Woofs and Growls
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1995:
Greenpeace and the Doris Day Animal League are
among the major clients of Electronic Banking System Inc., target
of a December 1 Wall Street Journal expose as an especially notori-
ous example of an “electronic sweatshop,” a term coined by inves-
tigative writer Barbara Garson in a book by that title, indicating low
wage work under intensive electronic supervision. EBS recently
settled several complaints filed by the National Labor Relations
Board pertaining to alleged union-busting.
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, identified with
wise-use wiseguy politics, “developed a deep attachment to ani-
mals” during a troubled childhood, according to Kathryne Q. Seelye
in the November 24 New York Times. “His grandmother once gave
him a leather jacket that he painted with white stripes so he could
look like a zebra.” In adolescence Gingrich missed an airline con-
nection because he visited a zoo during a stopover. His earliest
political involvement apparently was lobbying, at about the same
age, to have a zoo built by the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“In 1990,” Seelye added, “he sent nearly half of his $67,000 in hon-
orariums from speeches to Zoo Atlanta. Last year he sent $15,000 to
the zoo to buy a pair of rare Komodo dragons.”
A poll done by Peter Hart for National Wildlife
Federation, released December 21, showed continuing strong sup-
port for the Endangered Species Act among those who voted in the
November 8 general election. Even among Republicans, whose
candidates often bashed the ESA, 47% support the ESA as it stands,