals, but these
must come directly from the publisher (i.e. by way of a subscription
directly to the prisoner); magazines and periodicals sent from anyone
other than the publisher will be refused. Inmates are not permitted to
receive any publication that contains material of a sexual nature;
magazines containing sexual material will be destroyed.

anonymous communique:

"Two nights previous, 36 turkeys were liberated from a large turkey farm in Virginia, USA.
In a matter of fifteen minutes we were in the utterly unguarded property, loaded the lovely ladies into carrying cages, and were gone into the darkness with no sign of us ever having been there.
Destined for a thanksgiving dinner plate, all are now happy and healthy and recovering in far better conditions than they have ever seen before.

We'd like to dedicate this liberation to the SHAC 7. Stay strong brothers and
sister, the fight goes on!

By the way, it's still three weeks until thanksgiving - what are YOU waiting for?"