Word: spain
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...could be forgiven for wondering how it is that Spain, of all places, is on track to become the first country in the world to extend limited "human" rights to apes. Just a few days ago, after all, hordes of drunken, kerchiefed Spaniards were taunting a small herd of frightened bulls as they careered through the narrow streets of Pamplona. To say nothing of the national pastime of cheering from the stands as a few guys in tight pants kill the beasts...
...Dissonant though it may be, on June 26, the environmental committee of Spain's lower house of parliament approved a resolution supporting the Great Ape Project, an organization and manifesto founded by ethicists Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, which argues that three essential human rights - life, liberty and freedom from physical and psychological torture - should be extended to our closest hominid relatives. Joan Herrera, congressman for the Catalan Green Initiative party, justified the measure before parliament, saying that the primates "are capable of recognizing themselves, and have cognitive capabilities...
...resolution, which will likely be approved by the government in the next four months, will make Spain the first country in the world to grant rights to the great apes, which include gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. It makes the killing of an ape a crime and bans their use in medical experiments, circuses, films and television commercials. Although Spanish zoos will be allowed to keep the 300 animals they currently have in captivity, they must improve their conditions. "It's a courageous and decisive step in breaking the species barrier and granting deserved rights to those beings closest...
...Although the debt owed to Islamic art by painters like Henri Matisse and Paul Klee is well documented, Muslim influence on Western aesthetics began far earlier, says the curator of "Beyond Orientalism," Lucien de Guise. The Muslim domination of Spain between the 8th and 15th centuries enabled the transmission of advanced artistic and architectural techniques - as well as great accomplishments in music, science, philosophy and even cuisine. Until the industrial era, when interest in Islamic arts declined in the West, "Europeans were totally in awe of Islamic art," argues de Guise. "They couldn't get enough...
...time we have seen global warming potentially influencing the insect fauna is almost exactly the same period of time since the [European Union] opened up its trade barriers between member states. So in the past decade and a half, we've been importing a lot more from Italy and Spain and Southern France, and we've had this climatic change--so we have two potential causes." Whatever the reason for the appearance of the new bug in London, Barclay says its spread is harmless. But he concedes, "It does show what's possible [if more damaging species invade...