| Home | Bookmark | Tell | Active petitions in over 75 countries | Follow GoPetition |
Petition Tag - practice
Feathers that you use in your pillows, blankets and clothing come from somewhere. Most notably, from animals. This is deemed acceptable as it is cheap and 'humane' as there feathers are used after slaughter.
A new, horrifying treatment is plucking the feathers from live geese.
Instead of just plucking the bird once after slaughter you can pluck the bird several times while it is still alive. This equates to more money.
2. Help stop the murder of parents who practice Falun Gong 
For the past 10 yrs, the Chinese Communist Party have murdered parents, teachers, young and old for their practice and faith in Falun Gong. Children are pushed out of schools, and left to take care of themselves when and if their parents and even grandparents are taken to jail for slave labor and torture treatments inside China today. To find out more, please go to sohnetwork.com, faluninfo.net
Dear Secretary of State Clinton,
Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that is Buddhist in nature. It consists of moral teachings, a meditation, and four gentle exercises that resemble tai-chi and are known in Chinese culture as “qigong.” The latter are a truly unique, and very much enjoyable, way to improve the health and condition of one’s body.
At the core of Falun Gong are the values of truth, compassion, and forbearance (or in Chinese, Zhen, Shan, Ren). Falun Dafa teaches that these are the most fundamental qualities of the universe itself, and takes them to be a guide for daily life and practice. Falun Gong is also known as “Falun Dafa.”
By 1999 Falun Gong was reported to have grown to become the largest, and fastest growing, practice of the sort in Chinese if not world history. In just seven years since its 1992 introduction to the public, an estimated 70-100 million persons in China were by then making Falun Gong a part of their daily lives.
In Asia spiritual practices of this variety are often referred to as ways of “cultivation”, or “self-cultivation,” and form an important part of traditional Chinese culture. Various Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian practices fit this rubric.
Through consistent and dedicated practice, the student of Falun Gong comes to achieve a state of selflessness, greater insight and awareness, inner purity, and balance—the inner workings of what might be called true health. Ultimately he or she approaches what in the Asian tradition is known as “enlightenment” or “attaining the Dao” (or “Way”).
While Falun Gong aspires to inner transformation of the self, it nevertheless typically translates outwardly into positive change in the world, insofar as the practitioner becomes a more patient family member, a more conscientious employee, a more giving member of the community, and so on.
Falun Gong has thus been the subject of many citations, awards, and proclamations as conferred by government officials and a variety of organizations. Many who practice Falun Gong have been the recipients of service awards in their communities. The practice’s founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, is a four-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and was nominated by the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought.
Few people today are aware that the practice and its followers received much in the way of official recognition in China during the 1990s, prior to a dramatic, and violent, change in political winds in 1999 which saw the practice banned.
In 1993, Mr. Li Hongzhi was named the “Most Welcomed Qigong Master” in Beijing and bestowed by an official body with the Award for Advancing Frontier Science. That same year, The People's Public Security News—the official newspaper of China’s Ministry of Public Security—praised Mr. Li for his contributions “in promoting the traditional crime-fighting virtues of the Chinese people, in safeguarding social order and security, and in promoting rectitude in society.”
By 1999, Chinese officials went so far as to quantify Falun Gong’s benefits, such as when one official from China’s National Sports Commission, speaking with U.S. News & World Report, declared that Falun Dafa “can save each person 1,000 yuan in annual medical fees. If 100 million people are practicing it, that’s 100 billion yuan saved per year in medical fees.” The same official went on to note that, “Premier Zhu Rongji is very happy about that.”
Today Falun Gong is practiced freely in more 70 countries around the world, with clubs and associations existing in a range of cities, companies, universities, and other settings. Regrettably in China, its country of origin, it is currently banned and the subject of gross human rights violations at the hands of communist rulers.
While Falun Gong is practiced openly in the 70-plus countries where it is found, today in its homeland of China it is subject to well-documented egregious human rights violations. The scale and scope of abuses taking place make this possibly the largest religious persecution in the world today.
Suppression officially began on July 22, 1999 following years of escalating state abuses (timeline).
One basic explanation for the seemingly irrational campaign is the proclivities of China’s atheist Communist Party (the CCP), which fears all groups outside its control – particularly ones that subscribe to a different ideology.
The Party has tried several times to eradicate all expressions of religion from China (a country traditionally referred to as "the land of the divine"). To this day Roman Catholics, many Protestants, and Tibetan Buddhists cannot worship freely in China and are at constant risk of detention and torture. By 1999, Falun Gong became a natural target as it was the largest - and fastest growing - spiritual group in China with 100 million practitioners nation-wide, according to Chinese Government reports at the time.
Others have noted that the decision to launch the campaign is linked to former-Party head Jiang Zemin’s "fear" and "jealousy" of Falun Gong. According to analyst Willy Lam (news), Jiang has been seen as "using the mass movement to promote allegiance to himself." Sources cited by the Washington Post, state that, "Jiang Zemin alone decided that Falun Gong must be eliminated," and "picked what he thought was an easy target." (more about the origins of the campaign).
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the campaign has been its prevalent use of extreme torture. Torture of Falun Gong adherents has been documented in each of China’s provinces, in jails, labor camps, brainwashing centers, and schools in China’s big cities, small towns, and villages.
Popular torture techniques include shocking with electric batons, burning with irons, tying the body in painful positions for days, force-feeding saline solutions through a plastic tube inserted up the nose, and prying out fingernails with bamboo shoots, to name a few; rape and sexual torture of the Falun Gong in detention are prevalent as well.
To date over 3,000 deaths have been documented, as well as over 63,000 accounts of torture. An estimate of the real figure puts the actual death toll in the tens of thousands (more about torture)
When the persecution was launched in 1999, tens of millions of Chinese who practiced the meditation discipline were faced with a choice. One option was to again surrender to the Communist Party and abandon a practice that had brought them better health, spiritual guidance, and, invariably, newfound hope. A second option seemed to be to continue practicing quietly at home – but as raids quickly showed, this was impossible even if one were able to turn a blind eye to the persecution of family and friends. A final option was to openly resist the persecution in spite of knowing full well what the painful consequences might be.
Indeed, those who chose the latter have most commonly faced forms of oppression that do not make headlines – dismissal from work, expulsion from universities, deprivation of health care and pensions, divorce, homelessness, and a range of other forms of discrimination (more about: persecution in the family, persecution at work and school, and destitution).
For hundreds of thousands, the most basic reality of the campaign has been long periods of detention in "reform through labor" camps – China’s Gulag system. There they are forced to work up to 20 hours per day, producing – without pay – toys, Christmas tree lights, chopsticks, and soccer balls for export. Those who refuse are tortured (more about arbitrary detention and slavery).
Be it in labor camps, jails, or in special reeducation centers, all detained Falun Gong practitioners have been forced to undergo what can only be described as brainwashing. The Communist Party’s goal is to force these people to renounce their spiritual beliefs and come to view Falun Gong as dangerous, as well as to turn in others who are active in exposing the persecution.
The key ingredients of the brainwashing process, or what the Party calls "transformation," is sleep deprivation, hours on end of staring at videos vilifying Falun Gong, threats, and Cultural Revolution-style "struggle sessions". Some particularly "stubborn" individuals who refuse to transform are injected with psychotropic drugs in asylums as treatment for the mental disorder of incorrect political thinking (more about psychological persecution).
The Party’s ultimate solution for the vast number of incarcerated Falun Gong adherents, however, is much more terrifying. According to current and former hospital employees, the Falun Gong have been used in reverse organ-matching – they have been killed by the thousands so that their organs can be used for on-demand transplants.
Livers, kidneys, hearts, and cornea are removed from the living, anesthetized Falun Gong adherents with matching blood-types and sold to Party officials and other desperate-yet-wealthy individuals from China and abroad. Undercover investigators’ phone calls to Chinese hospitals have caught doctors boasting about this practice on tape (more about organ harvesting).
But, as in every genocide of the twentieth century, extreme violence first required dehumanization of "the other" through propaganda. Indeed, one key measure in the Party’s suppression has been to limit, and distort, information about Falun Gong—both in China and elsewhere.
From day one of the suppression, the regime banned all books and informational media produced discussing Falun Gong positively. All websites relating to the practice were immediately blocked. Millions of Falun Gong books were forcibly seized and burned publicly. The regime feared people might learn, if they knew not already, that Falun Gong was a healthy, normal, and positive way of life embraced by millions (more about censorship).
These censorship efforts have, of course, extended to cyberspace, thanks in no small part to Western companies who have enthusiastically sold Internet surveillance technology to the Party’s security apparatuses. As a result, Chinese people are now in jail for posting evidence of torture online or even downloading articles about Falun Gong (more about the persecution and the Internet).
Alongside censorship, the Party has sought to scandalize Falun Gong through an aggressive propaganda blitz. The regime has been determined to paint Falun Gong as dangerous, deviant, and abnormal.
Former Party Chairman Jiang Zemin led the way, attaching onto Falun Gong the label of "cult" three months after his ban as means to further bend public opinion. The Ministry of Propaganda thus launched numerous publications, radio and TV shows, and even plays, comic books, and exhibitions meant to criminalize Falun Gong (more about this propaganda campaign).
Government officials around the world, meanwhile, report receiving defamatory materials from Party emissaries. These are often accompanied by attempts to pressure the elected officials to stay silent about abuses perpetrated against the Falun Gong, to rescind proclamations in recognition of Falun Gong’s contributions to the community, and to block local Falun Gong activities such as parades or conferences.
Business owners, journalists, and scholars have also been subjected to similar pressure tactics and threats (more about pressure overseas), leading to a sometimes eerie silence in Western press and academia (see "Out of the Media Spotlight").
Beyond mere threats, Falun Gong adherents overseas have been physically assaulted and spied on by agents directly connected to the Chinese Communist regime (more about persecution overseas).
The Falun Gong have responded to all of this with markedly peaceful means. Throughout nearly a decade of persecution, they have refused to adopt violence. Instead, adherents first tried to reason with Communist Party rulers through letters and petitions. When these fell on deaf ears, the Falun Gong turned to Tiananmen Square where – through quietly meditating or displaying banners before being arrested - they sought to call upon the conscience of the Chinese people as well as world leaders. As the persecution continued, the Falun Gong began countering state propaganda by distributing information exposing the persecution through leaflets, VCDs, emails, and phone calls.
Collectively, this resistance movement - composed of bold individual acts in spite of great personal risks – constitutes what is probably today’s largest non-violent movement in the world (see "Righteous Resistance").
Outside of China, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters have also engaged in a range of activities aimed at exposing the persecution on the mainland. Since the Falun Gong in China are denied any legal rights there (more about violations of China’s law and the complicity of the judiciary), a group of leading rights lawyers are carrying out one of history’s broadest international campaigns legal campaigns with the aim of bringing CCP officials to justice for what these attorneys are calling the genocide of Falun Gong (more about lawsuits around the world and violations of international law).
This is the most important element to chiropractic in NJ.
Each Year Hundreds of thousands of horses are slaughtered in United States and are transported to Canada for inhumane consumption.
Wild horses, ponies, race horses, pleasure horses, sick, old, even healthy are all unwanted or no longer needed will be slaughtered because owners demands change.
Sold through auctions horses will then be sold from the killer buyers by the pound.
The fatter and bigger the horse it's chances are at higher risk to go for meat.
The horses are then packed in double decker trucks which should only be used for pigs and cattle.
The ceilings do not meet there needs as they are to low for the horses to lift there heads comfortably.
The horses being transported for slaughter are not properly rested, fed or given water.
The long rides are approx 36 sometimes more.
Alot of times when the driver reaches his destination most of the exhausted horses end up being injured or dead from cramming too many horses in the trucks.
The dead ones end up being left behind.
The law states that horses be unconcious before having this awful practice done but in most cases that doesn't happen.
Many investigators have witnessed horses still consious and were improperly stunned.
Usually with a device called a captive bolt gun which shoots a metal rod in to the horses brain.
The conditions in the slaughter house are stressful and frightning.
France, Holland, Mexico, Europe, and Japan are just some of the countries that eat horse.
The over breeding such as race horses and pleasure horses has got to stop it has made a higher risk for slaughter.
In the states 92.3% of horses are still in good condition alot of people lie and state there sick, old, or injured but again thats not always the case.
Owners selling there school horses or ponies to auctions are not always aware what happens after they are sold.
Do you really know where there going?
I don't get horse people any more once there horse gets sick or can't do the job anymore the owners give up on them people should be ashamed of them selves and wake up and realize whats happening.
These horses were not meant for meat.
These living loving animals have done so much for us like win the race bred beautiful foals.
They all deserve a second chance and better lives for people to love them for them instead of being sent for slaughter.
These horses suffer a painful death.
I believe there's a home for every horse out there.
My heart will never stop until this ends in happiness for them.
If I can save one horse I made a difference.
6. Liquor Restrictions in Entertainment Venues in NSW
This petition asks the current practice by the Licensing Police of imposing blanket liquor restrictions including midnite lockouts, barring drink & entertainment styles on all late night trading entertainment within designated areas be ceased.
It asks for the numbers of police on active duty at night to be increased to address the wealth of late night violence on the streets which is not related to patrons of late night entertainment venues trading. Many times they the victims of this unrelated violence.
This petition seeks to support all Entertainment Venue Licensees who display good RSA practices to maintain the right to continue trading normal, approved business hours, regardless of location.
7. STOP LTTE CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA
To the FOREIGN MISSIONS,UNITED NATIONS, ICC, ICJ INTERNATIONAL CHILD RIGHT AND HUMAN RIGHT ORGANIZATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND EVRY PARNETS WHO CARE AND LOVE FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR RIGHTS
DEAR OFFICIALS,FRIENDS AND PARENTS
We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned that, according to recent reports, The Tamil Gurrillas the LIBERATION TIGERS OF SRI LANKA continue to recrut or using children as soldiers, or are at serious risk of doing so. The United Nations Security Council,the UNESCO and the International community repetadly ask the LTTE stop use of children in the ongoing armed conflict in Sri Lnka but after the recent fall of the peace accord the LTTE has announced that they will continue to use children in their gurrillas suits to fight against the Armed forces, the dissapearance of the children increasing and you attention and immeidate action need to stop the LTTE CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN in Sri Lanka and which your state is a member, has taken decisive action to end this practice.
However, to date, your government has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, an essential step toward stopping child recruitment.
We urge your government to ratify the Optional Protocol, without reservations and to setting 18 as the minimum age for all forms of military recruitment, as an essential step toward ending the use of children as soldiers.
Seanaka Perera
CEO-Sri Lanka Armed Forces Relief Foundation
WAR CRY FOR PEACE (EXHIBITIOJN)SRI LANKA
8. Inquiry into medical animal testing in the UK
Doctors and research scientists are increasingly speaking out against animal testing. All animals are different, so they feel the results from animals can't be applied to humans, and it is dangerous for human patients if we try to do so.
In 1997 Labour came to power in the UK. One of their pre-election pledges was to hold an historic investigation into the medical relevance and safety for human patients of using animal experiments.
The medical relevance of animal testing has come under more doubt since then, but they have still refused to honour the pledge.
Among the developments in that time were:
§ 83% of doctors, in an independent poll, supported the idea of an independent evaluation.
§ A 2004 paper in the British Medical Journal concluded that "the contribution of animal studies to clinical medicine requires urgent formal evaluation."
§ Scientifically evaluated cell culture tests have been discovered to be 80-85% accurate: easily more accurate than animal testing.
§ Adverse drug reactions have been estimated to be our fourth leading cause of death: killing over 10,000 people a year in the UK and costing the NHS £466 million, according to medical journal studies. All drugs contributing to this have passed tests on animals.
An Early Day Motion raised by a concerned MP requesting such an inquiry attracted the support of hundreds of MPs across the parties and was among the 1% most popular EDMs. The MP consulted with doctor's group Europeans For Medical Progress (see www.curedisease.net) who actively supported the move.
UK CITIZENS - SUPPORT THIS CRUCIAL INQUIRY
If you live in the UK, your MP has until November 2006 to sign EDM92 - go to www.vote4animals.org.uk and enter your postcode to find ways of contacting him or her. It takes about 5 minutes.
See http://www.vote4animals.org.uk/edm92.htm and www.curedisease.net for more reasons why we need this inquiry.
For more about why animal experiments don't work, see www.vivisection-absurd.org.uk.
FREE NEWS LIST
Email vivisectionkills@hotmail.com to receive free email medical news and details of what you can do about this.
9. Resolution of Inquiry and Demand of Redress
July 8, 2006
Since the United States Supreme Court decision from the Hamden Vs. Rumsfeld suit appeal affirmed that international treaties are indeed applicable to the current international conflicts that the United States has embroiled itself in, no call for an investigation into who is responsible for an apparent breach of US and International law has been made.
See: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-184.pdf
This petition is written in the form of a resolution and will be delivered to Members of Congress, Federal Judges and law enforcement Officers who may have jurisdiction over these matters.
Spetember 17th was chosen because it is the anniversary of the signing of the constitution.
10. Support Freedom of Artistic Expression! Oppose State Censorship!
Feb 10, 2006
Footscray police in flag heist
Michael Ascroft, Melbourne
Just two days after a deliberately burned Australian flag was put on display above a Footscray street, it was seized by police. The flag was installed outside Trocadero Art Space for the exhibition Proudly unAustralian by Melbourne artist Azlan McLennan. The provocative artwork was intended to be on public display for Australia Day.
McLennan commented to Green Left Weekly about "the audacity of the police to refuse to recognise how many Indigenous and Muslim Australians take offence to the Australian flag". He asked: "Does this mean that every time I see an Australian flag in public, or every bit of corporate advertising for that matter, that I can call Footscray police to have it promptly removed?" According to McLennan, "the law requires a reasonable amount of notice be given" so artists have the opportunity "to choose to remove the work themselves".
From Green Left Weekly, February 8, 2006.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/
For further info go to http://www.azlanmclennan.org/press5_trocadero.html
Or to view the transcript of the ABC 7.30 Report's interview with Azlan McLennan: 'Art prompts call for flag-burning law change' go to http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1563582.htm
Broadcast: 06/02/2006
11. Abolish the Use of Child Soldiers
Though the use of children as soldiers is condemned by the international community, the atrocious practice are still continued in many countries.
Children involved in armed conflict, are beaten, raped, and killed. What's more troubling is that they are forced to carry out the same violent actions towards other people, even other children. Child soldiers live under severe conditions. They are not given the care that every child should get. Boys are not the only victim of this serious issue. Girls are also recruited as soldiers and are more at risk of rape, sexual harassment or abuse. Like the boys, they are also force to participate in combat.
We have an obligation to millions of children to make sure that they don't spend their childhood in a violent world where they must kill or be killed.
Please join us in our efforts to abolish the use of child soldiers.
12. Work holiday on your birthday
January 14, 2005
We have less bank holidays in the UK than most western countries.
If we added one more flexible day, on your birthday, you could plan your birthday day, have a good time and feel better about your employers and the world.
You should also be encouraged to spend the day contemplating past achievements and make plans for the future.
13. Support the band First Cause
The First Cause is one of a few local bands in and around the Mcleansboro area. Their practice space is located two blocks south of the intersection of highways 14 and 142 on the west side of the highway.
While this band has made efforts not to disturb residents of surrounding homes at inappropriate times, it seems that everytime they try to practice someone is calling the City Police.
While the band is not legaly obligated to stop their practice until 9:00 p.m., they have always cut their practices short anytime that there is a complaint called in.
As of late, the complaints to the local police have come in as early as 6:45 (after less than ten minutes of play time).
This band's focus is strictly on thier music, and they don't want to be a nuisance in anyone's life here in Mcleansboro or anywhere else. There is so little to do here localy for young people and when a few of them find something they enjoy they are quickly labled as disturbers of the peace.
This bands members work, go to school, have caring families and raise children. There are a lot of other "passtimes" they could get caught up in, but they have decided to be dedicated to their art.
In response to the recent public complaints, we have decided to compose this petition to ensure that the law will be on The First Cause's side until 9:00 p.m. in the future as it is today.
14. G-K Athletic Department - Save the Girls High soccer team
We the team members want to practice as a team together, not seperated by skills. We feel by doing so, we allienate some of the players, and by doing this the team spirit is destroyed and more players will quit. We feel a team needs to work together to get stonger, to divide, is to destroy, which we feel Coach Zsabo is trying to do.
15. Abolish Insurance Redlining in Michigan
Introduction: Insurance Redlining in Michigan is out of control. Laws have been passed giving Insurance Companies greater freedom to continue Redlining. In fact, The Consumer Protection Act has been rendered useless. A few steps have been taken, like Our Govenor Granholm has created An Insurance Czar. Also, as noted in the following; The Senate Democratic Caucus formed its Consumer Protection Task Force. Chaired by senators Gilda Z. Jacobs (D-Huntington Woods) and Martha G. Scott (D-Highland Park), the task force will hold hearings across the state to
take testimony on insurance reform.
"Insurance reform is a top priority for our caucus," Sen. Jacobs said. "From the large
volume of constituent calls to our caucus, it is clear that Michigan citizens are looking for
answers to questionable rates and practices promulgated by the insurance industry.
For some folks, the issue is auto insurance related. For others, it's home and health insurance. We want to hear from all these concerned people. Their input is essential to the
development of legislation to address these issues."
Sen. Scott said, "The citizens of Detroit have been dealing with redlining for far too long. We understand that this issue is not exclusively a problem plaguing the city but many communities across the state. Now is the time to work with our new insurance commissioner to resolve redlining and other long-standing insurance problems and create a fair and level playing field for everyone in Michigan.
As noted on May 16, 2002 then Attorney General Jennifer M. Granholm released the results of a statewide survey
her office conducted into the practice of insurance redlining in Michigan. In releasing the results - which showed disparities in auto rates of up to 17 percent in cities with similar
population sizes and auto theft rates, but with differing racial make-ups - Granholm announced that she has asked the insurance providers for an explanation of the rate differences.
She said: "The findings of the study are compelling - and disturbing - to say the least. The time has come for the industry to be more up front with their customers. Consumers pay
thousands of dollars a year to keep their homes and cars insured - they deserve to know how their rates are calculated." "Redlining" in the insurance industry is a discriminatory practice in which insurance
companies restrict the availability of insurance to people in particular geographic areas. In recent years, it has also been associated with the practice of tying credit scores to
insurance rates. Since redlining based solely on racial factors is illegal, Granholm has asked the insurance companies for an explanation of the rate disparities her study found.
Granholm's office reviewed 60 auto insurance quotes obtained for six pairs of Michigan cities that were similar in size and auto theft rates, but had different racial compositions.
The results showed that in five out of the six city pairs, the same individual in a community with a sizeable African-American population paid a higher rate by an average of 14
percent. The unscientific study compared insurance rates for a 33-year-old single, female home-owner attempting to insure a 2001 Chevy Cavalier in Madison Heights and Inkster; Burton and Oak Park; Sturgis and Albion; Dearborn and Southfield; Taylor and Pontiac; and Melvindale and Benton Harbor. Staff requested on-line insurance quotes from Allstate, GMAC Insurance, Progressive Insurance, Geico, and Esurance.com.
A second study, using the same female and the same auto, compared rates between neighborhoods in the city of Detroit versus its border cities. The follow-up survey demonstrated average disparities of nearly 30 percent between rates based on addresses as
close as a few blocks away. In one instance, the six-month premium to insure the Cavalier at a Detroit address on Jefferson was $5,000, more than 67 percent higher than the
premium to insure the same automobile at a Jefferson address just a few blocks away in Grosse Pointe Park.
Granholm began the study - and a general review of discrimination in the financial industry - earlier this year after her Consumer Protection Division received a number of consumer
complaints regarding potential insurance redlining and the use of credit scores in insurance rate setting. Recent court decisions and changes in Michigan law, however, have stripped the Attorney General's office of its ability to use the Michigan Consumer Protection Act to
challenge potentially unfair business practices in the insurance industry. Granholm forwarded the study results - and complaints received by her office -to Michigan Insurance Commissioner Frank Fitzgerald for his review and analysis earlier this month.
Granholm asked Fitzgerald to join her in encouraging the insurance companies to interject more transparency into their rate-setting and suggested that the two work together to explore the practice of using credit scores to set insurance rates. In her letter, Granholm said: "...The lack of transparency within the industry will continue to erode public confidence and increase public skepticism concerning industry underwriting and rate-setting practices. I look forward to working with you on these
issues..."
And Finally, our various local government representatives are holding many townhall meetings across the state to discuss Insurance Redlining.
It is a well known fact that in the Canadian court system fathers are not treated equally. In a country such as Canada where equal rights are highly valued, this outdated practice has to be stopped. One parent should not suffer nor should one group benifit because of gender. The courts are overburdened and "friend of the court" isn't really a friend to anyone. It takes two parents to bring a child into the world and together 50/50 they should raise them.
Money should not be the issue the child should be. Let's be realistic here and put an end to father+rights=oxymoron. Please if you agree with this spread the word so that we can put an end to this unfair bias.
17. Ban the Auctioning Of Dogs on trademe.co.nz
BREAKING NEWS
"On Friday 25th July 2003, less than 24 hours after this petition was started, Trade Me agreed to stop the practice of auctioning of not just dogs but also cats, birds and horses. They have also sought the advice of the SPCA on how to make their site more animal friendly an encourage responsible ownership. Thank you to everyone who supported this petition. It worked a lot faster than we were expecting and just shows what people can do when they band together.
Thank you again."
This Online Petition has been set up to try to discourage the New Zealand based buy, sell, trade and exchange internet site Trade Me (www.trademe.co.nz) from allowing the auctioning off of DOGS on their NZ based Auction Site. We feel very strongly about dogs being auctioned off and would like as much support as we can get to try and convince Trade Me that this is not the way of responsible dog ownership. Dogs are our much beloved family pets and there are far more suitable ways of selling your dog or puppy to the best possible home through advertising and lots of contact with the prospective owners rather than as an auction. We are concerned that once the reserve price is met on these auctions, the seller is legally obliged to go through with the sale, and therefore has no say on whether the home is suitable or not.
Please sign our petition and support the stopping of dog auctions on Trade Me.
Thankyou, Joanne, Maree and Jan.
Many dogs are forced to endure a life of neglect, isolation and terrible extreme temperatures. Their entire life they are commited to be chained, roped or otherwise tethered outdoors, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. An existence of despair, often , without benefit of adequate shelter. Barely given enough food or water, they are tied and forgotten. Tell the congressmen and women of this Commonwealth that you want a change dog laws to ban this terrible practice. Make it an enforceable crime for dog owners to "tie 'em and forget 'em". Thank you
Canned hunting is the killing of an animal in an enclosure to obtain a trophy. The animals are sometimes tame exotic mammals; some, in fact, have been sold by petting zoos to the canned hunting operation. These animals do not know to run from humans. Many groups that support hunting scorn canned hunting for its unsportsmanlike practice; patrons are guaranteed a kill. Several states now ban canned hunting operations, but the practice is spreading.
20. Outlaw "door stepping" by religious groups in the UK
Like millions of people in the UK, I loathe the sanctimonious religious fanatics who insist on knocking on *my* front door, invading my territory and attempting to convert me to their faith.
As a gay man, I find this particularly harrassing since religious attitudes towards gay people are well known. You would not allow a Neo-Nazi to knock on a Jewish family's front door, nor would you allow the Klu Klux Klan to boldly state thier opinions on the front steps of a Black family home.
These people irritate and cause grave offence to many people and I beleive the practice of doorstepping should be outlawed.
If people want to know more about any given faith, they are more than capable of finding information for themselves.
21. Support a Ney Mello Video production
This message is part of a campaign to gather support for an educational video by award-winning jazz/rock/electric-acoustic guitar virtuoso Ney Mello. It arose from discussions on the guitarprinciples.com bulletin boards. Ney (who has been playing for 29 years and is highly praised by among others living legend Al Di Meola) is a frequent contributor on these boards and he mentioned that he would like to make a video to properly explain his knowlege of the development of picking technique (since there are no detailed videos available).
For the video to be made, the guitar education video companies (Hot Licks Video Productions or Hal Leonard Productions) would have to be convinced that there is a market for it.
It is currently intended that the subjects covered by the video will be:
Basic multi-functional pick grip
How to hold the pick for maximum efficiency
Index and thumb movement: when and why
Forearm motion and its importance
Wrist motion
The free stroke and its function
The contact stroke and its function
Specific training methodology to develop both strokes to speeds as high as 16th notes @270 bpm and higher
Strumming: 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 string strumming variations and how to execute then properly
Muted rhythm playing for metal guitar
Muted single notes for all styles
Metronome practice: the proven methods
Pure speed training: the conceptual and mental angles needed to make it a reality
Visualising your licks and runs mentally and in your inner ear
Strength training and easy to make training devices to accelerate your progress
The importance of stretching and how to do it properly to prevent injury
Tendonitis prevention with the right training and practice pacing
The influence of dynamics in specific technique selection
Variety in hand positioning for stylistic expression
Pick angles: when and why you need more than one
Mental clarity and imaging: drawing in space with the pick
Incremental growth in tempo and note groupings for maximum gain in the shortest time
How to let the music steer you to the right technical choices in electric and acoustic guitar
22. Stop animal abuse before the Greece Olympics 2004
Animal abuse is widespread in Greece and includes starvation, neglect, cruelty and poisoning. Poisoning of both strays and owned pets happens every day; documented witness reports of this practice are abundant and have even been shown on Greek television. Poisoning is indiscriminate, and can affect children, adults and animals alike. Offenders must be prosecuted and fined for this illegal activity.
Given the current frequency of poisoning cases, it is also a concern that the numbers will step up, as the country prepares to host the Olympics 2004. Tourists are horrified at the suffering they see whilst on holidays in Greece, many vowing never to return. Given the magnitude of the problem, the Greek government needs to take an active role, working together with private animal welfare groups around Greece. Give the strays of Greece a sporting chance to survive the Olympics 2004!
23. Stop Cruel Horse Slaughter
Each year, around 100,000 horses are exported from Central and Eastern Europe for slaughter in Italy, France and Belgium in what can fairly be described as one of the cruelest and least regulated aspects of Europe's live animal trade.
Poland is the biggest exporter of live horses for slaughter in Europe. Ten years ago there were one million horses in Poland but that number has now been reduced to 500,000. Nevertheless, each year, 87,000 leave Poland to be slaughtered for meat. 90 per cent go to Italy and 10 per cent to France and Belgium. Horses endure horrendously long journeys. One of the furthest destinations is Sardinia, a journey of 2500km (1500 miles) which may take as long as 95 hours. Roads are often extremely pot-holed and drivers usually travel too fast.
Where do the horses come from?
Horses of all shapes and sizes are sold for slaughter but the majority are heavy working horses, chestnut in colour and gentle in nature. Most horses are owned privately. There are also many racehorses and riding school horses. Often horses come from Lithuania and as far as Russia through Poland and on to Italy. Many horses are old, diseased, injured and even blind and because of the high demand, even fit and healthy horses, and youngsters are sold. Foals are thought to be a 'health food' so are highly sought after.
Who owns the trade?
The major registered horse traders in Poland are: Animex SA Warsaw (Owned by Smithfields Foods USA) and Cosmos Czestochowa. The average price a horse fetches is £250.
Why Polish horses?
Consumers in Italy demand vast amounts of horsemeat - thousands of tonnes. Italy's terrain is unsuitable for horses as much of it is mountainous. Polish horses pay the price as they are relatively cheap to buy and laws and regulations are easily broken. Polish drivers are told not to water their horses. Italians demand 'unsaturated meat' so drivers are told that watering the horses will give them colic. This has no scientific reasoning and is a complete fallacy. There is clearly no consideration for the welfare of the horses.
The Journey
The dangers the horses face include overcrowding, which can result in them falling and being trampled on. These dangers increase as the journey progresses because of the practice of loading additional horses en route through Poland.
There is a notorious lack of veterinary inspection, so by the time the horses reach the Czech border, they are often ill or injured. It is supposedly illegal to transport diseased or injured animals from Poland and these horses should be off loaded. Viva!'s investigation reveals however, that sick and injured horses are being transported and rest periods are being ignored. After just a three hour break - rather than 24 hours required by law - horses are reloaded onto the lorries to continue their last journey regardless of their condition.
From Cieszyn, the horses are trucked all the way to Slovenia through the Czech Republic and then onwards through Slovakia and Hungary. This circuitous route is to avoid the stricter veterinary controls presently in force in Austria. Although common this practice is illegal and prolongs the travelling time for many hours. The swaying trucks make it difficult for the horses to remain upright, especially when they are tightly tethered to the vehicle bars. This is carried out to stop them biting each other and is prohibited by law.
Often horses lose their balance inside the lorry and fall. Once down, they are likely to be trampled and wounded by their companions. For injured horses and smaller ponies and foals, this combination of overcrowding and lack of segregation by size can be deadly. Downed horses may be unable to rise again, resulting in their struggling desperately to regain their feet, being urinated and defecated on and stood on, often trampled to death.
Upon arrival at staging points, fallen horses are either dragged off the truck with chains or are subjected to violent treatment to induce them to stand. This can involve brutal kickings, beatings with heavy sticks or having an electric cattle prod inserted into their rectum. By the time horses reach Hungary, just half way through their journey, most are injured, exhausted and dehydrated. Some are already dying or dead.
Horses enter the EU at Goriozia in Northern Italy, on the Slovenian border, by which time increasing numbers are in an advanced stage of physical and mental deterioration or dead. Many still face long journeys - on to the west coast of Italy and onwards by ferry to Sardinia.
At the slaughterhouse
Arriving at the abattoir, horses are again brutally treated, driven are dragged into the killing factory. The normal process of slaughter is stunning - required by law - followed by throat cutting. The method of stunning is the captive bolt pistol, which drives a metal bolt into the forehead. All too often this process is ignored or done incompetently and the horses regain consciousness while their throats are being slit. Many are slaughtered in full view of their companions, which is a further contravention of the law.
24. Stop the Practice of Daylight Savings Time in the US
The creators of this petition believe that Daylight Savings Time is a nuisance and is no longer useful. We would like to see Daylight Savings Time finally come to an end.
This is the method used by http://bonsaikitten.com/ to make kittens of different shapes:
"The flexibility of the kitten's skeleton means that if the bones are gently warped at this early ag, they can be molded into any desired shape. At Bonsai Kitten, we achieve this by placing the kitten into a rigid vessel soon after birth, and allowing the young cat to grow out its formative time entirely within this container. The kitten essentially grows into the shape of the vessel! Once the cat is fully developed, it is removed (or the vessel broken to remove it!), producing the lovable, furry pet you've always wanted, but it remains in the shape you've always dreamed of! There is virtually no limit to the eventual shape of your pet."