Don't Leave Teddy Bears In The Woods!

We came across this weird idea the other day- Clutter Clearing Teddy Bears.
What??? We are not a clutter!!!

Anyway, on this site called Spaceclearing.com, they were talking about how to get rid of unwanted teddy bears...
One of the things they suggested was;

to take soon-to-become-ex-teddy bear to a forest, sit it in the branches of a tree, and leave it there for the elements to reclaim it.

Ehhh, sorry, that would be a bit spooky... Could you imagine a forest filled with sad, neglected and frightened teddy bears?
If you visit this site, you'll find many, many more suggestions from various people about what to do with no longer needed bears.

But among those, we found this message.

Getting rid of a well-loved teddy bear (no matter how much one feels one has moved on) is like getting rid of part of one's soul. OK, they're cloth and stuffing with beady glass or shoe-button eyes, but like many of the comments I've read, they have the imprint of love someone has put there. I mean, you and that bear have a history together, much like a person and their dog or cat (which you wouldn't euthanize and bury unless it was suffering). How much space can ONE bear take up? Get rid of something else you don't need, such as that kitschy plastic statue Aunt Clara sent you from San Francisco. I still have my first teddy bear from 48 years ago, plus the one my mother gave me the year she passed away, and a tiny beanie my fiance and I bought together (we take her everywhere). Three bears, two grown-ups. -Diane

Well said, Diane!
Yes, exactly. How much space could one teddy bear (or two) take up?

Let Us Be With You

Today, we'd like to introduce you a well loved teddy bear.
This cute fellow has been with Artsy Clay for decades.

As you know, us teddy bears are one of the best companions you can have. We'll always be with you whenever you need us - if you just let us share your life. Unfortunately, a lot of you decide that when you grow up, you don't need any supports from teddy bears anymore and give us up. We always appreciate our friends' decisions and accept the consequences, but to tell the truth, we would really love to spend our whole life together with you...

Artsy Clay has kept her teddy bear and wrote a song about him - about how he is always there for her. Great applause to both of you!

Here's the song. Enjoy.

"My Teddy Bear"

Well, I've got me a little brown friend
He sticks by my side through thick 'n' thin
I can count on him when I'm feelin' low
He holds my hand and he never lets go.

He's my Teddy bear
Yeah, he's my Teddy bear.

We first met when I was just a kid
He came into my life and he's never hid
He loves me with tender lovin' care
And I've loved off almost all his hair.

He's my Teddy bear
Yeah, he's my Teddy bear.

When I'm hurtin' I can hold him tight
He lets me hug him till I feel all right
Only the good in me he sees
He always understands and he never disagrees.

He's my Teddy bear
Yeah, he's my Teddy bear.

His nose is flattened, one eye's gone away
But he's beautiful to me 'cause he thinks I'm ok
We have the best friendship there could ever be
He's free to be himself and I'm free to be me.

He's my Teddy bear
Yeah, he's my Teddy bear.

(copyright 1985 "Artsy Clay")

What’s So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding

As teddy bears, we often hear people talking about human rights but we’re never sure what they mean.

After all if something is a ‘right’ it’s usually something to do with a legal system (“You have the right to remain silent ….” property rights, the right to an attorney) and yet we think that when people refer to human rights, what they really mean is reasonable expectations of how humans should deal with and interact with each other. (like not being jailed for having different political or religious opinions, having reasonable, safe accommodation, not being subjected to any kind of violence and so on).

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees that the above expectations are reasonable.
All over the world there are any number of governmental and non-governmental organizations which seem to think they can do what they like to, or with, other people. This may be as simple as taxing them to death or may involve kidnapping them and forcing them to join a guerrilla army. You can probably think of many more examples.
So, to try to keep these undesirables in check humans have invented a kind of legal framework for human rights so that some of the ‘bad guys’ can sometimes be reined in (but not, of course, if the bad guys also happen to be part of the government or own a pharmaceutical company).

Overall, we don’t think the legal thing works very well but it’s probably better than nothing. This planet will continue to have problems until all the people behave more like teddy bears. Non-judgemental, non-violent, non-demanding and not greedy.

We’d still like to know what’s so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding.

Teddy and Pencil

God Save the Black Bears!

If you have travelled to the UK and had a little tour around London, or have watched a program about the country, you might have seen the "Queen's Guard" standing outside the palace in the bright red and black uniform with a big bearskin hat.

That's right, that big furry hat is made of bearskin, real black bears' skin. It takes as much as the entire hide of one bear to make just one guard's hat. Those black bears are hunted in Canada, and their skins are shipped to the UK. Many of the bears are shot several times before they die, and some escape the hunters and bleed to death. When mother bears are killed, orphaned cubs are left behind to starve. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), in the past five years alone, more than £321,000 was spent to the slaughter of black bears for ceremonial hats.

PETA is calling on Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to stop using bear pelts to make headpieces for the five guards regiments and to have the hats fashioned from luxurious faux fur instead.

We strongly believe that, with the human technology now, there's no good reason to keep killing the black bears any more. The faux fur is surely good enough, wouldn't you say? Some of those faux furs are so realistic and beautiful. Look at us Teddy Bears and other animal friends!

You can learn more about this on their website http://www.unbearablecruelty.co.uk/. If you want to do something, you can help these bears by joining their teddy revolution. Just take a picture with your teddy bear with a sign saying, "Your Majesty, teddy and I say leave the bears alone" – or something similar – and use the form on their website (http://www.unbearablecruelty.co.uk/teddy_bears.asp) to send them your pictures. After they gather everyone's pictures, they'll deliver them together to The Queen and ask her to spare bears and stop using real fur for the palace hats.

And there's some more. This is the option only if you can bear. You can actually send your Teddy Bear to PETA. PETA want you to send your teddy bears to them so that they can send those teddies to The Queen along with your plea asking her to stop allowing real bears to be killed for her guards' caps. Unfortunately, if you choose this option, once your teddy is bound for Buckingham Palace, they wouldn't be able to come back to you.

This is the address if you decide to send your Teddy Bear to PETA.
PETA Europe Ltd
PO Box 36668
London
SE1 1WA
UK

Why people fight each other?

We've been collecting Teddy Bear related photographs for a while, especially the ones which show the bond between people and teddy bears.

These are the ones we found recently.
It is heartbreaking that those kids look so sad and desperate.
Why people fight each other?
Why can't we live together loving, helping and understanding each other?
We truly hope that those teddy bears are giving them some bits of comfort...

(If you click each photo, it will lead you to the website where you can read the description.)

KUMAYT, Iraq

KHALDIYAH, Iraq

MONROVIA, Liberia