Children, Churches and DaddiesVolume 99, January 1998The Unreligious, Non-Family-Oriented Literary and Art Magazine
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Dusty Dog Reviews The whole project is hip, anti-academic, the poetry of reluctant grown-ups, picking noses in church. An enjoyable romp! Though also serious.
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Nick DiSpoldo, Small Press Review (on Children, Churches and Daddies, April 1997) Children, Churches and Daddies is eclectic, alive and is as contemporary as tomorrow’s news. |
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The Boss Lady’s Editorial
What Are Flexible Ethics?
The Lutheran Brotherhood compiled the following statistics: Nearly two-thirds of all adults believe ethics “vary by situation” or that there is no “unchanging ethical standard or right and wrong.” Nearly eighty percent of all adults from age 18 to 34 believe ethics vary by situation, but even forty-eight percent af all adults aged 65 and up believe ethics vary by situation. Never did a majority of adults believe that there is one standard for every situation.
Now, I needed to look up the word “ethics” to make sure I wasn’t getting confused with my terms. According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition), “ethic” has the following meanings:
1. the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation,
2. a set of moral principles or values,
3. a theory or system of moral values,
4. the principles of moral conduct governing an individual or a group,
5. a guiding philosophy.
This made me want to look up “moral,” just to make sure I had this all clear:
1. of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior,
2. expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior,
3. conforming to a standard of right behavior,
4. sanctioned by or operative on one’s conscience or ethical judgement.
What these statistics say is that eighty percent of adults from age 18 to 34 believe that what is “right” and “wrong,” what is “good” and “bad,” can change from situation to situation. What these statistics say is that eighty percent of adults from age 18 to 34 believe that the principles guiding themselves and change from moment to moment. What these statistics say is that eighty percent of adults from age 18 to 34 believe that a “guiding philosophy” cannot be consistent.
I looked at these numbers and was astounded. If the philosophy an individual uses to guide their life is not consistent, it’s not a philosophy at all.
Consider it from a religious standpoint. In Catholicism, for instance, you should not have sex before marriage, or commit adultery. Religious leaders may forgive an individual if they have sinned, their god may forgive them if they repent, but in Chritsianity is it wrong to have sex before marriage or commit adultery. But there are Catholics who break both of these promises they have made with their religion - with their philosophy. And although the adulterers may ask forgiveness, there are Catholics who claim to be Catholics but still have no problem with having sex before marriage (as long as you don’t get caught, I suppose). But what this means is that these Catholics have claimed one philosophy and followed another. If they really believed in their Catholic ethics, they would not want to break them. It’s that simple.
And this was in no way to pick on Catholicism versus any other religious belief - or any belief system, for that matter, that an individual claims to follow but does not follow - it is merely to show that a belief system is consistent, and it is the individuals who choose not to follow it consistently.
Consider, as another example, the fourth definition of “ethic.” What if the principles of moral conduct for a group that you were in weren’t consistent, what if they changed from situation to situation? What if one week it supported you as a member of the group because you got a job at a good business, for being good at what you do, and the next week they were condemning you because a black person should have had the job instead of you? What if one week the group supports your skill in creating a new product to improve people’s lives, the next week they are telling you that your time is better spent feeding people who don’ t work for themselves? What if one week the group said they should support life and wouldn’t let a woman in the group get an abortion, and the next week it decided it should reject life and kill your brother, who was falsely accused of murder and is in prison? What if one week the group said the government should lower taxes, and the next week it proclaims that it’s the government’s responsibility to help the poor, with more of your tax dollars?
I won’t even talk about the fact that this “group” is merely a collection of individuals, each with rights that should not be violated. I won’t even talk about you as an individual having the right to your own life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But imagine not knowing what laws will be enacted, not knowing what freedoms will be given to you and what freedoms will be taken away. Imagine not being able to gauge what will happen to your future. This is what it’s like to have ethics that “vary by situation.”
This is what is currently happening in our society today - people do not have a consistent set of values, of morals, of theics - and it makes living a chronic state of terror.
Why do people, knowing these inconsistencies, living as if there are no absolutes, why do people continue to live this way?
Our current philosophy classes teach people that “the world is in chaos.” That “you can’t make a difference.” They question whether you can prove that you’re not dreamiung through your entire life, or tell you that you can’t even prove if you are merely a part of someone else’s dream and do not even exist. They tell you to answer any difficult question with, “How should I know? I’m only human.”
People are rational beings - that’s what separates us from animals. People need to use their rational faculties in order to thrive. But they can choose not to use their mind - and the consequences are evident in the current trends in philosophy.
People, when faced with these alternatives for philosophy, turn to the religion that was forced down their throats as a child, to the same religion forced down their parent’s throats when they were children, and claim that as their philospphical system. But they don’t really believe in it, they don’t really follow it.
But they need something, their mind keeps telling them, they need some sort of system of beliefs.
And so they keep telling their mind to shut out the fact that the system they chose isn’t working for them.
But what they should be doing is listening to their minds, following logic and reason, so that they can find a consistent set of answers to every question they face in life.
 This editorial is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License. |
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Janet Kuypers
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PETA News
Cancer: Why We’re Losing the “War”
Since President Richard Nixon signed the Conquest of Cancer Act in 1972, initiating the “war on cancer” in the United States, that “war” has become a losing battle. Since 1971 the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has grown into a $2 billion-a-year federal funding source for cancer researchers(1), and the American Cancer Society (ACS) has doubled its annual income from public contributions.(2) Every year, $30 billion is spent on cancer research, detection, and treatment in the United States (3), yet cancer remains our nation’s No. 2 killer. In fact, the incidence of cancer has risen 18% and the mortality rate has increased by 7% since 1971.(4)
Prevention Is Possible
According to the World Health Organization, up to 90 percent of all cancers are preventable, yet less than one quarter of 1 percent of the NCI’s budget is spent on prevention. Clinical studies have proved that most cancers are caused by smoking and by eating high-fat foods, foods high in animal protein, and foods containing artificial colors and other additives. Frank Rauscher, Ph.D., senior vice president for ACS Research, states that “Prevention of cancer will be a major challenge...because it is the ultimate hope for the control of cancer.”(5) The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a growing organization that promotes the prevention of cancer, and endorses non-animal methods of cancer study and treatment. PCRM reports that “a high-fat diet has been linked to cancers of the colon, breast, prostate, ovary, uterus, cervix, and other organs. Careful studies have also implicated proteins, particularly animal proteins, in cancers of the breast, colon, rectum, pancreas, and possibly other organs. Of course, animal-based foods are often also high in fat. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that these proteins may have a cancer-promoting effect of their own.”(6)
Of Mice and Men
Cancer research scientist Irwin D.J. Bross, Ph.D., director of biostatistics at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in New York, attributes the public’s lack of knowledge about cancer to misleading animal studies: “Not a single new drug for the treatment of human cancer was first picked up by an animal model system...the results of animal model systems for drugs or other modalities have done nothing but confuse and mislead the cancer researchers who have tried to extrapolate from mice to man. Moreover, when they have been used to guide clinical research they have sent investigators on one long and costly wild goose chase after another. Thus, scientifically speaking, the animal studies are a fraud. Privately, they [vivisectors] will concede that animal models don’t work, but they shrug this off because nothing works.”(7)
Critical Differences
Those who profit from animal experimentation continually insist that animals are physiologically similar to humans--similar enough to persuade us to believe that what happens in a rat, mouse, dog, cat, or other-than-human primate will occur in humans. However, research chemist Dr. Edward Sharpe points out that cancer tumors found in animals are of a completely different nature from those found in humans. Most animal cancers arise in the bone, connective tissue, or muscle (sarcomas), whereas most human cancers arise in living membranes (carcinomas).(8) Furthermore, animals confined to small laboratory cages, repeatedly manipulated, and otherwise subjected to pain and stress make very poor “models” of human cancer patients. Such animals are often heavily irradiated in attempts to give them cancer tumors, or are given highly concentrated doses of substances that a human being would never be exposed to. Former American Cancer Society president Dr. Marvin Pollard has acknowledged the problems with animal studies. “My own belief is that we have relied too heavily on animal testing, and we believed it too strongly. Now, I think we are commencing to realize that what goes on in an animal may not necessarily be applicable to humans.”(9)
Technologies and Treatments
There are many sophisticated non-animal research methods that can be used in the development of treatments for cancer patients. Technologies using human tumor cells have recently been developed by researchers at NCI. Today we also have extremely complex computer systems like “HUMTRN” that can be used to test the effects of drugs on the human body. These alternatives show researchers the possible side effects such drugs would have on the entire human system. Of the three basic treatment methods available to people diagnosed with cancer today--surgical removal, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy--not one is guaranteed effective. If a cancer does become remissive after one of these treatments, there is no assurance that it will not reappear. Because they irradiate or poison normal tissues as well as cancerous ones, radiation and chemotherapy treatments can both cause additional cancers as well as unbearable side effects. Typical side effects include nausea, hair loss, serious infections, bleeding sores around the mouth, soreness of the gums and throat, and ulceration and bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract.(10) In a clinical study of women treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer, “42 percent receiving a single drug and 79 percent on multiple drug treatment said that side effects were severe enough to interfere with their lifestyle, whilst 29 percent of patients receiving several drugs voluntarily added (on the questionnaire) that treatment was ‘unbearable’ or ‘could never be gone through again.’”(11) Drug-based cancer treatments enable some patients to live longer, but this often only prolongs their suffering. There are many nontoxic, noninvasive treatments for cancer, particularly nutrition-related treatments. Unfortunately, these methods are often overlooked or suppressed by proponents of the more lucrative, “traditional” cancer therapies, i.e., those that involve the production and sale of drugs. Dr. Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner, stated that “everyone should know that the ‘war on cancer’ is largely a fraud” and that “a new idea has not been allowed into this system in 20 years” because of the influences of vested interest groups.(12) After spending decades researching cancer survival statistics, Dr. Hardin Jones, professor of medical physics and physiology at the University of California at Berkeley, came to this unexpected conclusion: “My studies have proven conclusively that untreated cancer victims usually live up to four times longer than treated individuals.”(13) Clearly, our medical system must go beyond archaic animal studies and focus its attention on more sophisticated, human-based technologies and emphasize programs designed to prevent cancer altogether.
What You Can Do
Take responsibility for your health and avoid carcinogens. Stay away from animal-based foods (meat, eggs, and dairy products), tobacco, excessive radiation, artificial food additives and colorings, and pesticides. Have your tap water tested for possible chemical contamination, and test your house for radon gas. Urge your state and federal legislators and government agencies to crack down on soil and air pollution. Encourage medical charities and research agencies to develop and use clinical, epidemiological, and other non-animal research methods. If you donate to medical charities, write, “Not to be used for animal studies,” on your checks. Educate others about cancer prevention and help stop the nation’s No. 2 killer before it strikes.
References:
References:
References:
References:
References:
Chapter VI
1.Ameduri, Kendall, “Cancer Research Flawed, Ineffective,” Mesa Tribune, Jan. 31, 1994.
2.Chowka, Peter Barry, “Cancer Research, The $20 Billion Failure,” East-West Journal, March 1981.
3.Rattigan, P., N.D., “The Cancer Research Business and the Non-Lethal Alternatives.”
4.Levy, Doug, “USA ‘Losing Ground’ in Cancer War,” USA Today, Sept. 20, 1994.
5.Chowka, Peter Barry, “The Cancer Charity Rip-Off,” Public Scrutiny, February 1981.
6.Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of
Methotrexate,” PCRM Update, Jan./Feb. 1987.
7.Bross, Irwin, Ph.D., “Animals in Cancer Research: A Multibillion Dollar Fraud,” The A-V Magazine, Nov. 1982.
8.The Star, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 10, 1981.
9.Bross, Irwin, Ph.D., op.cit.
10.Moss, Ralph W., The Cancer Syndrome, 1980, pp. 51-75.
11.Bross, Irwin, Ph.D., op.cit.
12.Chowka, Peter Barry, East-West Journal, op.cit.
13.Ibid.From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Drug Testing: Pain, Not Gain
More than 205,000 new drugs are marketed worldwide every year (1), most after undergoing the most archaic and unreliable testing methods still in use: animal studies. The current system of drug testing places consumers in a dangerous predicament. According to the General Accounting Office, more than half of the prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1976 and 1985 caused serious side effects that later caused the drugs to be either relabeled or removed from the market. Drugs approved for children were twice as likely to have serious post-approval risks as other medications.(2)
Dangerous Differences
Many physicians and researchers publicly speak out against these outdated studies. They point out that unreliable animal tests not only allow dangerous drugs to be marketed to the public, but may also prevent potentially useful ones from being made available. Penicillin would not be in use today if it had been tested on guinea pigs--common laboratory subjects--because penicillin kills guinea pigs. Likewise, aspirin kills cats, while morphine, a depressant to humans, is a stimulant to cats, goats, and horses. Human reactions to drugs cannot be predicted by tests on animals because different species (and even individuals within the same species) react differently to drugs. Britain’s health department estimates that only one in four toxic side effects that occur in animals actually occur in humans. Practolol, a drug for heart disorders that “passed” animal tests, causes blindness in humans and was pulled off the market. Arsenic, which is toxic and carcinogenic to humans, has not caused cancer in other species. Chlomiphene decreases fertility in animals but induces human ovulation. The anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone breaks down nine times faster in humans than in rhesus monkeys.(3) Diethylstilbestrol (DES), an animal-tested drug that prevents miscarriages, caused cancer and birth defects in humans before its use was restricted. Many arthritis drugs that passed animal tests, including Feldene
(4), and Flosint (5), have been pulled from the market because they caused severe reactions or even death in human beings. Experimenters involved in a 1993 test of a hepatitis drug that led to five deaths were exonerated by a panel from the Institute of Medicine, which directly conflicts with the findings of the FDA. During the trials of fiauluridine (FIAU), the FDA contended that the scientists and their sponsors had committed numerous violations of federal rules governing clinical trials, including not spotting and reporting adverse reactions quickly enough. Dr. Morton Swartz, chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee, and a professor at Harvard Medical School said, “[F]indings from previous animal . . . tests using different doses and lengths of time didn’t expose this drug’s life-threatening side effects.”(6) Experimenters using animals are less apt to notice symptoms like emotional changes, dizziness, nausea, and other important but less obvious conditions. Animals are unable to tell experimenters how they feel, information that is necessary to help determine whether a drug can be tolerated by human patients. The British journal Nature reports that 520 of 800 chemicals (65 percent) tested on rats and mice caused cancer in the animals but not in humans. The same report illustrated different results between rats and mice used to test the same substance.(7) It costs about $2 million to test a single chemical on rats and mice. Billions more are spent regulating the use and disposal of chemicals “proved” to be dangerous in animal tests -- chemicals such as saccharin and cyclamates which may actually present little or no risk to humans.(8)
Results Ignored
Unfavorable animal test results do not prevent a drug from being marketed for human use. So much evidence has accumulated about differences in the effects chemicals have on animals and humans, that government and industry officials often do not act on findings from animal studies.(9) The acne drug Accutane was marketed despite the fact that it caused birth defects in rats. A small warning label was placed on the prescription. In this case, the animal tests did reflect human reactions, and now hundreds of children have been born with birth defects caused by Accutane.(10) The drug is still on the market.
Unnecessary Drugs
Drug companies are in business to make money. That is done by marketing large numbers of drugs, many of which are copies of drugs already on the shelves. A report by Health Action International found that “out of 546 products on the market for coughs and colds in five areas of the world, 456 are irrational combinations. Three-quarters of the 356 analgesics on the market should not be recommended for use because they are dangerous, ineffective, irrational, or needlessly expensive.”(11) Of the millions of drugs on the market, only 200 are considered essential by the World Health Organization.(12) According to the FDA, 84% of the new drugs produced by the 25 biggest drug companies had little or no potential for improving patient care. Only 3% were considered significant advances.(13)
Safer Tests
As long as the pharmaceutical industry cranks out thousands of new drugs every year, the public must push for the implementation of reliable, non-animal testing methods to ensure the safety of these drugs. Sophisticated non-animal testing methods exist. According to Dallas Pratt, M.D., “[M]any systems using either animal or human cell or organ cultures, as well as plant materials and microorganisms, have been created with emphasis on those which are rapid, inexpensive, and can discriminate between those chemicals whose properties represent a high toxicity risk and those which are relatively innocuous.”(14) Highly complex mathematical and computer models can be used to further define the specific problems a product may cause in human use. Despite the inaccuracies of animal tests, and the many cases of dangerous drugs having to be withdrawn from the market after passing animal tests with flying colors (such as FIAU mentioned earlier), the FDA continues to require animal studies before a drug can be marketed in the United States.
What Can Be Done
Today we have the knowledge to prevent much illness and human suffering, often by avoiding the hormone- and chemical-laden meat- and dairy-based diet common in the United States, by regulating against pollutants and dangerous pesticides, and by avoiding tobacco and other known carcinogens. As John A. McDougall, M.D., points out, “The present modes of treatment fail to result in a cure or even significant improvement in most cases because they fail to deal with the cause. The harmful components of [a meat-based] diet and lifestyle ... promote disease and thus the disease progresses unchecked. Present modes of therapy are intended to cover up symptoms and signs rather than relieve the cause of disease.”(15) Concerned people should write to their congressional representatives and demand an end to wasteful and inaccurate animal studies in favor of human-based research and treatments that actually help people. The National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest funder of research, must be pushed to fund more preventive programs and human-based research. Meanwhile, avoid purchasing any drug unless absolutely necessary. Remember, the manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals is big business. If you must take a drug, ask your doctor what clinical studies, not animal tests, reveal about the drug.
1.Ruesch, Hans, Naked Empress: Or the Great Medical Fraud, 1982.
2.Gladwell, Malcolm, “Serious Side Effects Linked to Many Approved Drugs.” Washington Post, May
28, 1990.
3.”Fewer Test Animals Could Mean Safer Drugs,” Economist, Feb. 5, 1983.
4.”Doctors Get Warning of Drug Hazard,” Guardian, Dec. 23, 1985.
5.”Arthritis Drug Banned,” Guardian, Dec. 14, 1983.
6.McGinley, Laurie, “Review Exonerates Researchers in Test of Hepatitis Drug That Led to 5 Deaths,” Wall Street Journal, March 17, 1995.
7.”Information Value of the Rodent Bioassay,” Nature, Vol. 336, Dec. 15, 1988.
8.Brinkley, Joel, “Animal Tests as Risk Clues: The Best Data May Fall Short,” New York Times,
March 23, 1993.
9.Ibid.
10.Kolata, Gina, “Anti-Acne Drug Faulted in Birth Defects,” New York Times, April 22, 1988, p. A1.
11.Health Action International press release and “Problem Drugs” pack, May 13, 1986.
12.Sharpe, Robert, The Cruel Deception, 1988.
13.Wachsman, Harvey F., “Regulate the Drug Monopolies,” New York Times, Jan. 16, 1993.
14.Pratt, Dallas, Alternatives to Pain in Experiments on Animals, 1980.
15.McDougall, John, M.D., McDougall’s Medicine, 1985.
From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Endotracheal Intubation: Killing Cats & Kittens
Endotracheal intubation, the passing of a tube through the mouth or nose into the trachea, is a necessary procedure for people who experience breathing difficulties or need respiratory support. Many cats and kittens and some dogs, ferrets, and pigs are still used to teach intubation, although better training methods exist.
Chronic Injury or Death
Even when properly anesthetized for veterinary care, animals may suffer tracheolaryngeal bruising, bleeding and scarring, severe pain, and a lingering cough. Improperly anesthetized animals can and often do suffer at the hands of inexperienced students during intubation training. In some cases, animals die from being improperly intubated. Often, animals are repeatedly intubated in a single session by more than one student, increasing the chance of injury.
Modern Training Methods
Several non-animal training methods available for teaching intubation combine hands-on training using mannekins, human cadavers, or actual patients with lessons covering important background and theoretical information, often including overhead transparencies, slides, equipment demonstration, and a question-and-answer period. Mannekin training uses specially designed, anatomically correct models. A mannekin can be intubated repeatedly by many individuals and training classes, without fear of harming the subject. With proper care, mannekins can be used indefinitely, making them less expensive than animals. Holly Jensen is one nurse who supports the use of mannekins because “repetition and review are among the most important components in both acquiring and maintaining competency when learning intubation. . . . When a live teaching subject is used, most students refrain from repeating the procedure because of the obvious traumatic implication associated with an entire class subjecting a few animals to this over and over again. With the [mannekin] infant head simulator, however, students have no hesitancy in practicing until proficiency is obtained.” (1) Sarah Krakauer is another nurse who says, “People can learn intubation at least as well on non-animal models as on living creatures. Using models is less expensive and solves the problem of anatomical differences between cats and babies.” (2) Training on a cadaver provides valuable practice on a physiologically relevant form. Trainees see the actual location and size of the components of the human oropharyngeal cavity. Staff members of the neonatal intensive care unit of Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, found that 73 percent of parents would allow the use of their babies who could not be saved “if it helps other babies in the future,” as one parent said. (3) Training in the operating room occurs only after mastery of one or more of the other training methods. Intubation on living humans is usually observed first, then performed under the direct supervision of an anesthesiologist.
Dangerous Differences
Clinicians should receive adequate training on physiologically relevant models before intubating human patients, but the anatomical differences between cats and humans are too great to apply to humans the skills learned on cats. Cats have larger, sharper teeth, proportionately larger tongues, more copious salivation, smaller anterior larynxes, dome-shaped arytenoid cartilages, and larger epiglottises than humans. Opposition to the use of animals for intubation training is growing. One practicing veterinarian objects to the use of cats because “unlike man, the cat is most easily intubated while lying in sternal recumbency [on the stomach]. . . . During this procedure, cats are extremely susceptible to laryngospasm, which, if it occurs, makes intubation impossible. The sensitive tissues of the larynx and pharynx can be severely bruised if intubation is attempted during laryngospasm. . . . I do not recommend that the cat be used to teach human endotracheal intubation.” (4) On July 29, 1993, New York Governor Mario Cuomo vetoed legislation that would have allowed medical technicians to practice intubation on cats. Aides to Mr. Cuomo said he received more mail and phone calls on the bill than on almost any other piece of legislation. (5)
Where They Come From
Animals used for intubation practice may be former companion animals obtained from shelters. Shelters should be sanctuaries for homeless animals, not supply houses for laboratories and teaching hospitals. Cats can also come from biological supply companies, the largest of which have been implicated in cruelty to animals. The demand for cats to teach intubation training also encourages theft of companion animals and breeding of cats, worsening the companion animal overpopulation problem.
What You Can Do
If you are in nursing or medical school and will be expected to intubate in your training, raise your objection to using animals as soon as possible. List in writing your reasons for objecting, and recommend the use of mannekins instead of animals. Call Medical Plastics at 1-800-433-5539 or Armstrong Medical Industries at 1-800-323-4220 for a list of intubation models and prices. If you are concerned with the use of animals for intubation training, but are not in the health-care field, you can raise the issue of animal use in your community. Write letters to the editor explaining that excellent alternatives are available. Ask your hospital or training institution to use mannekins or cadavers.
For more information, contact People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
1.Jensen, Holly, R.N., written statement.
2.Krakauer, Sarah, R.N., written statement.
3.Canuto, Phillip E., Beacon Journal, May 14, 1991.
4.Thacher, Wendy, D.V.M., written statement, Feb. 5, 1991.
5.Dao, James, “Cuomo Veto Spares Trees at Expense of Billboard Views,” New York Times, July 30, 1993.
From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Gillette Exposed: Deadly Deceit
PETA first exposed Gillette’s abuses in 1986 when a PETA investigator went undercover into the company’s Rockville, Md., testing plant and documented the suffering of animals she witnessed in her daily routine. Her observations were far from pretty: She saw rabbits with their skin peeled raw and blistered with dandruff shampoo; she heard guinea pigs scream as concentrated compounds burned into their abdomens; and she watched the death throes of rats poisoned by the toxic effects of forced inhalation of massive doses of aerosol deodorants and hairsprays. Gillette’s own study director admitted, “You’d have to lock yourself in, close off your bathroom, and spray your hairspray for an hour to get the same effect.”(1) Since the exposé, Gillette has used secret contractors to conduct its animal tests. According to company reports, in 1994 alone the company “used” 2,364 animals in cruel tests which included suffocating rats with aerosol sprays, smearing substances in rabbits’ eyes, and forcing compounds down animals’
throats.(2) Sadly, while scores of companies are eliminating animal tests, the number of animals Gillette has harmed and killed in laboratories each year has nearly doubled since 1987.(3) The company is an animal-testing relic that refuses to modernize. In the spring of 1994, PETA confronted Gillette’s former CEO Alfred Zeien at Gillette’s annual meeting to demand that the company live up to more than a decade of promises that it is “seek[ing] alternatives to animal testing.”(4)
Lies, Lies, Lies
Gillette speaks of “efforts to eliminate animal testing that isn’t absolutely necessary.”(5) However, there are no federal requirements that cosmetics and personal care products be tested on animals. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stated in 1984 that “it is important to keep in mind that neither the [Federal Hazardous Substances Act] nor the Commission’s regulations require any firm to perform animal tests.”(6) There is not a single type of personal care or office product that Gillette manufactures, from antiperspirant to dandruff shampoo, from fluoride toothpaste to correction fluid, that is not also produced by another company without animal testing. As the more than 550 companies that have permanently banned animal tests demonstrate, there are simply no “absolutely necessary” animal tests for household, personal care, or office supply products. Nine years ago, a Gillette Company vice president told PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk, “Efforts are currently underway”(7) to modify the Draize-type test used by the company. Today, Gillette still pays laboratories to drip substances in rabbits’ eyes to “test” irritancy.(8) In letters to consumers, Gillette praises itself for “participating in efforts...to explore the development of animal testing alternatives,” touting more than $4 million spent over the last five years “to fund research for adjunct methodologies” (although alternatives already exist) as proof of its commitment. However, this amount is a paltry 0.02% of its gross profits of $3.85 billion for 1994 alone(9) and is just a fraction of CEO Michael Hawley’s total annual compensation of $2.15 million.(10) Furthermore, the company has printed pricey pamphlets defending animal experiments and has joined industry coalitions dedicated to perpetuating animal tests.
Simple Solutions to Major Problems
The fact is alternatives already exist. Human skin can be grown in the laboratory; the in vitro Eytex method and CAM test check irritancy without hideous Draize-type tests; computer models map out the molecular structure of the human body; and the non-animal Ames test detects potential carcinogens. So, why does Gillette cling to circa 1930s animal tests? Companies that have eliminated animal tests have praised PETA for convincing them to go cruelty-free. Ken Landis, managing director of Benetton Cosmetics explains, “PETA has made us look at ourselves, at our products, and at our entire industry in a totally different way. We did a lot of research and found that we still can create new and exciting and innovative products without animal testing.” Gillette could stop animal tests today, continue selling its products already on the market and develop innovative new ones by relying on a battery of state-of-the-art in vitro testing methodologies, computer modeling, and the hundreds of ingredients which are already known to be safe. Your voice is needed to convince Gillette of this.
What You Can Do
1.Please, take the “Cruelty-Free Pledge” today. Send for our list of companies that do and companies that don’t use animal tests. Order PETA’s Shopping Guide for Caring Consumers, a comprehensive directory listing hundreds of companies, making it simple to find everything cruelty-free, from razors to hair care products to toothbrushes.
2.Write and call your local papers and television and radio stations. Ask them to cover this story and to let the public know how animals suffer in crude, cruel, and unnecessary product tests.
3.Write Gillette’s chief executive officer, Michael Hawley, at The Gillette Company, Prudential Tower, Boston, MA 02199, and tell him you will not purchase Gillette products until the company permanently bans animal tests. Call the company toll-free at 1-800-872-7202.
4.Encourage your office or school to return Gillette’s “products of pain” to the company and replace them with cruelty-free office supplies from companies such as Sanford Corporation (800-323-0749) or Evans International (800-368-3061).
5.Follow Paul McCartney’s lead and send any Gillette products you may already have back to the
company, demanding a full refund.
6.Please contact PETA’s “Cut Out Gillette” Campaign coordinator for information on how you can fight Gillette in your area. We’ll provide you with campaign materials such as Boycott Gillette stickers, posters, and fliers. The animals appreciate your help, and so do we.Gillette Products
Toiletries and Cosmetics:
• Dry Idea
• Right Guard
• Soft & Dri
• White Rain
• Aapri
• Dippity-Do
• Silkience
• Mink Difference
• The Dry Look
• Toni Home Perms
• Clear Gel
• Adorn
• Bare Elegance
• Curl Free Curl Relaxer
Shaving Products:
• Atra
• Good News
• Sensor
• Sensor for Women
• SensorExcel
• Double Edge Razor
• Cool Wave
• Daisy
• Wild Rain
• Foamy Shaving Cream
• Trac II
• Custom Plus Blades
Office Supplies:
• Liquid Paper
• Paper Mate
• Parker
• Waterman
• Flair
Dental Supplies:
• Oral B
• Home Appliances
• Braun
1.Undercover footage obtained by Leslie Fain and featured in “Products of Pain.”
2.”1994 Report on Research With Laboratory Animals,” The Gillette Company.
3.Ibid.
4.November 1, 1983, letter to consumer from David A. Fausch, vice president, corporate public
relations.
5.August 9, 1994, letter to consumer from The Gillette Company.
6.Federal Register, Volume 49, Number 105, May 30, 1984.
7.March 26, 1986, letter to Ingrid E. Newkirk, director, PETA, from Dr. Robert P. Giovacchini, vice president, product integrity, The Gillette Company.
8.Op cit, “1993 Report.”
9.”1994 Annual Report,” The Gillette Company, p. 26.
10.”1995 Shareholders Proxy Statement,” The Gillette Company.
From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Dissection: Lessons in Cruelty
Dissection is the practice of cutting into and studying animals. Every year, 5.7 million animals are used in secondary and college science classes. (1) Each animal sliced open and discarded represents not only a life lost, but also just a small part of a trail of animal abuse and environmental havoc.
Suppliers
Frogs are the most commonly dissected animals below the university level. Other species include cats, mice, rats, worms, dogs, rabbits, fetal pigs, and fishes. The animals may come from breeding facilities which cater to institutions and businesses that use animals in experiments; they may have been caught in the wild; or they could be stolen or abandoned companion animals. One of PETA’s undercover investigators at one of the nation’s largest suppliers of animals for dissection was told by his supervisor that some of the cats killed there were companion animals who had “escaped” from their homes. Slaughterhouses and pet stores also sell animals and animal parts to biological supply houses. PETA investigators documented cases of animals being removed from gas chambers and injected with formaldehyde without first being checked for vital signs (a violation of the Animal Welfare Act). (Formaldehyde is a severely irritating caustic substance which causes a painful death.) Investigators videotaped cats and rats struggling during infusion and employees spitting on the animals.
Depleting the Ecosystem
Frogs are captured in the wild to stock breeding ponds because populations die out if not replenished. A completely independent frog colony has never survived long without the introduction of “outside” frogs. (2) In their natural habitat, frogs consume large numbers of insects responsible for crop destruction and the spread of disease. In the years preceding India’s ban on the frog trade, that country was earning $10 million a year from frog exports, but spending $100 million to import chemical pesticides to fight insect infestations. (3) In addition, economic losses in agricultural produce were heavy. Today, Bangladesh is the main Asian market for frogs, and in the United States, scientists have noted severe declines in frog and toad populations that they blame on the capture of these animals for food and experiments, as well as on causes of general environmental decline such as the use of pesticides and habitat destruction. (4)
Killing Compassion Along With the Frog
Classroom dissection desensitizes students to the sanctity of life and can encourage students to harm animals elsewhere, perhaps in their own backyard. In fact, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer attributed his fascination with murder and mutilation to classroom dissections. In the last interview before his death, televised on Dateline NBC, Dahmer stated, “In 9th grade, in biology class, we had the usual dissection of fetal pigs, and I took the remains of that [pig] home and kept the skeleton of it, and I just started branching out to dogs, cats.” According to Dahmer, he enjoyed the excitement and power he experienced when cutting up animals and fantasized about cutting up a human body.Students with little or no interest in pursuing a career in science certainly don’t need to see actual organs to understand basic physiology, and students who are planning on pursuing a career in biology or medicine would do better to study humans in a controlled, supervised setting, or to study human cadavers or some of the sophisticated alternatives, such as computer models. Those who are rightfully disturbed by the prospect of cutting up animals will be too preoccupied by their concerns to learn anything of value during the dissection.
Students Speak Up
More and more students are taking a stand against dissection before it happens in their classes, from the elementary school level on up to veterinary and medical school. In 1987, Jenifer Graham objected to dissection and was threatened with a lower grade. Jenifer went to court to plead her case and later testified before the California legislature, which responded by passing a law giving students in the state the right not to dissect. Jenifer’s mother and the National Anti-Vivisection Society have set up a hotline for students who want to avoid dissection. Since Jenifer’s case, thousands of students have opted to study biology in humane ways, and many schools have accepted the students’ right to violence-free education.
Alternatives
Students and teachers may choose from a wide range of sophisticated alternatives to dissection. The typical science “lab” at many schools now emphasizes computers rather than animal cadavers.Computer programs such as VisiFrog, available from Ventura Educational Systems (910 Ramona Ave., Suite E, Grover Beach, CA 93433: 1-800-473-7383), can be used as either a lesson or a test. Programs include an identification game and a self-quiz, covering topics such as frog musculature, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system. As of this writing, the system costs $59.95. Operation Frog, made by Scholastic, Inc. (2931 E. McCarty St., P.O. Box 7502, Jefferson City, MO 65102; 1-800-541-5513), costs $79.95 to $99.95, depending on the type of software. It simulates an actual dissection on the computer. The Cambridge Development Laboratory (86 West St., Waltham, MA 02154; 1-800-637-0047) has a selection of educational software for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC for elementary through college level classes in biology, botany, physiology, and more. Many books also offer humane science lessons. The Anatomy Coloring Book and The Zoology Coloring Book, both published by Harper & Row, Inc., (10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022) are appropriate for high school and college students. These books are available in many bookstores for $10.95 and $11.95, respectively. Most non-animal tools and lessons last for many years and cost less than maintaining a constant supply of animals. Because computer methods allow students to learn at their own pace, they have proved to be as good as, and often superior to, dissection as a learning tool.(5) University of Virginia professor Mabel B. Kinzie compared students who used the interactive “frog” videodisc she developed with those who cut up real frogs. She found that students using the computer program learned anatomy just as thoroughly--in an environment that didn’t reek of formaldehyde or require killing a living being.(6)
Every Student’s Choice
Whether you are a student, a parent, or a concerned taxpayer, you can act to end dissection in your town’s school system. If you are expected to perform or observe a dissection, talk to your teacher as early as possible about alternative projects. Call the dissection hotline,1-800-922-FROG [3764], for tips on what to say and how to proceed. If there is an animal rights group at your school or in your community, ask them to help. Parents can urge their local Parent-Teacher Association to ask the area superintendent of schools or school board to consider a proposal to ban dissections in public schools or at least give all students the option of doing a non-animal project. It may help to collect signatures on a petition and to present the school board with information on the cruelty and environmental destruction caused by animal dissection and on readily available alternatives. If you can, arrange to show PETA’s video on biological supply companies, “Classroom Cut-Ups.” Get your school to drop dissection--it’s deadly.
1.National Anti-Vivisection Society, “Objecting to Dissection--A Student Handbook” (53 West
Jackson Blvd., Suite 1552, Chicago, IL, 60604; 800-922-3764), 1994.
2.Ethical Science Education Coalition, Frog Fact Sheet (167 Milk St., #423, Boston, MA, 02109-4315; 617-367-9143), 1994.
3.Jayaraman, K.S., “India Bans Frog Trade,” Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1987.
4.Booth, William, “Frogs, Toads Vanishing Across Much of World,” The Washington Post, Dec. 13, 1989.
5.”Comparative Studies of Dissection and Other Animal Uses in Education,” The Humane Society of the United States, 1994.
6.Orndorff, Beverly, “Computer Program Is a Frog Saver,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 5,1994.
From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Prose
the meat and potatoes stuff
from
the Electronic Windmill
by Pete McKinleyThe SS Crescent Moon, leaving the offshore fog bank, sailed into sunlight. A bright blue sky was overhead as the ship altered course, pointing her bow slightly to starboard of center beneath the bridge that spanned the gateway to San Francisco Bay. Standing at the rail, Cole looked up as the ship cleared from under the massive structure. The air was cool even in the sun and there was a crystal sharpness to the sweeping view from his deck. He wondered if Sir Francis Drake had actually found the narrow passage leading to the bay and had sailed around the landlocked harbor. Drake would have seen a desolate sand-blown peninsula with bent and stunted trees. Did the white angular buildings stepping up the inclined land, or the tall towers marking the center of the city add to, or detract from, the beauty of the view? He would be willing to bet that Drake, in his stench-ridden ship seeking fresh water and provisions, would vote for the present panorama over the past.
Off to port, a second bridge crossed the middle of the harbor without enclosing it. Ocean-plying vessels sailed under it to Carquinez Straits and beyond through navigable waterways to Sacramento and Stockton. The ship, heading east, would pass beneath still a third bridge arching out from the peninsula. This structure touched and island two-thirds the way across, bored a tunnel through its hills and then bridged the other third of the crossing to the East Bay cities that ringed the true mainland.
A tug was overreaching the ship’s slowing speed, coming up from the port stern preparing to aid in the docking at a covered pier jutting from the peninsula’s shore. The compact boat moved past midpoint of the bigger ship, reduced power and nosed gently into the forward port side. The SS Crescent Moon’s bow turned toward land and the little boat maneuvered her alongside the pier with experienced ease.
Cole turned from the rail heading for his cabin. Myron Brown would be waiting for a phone call. The cable for the ship phones should be hooked up soon, but he didn’t want to use the ship’s phone. He was sure all measures had been taken to prevent the eleven passengers and crew from leaving the ship without a thorough search, or the cargo to be unloaded without the same meticulous scrutiny. He wanted Brown’s permission to reveal the purpose of the just completed trip to his partners.
As he reached the cabin door someone called his name, and turning, he saw Mike Crowder hurrying after him waving a piece of paper.
“Hi, Mike, I was going to take my gear from the cabin and stack it by the gangway then give you a call,” Cole said. “After the farewell party last night I doubted if anyone would be stirring.”
“Yeah, that was the usual goodbye blast, but it normally ends earlier. Probably no one else will get off the ship until afternoon.” He paused and then continued, “Oh, this is for the card lessons.” He handed over the piece of paper, and Cole saw that it was a check for two hundred and eighty-six dollars.
“Wait a minute; are you sure it came to this much? That’s pretty high tuition.”
“It was that much and don’t worry about it; with the tricks you taught me, I’ll get it all back with interest next trip.”
“Thanks, Mike. Aunt Hester always told me gin rummy is ninety percent luck and that’s gambling, but the other ten percent is using your head to make money, and that’s business.”
“Some business,” Mike grinned.
“You have my phone number and address. How about giving me a call,” Cole suggested. “We like doing business with friends, especially when they’re such fast pay.”
“We’re sailing again as soon as the ship’s unloaded, about a three day job,” Mike explained. “I’ll call you in a couple of weeks when we get back.” He started to leave, then suddenly turned. “Hell, I forgot the most important thing I wanted to tell you. Customs is checking people and luggage tougher than usual. The luggage is the thing that takes time, so if you’re in a hurry leave your gear and pick it up later.”
“I’m scheduled for a meeting starting thirty minutes after I return. What about the frozen ducks?” Cole asked.
“I’m sure they’ll be held up too. Let me handle them for you. I’ve gone through this before, you just have to be patient.” Mike thought for a moment. “I’ll have our company driver drop them off at your office or at your apartment, if you prefer, along with the luggage. The ducks will be packed in dry ice,” he added.
“The office will be fine. I appreciate the help. Now, I owe you some free lessons.”
“Next time I’ll be charging tuition,” Mike muttered.
Without luggage, Cole passed through customs with very little inconvenience, except for the removal of most of his clothes and a rectal probe. He found a pay phone inside the covered pier and called Myron Brown. Brown said if Cole felt it was necessary to discuss his findings with his partners, to go ahead as long as they could be trusted, and that he was looking forward to the full report.
That was the hell of it, Cole thought as he hung up. He didn’t have any findings. He’d met some nice people and had had a great time, but none of it seemed to be connected with the possible use of the ship as a dope smuggler. He was anxious to discuss the events of the past two weeks with his partners. The four of them in Rain, Carver, Shu-li and Jones worked separately on their individual assignments, but always confided in each other, divulging every fact concerning their projects and helping each other when stymied on a job. The annual shareholders’ meeting was scheduled, but this shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes, and as always, they would be anxious to listen to his story.
“To solve a problem, four heads are better than one only if the four heads produce one acceptable solution,” Aunt Hester always said. This admonition made sense to Cole, and he rejected meetings and conferences where problems were left dangling or put over for further discussion. The three other people in the corporation also discussed their work, but they too arrived at their solutions individually. Now he needed their points of view to help him take a bearing on his present position so that he could decide on the next move.
Taxis are hard to find anywhere in San Francisco. On China Basin Street, they’re impossible. Cole waited confidently and saw the empty cab turn into China Basin from Illinois Street. It pulled alongside. Cole got in and directed the driver to Number 10, Black Pearl Road.
Racing the engine through automatic gears, he turned left still on China Basin, swung right into Third, and began a slow cruise. “Black Pearl Road, is that near the old International Settlement?”
Cole wasn’t too surprised that the cabbie didn’t recognize the address. There was only one ancient red brick building on the road, and nobody had occupied it for years prior to its purchase by Rain, Carver, Shu-li and Jones. “Not too far,” Cole said. “It probably would be quicker if we took the Embarcadero to Lombard. It’s on the other side and about a quarter of the way up Telegraph Hill.”
They cut down Brannan to the Embarcadero past the foreign trade zone and the old Ferry Building. Cole pointed across the tracks to Lombard and said, “Take another left at the next street.”
Black Pearl Road extended a short half-block. The two-story building at the end faced the center of the road. Cole asked the driver to pull up to the turn-around in front of the old brick structure. Leaving the cab, he overtipped. “The extra money is for being in the right place at the right time.”
“Thanks! Say, what is this place? I never knew it was here.” The driver leaned over and looked out at the building.
“The lower place is Borgia’s, the best food in town.” Cole didn’t bother to explain that the offices of RCS&J Corporation were located on the second floor.
The cabbie waved and raced the engine. “I’ll check it out some night.”
Borgia’s didn’t open until eleven in the morning but it didn’t matter. Giuseppe, or someone, would be in the kitchen, and he could call for coffee from the office.
There were only two numbers on Black Pearl Road, and the restaurant was Number 13. Cole unlocked the door to Number 10 and entered a carpeted foyer open to the second-floor roof. A wrought-iron chandelier hung from the second story ceiling, lighting the entrance and circular stairway. He climbed the stairs to a large room used as a combination lobby and conference area and switched on light that sprayed up and down the muraled walls, simulating sunlight. The murals were set in squares depicting scenes from the city, and there were times when one got the uncanny feeling of looking at them through windows. The room was heavily carpeted and furnished with coordinated lounges, comfortable chairs, coffee tables and floor lamps. At one end there was a well-preserved antique bar. Several color-oriented phones rested inconspicuously on small tables. Off this room, four offices overlooked the bay, each furnished and decorated to suit the occupant.
The door to Cole’s office was closed. He opened it and moved quickly to a walnut desk. The desk was the only clue that the room was used for business. There were several inner-office memos and a small stack of letters lying on top. He sat down, putting his feet on a pulled-out drawer, and reached for the memos.
One was a report from Kang Shu-Li, Secretary-Treasurer of the corporation. He noted a memorandum from Pilar and also a penciled note from her, explaining that a message from Larry Carver was on the recorder. Larry was Executive Vice President and had been in southern California when Cole left two weeks ago. Presumably, he was still there.
Pilar’s memo concerned a new project she’d undertaken to redesign functional plastic lawn furniture from giving the appearance of lumps or stumps in the grass. There was nothing personal.
Since Kang’s main interest was the every-day operation of the corporation, and his report concerned the shareholders’ meeting today, Cole read it first.
To the Chairman of the Board, to the other members of the Board of Directors, to the Executive Officers, and to the Common Shareholders of Rain, Carver, Shu-li and Jones Enterprises, Inc.:
It is gratifying to report that the condition of the corporation at year’s end was better than had been forecasted. Our holdings as of December thirty-first included the common and preference shares of some forty-three corporations, in the total amount of $372,456.00 (market value on that date); five pieces of real estate, including the building we occupy; and three parcels of undeveloped land appraised value of all real estate, as of July last year, $486,000.00.
One of these parcels sold in January of this year for $65,000.00. This particular lot was purchased in the deal with late revered uncle, Po Ling-teng, at the same time he sold us this decrepit building. Total price for both properties $23,758.00.
Rents received from the Borgia lease for the lower half of this building, Number 13 Black Pearl Road, have returned over a period of seven years, after interest charges and taxes for both properties, and insurance for this building, a net gain of $36,480.00. As my revered uncle’s favorite nephew, I was taught all he knew about the intricacies of making money and was cautioned never to do business with relatives. Cole laughed as he read this, knowing Kang was proud of the first deal he’d made for the then partnership. Reading on, he came to Kang’s usual close for a report on corporate affairs:
We have learned much from the late Po Ling-teng, from Larry Carver II, from the late Juan Pedro Jesus Mateos y Diego, and from Ms. Hester Coleridge. Our policy is taken from Ms. Coleridge’s small volume, titled “The Spiritual Man’s Place in an Evil World”, written by Ms. Coleridge after eighty-two years of concerned observation of the human race. “If that which God created in his image cannot move against the tide of wickedness or breast the racing current of corruption, then he must flow with these baleful forces, remaining unblemished, until, with God’s help he can control the impious tide and dam the depraved current for his own single, and mankind’s benefit.”
In her written annotated notes Cole remembered the explanation of this passage was, “If a single human being cannot cope with the modern Babylonian establishment, he should not give up his oneness by joining the opposition rabble, but rather merely comingle his entity with the established bastards and screw them at their own game, sharing any gain with his particular God and other worthy souls of the community.” The original partnership had consisted of Cole Rain, Larry Carver, Kang Shu-li and Robert Jones. The four of them had met at the University. Kang Shu-li had been the business manager and Cole Rain the editor of a college publication that went against the popular radical trend. Larry Carver and Bob Jones worked as reporters. Kang had interested the group in investing in stocks, bonds and real estate. They had formed an equal partnership and each contributed twenty-five thousand dollars to its assets. Kang had been investing in the market since high school days, and, through the tutelage of his revered uncle, had accumulated assets over fifteen thousand dollars. He had borrowed the balance to make up his share from that same uncle, Po-Ling-teng. Cole’s twenty-five thousand had come from Aunt Hester Coleridge, who was only in her seventies at the time, but said he should have inherited the money years ago. Larry Carver’s money came from football. He had signed a contract with a thirty thousand dollar bonus, had played sensationally in three exhibition games and was then carried from the field with a knee that would never stand that kind of punishment again. Bob Jones’ parents and his only sister had been killed in an automobile crash while he was in high school. He had been looking for a safe place to invest part of the insurance, and if you couldn’t trust people your own age, who could you trust?
One of the first investments made by the partnership was the purchase of the two properties described by Kang in his report. They had planned to use the structure on Black Pearl Road for their offices, but the size of the building made it impossible for them to use more than one floor. The lower floor had been rented to Giuseppe Borgia for his restaurant.
Borgia had been in the restaurant business for fifteen years. “Giuseppe’s”, his original place near the financial district, had flourished for only one reason: good food. After making a small fortune, Giuseppe sent to Italy for a bride. Six months later, Lucretia Donatelli, who had been selected by Giuseppe’s parents still living in the old country, arrived in San Francisco. Lucretia and Giuseppe were married in the church, and their reception was held at “Giuseppe’s”, restaurant and bar. It was the perfect place for a wedding party, and all the partners, with the exception of Bob Jones, had been present. Lieutenant Jones, accompanied by his bride, Pilar, was in Texas for flight training.
Cole remembered the reception. Giuseppe and Lucretia had signed the lease for Number 13 Black Pearl Road and completed its renovation. Giuseppe wanted to name the restaurant in honor of his bride and had commissioned one of the many artists who frequented the North Beach area to strike off a small bronze plate. It would be bolted to the brick wall beside the entrance. The plate was to be given to Lucretia at the wedding party. The artist had created his masterpiece. The lettering had an Italian look and stood out boldly from the indented and antiqued bronze background. Giuseppe was honoring his new bride by naming the restaurant “Lucretia Borgia’s Palazzo.”
When the plaque was presented to Lucretia at the party, Giuseppe climbed on top of a table to make a speech: “To all my wonderful friends, I want to say that Giuseppe is now Mister Borgia and my wife is Mrs. Borgia who will have the newest and finest restaurant in San Francisco. Before she was my wife, she was Lucretia Donatelli, the best cook in Italia. That’s why she’s now my wife, and she is going to cook up all her secret recipes for my” he hesitated, catching the error, “for our new restaurant, ‘Lucretia Borgia’s Palazzo’.” After making this speech, Giuseppe moved to the edge of the table to jump off. The table tipped and Giuseppe, clutching the bronze plaque, fell to the floor, breaking his arm. But, since he was completely anaesthetized by the spirit of the occasion, the break wasn’t discovered until X-rays were taken three days later.
There were other minor accidents at the party. Tony Coniglio, carrying a large bowl of steaming vermicelli covered with a tomato, mushroom and meat sauce, was accidently tripped by Father O’Connell. The Father was demonstrating what he termed a side-swipe soccer kick, using for the ball a wet wadded-up napkin. Swinging his leg in an arc, he caught Tony just under the right kneecap with the toe of his shoe. Tony fell forward and with presence of mind threw the vessel he was carrying on top of the bar.
Oversized Larry Carver squeezing into a booth had sat on a broken cocktail glass. A doctor at the party took three stitches in his ass with a borrowed needle and thread, sprinkling an antibiotic over the wound. Someone said it was plain salt and Larry agreed.
The one accident that could have had serious consequences occurred when a couple got into heated argument near the entrance of the restaurant. Cole knew them fairly well; Spike and Lenore Swensen. Lenore was a fragile little thing with flashing blue eyes. Spike was a big crew-cut blond, about six-four, two hundred and thirty-five pounds. He had played ball with Cole and Larry at the University. When Cole walked over to them, Lenore was saying, “You’re always threatening to use physical violence against me. If you ever dare lay a hand on me I’ll see you rot in jail.”
“Calm down, Lenore,” Spike soothed. “All I said was that you can’t handle your booze and there are times when you need your butt spanked.”
Cole interrupted, “Hi, everybody. Why don’t we all go over to the bar and have a drink.”
Lenore leveled him with cold blue eyes. “Why the hell don’t you get lost?”
“Now, Lenore,” Cole took on Spike’s tone, “This is a great party and I just wanted you two to have fun like everybody else. I agree with you. Spike shouldn’t threaten physical violence.” He put his arm around her shoulder while holding a half-filled highball glass. As she moved away from him, the glass was jarred and the drink splashed down the front of her dress.
“Damn you, now look what you’ve done.” With her open palm she smacked Cole on the cheek. Spike made a grab for her and she immediately turned on him, ducked under his outstretched arms and butted him in the stomach. There was a low planter sitting on the floor which caught the back of his legs and beyond the planter was a plate glass window. Spike made a perfect backward dive through the window, his head striking the concrete sidewalk. Huge sheets of glass crashed down. Spike lay still where he had fallen. Lenore stepped through the window and kneeling beside him, took his head in her arms and cooed, “Oh, you poor darling, are you hurt? Please, please speak to me.”
Spike opened his eyes. “I think there’s been an accident. I just heard a hell of a crash.”
“God, honey, you really had me worried.” Lenore took a deep breath of relief. “You’re so damned awkward,” she said, pressing her lips to his forehead.
Cole wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, took a last look, and leaving them, walked over to the bar to get another drink.
All this had happened several years ago and Cole found that he couldn’t be in a reminiscent mood for long without thinking of Pilar.
After Bob Jones had gone into the service, Pilar Jones was called in to design the decor for Lucretia Borgia’s Palazzo and had exactly caught the Italian Renaissance mood. In the first months they had all helped out: Larry Carver with business and administrative advice, Cole with legal help, and Kang Shu-li with suggestions on buying procedures and waste-disposal methods which saved money and increased profits.
A year and a half after the opening, there was no doubt of the success of the new restaurant. It was at this happy time that Cole received a phone call from Pilar Jones. In a barely audible, tear-choked voice she read the telegram announcing Bob Jones’s death.
Pilar Priscilla Mateos’s ancestors had been land grant holders in California for more than two hundred years and there was no financial need for her to ever work. But after Bob’s death she wanted to be more than a fourth owner of Rain, Carver, Shu-li and Jones. The three remaining partners, with some reservations, allowed her to join them. Pilar had a degree in design engineering, but found that applying engineering principles as taught at the University was too restrictive for her more creative free art form. Recently, it had been impossible for her to accept all the requests for her services, and she now greatly enhanced the corporation’s image. Of course Cole’s current assignment was due to the fact that Pilar had designed ceramic tile for McWhorter Brown.
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One piece in this issue is “Crazy,& #148; an interview Kuypers conducted with “Madeline,& #148; a murderess who was found insane, and is confined to West Virginia’s Arronsville Correctional Center. Madeline, whose elevator definitely doesn’t go to the top, killed her boyfriend during sex with an ice pick and a chef’s knife, far surpassing the butchery of Elena Bobbitt. Madeline, herself covered with blood, sat beside her lover’s remains for three days, talking to herself, and that is how the police found her. For effect, Kuypers publishes Madeline’s monologue in different-sized type, and the result is something between a sense of Dali’s surrealism and Kafka-like craziness. |
Debra Purdy Kong, writer, British Columbia, Canada
I like the magazine a lot. I like the spacious lay-out and the different coloured pages and the variety of writer’s styles. Too many literary magazines read as if everyone graduated from the same course. We need to collect more voices like these and send them everywhere.
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As for the fiction, the piece by Anderson is quite perceptive: I liked the way the self-deluding situation of the character is gradually, subtly revealed. (Kuypers’) story is good too: the way it switches narrative perspective via the letter device is a nice touch. |
Children, Churches and Daddies.
It speaks for itself.
Write to Scars Publications to submit poetry, prose and artwork to Children, Churches and Daddies literary magazine, or to inquire about having your own chapbook, and maybe a few reviews like these.
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what is veganism?
A vegan (VEE-gun) is someone who does not consume any animal products. While vegetarians avoid flesh foods, vegans don’t consume dairy or egg products, as well as animal products in clothing and other sources.
why veganism?
This cruelty-free lifestyle provides many benefits, to animals, the environment and to ourselves. The meat and dairy industry abuses billions of animals. Animal agriculture takes an enormous toll on the land. Consumtion of animal products has been linked to heart disease, colon and breast cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes and a host of other conditions.
so what is vegan action?
We can succeed in shifting agriculture away from factory farming, saving millions, or even billions of chickens, cows, pigs, sheep turkeys and other animals from cruelty.
We can free up land to restore to wilderness, pollute less water and air, reduce topsoil reosion, and prevent desertification.
We can improve the health and happiness of millions by preventing numerous occurrences od breast and prostate cancer, osteoporosis, and heart attacks, among other major health problems.
A vegan, cruelty-free lifestyle may be the most important step a person can take towards creatin a more just and compassionate society. Contact us for membership information, t-shirt sales or donations.
vegan action
po box 4353, berkeley, ca 94707-0353
510/704-4444
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I really like (“Writing Your Name& #148;). It’s one of those kind of things where your eye isn’t exactly pulled along, but falls effortlessly down the poem. I liked “knowledge& #148; for its mix of disgust and acceptance. Janet Kuypers does good little movies, by which I mean her stuff provokes moving imagery for me. Color, no dialogue; the voice of the poem is the narrator over the film. |
Children, Churches and Daddies no longer distributes free contributor’s copies of issues. In order to receive issues of Children, Churches and Daddies, contact Janet Kuypers at the cc&d e-mail addres. Free electronic subscriptions are available via email. All you need to do is email ccandd@scars.tv... and ask to be added to the free cc+d electronic subscription mailing list. And you can still see issues every month at the Children, Churches and Daddies website, located at http://scars.tv
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MIT Vegetarian Support Group (VSG)
functions:
* To show the MIT Food Service that there is a large community of vegetarians at MIT (and other health-conscious people) whom they are alienating with current menus, and to give positive suggestions for change.
* To exchange recipes and names of Boston area veg restaurants
* To provide a resource to people seeking communal vegetarian cooking
* To provide an option for vegetarian freshmen
We also have a discussion group for all issues related to vegetarianism, which currently has about 150 members, many of whom are outside the Boston area. The group is focusing more toward outreach and evolving from what it has been in years past. We welcome new members, as well as the opportunity to inform people about the benefits of vegetarianism, to our health, the environment, animal welfare, and a variety of other issues.
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Dusty Dog Reviews: These poems document a very complicated internal response to the feminine side of social existence. And as the book proceeds the poems become increasingly psychologically complex and, ultimately, fascinating and genuinely rewarding.
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Some excellent writing in “Hope Chest in the Attic.& #148; I thought “Children, Churches and Daddies& #148; and “The Room of the Rape& #148; were particularly powerful pieces. |
C Ra McGuirt, Editor, The Penny Dreadful Review: CC&D is obviously a labor of love ... I just have to smile when I go through it. (Janet Kuypers) uses her space and her poets to best effect, and the illos attest to her skill as a graphic artist.
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Dusty Dog Reviews: She opens with a poem of her own devising, which has that wintry atmosphere demonstrated in the movie version of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. The atmosphere of wintry white and cold, gloriously murderous cold, stark raging cold, numbing and brutalizing cold, appears almost as a character who announces to his audience, “Wisdom occurs only after a laboriously magnificent disappointment.& #148; Alas, that our Dusty Dog for mat cannot do justice to Ms. Kuypers’ very personal layering of her poem across the page.
Fithian Press, Santa Barbara, CA
Indeed, there’s a healthy balance here between wit and dark vision, romance and reality, just as there’s a good balance between words and graphics. The work shows brave self-exploration, and serves as a reminder of mortality and the fragile beauty of friendship.
Mark Blickley, writer
The precursor to the magazine title (Children, Churches and Daddies) is very moving. “Scars& #148; is also an excellent prose poem. I never really thought about scars as being a form of nostalgia. But in the poem it also represents courage and warmth. I look forward to finishing her book.
You Have to be Published to be Appreciated.
Do you want to be heard? Contact Children, Churches and Daddies about book or chapbook publishing. These reviews can be yours. Scars Publications, attention J. Kuypers. We’re only an e-mail away. Write to us.
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The Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology
The Solar Energy Research & Education Foundation (SEREF), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., established on Earth Day 1993 the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST) as its central project. CREST’s three principal projects are to provide:
* on-site training and education workshops on the sustainable development interconnections of energy, economics and environment;
* on-line distance learning/training resources on CREST’s SOLSTICE computer, available from 144 countries through email and the Internet;
* on-disc training and educational resources through the use of interactive multimedia applications on CD-ROM computer discs - showcasing current achievements and future opportunities in sustainable energy development.
The CREST staff also does “on the road& #148; presentations, demonstrations, and workshops showcasing its activities and available resources.
For More Information Please Contact: Deborah Anderson
dja@crest.org or (202) 289-0061
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Dorrance Publishing Co., Pittsburgh, PA
“Hope Chest in the Attic& #148; captures the complexity of human nature and reveals startling yet profound discernments about the travesties that surge through the course of life. This collection of poetry, prose and artwork reflects sensitivity toward feminist issues concerning abuse, sexism and equality. It also probes the emotional torrent that people may experience as a reaction to the delicate topics of death, love and family.
“Chain Smoking& #148; depicts the emotional distress that afflicted a friend while he struggled to clarify his sexual ambiguity. Not only does this thought-provoking profile address the plight that homosexuals face in a homophobic society, it also characterizes the essence of friendship. “The room of the rape& #148; is a passionate representation of the suffering rape victims experience. Vivid descriptions, rich symbolism, and candid expressions paint a shocking portrait of victory over the gripping fear that consumes the soul after a painful exploitation.
want a review like this? contact scars about getting your own book published.
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The magazine Children Churches and Daddies is Copyright © through Scars Publications and Design. The rights of the individual pieces remain with the authors. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.
Okay, nilla wafer. Listen up and listen good. How to save your life. Submit, or I’ll have to kill you.
Okay, it’s this simple: send me published or unpublished poetry, prose or art work (do not send originals), along with a bio, to us - then sit around and wait... Pretty soon you’ll hear from the happy people at cc&d that says (a) Your work sucks, or (b) This is fancy crap, and we’re gonna print it. It’s that simple!
Okay, butt-munch. Tough guy. This is how to win the editors over.
Hope Chest in the Attic is a 200 page, perfect-bound book of 13 years of poetry, prose and art by Janet Kuypers. It’s a really classy thing, if you know what I mean. We also have a few extra sopies of the 1999 book “Rinse and Repeat& #148;, the 2001 book “Survive and Thrive& #148;, the 2001 books “Torture and Triumph& #148; and “(no so) Warm and Fuzzy& #148;, which all have issues of cc&d crammed into one book. And you can have either one of these things at just five bucks a pop if you just contact us and tell us you saw this ad space. It’s an offer you can’t refuse...
Carlton Press, New York, NY: HOPE CHEST IN THE ATTIC is a collection of well-fashioned, often elegant poems and short prose that deals in many instances, with the most mysterious and awesome of human experiences: love... Janet Kuypers draws from a vast range of experiences and transforms thoughts into lyrical and succinct verse... Recommended as poetic fare that will titillate the palate in its imagery and imaginative creations.
Mark Blickley, writer: The precursor to the magazine title (Children, Churches and Daddies) is very moving. “Scars& #148; is also an excellent prose poem. I never really thought about scars as being a form of nostalgia. But in the poem it also represents courage and warmth. I look forward to finishing the book.
You Have to be Published to be Appreciated.
Do you want to be heard? Contact Children, Churches and Daddies about book and chapbook publishing. These reviews can be yours. Scars Publications, attention J. Kuypers - you can write for yourself or you can write for an audience. It’s your call...
Dorrance Publishing Co., Pittsburgh, PA: “Hope Chest in the Attic& #148; captures the complexity of human nature and reveals startling yet profound discernments about the travesties that surge through the course of life. This collection of poetry, prose and artwork reflects sensitivity toward feminist issues concerning abuse, sexism and equality. It also probes the emotional torrent that people may experience as a reaction to the delicate topics of death, love and family. “Chain Smoking& #148; depicts the emotional distress that afflicted a friend while he struggled to clarify his sexual ambiguity. Not only does this thought-provoking profile address the plight that homosexuals face in a homophobic society, it also characterizes the essence of friendship. “The room of the rape& #148; is a passionate representation of the suffering rape victims experience. Vivid descriptions, rich symbolism, and candid expressions paint a shocking portrait of victory over the gripping fear that consumes the soul after a painful exploitation.
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Dusty Dog Reviews, CA (on knife): These poems document a very complicated internal response to the feminine side of social existence. And as the book proceeds the poems become increasingly psychologically complex and, ultimately, fascinating and genuinely rewarding. Children, Churches and Daddies. It speaks for itself. |
Dusty Dog Reviews (on Without You): She open with a poem of her own devising, which has that wintry atmosphere demonstrated in the movie version of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. The atmosphere of wintry white and cold, gloriously murderous cold, stark raging cold, numbing and brutalizing cold, appears almost as a character who announces to his audience, “Wisdom occurs only after a laboriously magnificent disappointment.& #148; Alas, that our Dusty Dog for mat cannot do justice to Ms. Kuypers’ very personal layering of her poem across the page.
Children, Churches and Daddies. It speaks for itself.
Debra Purdy Kong, writer, British Columbia, Canada (on Children, Churches and Daddies): I like the magazine a lot. I like the spacious lay-out and the different coloured pages and the variety of writer’s styles. Too many literary magazines read as if everyone graduated from the same course. We need to collect more voices like these and send them everywhere.
Fithian Press, Santa Barbara, CA: Indeed, there’s a healthy balance here between wit and dark vision, romance and reality, just as there’s a good balance between words and graphics. The work shows brave self-exploration, and serves as a reminder of mortality and the fragile beauty of friendship.
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the unreligious, non-family oriented literary and art magazine Scars Publications and Design ccandd96@scars.tv http://scars.tv Publishers/Designers Of Children, Churches and Daddies magazine cc+d Ezines The Burning mini poem books God Eyes mini poem books The Poetry Wall Calendar The Poetry Box The Poetry Sampler Mom’s Favorite Vase Newsletters Reverberate Music Magazine Down In The Dirt magazine Freedom and Strength Press forum plus assorted chapbooks and books music, poery compact discs live performances of songs and readings Sponsors Of past editions: Poetry Chapbook Contest, Poetry Book Contest Prose Chapbook Contest, Prose Book Contest Poetry Calendar Contest current editions: Editor’s Choice Award (writing and web sites) Collection Volumes Children, Churches and Daddies (ISSN 1068-5154) is published quarterly by Scars Publications and Design. Contact us via e-mail (ccandd96@scars.tv) for subscription rates or prices for annual collection books. To contributors: No racist, sexist or blatantly homophobic material. No originals; if mailed, include SASE & bio. Work sent on disks or through e-mail preferred. Previously published work accepted. Authors always retain rights to their own work. All magazine rights reserved. Reproduction of Children, Churches and Daddies without publisher permission is forbidden. Children, Churches and Daddies copyright through Scars Publications and Design, Children, Churches and Daddies, Janet Kuypers. All rights remain with the authors of the individual pieces. No material may be reprinted without express permission. |