The Lobster that cried

Picture courtesy of PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Down to the Coast
Many years ago while I was still at school, some of my classmates went away with their families to the coast.
When they came back, school opened again and at one class, the conversation with the teacher turned towards how our holidays had been spent.

I had spent mine quietly at home helping my mom with my brothers and sisters, and spending much time assisting my disabled brother who had suffered brain injury at birth. 
So I said very little, because chores and babysitting was the usual for me. 
However, I was very interested to hear how things had gone at the coast.

Seafood on holiday
My classmates started speaking about the food they ate. 
They enjoyed shrimps, and all sorts of seafood.
One had eaten lobster, the other crab. 
A dark haired classmate sat quietly.
"Did you eat lobster?" she was asked by another classmate.
"No," she said. "I have seen how lobsters are cooked, the one I saw was pushed alive into boiling water.
It was screaming, and carried on screaming in agony for a while until it died.
That is cruel. 
I will never eat lobsters.
It is barbaric."


Silent
I said nothing during the ensuing discussion during which her stand was questioned.
I did not come to her defense, and surely she must have thought I was not supportive.
In fact, I was so appalled by what she had told us, that I felt ill.
It could never have occurred to me in a hundred million years that anyone could treat a beautiful and innocent animal in so cruel a way.
I could not open my mouth.

Respect
Many years later I still remember my class mate with respect.
With what dignity she stood there and stuck to her stance that she would never eat any living being.
I eventually became vegetarian.
There is one thing I have never done; eat a lobster or crab.
That was due to the witness of my class mate who had opened my eyes to the suffering of these defenceless creatures.
The thought of eating an innocent who died crying in agony while being tortured was not one I could countenance.

Undercover investigation
An undercover investigation has shown these humble and wonderful creatures being ripped apart limb from limb, left to crawl in agony for hours after being dismembered.
Lobsters deaths' are often prolonged. 
Lobsters have a long childhood and an awkward adolescence.
They feel intense pain as is shown by their violent struggles and pitiable suffering when torn apart and hurt.
Lobster mothers - like humans - are pregnant for nine months. 
The lobsters spend their childhood with their mothers. 
Some lobsters are right-handed and some left-handed.
Sometimes they walk hand in hand, the old leading the young.
Lobsters mate tenderly, with the male being particularly protective and caring of the female, sheltering her in his den after lovemaking.

God's Plan
In the beginning God created us vegetarians (The Book of Genesis Chapter 1, verse 29). 
What happened to us?
How can we eat little creatures with faces and feelings and ability to feel pain?
How can we torture these little ones to 'improve taste'?
How can we rip the unborn fish in the shape of eggs from the belly of its pregnant mother for caviar?
How can we force-feed geese and then rip their livers from them for pate?
How can we keep a fish alive, part fry it, and then eat it while it is still breathing?
How can we eat octopus while alive, holding the animal's tentacles to prevent it wriggling?
How can we eat the brains of a monkey?
How can we make sport out of eating the reproductive organs of helpless animals? 
What disrespect to the animals and how inappropriate of those made in the Image and Likeness of God Himself.

PETA - Peopls for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Peta has a video showing the dismembering of  fellow creatures of our earth, lobsters and crabs..
God put us as humans to be the crown of his creation, his earth, to have lordship over all the animals to protect and care for them - his original plan.
He did not give us lordship to torture and disrespect these humble beings.

We need to do something
We need to do something. Dogs are hit with hammers to soften their meat before being executed. 
Their screams of utmost agony rent the air in a video which was sent to Lumiere.
Another dog was set on fire.
What can we do:
- Consider becoming vegetarian
- Be kind to animals
- Become active for animals' right
- Support veterinarians, gamekeepers and conservationists

Please sign the petition available at the following link:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&id=4977&page=UserAction

The Book of Genesis Chapter 1
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis-Chapter-1/

Babies needing Incubators - Embrace Infant Warmer - SAVING INFANTS' LIVES

Far out in the Bush
Very many years ago we were far out in the Bush. I was assisting in a Maternity Clinic run by midwives. 
The nearest Hospital was many miles away. At night we delivered babies by the light of a candle. 
The local ambulances were donkey carts, the arms of strong villagers and a wheelbarrow.
The first time I encountered the donkey cart ambulance, the mother never made it into the Clinic.
She gave birth on the cart as she arrived at the Clinic, the senior midwife running out to assist her and the baby being wrapped in the donkey cart owner's shirt until the baby could be brought into the warmth of the Clinic. 

Gentlemen of the Bush - True Heroes
Strong villagers were at times pressed into service to carry the women into the Clinic. They often felt shy about carrying a woman about to deliver into the Clinic but, gentlemen all, put their strength at the service of the community.
We'd always make sure they got a glass of water or a cup of tea with something to eat before they left the Clinic, and I remember one gentleman - very young and tall, twisting his hands shyly together as we congratulated him on his first Mission of Mercy as newest Ambulance Carrier to the Community.
One mother arrived - unable to walk as she was in the throes of childbirth - over rutted dirt roads from a village in a wheelbarrow. The gentleman pushing the wheelbarrow had pushed it for four hours from an outlying village. A neighbour, he had heard the lady's cries for help, and brought her the only way he could to the Clinic 
Yet another mother and baby's life had been saved again.. 
The impromptu ambulance men - often unsung heroes of the villages - remain green in my memory for the selfless and unpaid service they gave the women and babies in need.

Precious New Life
It was dangerous work, and one night the fighting came up as far as the Clinic. The senior midwife and myself heard the fighting going on nearby as we delivered a precious new life.
Eventually there was banging on the door and we opened the door (candle flickering shadows on the walls as my slightly unnerved young hands shook) to assist a man whose face and nose had just been chopped off in the fighting.

Age-Old Dilemma
We all worked so hard to keep the mother and babies safe, and as we did so, I first came into contact with that age-old dilemma of midwives tending mothers and newborns in need; how to preserve the life of the newly delivered innocent newborns amid the realities of strife, deepest poverty, no electricity and no incubators. 

Every year about 1 million infants die due to prematurity
That reality still faces many in our world. Every year, about 1 million infants die due to prematurity complications. These deaths are often caused due to heat loss and dehydration that can easily be prevented by the use of an incubator. The sad reality is that there is a lack of low cost incubators in many areas. Most incubators run on electricity, and thus cannot be used in electricity-free areas such as war areas, squatter camps, poor rural areas, refugee camps lacking electricity. 

Low Cost Incubator that runs independent of electricity
A Low Cost Incubator that runs independent of electricity has been the dream of many doctors and nurses for many years. At the Institute of Design at Stanford, Jane Chen and her team set about tackling this challenge. They heard stories of villagers without access to healthcare trying to warm up their tiny, premature babies with towels heated up on frying pans, or under lightbulbs. 

The Embrace Infant Warmer
The Embrace Infant Warmer has been developed, and has reportedly already had a huge impact and saved thousands of lives. 
The non-profit Organisation Embrace seeks to help vulnerable babies survive and thrive. There are opportunities to donate, volunteer, become an Embrace Fellow, or spread the word, to make an impact on a life just beginning.
Or you may be a doctor or midwife working in a war torn area, refugee camp, squatter camp, rural and outlying areas and be in need of this product for your Clinics/Camps.

INFORMATION
Please find the information at
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/26/jane-chen-embrace
http://embraceglobal.org/main/product

EMBRACE
http://embraceglobal.org/main/involve

IF YOU WISH TO DONATE TO HELP A NEWBORN SURVIVE IN AN IMPOVERISHED AREA, HERE IS THE LINK
https://embraceglobal.org/main/involve?section=donate

We were once a little newborn, who survived because we were given the warmth and 

assistance we needed.Let us help others 

as they begin their lives.

Women and Children need our Help in the Congo - Stichting Vluchteling

STICHTING VLUCHTELING urgently need help for the suffering woman and their babies in the Congo.
They are pleading for funding to help Women in South-Kivu safely deliver their babies.
The Mulamba Maternity Clinic in Eastern Democaratic Republic of Congo offers care to expectant mothers.

Fundraising continues for Beds, Mattresses, Covers, Generator, Personnel Costs for Doctors, Midwives, Nurses;   
 Delivery Bed, Sun Panels, Transport Costs, Linen Set, Steriliser, Ultrasound Machine, Incubators, Oximeters, Oxygen Apparatus, Operation Table, Thermometers, Stethoscopes, Glucometers, Chronometers, Speculae, Weighing Scale, Blood Group Reagents, Specimen Bottles, Centrifuge, Compteur, Steel Brushes, Test Tubes, Laboratory Blood Test Cards, Spectrophotometer, Cooler for Blood Products, Laboratory Blood Test Tubes. 
Prices range from three Euros for a Steel Brush upwards. A Linen Set can be donated for eleven euros, an incubator costs Euros 2584 and an Operation Table Euros 2593.

Perhaps Divine Providence has led you to read these words because you might have three euros to assist, or more. And if you don't have ready funds (nearly all of us have experienced salary cuts or redundancy or both in the current uncertain job climate) than give of your other great wealth - a prayer for the success of the wonderful work this generous Charity does.
To read about Stichting Vluchteling and to see the donation details, see http://crowdforcongo.vluchteling.nl/

Breaking News Limerick; Stormclouds Gather in Ireland as Irish Protest Abortion Bill

Niamh Ui Bhriain addresses the Rally

Vox Populi as the Evening draws on

LIMERICK FACE THE NATION RALLY
Today Protesters streamed in from all corners of Ireland to protest the recently passed Abortion Bill. 
Numbers of Pro-Lifers continue to grow. 
Unhappiness about the Bill being passed in Ireland, far from diminishing, is increasing in intensity.
Today men, women and children came from all over Ireland to vigorously protest the Abortion Bill, demand its repeal and to be the Voice for the Unborn Child.
People came from Donegal; Sligo; Limerick; Mayo; Meath; Laois; Dublin; Kerry to name but a few. 


Protesters
Protesters carried banners, shouted slogans, sang songs. 
The Rosary was devoutly prayed. 
The youngest participant of the Rally - three months old - snuggled up to her Mom and took it all in her stride.
It is amazing to see how strongly the momentum in Ireland among the people demanding a repeal of the Abortion Law is growing.
Law abiding, hard working citizens are braving the Pro-Life Rallies to make their voice heard; that this Law simply cannot be accepted in the country where Patrick lit the fire of Easter at Slane Hill.
That faithful fire continues to burn in the hearts of the people of Ireland today as they witness to the Right to Life of the Defenceless Child.

Word on the Street
The word on the street is that protests are going to continue to grow.
The right to life of the Unborn Child in Ireland is held sacred by her people who carry in their hearts the heritage of St Patrick.

Niamh Ui Bhriain
This gracious daughter of Ireland spoke up spiritedly in defence of the Unborn Child's Right To Life.
The crowd cheered her words, as she denounced the Abortion Law.
Police were in full force at the Rally.

Pro-Life Events
So many Pro-Life Events and Protests occurred today, that Protesters were in the situation of having to choose to which one to go. 
Far from this being a dilemma, it is a strong indication of how distressed the people are at the passing of the Law, and how determined Vox Populi is to have the Abortion Law repealed.
As Protesters vociferously made their voices unequivocally heard in Limerick at the National Conference, the Pro-Life Campaign's National Conference was taking place in Dublin.

The Way Forward
Let us not falter as we continue to witness to the basic human right of each individual; the right not to be killed by agonising means in the womb!


See links 
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/10/11/pro-life-campaign-national-conference-will-rally-ireland-against-abortion/
http://www.thejournal.ie/pro-life-campaign-conference-1122800-Oct2013/
http://www.youthdefence.ie/am_cms_media/uploaded/f/0e2514603_1380551091_face-the-nation-rally-leaflet.pdf

THE RALLY

Keep Your Promise

Repeal the Law

The Face of Innocence

I'm ProLife

Poster for Life

Keep Pro-Life Promise

Protesters lined the Streets

I Vote Pro-Life

Niamh Ui Bhriain

Lumiere English Academy; Basic Grammar Lesson 26 Comprehension Sample Answers to Lesson 25

Lumiere English academy

A Basic Grammar

Lesson 26

Comprehension Sample Answers

to Lesson 25 at Link 

http://lumierecharity.blogspot.ie/2013/10/lumiere-english-academy-basic-grammar_3900.html

EXERCISE

1. In your opinion, should an employer discuss staff with others? If not, why not?

In my opinion, an employer should never discuss staff with others. I believe that doing so can prove hurtful and devisive.

2. Would you think that Miss Mark was an easy person to work with? If so, or if not, why?

I think Miss Mark was not an easy person to work with. She did not have obvious charm, did not often laugh, and seems to have been a disciplinarian.

3. What do the words "damn the shibboleth" mean?

In the context of the comprehension, it means 'disregard the old-fashioned prejudice against women'. 

4. Why did so many women of Miss Mark's generation remain unmarried and childless?

Many women of Miss Mark's generation remained unmarried and childless because the men they would have married had died in the war.

5. Did the writer's sister agree with her employer's opinion of Miss Mark? If you don't think so, mention a word describing her reaction to his comment and her further action.

I don't think the writer's sister agreed with her employer's opinion of Miss Mark, because she was shocked when she heard his comment. She then brought the present from the staff at work all the way to the neighbouring town to give to Miss Mark, a kind action.

6. Why did Miss Mark not say goodbye to the staff?

I believe Miss Mark did not say goodbye to the staff because she had been deeply hurt by the employer's comment, and had felt humiliated that her loyal service of over thirty years had not been appreciated or valued.

7. Why did she not invite the colleague inside?

Miss Mark was a lonely lady who had been hurt at her place of employment, so she just wanted to move on with her life and did not want any reminders of what she had just been through.

8. Give words and phrases that are unfamiliar to you in the passage and provide their explanation as taken from your dictionary.

Retirement - leaving work

Abounded - there were many

Despair - no hope

Allotted span - lifetime still owing to them

Subsisting - living very frugally

Remoteness - distance

Resent - dislike

Interchange - discussion

Suffused - filled

Infinite - unending

Pathos - pity

Impacted on - influenced

Emotional - related to feelings

Dr Luky Whittle

Lumiere English Academy; Basic Grammar Lesson 25 Comprehension

Lumiere English academy

A Basic Grammar

Lesson 25

COMPREHENSION

You'll make mistakes no power can mend

Unless you strive to comprehend

Please read the following passage, trying to understand (comprehend) the contents of the passage. 

Then answer the questions in the Exercise.

Remember that there is no single correct answer.

Any of a number of answers may be correct, if they demonstrate that you comprehend (understand) the passage.

Each of us has a personal context which influences us.

For example, if I speak about a tree, I think of a Dutch elm,

while Catherine Nicolette thinks about a pine tree.

So, although we both think about one subject - a tree - we each visualise it in our own personal way. 
Both answers are correct.

There are thus many answers you could give to these questions.
After you have answered the questions, please find
sample answers available in the next blog post.

MISS MARK'S LAST DAY AT THE OFFICE

When my sister was a young girl working in a mine office, she

had a colleague due for retirement. Miss Mark was an elderly British immigrant spinster who set a perfect example of professionalism and personal excellence. She had held the same job for over thirty years, controlling the office with a lift of her eyebrows.

You no longer meet people like Miss Mark today, but in the nineteen fifties they abounded in Britain and Europe. They were the women who had remained single after two world wars had mown down the men they would have married and destroyed their chances of motherhood.

There is a passage in a poem called 'Drafts' by Nora Bomford, which would well describe the silent, enduring and lonely despair of women like Miss Mark during the wars when the men in their lives had left for the Front:

      So dreadfully safe! O, damn the shibboleth

      of sex! God knows we've equal personality.

      Why should men face the dark while women stay

      to live and laugh and meet the sun each day?

After the wars, some of those whose love had died in the fray went into an existence of suspended animation, carrying on doggedly keeping body and soul together. There was no chance for them of a satisfying career in the commercial world, for the best jobs went to men. So the Miss Marks lived out their working years, typing, filing or keeping books, and completing the remainder of their allotted span while subsisting on a pension and their savings.

My sister, barely out of her teens, had a great appreciation for Miss Mark despite the latter's lack of obvious charm. When she found the odd chink in Miss Mark's armour of disciplined remoteness, she'd say: "We actually made her laugh today." Unlike some of their colleagues, rather than resent the old lady's personal brand of individuality, she honoured her for it.

When Miss Mark reached retirement age, she received no mercy. Passing the boss's office, accompanied by the older woman, my sister heard an interchange between him and a colleague that shocked her. As the door was ajar, they could clearly hear him pronouncing his epitaph on Miss Mark's thirty years of dedicated service: "Thank goodness we can decently get rid of that old bag at last. That sour face of hers would curdle the milk."

Though Miss Mark gave no sign of having heard his words, the fact that she must have done so became clear on her last day at the office. Due to depart at noon, she worked as on any normal day. At a quarter to twelve she put away her last filing before emptying out her desk. And at twelve when the boss came in for the presentation and farewell speech, she could not be found. The garage attendant said she had pulled her car out on the stroke of noon.

My sister was sent after her with the present. Miss Mark opened the front door of her flat in a neighbouring town and accepted the gift with polite thanks. Since she was not invited in, my sister said goodbye and returned to the office, where the sight of her former colleague's abandoned desk suffused her with a sense of infinite pathos. 

The story of Miss Mark's bleak last day at the office impacted on my own life. Though I worked for many years, sometimes for long stretches, I never allowed pension or other considerations to prevent me from resigning and looking for a different job whenever I felt I had outstayed my welcome.

But then, unlike Miss Mark, I had a husband's pension - not to mention his emotional support - to fall back upon.

EXERCISE

1. In your opinion, should an employer discuss his staff with others? If not, why not?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

2. Would you think Miss Mark was an easy person to work with? If not, why not?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

3. What do the words; "Damn the shibboleth" mean?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

4. Why did many women of Miss Mark's generation remain unmarried and childless?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

5. Did the writer's sister agree with her employer's opinion of Miss Marks? If you don't think so, mention a word describing her reaction to his comment and her further action.

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

6. Why did Miss Marks not say goodbye to the staff?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

7. Why did she not invite the colleague inside?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

8. Give words and phrases that are unfamiliar to you in the above passage and provide their explanation as taken from your dictionary.

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

Dr Luky Whittle

Goma - Thousands of Refugees struggle daily for necessities

A candle has been lit in remembrance of Goma

GOMA 
Daily Struggle
Thousands of Refugees struggle for necessities daily in Goma. Fighting in recent months led to much suffering as refugees fled the fighting. 
Hastily erected emergency camps are in place.

Eastern D.R. Congo
Eastern D.R. Congo is a dangerous area for women with a high incidence of rape and sexual violence.
A study revealed that an average of 48 women are raped every hour in the Congo. 
More than one million people have been displaced from their homes in the region.
Many flee to big towns like Goma.
Without a job or shelter, many young women are left with no alternative but to take up prostitution in order that they and those with them may survive.

War Child
War Child is assisting many in the Congo.
Do you feel called to assist those in such unbearable suffering?
Donate to
http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/sexual-violence-in-congo

Doctors without Borders
The dedicated work of Doctors without Borders-  Médecins Sans Frontières -  in Goma
http://www.msf.ie/voices/patients/drc-nine-year-old-eden-wounded-goma-violence
Do you wish to assist the Doctors with their work?
Donate to 
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/?

SOS Children's Villages
SOS Children's Villages continue to help children in need.
Do you feel called by these word to assist?
Donate to
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/africa/congo

IN THE SPIRIT OF LUMIERE, 

IS THERE ANYTHING 

YOU CAN DO TO HELP?

See links
Refugees in Goma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcFIuCQ_8V4

Thousands of Congolese flee
http://www.nrc.nl/inbeeld/2013/07/17/tienduizenden-congolezen-weer-op-de-vlucht-voor-gevechten-in-goma/#foto3

With thanks to Youtube, www.nrc.nl/inbeeld, www.warchild.org.uk, www.doctorswithoutborders.org and www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk