A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision, By Laura Shanley (International) - Nurses, Doctors, Parents, MD's, Moms, Dads, and Rabbis are Stopping the surgery of Bris / Brit Milah. Moyel / Mohel, Conservative, Hassidic, Orthodox, Judaism, Israel, procedure, Re

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“...circumcision is really a human rights issue.”

A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision, By Laura Shanley
Read her perspective: http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/circarticle....

'...circumcision is really a human rights issue. What right do any of us have to permanently remove a normal, healthy, sensitive part of another person's body without their consent? I have no problem with an adult male who chooses to be circumcised. I do have a problem with an adult who makes that decision for a child. I have known too many men, both Jewish and Christian, who resent the fact that they were circumcised.'

- Laura Shanley, A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision
http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/circarticle....

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A Rabbi Urges US to Stop Circumcision

'I believe circumcision is a major mistake...The code of the Jewish law is called 'halacha' (the way). Within the Code, there is a provision that if a mother looses a son because of circumcisim, she is NOT obligated to circumcise her next son. I extrapolate from this, the inter-connection of my human family, that enough deaths and maiming have occured because of circumcision. Therefore - circumcision is no longer a requisite! Just as we no longer practice the animal sacrifices in the traditional temple, so let us not sacrifice an important piece of our mammal in the temple of tradition.'

- Rabbi Natan Segal, One Rabbis' Thoughts on Circumcision, February, 2007

Rabbi Natan Segal, Rabbi of Shabbos Shul, the Shul of Marin County, Marin County, California, U.S.A.

Ordination: 1977 Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Yeshiva B'nai Or Philadelphia, Pa.



___________________________________________________________________
Related Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In Hebrew)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Jewish & Israeli Association Opposing Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew)
-> http://www.britmila.org.il

-> Kahal / Intact Jewish & Israeli Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew)
-> http://www.kahal.org

___________________________________________________________________
Related Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In English)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Jews Opposing Circumcision (USA)
-> http://www.JEWSAGAINSTCIRCUMCISION.org

-> Intact America (USA, International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.INTACTAMERICA.org

-> An Orthodox Rabbi Speaks Out Opposing Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml

-> A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision by Laura Shanley. (USA)
-> http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/circarticle....

-> Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. (UK, USA)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html

-> Jewish Women Speak Out Against Circumcision: Miriam Pollack (UK)
-> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm

-> Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom: An Alternative Non-Circumcision Ritual (UK)
-> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html

-> Bris B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (UK, USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.noharmm.org/nontrad.htm

-> Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (Israel, UK, USA, International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/bris_shalom.html

-> Brit Shalom, A Holistic Covenant of Wholeness Text (Israel, UK, International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/religion/Naming_ceremony.php

-> List of Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Rabbis by Dr. Mark Reiss, M.D. (International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html

-> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss (USA, International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html

-> The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, International & Worldwide)
-> http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/


'as recently as the mid-nineteenth century, in Eastern Europe and Russia there was a widespread move to stop the practice... Led by women--what a surprise!--who thought the practice barbaric and patriarchal, the movement eventually even convinced Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, who refused to allow his own son to be circumcised.' – Professor Michael S. Kimmel, TIKKUN, Volume 16, Number 3, May/June 2001.
http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/kimmel1/

'Coming from a European background where routine circumcisions...are nonexistent, and where many Jews reject a brit milla as an archaic and barbaric ritual... This author grew up in France in a traditional Jewish family. Not a single male of her generation or her children's generation within her large family (or in her circle of Jewish friends) was ever circumcised.' - Nelly Karsenty, Humanistic Judaism - Summer, 1988

'Rothenberg, a Brooklyn social worker and high school guidance counselor, has helped hold a bris-sans-circumcision for more than 100 local families, “It's a welcoming ceremony, a celebration of the newborn,” that usually includes prayers, naming and — depending on parental preferences — tree-planting, singing, dancing, blessings, or donations to plant trees in Israel... Rothenberg hopes to educate other parents to make decisions about their sons “on the basis of principle, not conformity.” - Daily News

'Some families that have opted not to have their sons circumcised are resorting to an alternative ceremony called Brit Shalom -- meaning covenant of peace. This ritual is a baby-naming ceremony done without removing the infant's foreskin, explained Rabbi Adam Chalom of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in Chicago. The Brit Shalom is similar to a traditional bris in that it welcomes the baby boy into the covenant of the Jewish community. During the ceremony, parents talk to the child, sing songs, read poetry and share wine.' - Religion News Service

'Some Jews who choose not to circumcise but still want a ritual, change the ritual to omit the circumcision. Instead, they include other ceremonial elements that are sensitive to the infant and the community. Such an alternative ritual, sometimes referred to as a naming ceremony or 'bris shalom,' has all the joy of the usual ritual without the pain of the circumcision.... Theodor Herzl was one of the most prominent figures who did not circumcise his son, who was born in 1891.' - Ronald Goldman, Jewish Spectator, Fall 1997

'Also the singer and literary critic Menachem Ben didn’t arrange a Brit Milah for his sons—in spite of his firm belief in God and the Bible. “It is possible to do a Brit Milah at a level specified in the Torah: ‘And you circumcised the foreskin in your heart,’ ” he claims with insistence. “I circumcised my sons my own way, without cutting, by reading verses from the Bible.” - Yediot (Israel)

'an article in the January 1999 British Journal of Urology reported that women who had slept with both circumcised and intact men preferred sex with men who were not circumcised. The article reported that the women achieved orgasm faster, and were more likely to achieve multiple orgasms.'
- Professor Michael S. Kimmel, TIKKUN, Volume 16, Number 3, May/June 2001.
http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/kimmel1/

'[Dr. Ronald] Goldman pointed out that Jewish circumcision is not universal, as some Jews in South America and Europe do not perform it. Some contend that the commandment to circumcise is at odds with the Torah's prohibition against marking or altering the human body, and against causing pain to any living creature.' - Daily Hampshire Gazette

'The myth is that all Jews circumcise. But in Europe, South America and Israel, as well as here, there are Jews who do not circumcise their sons.'
- Dr. Ronald Goldman, Baltimore Jewish Times

'In Judaism, and in Islam, the human being is considered to be made in the image of God, and God is conceptualized as perfect. So one could not argue that interfering with God’s perfect creation is a form of blasphemy. In Judaism there is a law of ‘Shmirat Ha Guf’, the guarding or protecting of the body. Body-piercing, tattooing and amputation are all forbidden for this reason. Further, there is the Talmudic concept of ‘Tsa’ar ba’alei chayyim’, compassion for all living creatures. If compassion in all its fullness were applied to 8-day-old babies, circumcision would become impossible.'
- J. Goodman, MA, MBChB, Jewish circumcision: an alternative perspective. BJU Int 1999; 83 Suppl 1:22-27.
http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/goodman1999/

'Nancy Wainer is one such mother. When her son was born 34 years ago, Wainer and her husband had him ritually circumcised. She has regretted it ever since. 'I can still hear his cries,' she said. 'He cried for hours. He was inconsolable.' Now, as a midwife in Massachusetts, Wainer advises mothers to leave their sons' foreskins intact... 'There are ethical questions about forcing an unconsenting person [to be circumcised].' - Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh

'As stated in the Encyclopedia Judaica, 'Any child born of a Jewish mother is a Jew, whether circumcised or not.'...'the Torah prohibits the torture or causing of pain to any living creature.' ...considering Hillel's encapsulation of Judaism: 'What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow-creature' (Sab. 31a), should we force circumcision on another? It is a violation of Torah law to physically assault or harm another person (Exodus 21:18-27)....according to Jewish law, the human body must not be cut or marked (Lev. 19:28). By removing a part of the penis, circumcision involves the cutting and marking of natural male genitals. '- Ronald Goldman, Jewish Spectator, Fall 1997




___________________________________________________________________
Related Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In Hebrew)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Jewish & Israeli Association Opposing Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew)
-> http://www.britmila.org.il

-> Kahal / Intact Jewish & Israeli Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew)
-> http://www.kahal.org

___________________________________________________________________
Related Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In English)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Jews Opposing Circumcision (USA)
-> http://www.JEWSAGAINSTCIRCUMCISION.org

-> Intact America (USA)
-> http://www.INTACTAMERICA.org

-> A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision by Laura Shanley. (USA)
-> http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/circarticle....

-> Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. (UK, USA)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html

-> Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom: An Alternative Non-Circumcision Ritual (UK)
-> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html

-> An Orthodox Rabbi Speaks Out Opposing Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml

-> Brit Shalom, A Holistic Covenant of Wholeness Text (Israel, UK, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/religion/Naming_ceremony.php

-> Bris B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (UK, USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.noharmm.org/nontrad.htm

-> Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (Israel, UK, USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/bris_shalom.html

-> List of Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Rabbis by Dr. Mark Reiss, M.D. (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html

-> The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/

-> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss (USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html

-> Jewish Women Speak Out Against Circumcision: Miriam Pollack (UK)
-> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm

___________________________________________________________________
Related Secular Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In English)
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-> Intact America: (USA)
-> http://www.INTACTAMERICA.org

-> Mothers Opposing Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org

-> The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA)
-> http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/

-> Doctors Opposing Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.doctorsagainstcircumcision.com

-> Jews Opposing Circumcision Surgery (Israel, UK, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.JEWSAGAINSTCIRCUMCISION.org

-> Muslims Opposing Circumcision (International and Worldwide)
-> To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah by Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh
- > http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/aldeeb1/

-> Catholics Opposing Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org

-> The History of Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.HISTORYOFCIRCUMCISION.net

-> Nurses Opposing Circumcision (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.nurses.cirp.org

-> International Coalition for Genital Integrity (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.icgi.org

http://mail.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/240233/
http://mail.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/240005/
http://mail.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/230716/
http://mail.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/231196/
http://mail.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/237495/
http://mail.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/239443/



'What about religion? For boys and girls alike, under basic human rights principles, anothers right to practice a religion must end where that individuals body begins. Otherwise, individual protections carry little meaning. Many Jews and Muslims are involved with organizations working to stop male circumcision, and many are questioning whether removal of healthy tissue from the bodies of their children is required by or even consistent with their faith. When the child is of the age of consent, he or she can make up his or her own mind about his or her own body.'
- Steven Svoboda, J.D., 'In Search of Fatherhood' Magazine Interview
http://www.arclaw.org/arc_activities/fatherhood-interview.ph....




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'The foreskin has numerous protective, sensory, and sexual functions.'

The Foreskin Is Necessary
By Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH

Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH, is assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is the author of numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.

Published in Mothering: The Magazine of Natural Family Living, Winter 1997, pp. 36--45.
http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/

What Are the Foreskin's Functions?

The foreskin has numerous protective, sensory, and sexual functions.

• Protection: Just as the eyelids protect the eyes, the foreskin protects the glans and keeps its surface soft, moist, and sensitive. It also maintains optimal warmth, pH balance, and cleanliness. The glans itself contains no sebaceous glands-glands that produce the sebum, or oil, that moisturizes our skin.11 The foreskin produces the sebum that maintains proper health of the surface of the glans.

• Immunological Defense: The mucous membranes that line all body orifices are the body's first line of immunological defense. Glands in the foreskin produce antibacterial and antiviral proteins such as lysozyme.12 Lysozyme is also found in tears and mother's milk. Specialized epithelial Langerhans cells, an immune system component, abound in the foreskin's outer surface.13 Plasma cells in the foreskin's mucosal lining secrete immunoglobulins, antibodies that defend against infection.14

• Erogenous Sensitivity: The foreskin is as sensitive as the fingertips or the lips of the mouth. It contains a richer variety and greater concentration of specialized nerve receptors than any other part of the penis.15 These specialized nerve endings can discern motion, subtle changes in temperature, and fine gradations of texture.16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

• Coverage During Erection: As it becomes erect, the penile shaft becomes thicker and longer. The double-layered foreskin provides the skin necessary to accommodate the expanded organ and to allow the penile skin to glide freely, smoothly, and pleasurably over the shaft and glans.

• Self-Stimulating Sexual Functions: The foreskin's double-layered sheath enables the penile shaft skin to glide back and forth over the penile shaft. The foreskin can normally be slipped all the way, or almost all the way, back to the base of the penis, and also slipped forward beyond the glans. This wide range of motion is the mechanism by which the penis and the orgasmic triggers in the foreskin, frenulum, and glans are stimulated.

• Sexual Functions in Intercourse: One of the foreskin's functions is to facilitate smooth, gentle movement between the mucosal surfaces of the two partners during intercourse. The foreskin enables the penis to slip in and out of the vagina nonabrasively inside its own slick sheath of self-lubricating, movable skin. The female is thus stimulated by moving pressure rather than by friction only, as when the male's foreskin is missing.

• The foreskin fosters intimacy between the two partners by enveloping the glans and maintaining it as an internal organ. The sexual experience is enhanced when the foreskin slips back to allow the male's internal organ, the glans, to meet the female's internal organ, the cervix-a moment of supreme intimacy and beauty.

The foreskin may have functions not yet recognized or understood. Scientists in Europe recently detected estrogen receptors in its basal epidermal cells.24 Researchers at the University of Manchester found that the human foreskin has apocrine glands.25 These specialized glands produce pheromones, nature's chemical messengers. Further studies are needed to fully understand these features of the foreskin and the role they play.

- The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD

Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH, is assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is the author of numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.

Published in Mothering: The Magazine of Natural Family Living, Winter 1997, pp. 36--45.
http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/


THE FORWARD, THE JEWISH DAILY
A Jew Among Circumcision Protestors, Capitol Hill Edition
By Allison Gaudet Yarrow
April 6, 2010, 2:28pm

On Capitol Hill recently, amid preposterously high kites and blooming cherry blossoms, a peaceful anti-circumcision protest took place. It was small. The protest that is. Men wore sandwich boards and a mother-daughter team jiggered signs that read: “Circumcision Is Torture” and “Circumcision Decreases Sensitivity.” Pony-tailed joggers posed for a photo with their thumbs up in front of the signs. The men and women, speaking openly about penises, were tentatively engaged by passersby who felt either curious or confrontational.

One man in tie-dye, with hair more salt than pepper, had driven from Pittsburgh to spread his message on one of America’s most famous lawns. Mr. Kauffman, as he was called, wore a portrait of a smiling, multiracial baby that said: “Let HIM Choose.” ( http://www.wholebabyrevolution.com ) Kauffman is circumcised, and he’s so unhappy about it that he chose not to do it his sons, against the advice of his doctor, who is also his brother. Kauffman fell out with his rabbi over the decision, but believes so strongly in the basic tenants of the anti-circumcision movement that he feels the loss was worth it.

The International Council for Genital Integrity ( http://www.icgi.org/information/medicalization ) publicized the week-long demonstration, which culminated in a march on the anniversary of the congressional ban on female genital mutilation ( http://boystoo.com ). The same event got more press last year ; it seemed like there were more “inactivists” ( http://www.intactamerica.org ) there then.

The movement is pro-masturbation. Followers think the ritual of circumcision barbaric and philistine. They don’t believe American doctors who claim that, if uncircumcised, one is more susceptible to diseases, and they balk at the substantial evidence that uncircumcised men are less protected from HIV ( http://www.circumcisionandhiv.com ) than their cut counterparts. The men and women I spoke to in front of the capitol likened the practice to mutilating female babies’ vulva or labia. The whole subject is a bit difficult to discuss without getting queasy.

I was told that Jewish brises are still kosher in the movement’s purview, if free of cutting ( http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish.html ). A cutting-free bris is called a brit shalom ( http://www.beyondthebris.com/2011/04/lucking-into-bris-shalo.... ), but then isn’t this akin to making matzo ball soup without the matzo balls, and consequently, what’s the point?

One participant was quick to note that the anti-circumcision movement isn’t limited to one religion or gender. There’s Jews Against Circumcision ( http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org ), sure, but also separate groups of Catholics ( http://www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org ), doctors ( http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org ) and mothers ( http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html ) looking to rid of the ancient practice, and Americans who circumcise their young are among a minority worldwide.

- A Jew Among Circumcision Protestors, Capitol Hill Edition, By Allison Gaudet Yarrow
April 6, 2010, 2:28pm
THE FORWARD, THE JEWISH DAILY

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Related Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In Hebrew)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Jewish & Israeli Association Opposing Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew)
-> http://www.britmila.org.il

-> Kahal / Intact Jewish & Israeli Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew)
-> http://www.kahal.org

___________________________________________________________________
Related Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In English)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Jews Opposing Circumcision (USA)
-> http://www.JEWSAGAINSTCIRCUMCISION.org

-> Intact America (USA)
-> http://www.INTACTAMERICA.org

-> A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision by Laura Shanley. (USA)
-> http://www.arclaw.org/arc_activities/fatherhood-interview.ph....

-> Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. (UK, USA)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html

-> Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom: An Alternative Non-Circumcision Ritual (UK)
-> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html

-> An Orthodox Rabbi Speaks Out Opposing Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml

-> Brit Shalom, A Holistic Covenant of Wholeness Text (Israel, UK, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/religion/Naming_ceremony.php

-> Bris B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (UK, USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.noharmm.org/nontrad.htm

-> Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Ceremony Text (Israel, UK, USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/bris_shalom.html

-> List of Brit B'lee Milah and Bris Shalom Rabbis by Dr. Mark Reiss, M.D. (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html

-> The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/

-> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss (USA, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html

-> Jewish Women Speak Out Against Circumcision: Miriam Pollack (UK)
-> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm

___________________________________________________________________
Related Secular Intactivist Tools and URLs: (In English)
___________________________________________________________________

-> Intact America: (USA)
-> http://www.INTACTAMERICA.org

-> Mothers Opposing Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org

-> The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA)
-> http://www.cirp.org/news/Mothering1997/

-> Doctors Opposing Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.doctorsagainstcircumcision.com

-> Jews Opposing Circumcision Surgery (Israel, UK, International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.JEWSAGAINSTCIRCUMCISION.org

-> Muslims Opposing Circumcision (International and Worldwide)
-> To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah by Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh
- > http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/aldeeb1/

-> Catholics Opposing Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org

-> The History of Circumcision Surgery (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.HISTORYOFCIRCUMCISION.net

-> Nurses Opposing Circumcision (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.nurses.cirp.org

-> International Coalition for Genital Integrity (International and Worldwide)
-> http://www.icgi.org
[message edited by Homeopathy International 1 on Mon, 16 May 2011 02:14:06 BST]