Thursday, July 10, 2008
fish horticulture
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In 1981-82, fish seed production, fish production and export of fish from West Bengal were 2300 million, 3.78 lakh tones and Rs.32.50 crore, respectively. In 2002-03, fish seed production had reached 9100 million, fish production was 11.20 lakh tones and export of fish was Rs.553.15 crore. This shows significant progress in the fishery with total fish production increasing by 196%. Due to these achievements, the state was awarded the First Prize by the National Productivity Council for ten years in succession. In 2004-05 the production of seed is 12000 million numbers and production marine and inland fish was 12.5 lakh ton.
animal farming
During the past 50 years, livestock industries have surged in one country after another as soaring grain yields made feeding animals on corn and barley relatively inexpensive, and intensive, specialized meat, egg, and dairy farms proliferated. In much of the world, meat consumption is rising steadily.
The factory-style livestock industries, now firmly entrenched in industrial countries, have environmental side-effects that stretch along the production line--from growing the vast quantities of feed grain to disposing of the mountains of manure. Worldwide, large livestock populations emit the potent greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
Livestock create an array of problems not because cows, pigs, and chickens are hazards in themselves, but because human institutions have driven some forms of animal farming out of alignment with the ecosystems in which they operate. Many governments--including those of China, the European Community, and the United States--subsidize ecologically harmful methods of growing feed crops and raising animals.
Livestock Economy (excerpt):
At a global level, the primary goal of raising livestock is to produce meat, milk, and eggs. Meat has always been popular among those able to afford it, and over the centuries that group has swelled. More than a billion people now consume at least a kilogram (2.2 lbs.) a week. In the case of the world's premier meat-eating country, the United States, per-capita consumption is more than 2 kilograms a week. (USDA FAS 1991; Bailey 1990)
Meat consumption per person around the world ranges from a high of 112 kilograms a year in the United States to a low of 2 kilograms in India. The modern demand for meat can no longer be sustained by traditional livestock production systems, which integrated animals with crops. Outside the world's grasslands, most ruminant (cud-chewing) animals such as cattle and sheep traditionally ate grass and crop wastes on farms. Pigs and fowl, which cannot digest grass, subsisted on crop wastes, kitchen scraps, and whatever else they could find. In either case, domestic animals turned things that people could not eat into things people could.
To raise meat output, livestock producers have adopted new, intensive rearing techniques relying on grains and legumes to feed their animals. For example, farmers have moved nearly all of the pigs and poultry in industrial countries into giant indoor feeding facilities. There, they eat carefully-measured rations of energy-rich grain and protein-rich soybean meal. Cattle everywhere still spend most of their time dining outdoors, although beef producers--particularly in the United States, but also in Russia, South Africa, and Japan--supplement that roughage with grain in the months before slaughter. By contrast, Australian and South American cattle graze their entire lives, while European beef comes mostly from dairy herds, which eat less grain than American beef herds. (Bishop et al. 1989; Hahn et al. 1990)
Large areas of the world's cropland now produce grains for animals. Wealthy meat-consuming regions dedicate the largest shares of their grain to fattening livestock, while the poorest regions use the least grain as feed. In the United States, for example, animals account for 70 percent of domestic grain use, while India and sub-Saharan Africa offer just 2 percent of their cereal harvest to livestock. (USDA FAS 1991)
The expansion of the livestock economy has become the most dramatic change in world agriculture in recent decades. Factory-style production facilities have sprung up in much of the world, capitalizing on grain surpluses, advanced production technologies, and a global growing class of consumers rich enough to eat meat regularly. But abundance in the world's butcher shops has its costs--many of which are currently billed to the Earth.
Livestock Ecology (excerpt):
"An alien ecologist observing...earth might conclude that cattle is the dominant animal species in our biosphere," writes University of Georgia biologist David Hamilton Wright. Cattle and other ruminant livestock such as sheep and goats graze one-half of the planet's total land area. Ruminants, along with pigs and poultry, also eat feed and fodder raised on one-fourth of the cropland. Ubiquitous and familiar, livestock exert a huge, and largely unrecognized, impact on the global environment. (Wright 1990; BOSTID, NRC 1990; USDA FAS 1989)
Ecological burdens result from both modern, intensive livestock production methods--such as chicken and pig feeding houses and beef feedlots--and extensive forms--such as ranching and pastoralism. The environmental effects of intensive livestock operations run from grain fields to manure piles. And unsustainable grazing and ranching patterns of impoverished and affluent regions alike sacrifice forests, drylands, and wild species. Multiple forces have disturbed traditional pastoralists' ecologically sound livestock systems, leaving herders to crowd with their animals in areas where the land is quickly laid to waste.
The concentrated feeding facilities of the industrial and newly industrializing countries use vast quantities of grain and soy, along with the energy, water, and agricultural chemicals that farmers use to grow these crops. Pork production absorbs more grain worldwide than any other meat industry, followed by poultry production. Together they account for at least two-thirds of feed grain consumption. Dairy and beef cattle consume much of the remaining third. (Fitzhugh et al. 1978; FAO 1985, 1988, 1989)
The efficiency with which livestock industries turn feed into meat, milk, and eggs varies among the different types of animals and different countries. The United States, one of the more efficient livestock producers, uses 6.9 kilograms of corn and soy to put one kilogram of pork on the table. Because they graze until the last 100 days of their lives, U.S. beef cattle consume less grain and soy than pigs, gaining about three-fourths of their weight from grass, hay, and other fodder. Grain use declines from beef to cheese to chicken to eggs. Farmers in other countries, notably Russia, are less efficient, and use more grain for each unit of meat, milk, or eggs--twice as much in the case of chicken. (Cattle-Fax, Inc. 1989; Bishop et al. 1989)
Other resources add to the livestock and feed industry's environmental tab, such as the fossil fuels used to supply feed grain. Including fuel for powering farm machinery and for manufacturing fertilizers and pesticides, feed grain turns out to be an energy-intensive product. US corn fields--producing mostly feed--alone consume about 40 percent of the country's nitrogen fertilizer, along with more total herbicides and insecticides than any other crop. (Hallberg 1989; Conservation Foundation 1986)
Cornell University's David Pimentel, a specialist in agricultural energy, estimates that 30,000 kilocalories of fossil fuel energy are used to produce a kilogram of pork in the United States--equivalent to the energy in almost 4 liters of gasoline. Energy use, like grain consumption, declines from pork to eggs. All told, almost half of the energy used in American agriculture goes into the livestock sector, and producing the red meat and poultry eaten each year by a typical American uses the equivalent of 190 liters of gasoline. (Pimentel 1991; Pimentel et al. 1980; Pimentel & Pimentel 1979; Fluck & Baird 1980; Duewer 1991)
Feed-grain farming guzzles water, too. In California, now the United States' leading dairy state, livestock agriculture consumes nearly one-third of all irrigation water. Similar figures apply across the western United States, including areas using water from dwindling aquifers. The beef feedlot center of the nation--Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Texas panhandle--relies on crops raised with water pumped out of an underground water source called the Ogallala aquifer, portions of which have been severely depleted. With half of the grain and hay fed to American beef cattle growing on irrigated land, water inputs for beef production mount. More than 3,000 liters of water are used to produce a kilogram of American beef. (Reisner & Bates 1990; Sweeten 1990; Weeks et al. 1988; Oltjen 1991; Ward, Dept. Animal Sciences)
The millions of tons of animal waste that accumulate at modern production facilities can pollute rivers and groundwater if precautions are not taken. If they get into rivers or open bodies of water, nitrogen and phosphorus in manure over-fertilize algae, which grow rapidly, deplete oxygen supplies, and suffocate aquatic ecosystems. From the hundreds of algae-choked Italian lakes to the murky Chesapeake Bay, and from the oxygen-starved Baltic Sea to the polluted Adriatic Sea, animal wastes add to the nutrient loads from fertilizer runoff, human sewage, and urban and industrial pollution. (Flavin 1989; Baker & Horton 1990; Hagerman 1990; Lenssen 1989)
Manure nitrogen, mixed with nitrogen from artificial fertilizers, also percolates through the soil into underground water tables as nitrates. These substances can cause nervous system impairments, cancer, and methemoglobinemia, or "blue baby" syndrome, a rare but deadly malady afflicting infants. Nitrate contamination is pervasive in Western Europe, from Spain to Denmark, and is apparently widespread in Eastern Europe as well. An official Czechoslovakian report speaks of a "nitrate cloud" contaminating groundwater under agricultural land. In the United States, roughly one-fifth of the wells in livestock states such as Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska have nitrate levels that exceed health standards. (WHO guidelines 1984; Jorgensen 1989; others)
Extensive livestock production, like modern intensive production, has environmental side effects. Many of the world's rangelands, covering one-third of the Earth's land surface, bear the scars of improper livestock management: proliferating weeds, depleted soils, and eroded landscapes. In Africa, swelling human populations, shrinking rangeland, the collapse of traditional systems of range management, and misdirected development policies have conspired to concentrate cattle around water sources and towns, degrading the land. Elsewhere, many arid rangelands suffer from overstocking and mismanagement, while ranching in the tropical regions of Latin America--fostered by subsidies and land speculation--depletes forests and soils.
Cattle play a prominent role in global desertification--the reduction of dryland's ecological productivity. The process, however, is far more complex and varied than the word "desertification," conjuring images of sand dunes swallowing the range, implies. Initially, cattle overgraze perennial grasses, allowing annual weeds and tougher shrubs to spread. This shift in species composition is the most prevalent form of range degradation. The new weeds anchor the topsoil poorly, and can leave it vulnerable to trampling hooves and the erosive power of wind and rain. Without the cover of perennial grasses, fires that naturally control bushes lose their tinder, so shrubs expand unchecked. As the variety of plant species dwindles, wildlife species also vanish. (Darnhofer 1991; BOSTID, NRC 1990; Coppock 1991)
Estimates by the United Nations Environment Program indicate that 73 percent of the world's 3.3 billion hectares of dry rangeland is at least moderately desertified, having lost more than 25 percent of its carrying capacity. But quantifying and evaluating degradation is complicated, and such estimates have been challenged. Some argue that calculations of the number of livestock a region can support are a poor indicator of degradation on Africa's arid rangelands because the environment is so drought-prone. They conclude that drought destroys the vegetation with or without cattle. Others point out that measuring degradation in drier areas by the presence of annual, rather than perennial, plants is misleading because annuals are native there. (Darnhofer, private communication; Ellis & Swift 1988; Mace 1990; Bartels 1991)
Although the environmental status of drier rangeland may defy simple quantification, there is little debate that degradation is occurring in environments where rainfall is more plentiful and regular. The perennial plants that flourish in these intermediate zones are easily disrupted by cattle; clay soils are easily compacted and rendered impervious to water; and rains often arrive in strong, sudden downpours, sluicing away soils destabilized by cattle. In addition, these areas can support crops, so farmers have crowded pastoralists and their herds onto smaller areas, accelerating degradation. (Coppock 1990)
Ranchers commonly overstock their land with cattle, leading to weed invasion and erosion. In the savannas of northern and central Mexico, livestock are stocked at nearly four times the land's carrying capacity. And wealthy nations are not immune from the effects of overgrazing on rangeland. Spain and Portugal still bear the scars of pro-sheep land policies that began hundreds of years ago. The western United States is likewise left with a sad legacy: The great cattle boom of the last century annihilated native mixed-grass ecosystems. And unsustainable practices--including overstocking and grazing cattle for too long in the same place--continue on much of the 110-million-hectare area of public land the federal government leases to ranchers. (Vera et al. 1984; World Resources Institute 1990-91; Pearson et al. 1991; Chaney et al. 1990; Wald & Alberswerth 1989)
The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which, along with the US Forest Service, is responsible for overseeing public grazing land, reported in 1990 that only 23 million hectares--33 percent of its holdings in the west--were in good or excellent condition. Other studies indicate that half of US rangeland is severely degraded, with its carrying capacity reduced by at least 50 percent, and that the narrow streambank habitats crucial to arid-land ecology are in the worst condition in history. (US Dept. Interior 1990; Chaney et al. 1990)
Damage to rangeland is only one measure of the destructiveness of current grazing patterns. Forests also suffer from livestock production, as branches are cut for fodder or entire stands are leveled to make way for pastures. The roster of impacts from forest clearing includes the loss of watershed protection, loss of plant and animal species, and on a larger scale, substantial contributions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Latin America has suffered the most dramatic forest loss due to inappropriate livestock production. Since 1970, farmers and ranchers have converted more than 20 million hectares of the region's moist tropical forests to cattle pasture. (Pearson et al. 1991)
Eradicating tree cover sets the wheels of land degradation in motion. Shallow, acidic, and nutrient-poor, tropical soils rapidly lose critical phosphorus and other nutrients when the forest is converted to pasture. To compensate for the fertility decline, ranchers often stock newly cleared land at four times the standard rate of of one cow per hectare, which accelerates erosion and the vegetative shift to annual weeds and shrubs. Stocking rates fall precipitously thereafter, and most pasture is abandoned for land newly carved from the forest. (Hecht 1990)
Where forests recede before advancing ranches, so too does the diversity of life. The tropical forests, covering under 7 percent of the earth's land area, contain perhaps half of the earth's species. A typical hectare in the Brazilian Amazon, for example, hosts 300 to 500 different species, plus mammals, birds, reptiles, and thousands of distinct types of insects and microorganisms, many of them unknown to science. (Wolf 1987; Hecht 1990; Uhl & Parker 1986)
Forest destruction for ranching also contributes to climate change. When living plants are cut down and burned, or when they decompose, they release carbon into the atmosphere as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide traps the heat of the sun, warming the earth. In addition, livestock are a source of the second-most important greenhouse gas, methane. Ruminant animals release perhaps 80 million tons of the gas each year in belches and flatulence, while animal wastes at feedlots and factory-style farms emit another 35 million tons. In such operations, waste is commonly stored in the oxygen-short environments of sewage lagoons and manure piles, where methane forms during decomposition. Manure that falls in the fields, by contrast, decomposes without releasing methane because oxygen is present. Livestock account for 15 percent to 20 percent of global methane emissions--about 3 percent of global warming from all gases. (Pearson et al. 1991; Houghton et al. 1987; BP Statistical Review 1990; Marland et al. 1989)
From the most immediate impacts--nitrogen contamination and retreating grasses--to the most far-reaching--loss of species and climate change--current methods of rearing animals around the world take a large toll on nature. Overgrown and resource-intensive, animal agriculture is out of alignment with the Earth's ecosystems.
High meat consumption and the expanding use of grain as feed can cause damage in the human realm. Medically, nutritionists believe that a diet rich in animal products contributes to a variety of maladies. Economically, middle-income developing countries that have attempted to provide urban dwellers with cheap meat too often have given the rural landless short shrift, while devoting growing shares of trade earnings to pay for imported feed. And socially, modern grain-based livestock production has become a major industry controlled by a handful of firms--driving small producers out of the market.
The Great Protein Fiasco:
The adverse health impacts of excessive meat-eating stem in large part from what nutritionists call the "great protein fiasco"--a mistaken belief of many Westerners that they need to consume large quantities of protein. This myth, propagated as much as a century ago by health officials and governmental dietary guidelines, has resulted in Americans and other members of industrial societies ingesting twice as much protein as they need. Among the affluent, the protein myth is dangerous because of the saturated fats that accompany concentrated protein in meat and dairy products. Those fats are associated with most of the diseases of affluence that are among the leading causes of death in industrial countries: heart disease, stroke, and breast and colon cancer. (Lipton 1983; WHO 1990; Kummer 1991; Pimentel et al. 1991; NRC 1989)
The U.S. National Research Council, the US Surgeon General, the American Heart Association, and the World Health Organization are among the organizations now recommending low-fat diets. From the current US norm of 37 percent of calories from fats--typical for Western nations--they recommend lowering fat consumption to no more than 30 percent of calories. (NRC 1988; Byrne 1988)
Recent scientific findings indicate that even that level may be too high. One study of 88,000 American nurses found daily red-meat eaters are two-and-a-half times as likely to develop colon cancer as near-vegetarians. Based on these findings, Walter Willett, director of the study and a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, commented, "the optimum amount of red meat you eat should be zero." (Willett et al. 1990; Kolata 1990)
A Landmark Study of Diet and Health:
A landmark study of diet, lifestyle, and health in China--the largest such survey ever conducted--suggests that lowering fat consumption to 15 percent of calories prevents most cases of diseases of affluence. This study, known as the China Project, a joint effort of Chinese, British, and American institutions, tracked the diets of thousands of Chinese in dozens of countries. It showed that as fat consumption, protein consumption, and blood cholesterol levels rise, so does the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. (Junshi et al. 1990; Vines 1990)
Surprisingly, Chinese villagers on low-fat, low-meat diets also suffered less anemia (iron deficiency) and osteoporosis (a bone disease associated with calcium deficiency) than their urban compatriots eating more meat. Both conditions are commonly thought to result from a diet too low in animal products. Study co-leader Colin Campbell of Cornell University told the New York Times: "We're basically a vegetarian species and should be eating a wide variety of plant foods and minimizing our intake of animal foods." (Junshi et al. 1990)
Squandering Resources:
If a diet rich in animal products is not an appropriate goal of public health policy, neither is it a wise development strategy. It creates dependence on imports for food and can widen the gap between rich and poor. Yet dozens of middle-income countries import livestock feed.
For a poor country where people eat few animal products, reaching self-sufficiency in food grains requires just 200 kilograms of cereals per person per year. But that number quickly rises when people switch from a grain-based diet to a meat-based one. Rapidly industrializing Taiwan, for instance, increased per-capita consumption of meat and eggs sixfold from 1950 to 1990. To produce those animal products required raising annual per-capita grain use in the country from 170 kilograms to 390 kilograms. Despite steadily growing harvests, Taiwan could only keep up with the demand for feed by turning to imports from abroad. In 1950 Taiwan was a grain exporter; in 1990, the nation imported, mostly for feed, 74 percent of the grain it used. (Vocke 1986; Sarma 1986; Bailey 1990; USDA 1990)
Mainland Chinese are following the Taiwanese up the meat consumption ladder. Since 1978, when agricultural reforms boosted production, meat consumption has more than doubled to 24 kilograms. The growth has been particularly marked in cities, where the government has helped create pig and poultry plants using Western-style grain-feeding technology. Though the country's farmers have been able to grow sufficient feed grain for the swelling meat industry so far, few observers expect them to keep pace for much longer. The share of Chinese grain fed to livestock rose from 7 percent in 1960 to 20 percent in 1990. (Bishop et al. 1989; Bailey 1980)
An Appetite For Economic Problems:
China's agricultural future may resemble that of the former Soviet Union, where rising meat consumption created economic problems. From 1950 to 1990, meat consumption tripled and feed consumption quadrupled. Use of grain for feed surpassed direct human consumption in 1964 and continued to rise. In 1990, Soviet livestock were eating three times as much grain as Soviet citizens. Grain imports had soared, going from near zero in 1970 to 24 million tons in 1990 (the world's second-largest grain importer). (USDA 1989,1990,1991)
In the Middle East and North Africa, grain-fed livestock operations are proliferating, boosting the demand for imported feed. The richest Middle Eastern countries match Western levels of meat consumption by depending heavily on imported feed and meat. Egypt, the poorest country in the region, is also a major grain importer, partly due to rising grain-fed meat consumption in the cities. Since 1970, grain imports have risen from near zero to 8 million tons per year. (USDA 1990)
Middle-income Arab nations, such as Syria, also have seen rising meat consumption and soaring feed demand. The area in Syria devoted to barley for feed increased from 300,000 hectares in 1950 to almost 3 million hectares in 1989. Much of the expansion occurred on the country's dry steppes, which are ecologically suited only for grazing. Farmers in traditional barley-growing areas, meanwhile, are heeding government advice to plow under soil-conserving fallow fields for continuous barley cropping. Yet neither the addition of new land nor the switch to single-crop production has sufficed to keep up with feed demand; Syria, in 1965 a barley exporter, now imports the cereal. (Treacher 1991; Cooper & Bailey 1991)
In other countries, the pattern is more complicated. Mexico, for example, despite its colossal debt burden, continues importing corn and sorghum. Indeed, Mexico generally imports between one-fourth and one-third of the grain it consumes. Imported sorghum is used as feed, while imported corn is used as food. But the need to import corn is partly a consequence of shifts in Mexican agriculture from growing corn to growing sorghum for feed. (Barkin & Dewalt 1988; USDA 1988)
What is true for many developing countries individually is also true of them collectively. On balance the Third World exported grain until the early sixties; by the late seventies, it was consistently importing cereals. The change came not from just growing populations but also from exploding livestock industries. The FAO reports that 75 percent of Third World imports of so-called coarse grains--corn, barley, sorghum, and oats--fed animals in 1981. Little has changed since. As US Department of Agriculture trade specialist Gary Vocke writes: "Imports of corn and sorghum [for feed] have outpaced domestic production, leading developing countries to a lower level of self-sufficiency--a trend that will accelerate as livestock feeding expands in the next 10 years. (USDA 1990)
Meat Consumption Among The Affluent, at the Expense of the Poor:
Higher meat consumption among the affluent frequently creates problems for the poor, as the share of farmland devoted to feed cultivation expands, reducing production of food staples. In economic competition for grain fields, the upper classes usually win. In Egypt, for example, over the past quarter-century, corn grown for animal feed has taken over cropland from wheat, rice, sorghum, and millet--all staple grains in Egypt. The share of grain fed to livestock rose from 10 percent to 36 percent. (Barkin et al. 1990; Barkin 1991)
Likewise, the area in Mexico planted to corn, rice, wheat, and beans, the staples of the Mexican poor, has declined steadily since 1965, while area planted to sorghum has grown phenomenally. From the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties, sorghum expanded from 2 percent of grain land to 16 percent, as corn fell from 83 percent of grain land to 69 percent. Sorghum, grown mostly on irrigated, mechanized commercial spreads, is now Mexico's second-ranking crop by area. The grain is used to raise chicken and pork for urban consumers. In total, Mexico feeds 30 percent of its grain to livestock, although 22 percent of the country's people suffer from malnutrition. (Barkin & DeWalt 1988)
The share of cropland growing animal feed and fodder in Mexico went from 5 percent in 1960 to 23 percent in 1980, a transformation agriculture analyst David Barkin of the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City refers to as ganaderizacion ("livestockization") of the Mexican countryside. He sees the trend outside of Mexico as well. In Peru, for example, pastures have replaced potatoes, and feed corn has replaced staple corn. (Barkin & DeWalt 1988)
With two colleagues from the United States, Barkin examined agricultural developments in 24 Third World countries. They found clear evidence in 13 countries that farmers were switching from food crops to feed crops; in eight of them, farmers had shifted more than 10 percent of grain land out of food crops in the past 25 years. Worse, Barkin and his colleagues concluded that, at least where data were available--Brazil, Columbia, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Venezuela--the demand for meat among the rich was squeezing out staple production for the poor. (Barkin et al. 1990)
Industrial Farming at the Expense of Small Farms:
Beyond its effect on food security for the poor, grain-fed intensive production--because it is essentially an industrial operation--tends to create inequities within agriculture. In traditional production, animals play an equalizing role in agriculture. Because grass, crop wastes, and other fodder are widely dispersed, they are best utilized by small farms. Indeed, in most developing countries animals are more evenly distributed among agricultural families than land. By contrast, ownership of grain-based livestock production tends to concentrate in ever-fewer hands, because grain readily lends itself to economies of scale. The larger the operation, the lower the overhead costs per animal, and the cheaper the product. (Lipton 1988)
In most countries, even as meat output rises, the number of livestock producers falls. Animal farms keep growing in size and dwindling in number. The number of Japanese pork and poultry firms fell by two-thirds between 1965 and 1987. Thailand's chicken industry made a similar transition in the first half of the seventies. Likewise, five firms control 75 percent of Brazil's commercial poultry production. (Bishop et al. 1989)
In the United States, where beef cattle are raised on grass for a year before going to the feedlot, the industry's profile reflects the concentrating power of grain feeding. More than a million farms and ranches raise young beef cattle, but four companies slaughter nearly 60 percent of them. Since 1962, the number of large American beef feedlots (those capable of holding 16,000 head of cattle) has risen from 23 to 189, while the number of small feedlots (those holding no more than 1000 head) has dropped by 117,000. The same pattern applies to the US pork and poultry industries. Together, three poultry companies now produce nearly 40 percent of broiler chickens, and the number of pig farms has declined by 85 percent since 1950. (ITC 1990; Charlier 1990; Martinez 1991)
The Sprawl of Animal Agriculture:
Ranch-based livestock production also fosters inequality between agriculturists in Latin America, where ranches expand at the expense of forests and arable land. Ranches create few jobs for this region's numerous jobless rural workers, employing just one person per 1,500 hectares on typical spreads in the Brazilian Amazon. Indeed, in Latin America, no other major type of agriculture enterprise creates fewer jobs per hectare than ranching. In Central America, ranchers have expanded not just into forests, but also into fertile land more appropriate for crops. In 1950, 35 percent of Costa Rica's arable farmland was in pasture; in the early nineties, the figure was 54 percent. As much as two-thirds of the rich farmland along the Pacific coastal strip of Central America is pasture. (Hecht 1990; Annis 1990; Leonard 1987)
The sweeping advance of ranching into forests in Latin America cannot be explained by the profitability of beef production. Real estate speculation is the overriding motive. In Latin America's forest frontier zones, where land is up for grabs, the value of cattle is dwarfed by the value of the earth under their hooves. When roads come through, or when minerals are discovered nearby, land values can skyrocket. An entire industry has emerged around leveling forests for pasture, selling the land for a quick profit, the repeating the venture. (Hecht 1990; Fearnside 1989)
For the land speculator, cattle ranching is simply the cheapest way to claim property: it takes little investment or labor, and states recognize pasture as the kind of "productive" land use to be rewarded with a property title. States also bypass ranches in land reforms, which distribute idle and "unproductive" lands to the dispossessed. Where inflation rates are high, as in much of Latin America, urban investors are especially keen on buying assets that retain their value, such as land. (Hecht 1990)
Closing Remarks:
The problems with animal agriculture mostly fall in the category of "too much of a good thing." Too much meat consumption leads to illness. Too much meat production leads to dependence on grain imports, a food system skewed against the poor, and a worsening environmental predicament. All the same, if livestock production is linked to a profusion of problems, the root causes of those problems are found in human institutions. Indeed, the livestock industry's shortcomings are faithful reflections of deeper faults in human societies.
Farmed Animal Treatment
World Farm Animals Day is supported by people of conscience, regardless of their personal dietary choices, who are outraged by the abysmal treatment of animals raised for food.
Each year, nearly 56 billion cows, pigs, chickens, and other innocent, sentient animals are caged, crowded, deprived, drugged, mutilated, and manhandled in the world's factory farms and slaughterhouses. In the US alone, 10 billion land animals are abused and slaughtered.
"Veal" calves are torn from their mothers at birth, chained by the neck for 16 weeks in tiny, filthy wooden crates, and force-fed an anemia-inducing liquid formula. They are deprived of their natural diet--including water, roughage, and iron--as well as exercise, fresh air, sunshine, and their mother's love.
Meanwhile, their mothers (dairy cows) suffer horribly as they are pumped full of growth hormones and perpetually impregnated for their milk. When their production slumps, they are slaughtered.
Breeding sows are kept pregnant for three years in metal "gestation crates," enclosures so small the sows cannot even turn around. Their piglets are torn away after only two weeks so the sows can again be impregnated.
Laying hens are crammed 5-7 birds into wire-mesh "battery cages" the size of a folded newspaper, which cut their feet and tear at their feathers. They are frequently starved for up to 14 days to boost egg production, a process known as forced molting. Upon hatching, male chicks are placed in garbage bags, where they suffocate slowly or are crushed under the weight of their brothers.
Animals are transported to slaughter in crowded trucks with no food, water, or protection against weather extremes. Many die in transit. Sick and injured animals, called "downers," are dragged with chains to the killing floor.
According to a 10-year investigation based on interviews with slaughterhouse workers and USDA inspectors, many animals actually survive the slaughter process. Many -- alive and conscious -- are skinned, dismembered, gutted, scalded, and drowned in their own blood.
Additional details and documentation are provided under internet resources.
Remedial Legislation
State and federal regulations to protect farmed animals are nonexistent or unenforced. More than half of the states have enacted legislation exempting factory farms from anti-cruelty statutes. The others just ignore them.
The 1958 Federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, expanded in 1978, has never been funded or enforced. USDA inspectors who have complained about slaughterhouse atrocities have been reprimanded or fired.
Congress has yet to pass a bill requiring euthanasia of downed animals (animals too sick to walk). Reacting to the public's concern about Mad Cow disease, the USDA imposed guidelines to keep downers out of the human food supply. However, these guidelines are self-imposed; they can be reversed at any time and do not carry the weight of law. In February 2008, the USDA recalled 143 million pounds of beef due to undercover video footage taken by the Humane Society of the United States. The video revealed slaughterhouse workers using kicks, electric shock, high-pressure water hoses, and a forklift to force sick or injured animals onto the kill floor. The seldom enforced USDA regulations are designed to discourage the processing of sick and injured animals because of the high risk of contamination by E. coli, Salmonella, or Mad Cow disease.
What's the solution?
Attempts to improve the treatment of animals through legislation have not worked. Our best option to end these atrocities is to stop subsidizing them at the market checkout counter. Click here to request a free Veg Starter Guide today.
Media Center
Much of the success and rapid growth of the World Farm Animals Day observance over the past 20 years has been due to the generous support by the national and local media. Radio and television networks have conducted interviews with celebrity members of WFAD's National Council like Casey Kasem, Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, James Cromwell, Jennie Garth, and Bill Maher. Local media have reported extensively on community events. Each year, nearly a hundred newspapers have carried letters to the editor.
Some likely topics for interviews and feature articles include:
- Are there any regulations protecting farmed animals in the US?
- Why does the European Union treat farmed animals so much better than the US?
- What are consumers' attitudes towards the treatment of farm animals?
- How safe is our meat supply and how is it affected by the threat of bioterrorism?
- Why is the meat industry luring illegal aliens?
- Why is the meat industry exporting factory farms to developing countries?
- What are the World Farm Animals Day events in my community?
We are pleased to provide the following news releases for use by the media. Please bookmark and keep checking this page at least once a week for new items added as our campaign unfolds. For background information, we recommend our internet resources.
For additional information, please contact us at info@wfad.org or 888-FARM-USA (327-6872).
Press Releases (pdf):
You will need Adobe Reader to view the PDFs.
08.24.07 - World Farm Animals Day Exposes Daily Terror Against Animals
08.24.07 - Letter to Talk Show Producers
09.10.07 - Letter to Lifestyle Editors
09.27.07 - Animal Activists to Stage Dramatic Protest at USDA
09.29.07 - 400 Communities in 25th Observance of World Farm Animals Day
10.16.07 - Annual Animal Death Toll Drops
italian pasta
If you love to eat pasta, you’ll love this fact even more: pasta is a great partner that can actually help you maintain healthy eating.
A 1-to-2-cup serving of cooked pasta is low in calories (200), low in fat (1 gram, with no saturated fat), cholesterol-free, and sodium-free (unless you add salt to the cooking water). Pasta is a good source of thiamin, iron, riboflavin, and niacin, and provides 2 grams of dietary fiber and 7 grams of protein per serving.
Pasta is a great way to get grain-based food into your diet. If you eat a reasonably sized portion of cooked pasta – 1 to 2 cups* – you’ll be getting 2 to 4 of the USDA recommended daily servings of grain-based foods.
In addition, pasta is enriched with folic acid, a form of folate and an important B-vitamin that reduces the risk of some serious types of birth defects when consumed before and during early pregnancy. (Studies are underway to clarify whether folate decreases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer.) A 2-ounce serving of dry pasta supplies the equivalent of about 100 micrograms of folic acid, or 25 percent of the recommended daily intake. Barilla pasta has a higher level of folate per serving, providing 30 percent of the recommended daily intake.
And as a carbohydrate, pasta is a great energy source for your body and your brain. You may be familiar with the increased attention being paid to low-carb (carbohydrate) diets. For information on how these low-carb diets don’t work and may cause serious health problems, read about the dangers of low-carb diets.
Also in this section, you’ll find other helpful nutrition information about pasta and its role in healthy eating. Discover what makes a healthy pasta meal and why pasta is a low Glycemic Index food; explore the Mediterranean diet, one of the world’s ways to healthy eating; and find out why pasta is an excellent source of energy for athletes. You’ll also learn that when you toss your pasta with tomato sauce, you receive the many benefits of lycopene.
*2 oz. uncooked dry pasta yields 1-2 cups cooked pasta, depending on the pasta shape.
to be continued................
leather export and import
Leather Industry in India, occupies a place of prominence in the Indian economy, in view of its massive potential for employment, growth and exports. There has been increasing emphasis on its planned development, aimed at optimum utilisation of available raw materials for maximising the returns, particularly from exports.Overview of the Leather Industry in IndiaProducts Exported» Leather Footwear» Footwear Components (Shoe Uppers, Soles etc.)» Leather Garments» Leather Goods (Including Harness & Saddlery, Leather Gloves etc.)» Finished LeatherMajor Production Centres Of Leather And Leather Products
Southern Region
Tamil Nadu
Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Trichy, Dindigul
Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad
Karnataka
Bangalore
Northern Region
Punjab
Jallandhar
Delhi
Delhi
Eastern Region
West Bengal
Calcutta
Central Region
Uttar Pradesh
Kanpur, Agra
Western Region
Maharashtra
Mumbai (Bombay)
Estimated Production Capacities
Product
Capacity
Leather
Hides
65 million pieces
Skins
170 million pieces
Leather Products
Footwear & Footwear Components
Leather Footwear
776 million pairs
Leather Shoe uppers
112 million pairs
Non-leather Footwear.
960 million pairs
Leather Garments
18 million pieces
Leather Goods
60 million pieces
Industrial Gloves
52 million pairs
Saddlery
0.10 million piecesFeatures Of Leather Sector In India
Employs 2.5 million persons.
A large part (nearly 60-65%) of the production is in the Small/Cottage Sector.
Annual export value poised to touch about 2 billion US dollars.
Amongst top 8 export earners for India.
Endowed with 10% of the world raw material and export constitutes about 2% of the world trade.
Has enormous potential for future growth.
Very high value addition within the country
to be continued.........................
horticulture
TAXONOMY The genus Mangifera belongs to the order Sapindales in the family Anacardiaceae which is a family of mainly tropical species with 73 genera (c. 850 species), with a few representatives in temperate regions. The other distant relatives of Mangifera are cashew (Anacardium occidentale), gandaria (Bouea gandaria), pistachio (Pistacia vera), marula (Sclerocarya birrea), ambarella (Spondias cytherea), yellow mombin (Spondias mombin), red mombin (Spondias purpurea), imbu (Spondias tuberosa), dragon plums (Dracontomelum spp.) kaffir plum (Harpepbyllum caffrum), etc.. Malesia has been considered as the phytogeographic region extending from the Malay peninsula south of the Kangar-Pattani line to the Bismarck archipelago east of New Guinea (Whitmore, 1975). Apart from edible fruit Anacardiaceous species also yield other valuable products like wood, gums and resins, wax and varnishes and tanning materials. It is also a family well known for the dermal irritation produced by some of its members, including some Mangifera spp. whose resinous sap may induce allergic reaction.
The Genus Mangifera L. The genus Mangifera consists of 69 species and mostly restricted to tropical Asia. The highest diversity occurs in Malaysia, particularly in peninsular Malaya, Borneo and Sumatra representing heart of the distribution range of the genus. The natural occurrence of all the Mangifera species extends as far north as 27o latitude and as far east as the Caroline Islands (Bompard and Schnell, 1997). Wild mangoes occur in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sikkim, Thailand, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Laos, southern China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon and Caroline Islands. Maximum species diversity exists in western Malesia and about 28 species are found in this region.
Mangifera species are mostly distributed below 300 m but can occur at 600-1900 m above sea level. The species is found as scattered individuals in tropical lowland rain forests on well-drained soils. Most of the species (c. 44) are found on well drained soils, periodically flooded (9 spp.) and species like M. gedebe, M. griffithii and M. parvifolia occur in certain type of swamp forests. Mangifera bompardii, M. dongnaiensis and M. orophila are mainly found in sub-montane forests above 1000 m and occasionally up to 1500-1700 m above sea level whereas few species like M. caloneura, M. collina, M timorensis, M. zeylanica are acclimatize to seasonally dry climates in deciduous or semideciduous forests. M. sylvatica and wild M. indica can be found in Sikkim and southern China, at altitudes of 600-1900 m above sea level.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION Tree shapes, branching and longevity Mango trees, grown from seeds are known as "seedlings" have a long straight bole. Tree is sympodially branched (Scarrone's model). Grafted trees on the other hand are dwarf with spreading branches. However, the shape of the canopy also depends on the space available for its development. Isolated trees, getting sufficient space for their growth may differ in tree shape with the same variety grown in the orchard. On shallow soils the growth is stunted. Cultivars like Latra and Creeping are spreading in growth habit thus can be trained as creepers.
Considerable variation in canopy characteristics of Indian mango cultivars has been observed. The compactness of the canopy, branching pattern and leaf component show ecogeographical dependence also. Seedling trees live much more than 100 years whereas grafted ones live only 80 years or less. One of the largest trees known is that from Chandigarh (India), with a trunk of 3.5m in diameter, limbs of 75cm diameter, the crown spreading over 2250 m2 with an annual production of about 16000 fruits in peak years at the age more than 100 years old (Singh, 1960). Seedling tree measuring a spread of 125 ft. and a girth of 25 ft. has been reported to exist in Brazil (Popenoe, 1920).
Tree
Tree is medium to large (10-40 m in height), evergreen with symmetrical, rounded canopy ranging from low and dense to upright and open. Bark is usually dark grey-brown to black, rather smooth, superficially cracked or inconspicuously fissured, peeling off in irregular, rather thick pieces. Exudate of the live bark transparent, a dark yellowish brown, drying brown, consisting of a resin mixed with a gum. The bark contains 78% resin and 15% gum in addition to tannic acid. Terminal bud small, enveloped by small, lanceolate acute bud scales. Twigs not very thick, smooth, apically angular, glabrous, glossy and dark green.
Root
The tree forms a long unbranched long tap root (up to 6-8 m and more) plus a dense mass of superficial feeder roots. Feeder roots develop at the base of the trunk or slightly deeper; these produce anchor roots, and sometimes a collection of feeder roots develops above the water table. The fibrous root system extends away from the drip line. Effective root system of an 18- year old mango tree may observe a 1.2 m depth with lateral spread as far as 7.5m (Bojappa and Singh, 1974).
Leaf
The leaves are simple, exstipulate, alternately arranged, 15-45 cm in length. The petiole varies in length from 1 to 12 cm, always swollen at the base. It is grooved on the upper side. The phyllotaxy is usually 3/8 but as the leaves are arranged very closely at the tips they appear to be whorled. Leaves are variable in shapes like oval-lanceolate, lanceolate, oblong, linear-oblong, ovate, obovate-lanceolate or roundish-oblong (Singh, 1960). The apex ranges from acuminate to nearly rounded. The margin is usually entire, sometimes slightly undulated and wavy, rarely twisted or folded. The length and breadth varies from 12 to 45 cm and 2 to 12 cm, respectively, depending on variety and growth. The secondary veins are quite prominent, and in some of the varieties range from eighteen to thirty pairs. The upper surface is shining and dark green while the lower is glabrous light green. The leaves appear in flushes. They are flaccid and pendulous when young. The colour of young leaves generally vary form variety to variety, generally being tan-red, pink, yellow-brown in colour. As the leaf grows, its colour changes from tan-red to green, passing through many different shades and become dark green at maturity.
The leaves have fibres and crackle when crushed. They strongly smell of turpentine (some cultivars do not smell). The leaves contain a good amount of mangiferin (xanthone). In India, it was obtained as "Indian Yellow" from the cow's urine. Cows were fed exclusively with mango leaves and ultimately excessive feeding on leaves lead to the death of the animal.
Inflorescence The inflorescence is pseudo-terminal, originating from a bud, together with the new leafy sprout; there are cultivars with lateral inflorescence. The inflorescence is a narrowly to broadly conical panicle up to a 45 cm long depending upon cultivar and environmental conditions during its development. It is usually bracteate, but may sometimes be ebracteate. The bract if present, is leafy, elliptical and concave. The colour of the panicle may be yellowish-green, light green with crimson patches or with crimson flush on branches. It is generally pubescent but sometimes may be glabrous. The branching of the inflorescence is usually tertiary, rarely quaternary, but the ultimate branching is always cymose (Singh, 1960). The panicle bear 500-6000 flowers of which 1-70% are bisexual, remainder are male depending on the cultivar and temperature during its development.
Flowers Hermaphrodite and male flowers are produced in the same panicle, usually with a larger number of the later. The size of both male and hermaphrodite flowers varies from 6 to 8 mm in diameter. They are subsessile, rarely pedicellate, and have a sweet smell. Pedicels are very short or missing; they are articulate with a panicle branch of the same diameter, which is often mistaken for the pedicel (Barfod, 1988). The calyx is usually fivepartite. The lobes are ovate-oblong and concave. The corolla consists of five pale yellow petals (rarely four to eight), which are twice as long as the calyx and contain three to five ridges on the ventral side. The petals are in bud imbricate and slightly contorted. They are thin, yellowish and after expanding horizontal, the upper half rather irregularly and not very pronouncedly reflexed, they are free at their base. The ridges are slightly dark. The upper half and the margin of the petal are white. On fading, the petals become pinkish. Between the corolla and androecium there is an annular, fleshy, and five-lobed disc (Singh, 1960; Kostermans and Bompard, 1993). The androecium consists of stamens and staminodes, altogether five in number, of which usually one, or rarely two, are fertile and the rest are sterile. However, in cultivar Pico, three fertile stamens have been reported (Juliano and Cuevas, 1932). As many as ten stamens, which occur in other members of the genus, may also occasionally be found in the form of primordia only (Maheshwari, 1934). All the stamens are inserted on the inner margin of the disc. The position of the fertile stamen and pistil may be either parallel or oblique to each other (Naik and Gangolly, 1950). The fertile stamens are longer than the staminodes and are nearly equal to the length of the pistil. The colour of the anther is pink, which turns purple at the time of shedding. The ovary is sessile, one-celled, oblique and slightly compressed in its lateral aspect. It is placed on the disc. The ovule is anatropous and pendulous, and shows one-sided growth. The style arises from the edge of the ovary and ends in a simple stigma. Sometimes three carpels may develop in a flower (Singh, 1960).
Pollen The pollen grains are of variable shapes, with the size varying from 20 to 35 micron (Mukherjee, 1950; Singh, 1954). Small amount of pollen is produced in M. indica; the grains are sphaeroidal to prolate sphaeroidal, radially symmetrical, subangular in polar view, isopolar, with a few giant triploid ones of up to 50 micron, they are 3-monocolporate, goniotreme, sides convex-subprolate; apertures equidistant and zonal; ecto-aperture (colpus) extends slit-like from pole to pole.
Fruit The fruit is a more or less compressed, fleshy drupe. It varies considerably in size, shape, colour, presence of fibre, flavour, taste and several other characters. The most characteristic feature of the mango fruit is the formation of a small conical projection developing laterally at the proximal end of the fruit, known as the beak. It may be quite prominent in some, less so in others, while in some varieties it is represented merely by a dot. A wide sinus is always present just above this beak. The pistillate area of the fruit located near the base of the beak is known as the nak. The shape of the fruit varies from rounded to ovate-oblong or longish, with the length varying from 2.5 to 30 cm in different varieties. The base may be depressed or elevated or may be intermediate. The skin is gland-dotted and at maturity its colour exhibit different mixtures of green, yellow, and red shades. It may be smooth or rough. The acrid juice, with turpentine like smell, present in the stalk or sometimes in the fruits, is known as chenp in Hindi is due to myrcene and ocimene. Its main irritating constituent has been identified as an allergenic urushiol, 5-heptadecenylreorcinol.
criminal psychology
Serial Killers Who Surrender:
It's commonly believed that serial killers cannot stop, because their compulsion is so strong that they're literally addicted to murder. In addition, they feel no remorse so they have no reason to refrain from indulging their hunger for blood - or else they're just plain psychotic.However, there have been cases of men who have stopped themselves from killing again by going to the police to confess. Some actually express remorse, and might indicate that they'd been on drugs or were in some other state of diminished mental capacity during their crimes. They might also have come to the realization that, try as they might, they cannot stop themselves.
Movies Made Me Kill:
While it appears to be true that some people who immerse in horror imagery feel provoked to commit the same aggressive crimes they just viewed, it's also true that there is no evidence of a causal factor, and millions of people watch such films without feeling instigated to act. Some people process external images into aggressive behavior, others might gain catharsis, and still others remain altogether unaffected. A few become horror film makers or novelists. It's not easy to know just what effect a specific film might have. Whatever results, research shows that it has more to do with the viewer than the material viewed.It stands to reason that violent imagery will affect certain people in a way that inspires them to act out. From the story that affects them, they acquire a frame and guidelines, and sometimes even interpret the film as a license to kill. Not everyone will be thus affected, but among those who are, it's safe to say there is such a thing as a "Copycat Effect" when the portrayal of violence grips a person so firmly that he or she decides follow the details of that specific template. Has the movie made him kill? No, but has it given him ideas and methods even victims? We can see that such things have occurred and are likely to continue to occur.
What Makes Serial Killers Tick?
"It was an urge. ... A strong urge, and the longer I let it go the stronger it got, to where I was taking risks to go out and kill people risks that normally, according to my little rules of operation, I wouldn't take because they could lead to arrest." —Edmund Kemper. Where does this urge come from, and why is so powerful? If we all experienced this urge, would we be able to resist? Is it genetic, hormonal, biological, or cultural conditioning? Do serial killers have any control over their desires? We all experience rage and inappropriate sexual instincts, yet we have some sort of internal cage that keeps our inner monsters locked up. Call it morality or social programming, these internal blockades have long since been trampled down in the psychopathic killer. Not only have they let loose the monster within, they are virtual slaves to its beastly appetites. What sets them apart?
Beverley Allitt
Attentive pediatric nurse, suffering from bizarre Munchausen by Proxy syndrome, maims and murders many babies before the hospital understands the problem.
Robert Leroy Anderson
A study in sexual sadism, he & his friend stalked and abducted attractive women to torture, rape & murder.
Angels of Death -- The Doctors
Dr. Katherine Ramsland explores cases of doctors who kill and why they do it including a new case file on Dr. Robert Bierenbaum
Angels of Death - The Female Nurses
Nurses continue to murder their patients. Dr. Katherine Ramsland examines the motives and some high-profile and recent cases.
Angels of Death - The Male Nurses
Evidence of nurses who murder their patients has reached epidemic proportions globally. Dr. Ramsland examines the motives and major cases. Review of new book on Donald Harvey.
Bad to the Bone
Detective Mark Gado looks at the evolution of the many theories on what causes crime and criminal behavior. Genes, environment, or eating too many Twinkies?
David Berkowitz's Lost Letters
Author M. William Phelps uncovers Son of Sam prison letters written to serial killer Gary Evans that make a mockery out of David Berkowitz's supposed embrace of Christianity.
The Black Widow
The methods and motives of the female serial killer. Now with a new chapter.
Peter Braunstein
Bizarre fashion writer becomes obsessed with various women, stalks them and, in one case on Halloween, dressed as a fireman he breaks into a woman's apartment and molests her. On the lam for weeks, he is now on trial for sexual molestation and robbery. Pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Braunstein's planning, deception and flight indicate he knew that what he did was against the law.
Robert Charles Browne
An imprisoned psychopath attempts to confess to dozens of murders, provoking debate as to his motives and veracity.
Jerry Brudos
Sharon Wood, 24, left her secretarial job in Portland and entered the basement level of a parking garage to look for her car when a tall, pudgy man approached her. She later told police that she had sensed someone behind her and had tried to return to an area where she could hear other people. But then someone tapped her shoulder and she turned around. The man was holding a pistol. In a split second, she decided to fight. She had barely a chance against him, but she believed that if she didn't struggle while someone might still hear her, she'd die that day. Instinct told her that this man had murder on his mind. Sharon kicked at him with her high-heeled shoes, screamed again and bit him hard. Yet he managed to slam her head on the concrete, dazing her. Fortunately another car came along, and her attacker ran off. She survived, but not long afterward another young woman did not. Brudos is one of the most shocking serial killers ever and the subject of Ann Rule's book The Lust Killer. He abducted, tortured & mutilated young women in his garage, right under the noses of his wife and children. An analysis of the psychological factors that created this monster. Serial killer Jerry Brudos, died March 28, 2006.
Cannibalism
This ancient ritualistic practice has disappeared from most cultures, but increasingly survives as a bizarre and poorly understood criminal behavior. Psychologist Rachael Bell looks at the explanations.
The Childhood Psychopath
Bad seed or bad parents?
The C.S.I. Effect
What jurors bring to a trial is as decisive to the outcome as the evidence presented. Some experts are concerned that criminal procedural dramas like C.S.I. are affecting not only the behavior of criminals, but the jurors who determine guilt or innocence.
The Cudahy Kidnapping
16-year-old son of Omaha meat-packing baron is kidnapped. Incredibly, the kidnappers, who have pocketed $50,000, are caught but acquitted by 2 different juries.
Jeffrey Dahmer
Young man from a normal family, as far as any family under a microscope can be designated "normal," reaches puberty and starts to fantasize about sex with dead men. As these fantasies begin to take over his conscious mind, his link with the real word begin to disintegrate. He becomes more and more alienated with his family, who cannot fathom what is going on and are powerless to help him. He moves away, takes a low-level job far beneath his abilities, and starts to lure young minority men to his apartment where he conducts bizarre experiments on them, brutalizes and finally kills them. As if this were not enough, he then mutilates and decapitates them, has sex with their corpses and cannibalizes them. Inevitably, he is brought to justice, and like many men who go to prison for life, he professes to find God and embrace religion before he was killed by a fellow prisoner. But does he really or is this just one more prisoner sham?
Ricky Davis & Dena Riley
Career criminal and meth-addicted mommy link up to fulfill Ricky's lifetime ambition torturing, raping and killing women on video. Just as police got an important tip, this depraved couple escaped, abducted a young girl and planned their suicide.
A Deadly Proposal
Hard-charging ambitious Ruthann Aron loses her moral compass when she looks for a contract killer to rid herself of people who get in the way of achieving her objectives. From a modest start as a waitress in her father's diner, Ruthann rises to power and wealth in Montgomery County, Maryland, an important suburb of Washington, D.C. But the power goes to her head and she starts making business decisions that land her in court. Her ambition seems to know no bounds when she takes aim at unseating entrenched politicians with dubious campaign tactics. Finally, she embraces contract killing as a way to get what she wants.
Defending Oneself in Court
The chance to see celebrity criminals in action - contributing to their own downfall.
Neil Entwistle
Alleged killer of his wife and baby daughter, he returns from England to face the charges. Dr. Katherine Ramsland looks at the psychology of men who kill their families and the pressures that lead to such homicides.
Fathers Who Kill
What kinds of pressures drive fathers to murder their children? Dr. Katherine Ramsland provides some answers and looks at some high-profile cases.
Female Mass Murderers
Many people think of mass murderers as men and most of them are, but here are some famous women mass murderers. Some of the psychology and motivations are different from male mass murderers.
Albert Fish
This gentle-looking, benevolent grandfather cleverly lured children to their death, then devised recipes to eat them. This cannibal model for Hannibal Lecter is a study in criminal psychology and a true enigma. His wife thought him to be a wonderful husband and his children believed him to be a model father. What inner torments caused him to drive many spikes into his pelvis and tell people that he looked forward to his execution? John Borowski's film about the demented child killer is an engaging piece of visual art that has raised the bar on this type of subject.
Wayne Adam Ford
Young Marine suffered head injury that completely changed his behavior and pushed him into murder. Now, he has a new friend, busty GroBust spokeswoman Victoria Redstall who threatens to make him a "star" in a her documentary.
Forensic Psychology
How this art form was used in high profile cases like Andrea Yates, Scott Peterson, and John Wayne Gacy.
The Girl in the Box
It started out as a simple trip from her home in Oregon to see her friend in California, but she never got there. As she hitchhiked, she was picked up by Cameron & Janice Hooker. Instead she spent the next seven years chained, blindfolded and living in a ventilated box, wearing a slave collar. Eventually she was allowed to do household chores such as cooking, washing dishes, and cleaning up for the couple and their two children. Yet whenever Cameron yelled "Attention!" she was to strip off her clothes, stand on her tiptoes, and reach her hands to the top of the doorway between the living room and dining room. Then one day the whole nightmare ended as quickly as it had begun.
Dr. Robert Goldstein
The would-be terrorist was hunched over at his desk at his Pinellas County condo, carefully reviewing his handwritten notes. The plot he had so carefully constructed was bold, shockingly bold, as all good terror plots must be. The goal was maximum horror and only caution would ensure its success. A secret al-Qaeda cell in a wealthy neighborhood? Not quite.Florida doctor and his wife make bombs on the weekend for fun, while building a huge arsenal of explosives, armor-piercing rockets, napalm and other unusual household chemicals. Together with their dentist friend, they planned to blow up a nearby Islamic center.
Dr. Robert Hare
Forensic psychologist developed a new way to define psychopaths and discovered that their abnormalities are physical as well as behavioral.
Kidnapped Children
Most children murdered during stranger kidnappings are killed within a few hours. A close look at this serious problem and what can be done about it.
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart
Homeless preacher Brian David Mitchell and his common law wife, Wanda Barzee, brazenly kidnap a 14-year-old girl from her bedroom, initiating an internationally publicized investigation. Bureaucratic errors permit the kidnappers and their victim to live out in the open for 9 months. This case is a excellent example of the Stockholm Syndrome, where the captured victim learns to sympathize with her captors.
Debra Lafave
A beautiful and talented reading teacher turns into a sexual predator in the space of a year. A detailed account of what really happened as the then 23-year-old teacher enticed a 14-year-old boy into a sexual relationship, how she was caught and the twists and turns of her prosecution and sentencing. A number of things in her life contributed to her obsessive need for sexual attention from boys a decade younger than herself and her step over the line into outrageous and highly illegal behavior. Her crimes have been disastrous for her victim, her husband, the families involved and the community. Many believe that she has gotten off too lightly.
Marc Lepine
A thin, young man with a shaved head and a white baseball cap had been sitting for a while on a bench in the hall outside the University of Montreal's registrar's office. He looked agitated, as if he were waiting for someone who had failed to arrive. He made eye contact with no one, but his attitude was clear in his stiff posture and grim expression. As he entered one of the classrooms, a few people looked over at him and he offered a slight smile, as if to apologize for the interruption. He looked at the women, as if to make certain of where they sat. Used to students arriving late, Professors Yvan Bouchard and Adrien Cernea both ignored him. But then the grinning man in the baseball cap ordered 10 female students to get up and move across the room. "I'm fighting feminism," he told them. "Women had been taking employment and opportunities away from men, he said, and feminists needed to be taught their place." He lifted the rifle again and, as they screamed for mercy or tried to leap out of range, he methodically shot them from left to right. All were hit.
Mary Kay Letourneau
Bizarre case of married teacher who raped her young student and eventually had two children by him. Now out of prison, she has married her victim. Happy ever after? Not entirely.
Littleton
New information sheds controversial light on the behavior of Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold that should have been a red flag to parents, school authorities and law enforcement.
Henry Lee Lucas
Along with psychopath sidekick Ottis Toole, he traveled the U.S. raping, robbing, killing, and mutilating men, women & children. Originally thought to have killed 360 people, some of his confessions are now discredited. Whatever number of murders he & Toole committed, these two serial killers set a new standard in depravity.
David Ludwig
Home-schooled youth from Lancaster, PA religious community murders Michael and Cathryn Borden, parents of underage girlfriend Kara Beth Borden and takes off with her. Once captured, new discoveries show a manipulative and violent David Ludwig behind a mask of &faith.&
Patrick Mackay
Patrick Mackay was known in school as a liar and troublemaker, and he also turned his violence against small animals, including the family's pet tortoise, which he reportedly set on fire. He pinned birds to the road and then stood back to watch cars come by and crush them. He stole from people on the street and entered the apartments of elderly women to take what he could find. He also set fire to a Catholic church (as well as other buildings). Mackay had a fascination with death. Apparently his father had regaled him with stories from the war about seeing his comrades shot down or blown up. Mackay himself spent a lot of time with the corpses of animals and birds. A neighbor saw him toss dead birds into the air and play with them. It's likely that he developed fantasies that involved the death process, which may have then become eroticized for him. The British health system kept giving him a pass, permitting him to escalate his violence into repeated murders, including a priest who befriended him.
McMartin Day Care
Reckless accusations by mentally unstable woman leads to an incredible $16 million case of nightmarish hysteria.
Movies Made Me Kill
While it appears to be true that some people who immerse in horror imagery feel provoked to commit the same aggressive crimes they just viewed, it's also true that there is no evidence of a causal factor, and millions of people watch such films without feeling instigated to act. Some people process external images into aggressive behavior, others might gain catharsis, and still others remain altogether unaffected. A few become horror film makers or novelists. It's not easy to know just what effect a specific film might have. Whatever results, research shows that it has more to do with the viewer than the material viewed. It stands to reason that violent imagery will affect certain people in a way that inspires them to act out. From the story that affects them, they acquire a frame and guidelines, and sometimes even interpret the film as a license to kill. Not everyone will be thus affected, but among those who are, it's safe to say there is such a thing as a "Copycat Effect" when the portrayal of violence grips a person so firmly that he or she decides follow the details of that specific template. Has the movie made him kill? No, but has it given him ideas and methods even victims? We can see that such things have occurred and are likely to continue to occur.
Jason Moyer Case
The alleged rape of his stepdaughter causes Steven Mitchell and his friend to carry out a vicious attack on Moyer. Is this vigilantism or men protecting their loved ones from a predator?
"The Hollow Men" by Stephen Michaud
"Why Serial Killers Have to Kill to Feel."
The Only Living Witness by Stephen Michaud
Excerpt from the book that tells the true story of Ted Bundy
Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy
Profiler Pat Brown describes this bizarre form of psychopathic behavior that particularly affects women.
Multiple Personality Disorder
Highly controversial disorder, often faked, has been the cause of hysteria and scandal.
Necrophiles
On December 30, 2006, the complete and partial skulls of nineteen people four women, eleven girls and four boys - were discovered on the property of an upscale home in Nithari, a suburb of New Delhi, precipitating a search for more remains. It was obvious at once that the police were dealing with a serial killer, but investigators would soon learn that they in fact had two suspects, possibly three.
The Night Stalker
Sadistic, psychopathic monster terrifies California suburbs, murdering, raping & brutalizing his victims. New chapters on his trial and his love for Satan.
Nietzsche-inspired Crimes
Nietzsche's concept of the Superman, who did not have to conform to the morals of the times, was an inspiration to Hitler, among others.
Kenneth Parnell & Steven Stayner
Serial pedophile Kenneth Parnell abducts seven-year-old Steven Stayner, the brother of serial killer Cary Stayner, and takes him to live in his cabin near Yosemite. By a tragic coincidence, Steven's stepmother's father had a cabin a few hundred feet from Parnell's, not knowing that his Steven was easily within the sound of voice. Steven's seven years of captivity are partially shared when a new boy is abducted and shares his fate as a sex slave to the aging pedophile. Years later in 2002, Parnell was free and in his 70s, but Parnell's age and frailty did not prevent him from asking a caregiver to obtain a little African-American boy for him. Parnell offered the woman $500 for the service. At first, the woman doubted that the old man was serious, but when she became convinced that he was, she went to the authorities. A sting operation was arranged and Parnell was caught red handed in an attempt to perpetrate his twisted, criminal behavior on another child victim.
Prenatal Predators
Obsession with babies leads to unthinkable acts of violence. A look at recent and high-profile cases and the mind-set of women who become prenatal predators.
Robert Ressler
Katherine Ramsland interviews one of the most famous pioneers of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit who actually coined the term "serial killer." He talks about his experiences on major cases, including Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Arthur Shawcross and William Heirens, the "Lipstick Killer."
Ripper Rapists
A surge of cold into her lungs. Awareness. She is alive. But outside now. On the sand. On the broken glass. And there is an arm. Moving above her face. Left and right. Left and right. His movements are making a sound. A wet sound. The sound of her flesh being slashed open. He's cutting her throat with the knife. Again and again and again. It feels unreal as she watches droplets of her blood flung into the night. But it isn't. She feels no pain, but this is not a dream. This is happening. The man is slashing her throat. The fear and the horror wrench through every nerve in her body. But she is completely aware. The horrific injuries didnt stop with her throat being slashed. Yet, this attractive young woman who had been left for dead, survived. Her personal strength and a few miracles have given her life back.
Risk Assessment
Can we predict extreme fatal violence? Dr. Katherine Ramsland explores the causes of incidents of mass murder.
Harvey Robinson
Intelligent teen athlete with chronic juvenile rap sheet turns into a rampaging rapist, stalker and serial killer. Despite his good points, his chronic violence puts him on Pennsylvania's death row.
Michael Ross
Sixteen-year-old Paula Perrera was a bubbly, confident, carefree girl who performed well in school, enjoyed the company of her tight-knit group of friends as much as a good book and was active in the church youth group. On many occasions she chose to bypass the school bus altogether and instead hitchhiked to classes. Paula's boyfriend begged her not to hitchhike because of the inherent dangers, she ignored his pleas claiming that, "only nice people pick me up." Michael Ross was later quoted saying to police during an interview "as soon as I saw her (Paula), she was dead." Paula was not Michael's first victim, nor would she be his last. In fact, before his capture he would claim responsibility for the murders of 8 young women. While at school, Michael was socially active and joined several organizations. Moreover, he became involved in several relationships with some beautiful young co-eds, one to which he became engaged. However, the relationships always ended in failure and Michael's "dream of the perfect family began to be crowded by other fantasies disturbing, violent, sexual fantasies." It didn't take long for his fantasies to spiral out of control.
Serial Killer Art
Whether created out of boredom, therapy, or greed, violent offenders find a ready market for their drawings, paintings, poetry & song.
Serial Killer Culture
A grim fascination with serial killers has created a robust "murderabilia" market. Many millions are spent each year not on serial killer movies and books, but on everything from paintings and other artwork created by serial killers to tacky souvenirs, coloring books, games and joke gifts. Some women are so attracted that they become serial killer groupies and even wives. A close look at why we are so fascinated by serial murder.
Serial Killer Groupies
Busty GroBust spokeswoman Victoria Redstall vows to make a "star" out of her good friend Wayne Adam Ford, a vicious serial killer who cut off the breasts of his victims. Redstall is just one of many women who become obsessed with the most frightening type of murderer. Some of them are surprising.
Serial Killers Who Surrender
It's commonly believed that serial killers cannot stop, because their compulsion is so strong that they're literally addicted to murder. In addition, they feel no remorse so they have no reason to refrain from indulging their hunger for blood - or else they're just plain psychotic. However, there have been cases of men who have stopped themselves from killing again by going to the police to confess. Some actually express remorse, and might indicate that they'd been on drugs or were in some other state of diminished mental capacity during their crimes. They might also have come to the realization that, try as they might, they cannot stop themselves.
The Sizzler's Massacre
Many young men are brutally murdered at a gay massage parlor. Was it a mob hit, hate crime or theft?
William Kennedy Smith
Kennedy cousin's continuous problems with women -- the whole story.
Texas Eyeball Killer
He did not fit the profile of a serial killer. He had a master's degree, knew several languages, was a former science teacher, was charming, was in a seemingly satisfying relationship, and seemed completely at ease with having his home searched and his gun tested. He did not abuse substances. Associates who were questioned about him remained loyal, certain the police had the wrong man. He had coached football, helped with Cub Scouts, and was kind to children. He was both articulate and artistic, a cultivated man accomplished in many things from piano to bullfighting, who seemed anything but a murderer. He was generous, friendly, and helpful to people in need.
Marybeth Tinning
Marybeth Tinning was a familiar sight in Schenectady's trauma centers. She usually came running into one of the city's emergency rooms, confused and hysterical, typically with one of her babies cradled in her arms, either dead or near dead. The medical staff knew Marybeth well. Some hated her. Others felt great sorrow and pity for her. That's because from January 3, 1972, the day her daughter Jennifer died, until December 20, 1985, when Tami Lynne was found dead in her home, all nine of Marybeth Tinning's children died suddenly and usually without any rational explanation. And no one knew why.
The Vampire Killers
Throughout the ages, some human killers have been fascinated and obsessed by the blood of their victims. Here are some of history's most notorious vampire killers and some of the most recent cases, some of which are very recent — and very weird.
Sid Vicious & Nauseating Nancy
Sid Vicious, born John Simon Richie, joined London's Sex Pistols band in 1977 and was still in his teens when they became one of the top bands in Britain. Ironically they were making money hand over fist as the icons of rebellion, the heart and soul of a generation alienated from rampant capitalism The femme fatale was Nancy Spungen, very troubled young woman from a well-off Philadelphia family, who was determined to bed this young Sex Pistols celebrity, and bed him she did with a vengeance. Nobody could stand her as friends watched Sid become dominated by her. Ultimately he'd go cuckoo when he wasn't' with her. Finally, their lives became classic co-dependencies: heroin and each other, until one morning she was found stabbed to death and he was charged with her murder.
Victim to Victimizer
Young man becomes obsessed with torture and murder, idolizes Charles Manson and seeks to become a "murder machine." Dr. Ramsland presents the interesting case forensics and emotional pathology.
Werewolf Killers
Traces the long history of the belief that men could become wolves and rip apart their victims. Shocking recent cases are profiled as well as classics like Vacher the Ripper and the Monster of Florence. Psychologists debate the nature of the mental disorder responsible for werewolf killers.
Workplace Homicide
The bad news is that it is increasing. A few key cases are analyzed to point to the types of workplace homicide and the reasons for it. Is there any truth to the myth of "going postal"?
Yahweh ben Yahweh Cult
Intelligent and educated, the Black Messiah styled himself into a religious leader who preached love and black empowerment but his followers practiced murder, intimidation and extortion. Those who joined the Yahweh ben Yahweh cult included fraternity boys, sheriff's deputies, grandmothers and ex-cons fresh out of prison. They allowed Mitchell to control every aspect of their lives, from their diet to their finances to their sexual liaisons.
Andrea Yates
Incorrect expert testimony causes murder convictions to be overturned. Is a new trial in the offing?
Graham Young
Young psychopath obsessed with poisons grows up to be the expert St. Albans Poisoner, assisted by negligent authorities.
to be continued.....................