Whale slaughter by Japan.
Please Spread the Word About Japans Hunt for Humpbacks
Dear Norma, Several weeks ago, you sent more than 10,000 letters to several key countries asking
them to vote against Japans proposal to reopen the hunt for humpbacks in
international waters.
Your heartfelt activism has already made an impact: In South Korea, the city
of Ulsan (where this years International Whaling Commission meeting is
being held) has declared they will abandon plans to build a proposed
whale and dolphin meat processing factory.
We are also encouraged by the early voting of the Government of China,
which is asserting its leadership for whale conservation instead of just
following Japan as it has done in past years.
The fate of humpback whales hangs in the balance.
But the most important whaling votes are yet to come, including a
resolution criticizing Japans humpback whaling proposal. We need to keep
the pressure on to make sure the songsters of the sea never have to face
the cruelty and suffering of explosive harpoons ever again.
So far, Japans efforts to push forward their pro-whaling agenda have
been thwarted at this years whale meeting, but Japan is working furiously
to fly in other registered pro-whaling countries to shift the balance before
the end of the week.
We cant come close to matching the millions of yen Japans government is spending to push through their whaling agenda, but with your help, we may be able to ensure conservation-minded countries carry the day at this years meeting, protecting whales and the commission set up to protect them.
Please Tell As Many As You Can
In response to Japans horrific proposal to slaughter humpback whales in
international waters, weve created a Stop Whaling Action Center to collect
as many signatures as we can from around the world. But we need your help to
let others know about it.
Can you help us reach 50,000 signatures?
Once youve signed the petition, please pass it along to friends, family
and neighbors who care about making sure we dont lose the songs of the sea
forever. Simply click here to tell your friends.
Its not too late to stop the killing of humpbacks in the open ocean.
But we must act now. The crucial vote could come at any day during this
weeks IWC meeting.
Its also very expensive to send our team to Korea to fight to make sure
the result of the IWC is whale conservation, not killing more whales. If you
can make a contribution to support IFAW right now, it would be greatly
appreciated.
If we tell as many others as we can about the unfolding tragedy about
to occur in our oceans, we can win this fight.
Sincerely,
Fred ORegan
President and CEO - dated June 22nd,2005
RESPOND by helping fund this organisation, International Fund for Animal Welfare,
and receive emails from them by sending request to fred@ifaw1.org
Crucified nun.
June 18 2005 at 02:46PM
By Laura Chiriac
Tanacu, Romania - A Romanian Orthodox priest who ordered the crucifixion
of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil" and now faces
murder charges was unrepentant on Saturday as he celebrated a funeral mass
for his alleged victim.
God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from
evil," Father Daniel, 29, the superior of the Holy Trinity monastery in
north-eastern Romania, said before celebrating a short mass "for the soul
of the deceased", in the presence of 13 nuns who showed no visible
emotion.
He insisted that from the religious point of view, the crucifixion of
Maricica Irina Cornici, 23, was "entirely justified", but admitted that he
faced excommunication as well as prosecution, and was seeking a "good
lawyer".
Cornici had entered the monastery just three months before Cornici was
found dead on Wednesday, gagged and chained to a cross, after fellow nuns
called an ambulance, according to police.
Mihaela Straub, spokesperson for the police in the province of Vaslui,
said Daniel and four other nuns had claimed Cornici was possessed and
should be exorcised.
Before being crucified she had been kept shut up for several days, her
hands and feet tied and without food or drink, he said.
Cornici had entered the monastery just three months before, after visiting
a friend who was a nun there, police said.
As her coffin entered the church of the monastery Saturday no church bells
were sounded while nuns cast distrustful glances at the strangers,
including two AFP reporters, present at the ceremony.
'She can't be laid in the church because she was possesed' Claps of
thunder from an approaching storm were sometimes the only sounds to break
the silence.
"This storm is proof that the will of God has been done," Daniel said.
"You see it?" said the priest, gesturing at the body, lying in an annexe
and still showing the marks of the gag. One of the nuns, Sister Martha,
added, "She can't be laid in the church because she was possesed."
Daniel has lived for the past four years in the isolated monastery located
in the hills of one of the poorest regions of Romania, without running
water or electricity.
"Over there, in your world, the people must know that the devil exists.
Personally I can find his work in the gestures and speech of possessed
people, because man is often weak and lets himself be easily manipulated
by the forces of evil," said the bearded young priest.
"I don't understand why journalists are making such a fuss about this.
Exorcism is a common practise in the heart of the Romanian Orthodox church
and my methods are not at all unknown to other priests," he said.
A 34-year-old parishioner who had come to defend Daniel and gave her name
as Dora, said Sister Irina " had to be punished, she had an argument with
the Father during a Sunday mass and insulted him in front of the
congregation."
Sociologist Alred Bulai said that corporal punishment was still commonly
used in certain Romanian monasteries.
"It's happening particularly in the isolated monasteries, where the
superiors have difficulty understanding the current realities and adapting
themselves to modern life," Bulai said.
Since the fall of the communist regime in December 1989, the Orthodox
Church, which represents 85 percent of Romania's 22 million inhabitants, is rated in many opinion polls as the most trusted
institution in the country.
Vitalie Danciu, the superior of a nearby monastery at Golia, called the
crucifixion "inexcusable",k but a spokesperson for the Orthodox
patriarchate in Bucharest refused to condemn it.
"I don't know what this young woman did," Bogdan Teleanu said. - Sapa-AFP
_______________________________________________
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"We are determined to foment a rebellion,
and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws
in which we have no voice or representation."
-- Abigail Adams, 31 March, 1776
Response: What God do they serve? It is not the Spirit that I
know but this is a classic case of religious terrorism, and its happening all over,
depending on the naivity and gullibility of ignorant people.
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