Words mean things:
WRONGLY IMPRISONED--This is Ted's plight at the hands of a fascist monstrosity, not a Disney fairy realm.
WITHOUT TRIAL--Two and a half YEARS--and counting--this is what Castro does, what China does, what Saddam Hussein does--hey, I thought Monaco was a Hollywood set--NOT
EXTORTED FALSE CONFESSION--This is the gestapo of Hitler, the show trial of Stalin, the public self-denunciation of Mao.
From PETA / Students Raise A Royal Ruckus
Students around the world joined PETA in urging Prince Rainier to end the use of animals in the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival.
Playing on Monaco’s reputation as a casino resort, the students took handmade postcards, pasted playing cards to the front and wrote to the prince, “Please don’t gamble with elephants’ lives—allow only human performers in your circus.”
For years, animals have been trucked hundreds of miles over mountain passes to take part in the festival. They are forced to balance on balls, leap through burning hoops, twirl on their back legs, skate and ride bicycles.
A PETA videotape shot secretly at the 1995 festival shows a trainer jabbing and hitting an elephant with a bullhook to make her sit upright on a stool; a frightened, whimpering muzzled bear being forced to perform a complicated gymnastics routine; and a trainer pulling a panther by the tail and hitting the animal with a stick. Our investigator saw elephants swaying neurotically in the small, dirty truck used to transport them and depressed bears biting bars and rocking in their small cages. At least one of the circuses has been charged with smuggling endangered species, including chimpanzees, gorillas, tigers and Asian elephants.
“Circuses are no fun for the animals forced to perform,” says PETA educator Danielle Moore. “We applaud the students speaking out against cruelty in the Monte Carlo circus.”
Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Juliette Binoche, Gérard Depardieu and Brigitte Bardot, have signed a letter to Prince Rainier asking him to “end the unwilling participation of animals.” “I have made it my number-one priority to shed light on these atrocities,” says Ms. Basinger.
•Politely ask Prince Rainier to make the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival animal-friendly by inviting circuses with only human performers. Write to: His Royal Highness, Prince Rainier, The Palace of Monaco, B.P. 518, Monaco-Ville, Monaco, 98015
•Let Monaco's tourism board know you won't spend your vacation dollars in Monaco until the festival drops its animal acts.
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Interesting, oui?
(BTW, I wonder how Kim Bassinger would classify Monaco's treatment of a fellow human being and American? Remember when Ted went on his hunger strike? According to info on FR threads, they tied him to a bed for days! And, also, of course what they did to Ted during those first few days to get him to "confess.")