In other news, animal rights activist Daniel McGowan has been released on bail. McGowan is facing up to life in prison on charges he helped set fires at a lumber company and an experimental tree farm in Oregon in 2001. No one was injured in the blazes. The charges are the most serious ever filed against environmental activists for allegedly taking part in such a direct action. McGowan’s family put up $1.6 million in bail to secure his release. McGowan was hit with severe restrictions while he is free on bail in New York, where he studies acupuncture and works in a shelter for battered women.