While Gene Roddenberry’s depiction of a vegetarian future in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" remains centuries away, the new millennium has already seen a series of stunning victories for animal rights. In North Carolina, a grand jury handed down the first ever felony animal abuse indictment against pig farmers. The Smithsonian canceled plans for a foie gras celebration due to pressure from many animal groups and celebrities.

In Europe, government Farm Ministers signed an agreement banning battery cages for hens (taking effect in 2012). A speech by the Queen of England in the British Parliament vowed to abolish fur farms. France became the final member of the European Union to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam, recognizing animals as sentient beings capable of feeling fear and pain, and of enjoying themselves when well treated. (The EU must "pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals" when formulating policies on agriculture, transport, research and internal trade.)

In the U.S., President Clinton signed HR 1887, barring the Internet sale of "crush videos," in which animals are killed. New York passed a bill elevating intentional and extreme animal cruelty to a felony offense. New Mexico, Maryland, Maine, Virginia and Nevada enacted laws to allow courts to order psychological counseling for animal abusers. Tennessee, Louisiana and North Carolina enacted animal-friendly vehicle license plate programs to support spay/neuter efforts.

The National Institutes of Health banned the use of mice in monoclonal antibody production, saving the lives of up to one million mice each year, and admitted that animals feel "pain, distress or discomfort." Nationwide protests dramatically altered the Environmental Protection Agency’s HPV industrial chemical testing program, reducing the number of animals to be used from 1.3 million to 500,000, thus saving the lives and torture of 800,000 animals.

Colgate-Palmolive declared an "immediate and voluntary moratorium on all animal testing of its personal care products designed for adults and the ingredients used in those products." Mary Kay Cosmetics signed an agreement pledging not to use animals to test its products or to buy ingredients from companies that do, becoming the largest company to so pledge.

The New Zealand Parliament banned the use of all great apes in research, testing or teaching "unless such use is in the best interests of the nonhuman hominid" or his/her species. The nation of Slovakia banned all cosmetic tests on animals after a three-year campaign by Slovakian animal protection groups.

Pepsi withdrew its sponsorship of Mexican bullfighting events and ordered all its signs removed from bullfighting arenas. Sears ended its sponsorship of Ringling Bros. circus after a disastrous year of animal-related incidents, including the death of Kenny, a baby elephant. Montgomery, New Jersey Township passed an ordinance prohibiting electric prods at its annual rodeo. Johnson & Johnson, a top supporter of rodeos, dropped its sponsorship. Coca Cola has also dropped its sponsorship of rodeos and those who support rodeos.

Redmond, Washington’s City Council unanimously banned exotic animal acts. Alexandria, Virginia’s City Council voted to deny permission for Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus to perform there (they will now consider a complete ban on all circuses and animal acts). Estes Park, Colorado voters passed a ballot initiative banning the caging of animals for exhibition, thus defeating the proposed "plexiglass zoo" and also prohibiting zoos and most circus acts.

A Sacramento jury convicted two cockfighters of felony animal cruelty, marking the first time the California cruelty to animal statute was used to prosecute cockfighting promoters. Another Sacramento jury sentenced a pit bull trainer/dogfighting promoter to seven years in prison, the longest dogfighting sentence ever in the nation.

The Arizona Fish and Game Commission voted 3 to 2 on the side of animal protection advocates to ban the contest killing of coyotes, prairie dogs and other wildlife. The ban was overturned by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council but the Fish and Game Commission voted 4 to 1 to resubmit the rule for consideration. Southwest Airlines removed "Outdoor Life" magazine from its airplanes due to complaints from passengers about hunting articles. Oregon passed the strongest law in the country banning the "canned hunts" of exotic mammals in any enclosed area, irrespective of the size of the enclosure.

Hasbro and USAOPOLY agreed to stop manufacturing "Iditarod Monopoly," because it glorifies dog-sledding. The Hegins (Pennsylvania) pigeon shoot was permanently canceled after a 15-year campaign by animal protection groups and a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

San Diego and Houston banned "pound seizure" (stopped selling shelter animals to research laboratories). San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood, California, and Boulder, Colorado adopted new language referring to animal "guardians" rather than "owners," thus recognizing animals as companions and not property. Similar guardian amendments have been proposed in Chicago and Rhode Island.

Harvard and Georgetown law schools began teaching classes on animal law. The first Animal Law casebook was published. Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine became the first veterinary school to eliminate dog labs.

Congress substantially increased funding for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act. Congress directed the National Institutes of Health in its appropriations bill to stop using animals from random-source "B dealers." Congress took the first ever vote on trapping with the House of Representatives voting overwhelmingly to ban leghold traps in National Wildlife Refuges; the Senate defeated the measure.

Major British supermarkets have withdrawn "exotic meat" from their shelves. Meat and dairy alternatives have become increasingly popular and are now readily available at supermarkets and restaurants in the U.S. and worldwide. A nonviolent philosophy begins at breakfast.

To become a vegetarian or a vegan is to carry the campaign against "cruelty to animals" to its logical conclusion.

"I have no doubt," wrote Henry David Thoreau, "that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual development, to leave off the eating of animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came into contact with the more civilized."

The animal rights movement should be supported by all caring Americans.

The skyline of New York City and the landscapes of our hearts have been forever altered. Ahead lies the task of carrying on with our lives. This is no mean feat when our hearts and the media demand that we remain in the thrall of the television eagerly absorbing the next opinion, the next revelation, as commentators serve up endless drivel in their quest for the quintessential story within the story, the stroke of elegance destined to win the Pulitzer, the need to justify their own existence. Now is the time to turn off the television. Now we must take stock in ourselves and our nation.

Trust me on this one -- it's OK to turn off the TV. We're at the point now where the earth has already been shattered. If anything more turns up, we can safely put it off until we read about it in the newspaper tomorrow. We have other things to be doing right now.

Today we have a new agenda item, on top of our ordinary list of things to do. Now that the terrorists have learned that they can carry their bloodshed to our side of the Atlantic, we must consider what is in store for us next. It seems that bin Laden likes the "one-two" combination. In Africa, he didn't settle for just bombing one embassy. He went for two. Now, perhaps his "one-two" combination was just the "North" and "South" towers of the building. Or he may have something else planned.

What we need to understand is that whatever bin Laden is, or is not, planning, it is irrelevant. What is indisputable is that there are now people in this country walking among us with malice in their hearts. Today, it is no longer a question of "if," but rather "when" they will strike out at us again. When they do strike again, will we be prepared? Probably not. That is the nature of a terror campaign -- to strike where least expected, with a maximum of bloodshed. Maximize the shock. We will probably waste a great deal of time trying to predict how and where they will strike again.

At the moment, however, the most productive study we can undertake is to review our assumptions. What things do we assume they might do? What things do we assume they will not do? We must understand that it is our assumptions that blind us, and it is our assumptions which will bite us in the end.

Whatever atrocity these people have planned next may make it difficult for the grocery stores to keep food on their shelves for a while.

What I am talking about now is not an agenda that we as a nation must undertake. What I'm presenting is a list of things that we, as residents of our block, of our town, can and should do to improve our preparedness.

Today it makes sense to have on hand a month's supply of dried beans, rice and canned fruits and vegetables. It also makes sense to keep 5 gallons of fresh water on hand. But plan also to purify water we find in our streams. Five gallons will come to an end long before our need for water. In this part of the country, a solar water distiller makes a lot of sense. Most households have the makings for one in the kitchen already.

Do not stockpile gasoline. Reliance upon automobiles is another assumption we need to be prepared to shed. No matter how much gasoline we stockpile, sooner or later our supply will run out. Better to be prepared for that eventuality up front: keep bicycles for everyone in the household. Keep them in working order. Keep a tire patching kit with them. This strategy will avoid turning your home into an incendiary device waiting for a spark.

Keep candles and matches where you can easily find them in the dark. Keep flashlights in strategic locations in your home. Keep a flashlight under a bedside table in each bedroom. Keep a flashlight in the bathroom and the kitchen. Make sure everyone in your household knows where they are. Keep fresh batteries in your flashlights and a spare set in the refrigerator, dated. A flashlight with dead batteries is useless. Keep a battery-powered radio in your kitchen. Emergency radio transmitters will have back-up generators, but they will be useless to you if you don't have a radio that can tune them in. Keep a well-stocked first-aid kit. And with it, keep a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook. You don't have to be a Boy Scout to use it to save some-one's life.

These are just a few simple things that may stand us in good stead when next we are faced with another mindless atrocity. If you are having a hard time getting back to normality, consider just focusing on this to-do list that I've presented. As you wander about the house, check out your flashlights. Change the batteries.

And as we get on with our lives, we must remember to do so with class. We must continue to make friends generously while being careful who we declare to be our enemy -- for that is who we will come to resemble most closely. And we must never forget Benjamin Franklin's warning -- "they who would trade essential freedom for security deserve neither."

i reach up and touch the stars

you touch me
the me i don't know well
the me who might be frightened or
curious about you
you touch the deep-rooted part of me
the part most like you
you touch me with your quick smile
your bright, even teeth
your brown hand reaches to shake mine
i am not sure if i should bow
your easy way makes me feel that a
handshake is fine
your children touch me
in that deepest part of my tender heart
their eager faces looking at me
expecting and receiving more than i
knew i had to give
your elders touch me with their elegant grace
and tenacity toward keeping the other world
your culture, your history
by keeping it alive against all odds, against waves of
violence aimed at destroying everything good
your elders stand tall and proud

you touch me with the color of your skin
the color of your words
the color of your world, your food, your culture
i stand here and i am touched and
very, very proud to intertwine my roots
with yours

- debee loyd
(presented at the "Faces of Stanislaus" opening ceremonies,
written for the International Festival, October 5, 6 & 7, 2001)