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THE ANIMAL
RIGHTS 2001 CONFERENCE
The Annual Meeting for
2001
Training Sessions: Training kids with guns endangers everyone.
Guns must be eliminated from society. Hunters are already divided, keep dividing them, stress issues that divide hunters. Get to children early in school so they learn to hate hunting. Legal rights for all animals.
Terrorism is justified. Put bricks through widows to intimidate wives and children. And lots more ...
by Jim
Beers
July 10, 2001
Click on any of the topics
immediately below to be taken to that section.
INTRODUCTION
After several requests by Conservation Force,
an international sustainable use conservation organization located in Louisiana,
I agreed to attend the annual animal rights meeting. The Conference ran
from 30 June to 5 July at the Hilton Hotel in McLean, Virginia. John
Jackson, Chairman of Conservation Force, believed that it was important for
hunters and other sustainable use supporters to attend this conference just as
animal rights representatives attended annual wildlife management meetings.
This made sense to me. I was surprised to learn that no other sustainable
use or hunting or fishing group planned to have anyone attend this meeting in a
suburb of Washington. As the five days passed, I discovered that no
participants or attendees from any of the national conservation groups were to
be found, here in their own backyard. To the best of my knowledge, no one
else who questioned the goals or tactics of the animal rights movement was in
attendance.
Those of you who hunt, fish, trap, wear fur,
raise mink, sell fur or leather products, train animals, have pets, enjoy
rodeos, enjoy circuses, live on ranches or farms, log timber or graze animals,
use wood products, eat meat, eat eggs, eat cheese, eat wild fish and wildlife,
eat seafood, attend dog races, support animal research for human treatments,
support proactive fish and wildlife management for human benefit, use public
lands, own guns, support the 2nd Amendment, wear leather, oppose terrorism,
oppose intimidation, oppose physical threats, recreate in the outdoors with your
families, love your children, want your religious institutions kept free from
infiltration and manipulation, believe in the Constitutional freedoms of the
USA, oppose the continued expansion of Federal power, oppose forcible
establishment of rule by anarchy in our USA, oppose the efforts of the UN to
regulate everything to do with fish and wildlife and guns throughout the world,
and who love this nation and what it stands for should have been there.
Organizations that represent your interests should have been there. Law
enforcement organizations should have been there.
The people and groups that gathered at this
luxury Hilton Hotel for five days made no bones that they are going to eliminate
every traditional use of animals and many other American freedoms and
traditions. They have been going about this incrementally for years.
Since there have been no serious consequences of their activities, their
boldness and arrogance has reached gargantuan proportions. They clearly
believe and preach the radical reformation of the way we live, the way we relate
to our government, and the elimination of most freedoms that we take for granted
here in the USA. They intend to change the relationship between mankind
and the animal world that has existed for millennia.
This radical movement must be brought into the
light of day. Their agenda, from mandated veganism to obtaining legal
rights first for apes and then for all other animals, must be understood by all
of us. The current process where bear hunting is voted out in one state
and all of us say, "I don't hunt bears". Where wild Himalayan
sheep are added to UN Lists and all of us say, "I will never get to the
Himalayas". Where public land is locked up and we say, "I will never
have to use that land". Where dog breeders are restricted to low
numbers or forbidden to breed their dogs and we say, "I have a cat".
This incremental process of dividing us and slowly taking away right after
right, this must be exposed and responded to by all of us, including those
vegans and disgruntled citizens who value freedom and America's promise.
The only way for me to convey the truly
frightening experience of attending this conference is to describe what I
encountered. I earnestly hope that the reader will be convinced to treat
this movement with the serious consideration and public scrutiny that it
deserves. If all of us don't pull together to maintain our freedoms and
way of life, these people will surely turn us into a society that our
forefathers would not recognize and in which we, and I ultimately believe they,
will not want to live.
I can only report what I saw through the eyes
of a 60 year old white male. These are also the eyes and ears of a
Catholic wildlife biologist and ex-law enforcement officer who hunts, fishes,
and understands the benefits of proactive fish and wildlife management.
After a stint with the Utah Game and Fish, the US Navy, the Minneapolis Police
Department, and 30 years in various locations with the US Fish and Wildlife
Service I am what I am and I see what I see. All of these things are
relevant to what I am about to report to you.
Although the First Amendment guarantees the
right of free speech and free assembly, many of the things I saw and heard could
only be characterized as inciting mayhem. Many of the people making
presentations crossed state lines to get there and there were numerous
inferences, suggestions, and encouragements to commit violent and unlawful acts
of major magnitudes.
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ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION
Walking through the parking lot each day
revealed an abundance of bumper stickers. Most referred to veganism in
varying intensities. The eventual imposition of veganism nationwide was the most
common. Other stickers referred to resisting globalism, disrupting NAFTA,
outlawing circuses, outlawing rodeos, stopping fishing, stopping hunting,
stopping dogracing, protesting at Seattle and Quebec, intimidating the World
Bank, and outlawing all fur and leather.
The exhibit area inside lay between the
registration desk and the conference rooms. Passing through the exhibits
revealed an incredible range of protest topics.
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HANDOUTS AND PUBLICATIONS
The following is a partial list of the handouts
and publications:
- How the international chemistry industry is
killing poor people around the world.
- How President Bush is using religion to kill
our Constitution.
- Why we must stop the war on drugs.
- How the World Bank is being forced to meet
the demands of protesters.
- Why we should teach children not to be
ashamed of their bodies.
- How all religions were originally vegan.
- Ending the use of animals in research,
testing, and education.
- Stopping the use of animals for meat, eggs,
and dairy products.
- Spiritual Communication with animals.
- Using animal communicators.
- What would Jesus eat today.
- Stopping logging in the Philippines.
- How President Bush is oppressing minorities.
- Why we shouldn't eat bananas, chocolate, or
beef or use coffee.
- How to stop union busting in Haiti.
- Boycotting McDonalds, Macy's, Anheuser
Busch, and the Back Bay Restaurant Group.
- Why criminals start out as animal abusers.
- What's wrong with - leather, hunting,
seafood, fur, meat, etc.
- Protesting in Solidarity with the U'wa
People.
- The Global Sweatshop Coalition.
- Ending Procter and Gamble Testing on
animals.
- Internships for animal rights, indigenous
rights, anti-sweatshop, and anti-fur.
- Internship for DIRECT ACTION/CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE.
There were more things here but space is limited.
I mention these to give the reader a taste of the atmosphere at this conference.
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VIDEO PRESENTATIONS AND
SESSIONS
Videos were constantly being shown. The
following selections represent the flavor of those presentations.
- IGNITING A REVOLUTION. A sympathetic primer
by radical environmental and animal activists on "ecotage".
- SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT. Carol Adams,
feminist-vegetarian author.
- ANIMAL LIBERATION: THE MOVIE. ALF raids on
British laboratories and factory farms.
- WHAT'S WRONG WITH HUNTING. By Buffalo Bills
Coach Marv Levy.
- PUPPY MILL EXPOSE. BY actor Charlize Theron.
- THE REAL LIFE OF CIRCUS ANIMALS. By Ali
McGraw.
- GREAT AMERICAN MEATOUT. BY Ed Asner.
- MONEY AND MYTHS. How state wildlife agencies
fail to protect wildlife.
- THE BURGER KING CAMPAIGN. By Dan Rather.
- AUSTRALIA FACTORY FARM RAIDS.
- There were many others on trapping, chicken
farms, the cowboy image, etc.
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PROGRAM SELECTIONS
There were four concurrent sessions throughout
the days. Here are selections from the program.
- WHEN IS KILLING OK? (attacking animals?
Unwanted dogs & cats? Fetuses or babies?)
- WHAT RIGHTS? WHICH ANIMALS? (Should
intelligence matter?)
- GETTING ATTENTION (Legally) (effective use
of street demonstrations)
- GETTING ATTENTION (Otherwise) (CD's,
disruptions, banner drops, rescues, phone/web siege, destruction)
- ANIMAL SPIRITUALITY (communicating with
animals)
- HOW BROAD OUR ETHICS? (Can we justify lying,
cheating, stealing, subordinating other social goals?)
- ANIMAL VICTIMHOOD (Commonality of oppression
of animals, children, women, minorities)
- WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS (changing behavior
through feelings and beliefs)
- YOUR SON OR THE RAT? (whose life do we
value?)
- ROLE OF VIOLENCE
- DIRECT TACTICS (economic and peer pressure,
physical threats)
- ENACTING FEDERAL LEGISLATION (issues,
coalitions, legislators and committees)
- HOW CAN WE ALL GET TOGETHER? (what are the
opportunities and obstacles? What are the steps?)
- ENACTING STATE AND LOCAL LAWS
- WHAT PRICE SOLIDARITY? (when should we
tolerate damaging tactics or statements by other leaders?)
- WHAT PRICE ANIMAL LIBERATION? (how far
should we go to liberate animals? What should be off limits?)
- MEDICINE CAMPAIGNS (Huntingdon, Coulston,
OPRC, Procter & Gamble, WWAIL)
- OUTREACH TO WOMEN AND MINORITIES
- OUTREACH TO RELIGION
- COMPANION CAMPAIGNS (property, puppy mills,
spay/neuter, no-kill, Korean dogs)
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THINGS HEARD IN THE
SESSIONS
I could only attend one fourth of the sessions
because there were four presented at a time in four locations. I can only
say that those I did attend ranged from very old rhetoric about trapping and
hunting to scary references to the violent change of our form of government.
There were reportedly over a thousand attendees. Many were my age and boasted
about starting in the Vietnam protests. Many of the middle-aged attendees
boasted of other protest movement experience on behalf of radical feminism, the
environment, and oppressed workers and minorities. About a third of the
attendees were under 25. Many of these were heavily tattooed and made
liberal use of metal rings through various body parts. My guess would be
that half of them were attending their first such conference. In my
opinion, they were being scrutinized by many of the sponsors and session
instructors. They were encouraged to meet with instructors later in
hallways and at dinner if they were interested in learning "more"
about what was discussed and the things only alluded to. It appeared to be
a bazaar for inducting young people into terrorist activities. Keep this
in mind as you read the following excerpts from sessions which I attended.
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GENERAL COMMENTS
These selected comments are but a few of what I
heard over five days. The more explosive sessions were avoided by the
leaders and lawyers. Often hands were put over microphones and comments
from spontaneous participants were not audible but caused considerable
chuckling. I shudder to think about those things which they didn't mention
but invited participants to ask about "in the hall" or "after
dinner". The sessions held anywhere from 50 to 200 people, depending
on the topic, and not once was anything questioned.
At one point I felt as if I was attending a
communist training program back in the 50's or 60's for a cadre of insurgents to
be sent into a country to be subverted. Some are trained to control the
media, others to influence politicians and control bureaucracies, still others
to control religion and schools, demonstrators were to disrupt things, and
others to do the "other things" that ultimately underpin all the rest.
Frightening is too weak a word to describe what it is like to watch this take
place in a luxury hotel in a free country.
- Animals are like exploited workers and
prisoners.
- WTO demonstrations helped to save turtles.
- Oppressed people are like labor and
environmental supporters.
- Pollution is just like police brutality.
Use it as an excuse to demonstrate and forge coalitions.
- Abortion rights activists can help to
involve the women's movement and the lesbian/gay activists.
- An eco-feminist ethicist ranted against
patriarchy and the "Miss Vegan" contests.
- A German leftist studied right wing
extremism. He concludes- People in power exploit, oppress, and
exclude. Speciesism is racist and right wing like Nazism talked about Slavs.
Invading Russia was like invading the wilderness. Nazism today is the animal
users who enslave and kill animals like slave laborers who were
"hunted" for sport by Nazis.
- Competition establishes inequality and
oppression.
- Guns must be eliminated from society.
- Anyone with a gun wants to kill.
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ON TACTICS
- I've been arrested six times and I still
teach at my University.
- Some places like San Francisco will never
prosecute you for anything.
- Put bricks through widows to intimidate
wives and children.
- Baseball bats when they pull into their
driveways have a way of discouraging people.
- Sometimes you have to "blow shit
up".
- Some people should be "blown up".
- Bomb threats at key moments in England have
won the day for us.
- Harass business acquaintances on the golf
course and their neighbors.
- Break up stockholder meetings and company
parties.
- Here's how to find out where people live.
- There is "other" stuff that I will
be glad to tell you about in the hall or after the dinner.
- There are no consequences of arrest.
- Break-ins, destroying property (fire, etc.)
is all justified since society refuses to protect animals.
- Make things as costly as you can.
- I'm proud of all my arrests.
- Propagandize and energize the young,
especially radicals in their teens and twenties who will take risks.
- Institute demonstrations and maximize
disruptions and publicity. Use "comely" people as
spokespersons and always appear rational and reasonable.
- Coordinate harassment by any means that
destroys key businesses, business leaders, and other opponents.
- Lying, cheating, destruction, and
"anything else" are justified since society won't listen and the
laws are against us.
- The end justifies the means.
- Stress victimhood. Racism equals Sexism
equals Speciesism.
- Women and blacks had to chip into men's
rights. Now animals are chipping in also.
- "Person" is not just humans.
- The privilege of "whiteness"
equals privilege over animals.
- Attack history notions and focus on our
progressive enlightenment on all these matters.
- Break up traditions and change the status
quo to where we are in charge.
- Disrupt lawmaking that threatens us at any
level.
- European culture is our enemy.
- White males must be suppressed.
- The Huntingdon Life Sciences model from
England can serve American activists as an example of what to do.
- No one owns a pet. We are guardians
only. The whole man/pet relationship needs to be revamped.
NOTE: There were many comments about
cockfighting in states that still permit it, dogracing, meat, eggs, dairy
products, animal research, and other matters that resemble the foregoing but are
simply redundant and too much for this already extensive report.
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ON RELIGION
- Focus on progressive Churches.
- I'm a Buddhist but I speak at every
progressive Church that will let me.
- Manipulate progressive Christians, Jews, and
others.
- Assert that all early Churches were vegan.
- Identify and support vegan ministers and
other religious leaders.
- One humane leader compared himself to Mother
Theresa. He, like she, "could save X many more animals per day or
week if he had X more dollars".
- Go beyond dogma. Go beyond religion.
Enter the circle of life.
- Unity and Unitarian Churches are good bets
to turn people to veganism.
- We are establishing a vegan-spiritual based
society.
- We may soon convert the Dalai Lama to
veganism.
- Tell people that we all come to this planet
from somewhere.
- Saint Francis and Suma Ching How support us.
- The religious issue is really the
health/ethics/spirituality issue.
- Christian tradition has been adulterated.
- Beware of hierarchical priests.
- Utilize professional animal communicators
who engage in telepathic communication with animals. Establish
conversations with "the other side" (meaning the dead).
- Animal souls fit with all religions.
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ON COALITIONS
- Read Angela Davis.
- Talk about dietary racism.
- Establish solidarity with women of color.
- Be very careful that you don't get a
Clarence Thomas.
- Stress solidarity with all progressive
movements.
- People of color are at great risk around
hunters and trappers.
- Get whites upset, this energizes minorities.
- Anti-nuclear protesters share our goals as
do people against slave labor and those against using the third world to
grow our food.
- Always keep an eye out for free floating
radicals who can help.
- Globalization is the issue to forge
coalitions around. (Cheers)
- Preach solidarity with unions, minorities,
feminists, and gay/lesbians.
- Animals equal the Holocaust equals child
abuse.
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ON HUNTING
- New Jersey is running out of kids
indoctrinated to hunt.
- Training kids with guns endangers everyone.
- Stress issues that divide hunters like
"canned" hunts.
- Dog hunting and baiting also divide hunters
so use these topics.
- Hunters are already divided, keep dividing
them.
- Oppose all right to subsistence hunting by
indigenous people.
- Use kites, recordings, bullhorns, and
"other" things. This last comment brought a titter of laughs
from many of the young people.
- Hunters want to kill bears in New Jersey and
we saved the bears.
- Hunter Constitutional Rights at the state
level are funny. They are a placebo to hunters and just put control in
state legislatures which we will soon control.
- The restrictions on ballot initiatives in
Utah must be fought anywhere that they pop up.
- Hunters are getting old. Pretty soon
they will just disappear.
- We are successful in getting to children
early in school so they learn to hate hunting.
- We need to work more with the UN to bring
more animals under their control.
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ON FISHING
- PETA has cracked the wholesomeness of
fishing. This will deter families and help us with the wholesome
labels of other animal uses.
- Always deal with sport fishing and
commercial fishing bans separately.
- Fishermen are tools of international
businesses.
- All killing of fish must be stopped.
- PETA is proud to be forcing the Boy Scouts
to drop their fishing and wildlife management merit badges. They are
proud to be in solidarity with others who are trying to change that
indoctrination organization.
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TRAPPING AND FUR
- Confront anyone wearing fur and intimidate
them.
- Use any tactics to put fur stores out of
business.
- Confront people wearing fur trim.
- Embarrass fur wearers in front of their
friends and at places where they wear fur.
- Personalize the animals to children and the
public.
- Trappers are dying out.
- The propaganda about animal control is all
lies. No animals need to be controlled.
- Predators must all be protected and allowed
to spread everywhere.
- Europe and especially England is way ahead
of us here. The Labor Party is very sympathetic.
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ON CIRCUSES AND RODEOS
- Cowboys are all sissies. Confront them and
they run.
- Take concealed videos to circuses and try to
get footage of what goes on.
- Get local ordinances passed that make it
more expensive and more difficult to put on performances.
- Identify and support local law enforcement
vegans and sympathizers.
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ON ANIMAL RIGHTS
The NARAL representative described how she is
working with and supporting the Great Ape Project. The only goal is to
obtain legal rights for apes as the crack in the wall for all other animals
(like abortion, endangered species, and gun control).
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ON POLITICIANS
- Since industry bribes politicians anything
we do to get political support is good.
- Remember that we have friends who are not
Democrat. Senator Smith (R-NH) and Senator Jeffords (I-VT) are two of
our best friends.
- Our new PAC will be an umbrella for all of
us to give money directly to those we favor and to defeat those who are not
our friends. We look forward to a large PAC.
- We have eliminated several enemies like Sen.
Slade Gorton (R-WA).
- Eighty percent of the people are
"assholes".
- If we can control 11% of the voters we can
win control.
- Clinton didn't do enough for us.
- Bush is an enemy to all of us. (Cheers)
- If 2% of the voters are ours, we can succeed
beyond our wildest dreams.
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ON FEDERAL CONTROLS
- The Animal Welfare Act is the vehicle for
expansion and amendments that we had hoped it would be.
- The Federal Bear Protection Act proposed by
Senator McConnell (R-KY) will transfer control of bears from the state to
the Federal government.
- We control the Federal Congress and the
Federal bureaucracy now. In a few years we will control the state
legislatures too.
- Get supporters in Federal agencies and work
together.
- We need Federal laws over dogs and cats.
- Training dogs for security, hunting, and
performing must be controlled by the Federal government.
- Most Federal legislators are pro-animal
rights and soon most state legislators will be too.
- Federal controls break the back of the state
fish and wildlife agencies that are pro-hunting.
- State agencies are enemies.
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We all owe a debt of gratitude to John Jackson of
Conservation Force for having the persistence to have me attend this Conference.
Everyone who reads this should share it with
your family, your neighbors, your associates and everyone else you come in
contact with each day. All of us, whether or not we are concerned directly
with one of these animal issues should understand what is happening and protect
the traditions and rights of all of us whether or not we are an absolute
majority.
Allowing these tactics and organizations to
succeed threatens all of us in every way.
Jim Beers
10 July 2001
ON GUNS & GUN CONTROL
KeepAndBearArms.com Founder, Angel Shamaya,
contacted Mr. Beers requesting permission to publish this report, also seeking
additional information specific to guns and gun control. Following is the
message Mr. Beers sent to Mr. Shamaya:
Angel,
There was considerable gun control chatter, especially between sessions.
The current top goal of the animal rights crowd is mandated veganism
throughout the United States. To attain that goal they intend to incrementally:
- Ban hunting, fishing, and trapping
- Ban the use of fur, leather, and animal products
- Eliminate all fish and wildlife management
- Ban rodeos, circuses, etc.
- Ban the use of animals in research
- Ban commercial fishing
- Ban animal husbandry for meat, eggs, and dairy products
The above are in a rough order of accomplishment over time.
These people realize that making guns unobtainable will be the death knell
for hunting, trapping, and wildlife management. So they naturally and
aggressively want to "catch up" to England, Canada, Australia, the UN,
and dictatorships throughout the world.
Just as importantly however, is their coalitions and alliances with other
radical groups that are also committed to gun control. They are clearly working
closely with such groups for short term objectives (Seattle, Quebec, local
ordinances, and specific Federal laws) and for long term objectives ( control of
politicians and Committees, seats on UN delegations, control of agencies, etc.).
There is no place for guns in the world these folks envision. The sooner they
eliminate the guns and gun ownership in the current world, the sooner they
believe they will achieve their other goals.
That said, I believe their goals will change if they continue to succeed.
This is really all about POWER. If you can mandate veganism, why not where
people live, what they can do, or who will get what favors that you control?
There were remarks about guns that:
- related guns to how patriarchs oppress women, minorities, and indigenous
people
- "proved" that "guns create violent children"
- said guns had "to be eliminated to finally eliminate hunting"
- they were part of the "old" world and not part of the
"new" world being created
- "proved" that hunter education classes made criminals of
children and endangered everyone else in society.
- "Anyone with a gun wants to kill."
- "Training kids with guns endangers everyone."
Thanks for helping to spread the word.
Jim Beers
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