"The first thing that struck me as I entered the long, dimly lit room was the smell - an overwhelming mix of filth, feces, and chemicals. Next I saw the rows of small metal cages, each one only about two meters long. Although I had seen pictures of these cruel confinement systems, the reality was even more heartbreaking than I could have imagined.javascript:iconTag('HEART1');

Inside of each cage was a black bear - not the majestic awe-inspiring animals that we think of when we picture a bear, but pathetic creatures, their fur matted and raw, sitting in their own feces, reduced to little more than machines..." Read more >>

Dear Friend,

The words above are those of Dave Eastham, WSPA's Head of Wildlife who actually visited a bear farm in Asia and saw for himself the horrors that occur in these cruel places.

What Dave Eastham saw was appalling. What's worse, this depiction is a reality for 12,000 bears suffering on farms in Asia right now.

Keep reading and make your gift to WSPA to help these bears and other animals suffering like them around the world.

Unimaginable, unnecessary cruelty

Bear farming is an inhumane process that has been practiced in Asia since the 1980s. On these farms bears are crammed into small, filthy cages where bile is extracted from their gallbladders for use in Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM).

The cruelty involved is immense and constant. The misery starts with a surgical operation to insert a tube to access the bile in their gallbladder. The pain and distress continues throughout their lives when the bile is extracted up to twice a day. Many bears also suffer from wound infections, tumors, and other agonizing illnesses.

When the bears are no longer useful they are put aside, where they wait, either until death comes through sickness or starvation, or until they are killed for their paws and gall bladders.

Bear farming must end

WSPA is determined to bring an end to bear farming, but we need your help.

We have already reached an agreement with the government of Vietnam to phase out bear farming in their country and ensure that no new bears are brought onto bear farms. We have also conducted extensive undercover investigations of the illegal sale of bear bile products internationally.

Now, we need you by our side as we work to end bear farming and the illegal international trade in bear parts for good. Find out what we are doing and how you can help >>

Thank you in advance for your support and for your compassion for animals!

Sincerely,

Dena Jones
Program Manager
WSPA USA

All gifts to WSPA represent a contribution to WSPA's entire mission. Donations will be used where they are most needed to help animals.

WSPA USA, Lincoln Plaza, 89 South Street, Suite 201, Boston, MA 02111, 1-800-883-9772

©2004 The World Society for the Protection of Animals | Developed by Synthenet Corporation

This is the generation of Americans who shall be known for all time as the one that stood by in silence, watching as dogs, cats, polar bears, wolves, and too many other precious animals to mention were hunted into extinction for the pleasure of the most bloodthirsty of Americans, those who consider shooting wolves, for instance, with high powered rifles FROM HELICOPTERS as SPORT! Chased to the point of exhaustion, the frightened, bewildered, and frantic wolves yelped helplessly, running in circles, trying to protect their young; the Americans who slyly killed many of our animals to extinction by turning their homes, their habitats, into housing tracts or shopping centers, or the hunting ground for oil, a product in whose name this same generation of Americans feel justified in murdering those who have something we want.

How can we. the Killing Generation, talk of a $1 million program to convince teenagers they should not have sex before marriage? Is having sex before marriage worse than killing men, women, and children? Worse than killing defenseless animals who look to us for protection? Worse than lying to justify an unjust war? Worse than rigging elections, this by the most exalted of our Killing Generation? We are in no position to teach our teenagers a single thing. If they can read, they already know about nuclear warheads, global warming, biological warfare, unsafe storage of nuclear waste, terrorist attacks by our own government - yes, our teenagers know us for what we are and they trust very little that we tell them. They watch us, so they know.

To "flip the switch" is to decisively move from an unhealthy, unhappy place, a fearful, negative or harmful place, to a healthy, happy, positive, healing place - simply by deciding what we want to focus on. What we focus on IS our reality. This is why they say we create our own realities - because we alone decide what we will focus on. And it is OUR life, so we are free to flip the switch!

What station are we tuned into? If it is a station that is not creating love or joy in our hearts or learning, why are we tuned in to it? The responsible things for us to do is to flip the switch.

When we are overwhelmed by this world, we can flip the switch from noise, chaos, and static to peace and quiet, to blessed healing silence, just silence.

What headlines are we reading? Our own or the newspapers'? We can flip the switch, right now, and write our own articles and, believing them, live to see them become a reality.

We can, right now, this moment, realize and become the changess we have been longing for. We can be what we want to be now, not later, or in time, or soon, or one day, NOW! Just by flipping the switch!

We can, starting right now, praise everything in the world around us and, by so doing, make everything in the world around us praiseworthy!

We can, right now, flip the switch and make our heaven on earth. It is within our power to do so. We are the only ones preventing our flipping the switch. We alone control our minds - if we have given away that control, we have the power to take it back.

We can, right now, flip the switch and feel our outlook shift from one of fear to one of love - and then watch the world's outlook shift with us.

THIS IS NOT THE 'DON'T BUY' GAS FOR ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE
CAN GET GAS BACK DOWN TO $1.30 PER GALLON.

This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his
engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. If you are tired of the gas
prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to
read this please.

Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea. This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than
the 'don't buy gas on a certain day' campaign that was going around last
April or May! It's worth your consideration. Join the resistance!!!!

I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by this summer and it
might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?

We need to take some intelligent, united action. The oil companies just
laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to 'hurt' ourselves
by refusing to buy gas .

It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them BUT,
whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can REALLY work.
Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $2.00 is super
cheap. Me too! It is currently $3.89 for regular unleaded in my town,
Seattle. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us
to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $2.50 - $2.75, we need
to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the
marketplace..not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take
action.

The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit
someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that
WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we
CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price
war.

Here's the idea Starting June 01/08 , for the rest of this year, DON'T
purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one),
EXXON and MOBIL.

If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their
prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to
follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of
Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out
on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to
reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten
more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x
10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of
people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers .

If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each,
then 30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION
PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!

(If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do
is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a
mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten
more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could
conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?!
Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please
pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY
LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $2.00 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY
WORK.

Vincent Franze AIA
Franz & Franze Architecture PLLCjavascript:iconTag('FKISS1');
118 N. Bedford Rd. Suite 105
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
V- 914.241.6775
F- 914.241.7868
C- 914.420.1119

NDERF

Natural Continuum
During cardiac catheterization, my left ventricle ruptured, and I developed cardiac tamponade. As a result, my blood pressure was reduced to 20/0. Needle penetration through the chest wall and into the pericardial sac allowed aspiration of the blood and relief of the tamponade temporarily. I was taken to surgery for repair of the left ventricle.

Due to the loss of blood pressure for approximately 34-40 minutes, my vital organs subsequently failed three days later. This delay is not unusual if organs are to fail. The totality of the failure cannot be explained. Specifically, my liver enzymes were elevated 400 times normal while my pancreatic enzymes elevated 100 times normal and my kidney function decreased to 1% of normal.

My spleen became dysfunctional and I developed disseminated intravascular coagulation with a platelet count of zero. I developed significant pulmonary emboli, and my left lung collapsed. My heart arrested twice, and I was "jump started." It was during one of the arrests that I apparently experienced the NDE.

I left my body, but the exact location was not evident. I found myself in a tunnel of light with a diameter of roughly twenty feet. It was warm, comforting and created total calmness. I was content and without apprehension.

Having read of this phenomenon during my medical training, I was quite aware of the circumstances. I could feel the presence of a devine source, and indicated my willingness to pass from this world. I realized that this was not the end but rather a transition and I was motivated to explore the future.

However, I indicated that if my work on earth was not complete as per my Creator, I was ready to return; but I remember thinking, "We better put the plumbing back together again because things don't look very good." It was at that very moment that I found myself again in the hospital bed, intubated and on life support as had been the case for the previous two weeks.

Back on the "home front," my family was informed that if my heart stopped again, they would not attempt any heroic measures since all of my organs had literally failed.

However, my heart did not stop and 20 minutes later my blood was drawn for values. Amazingly, the platelet count had increased to 28,000 and within 24 hours was a normal 350,000. Also, within 24 hours, my liver functions and renal functions had returned to normal. By 72 hours, the pancreas read normal blood values. A repeat CT scan of my lungs revealed complete resolution of the pulmonary emboli. Because of the liver failure, I had gained 50 pounds of fluid retention over two weeks. All 50 pounds were micturated within 24 hours of the NDE. I walked out of the hospital four days after the NDE, and was walking/jogging three miles at a time within two weeks.

The event of the NDE feels like yesterday. It is more real than reality. My professional associates have been very supportive in verifying similar episodes that their patients have experienced. Initially, I did not disclose the event, until a good friend/physician asked what I thought about, knowing that I was dying. After describing the event, I was amazed at the openness he expressed, and how other physicians came forth with their own experiences.

As a cancer specialist, I deal with death every day. Obviously, this experience now allows me to deal with patient and family on a level that I never knew before. I was literally ignorant of the true meaning of life. Physicians by their training consider death a measure of failure. I can now, without fear, view death as a natural continuum. I appreciate the beauty of this world more, and have been fortunate enough to glimpse the future.

As a scientist, I can appreciate the need for dedicated research performed in controlled settings...always questioning. I cannot however deny the reality of my own experience.

The idea that the NDE can be explained by metabolic, electrical or other physiological parameters is unacceptable...as unacceptable as describing my abrupt recovery when statistics would tell us that there is no way I should have survived.