Archive for June 25th, 2008
Spain recognises rights to the monkeys
Chimpanzees, gorilas and orangutans will be considered persons. What is more: MPs consider these monkeys equal to humans in some respects. So they have the right to life, to individual freedom and not to be tortured, enslaved or extincted.
Well, both the right to life and not to be tortured are actually recognised in the Spanish law. And I agree with it: I can’t understand how some people are able to kill or torture any animal. Of course, the only one introduced here is the individual freedom. For example, the circuses would not be able to own and to train these great monkeys for their shows. Are we really serious about this?
“Mosques must boost role in tackling extremism”
This is what a British Conservative MP has stated regarding mosques’ role:
Paul Goodman (…) called on the government to “marry up” private and voluntary money with mainstream mosques, “who have a crucial role in winning the hearts and minds of young people”. “It’s the mainstream mosques in the end that have got the religious legitimacy to turn round to al-Qaeda and to extremists and to say ‘you’re wrong’,” he said.
The problem with this statements is the lack of realism they have. When in a mosque people like Aub Qutada can speak (or peoplelike him can speak about Islam and give away or sell CDs with their ideas) who has recently being freed “on condition that he does not see Bin Laden in London” and who has begun again telling Muslims they should “terrorize the unbelievers” with more terrorist attacks, the “believers” aren’t going to be very peaceful or are going to reject Al-Qaeda.
“Being allies of China and Russia in counterterrorism policy is an error”
That is what Robert Kagan says in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC. I basically agree about China. Regarding Russia, we must take into account the importance that its foreign policy can be influenced by its growing Muslims minority (in fact, in 2050, according to some experts a third of Russian population will be Muslim). Islamists, I believe, are doing a good job in desestabilizing but the fruits of those desestabilization can benefit China (among others).
