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"AT SCHOOL THEY HAVE REPLACED THE SUBJECT OF CIVIC VALUES FOR BULLFIGHTING VALUES"
British comedian Ricky Gervais has called for bullfighting to be banned after learning of the death of 29-year-old Miguel Ruiz Pérez, who died after being gored during summer festivities in the town of Lerín, in the northeastern Navarre region.
“Poor terrified bull. Ban cruel sports,” he wrote on Monday in a retweet of a Daily Mirror video showing Ruiz Pérez attempting to outrun the animal in a makeshift bullring while hundreds of people looked on.
Gervais has since posted a video on his Facebook page in which he says: “If you decide to torture an animal to death, I hope it defends itself.” Describing the people who watch bullfights as morons, he adds: “If you choose to fight a bull for fun, fuck you.”
The comedian, who shot to fame a decade ago in The Office, dismissed arguments defending bullfighting on the grounds that it was tradition, noting that slavery, witchcraft and child sacrifice were also once regularly practiced: “We’ve moved on… it’s about fucking time you stopped.”
Men attacking and terrorizing the Toro de la Vega in 2017
Gervais tweeted several times about bullfighting over the day: “A matador being killed by a bull is not the tragic bit. Torturing the bull for fun in the first place is the tragic bit.”
The video has since been shared around 10,000 times, with most people supporting Gervais’s position and calling for an end to bullfighting. Gervais is an active defender of animal rights, and recently joined a number of Hollywood stars in condemning the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe last month by a US dentist. “Animals don’t have a voice, but I do. And it’s a big one. My voice is for them and I will never be quiet as long as they are suffering,” he has said.
Growing numbers of Spanish celebrities are also calling for an end to bullfighting and the use of animals in festivities. La tortura no es cultura(Torture isn’t culture) is an awareness drive initiated by PACMA, a political party that supports animal rights. Its campaign to ban the Toro de la Vega, an event dating back to medieval times in which a bull is ritually killed by residents of the town of Tordesillas, Valladolid province, each September 15, has been backed by actors and television personalities such as Dani Rovira, Jorge Javier Vázquez, Eva Isanta and David Muro.
“I find it abhorrent that people can enjoy the suffering of animals,” says Dani Rovira, star of last year’s hit Spanish comedy Ocho apellidos vascos. A demonstration is planned in Madrid for September 12 to call for an end to the Toro de la Vega.
Musicians and other artists have thrown their support behind a planned music festival in Tordesillas to coincide with the Toro de la Vega.
El País in English, August 19th, 2015
"AND THAT PATRON SAINT, DOES HE KNOW WHAT YOU DO?"
Jamie and Jimmy take a closer look at energy drinks, and uncover the startling effects they’re having on our children. Here, Laura Matthews, Jamie’s Head of Nutrition, explains how these fizzy drinks could be damaging our health, and why they’re particularly bad for kids.
Many kids regularly buy energy drinks that are high in refined sugar and caffeine. And lots of children drink these fizzy energy drinks in volumes that far exceed the recommended caffeine intake for their age and size. In fact, 69 per cent of all 10 to 18 year olds in the UK report drinking energy drinks, with a shocking 13 per cent saying they drink a whole litre (or more) in one sitting. That’s the equivalent of a grown man drinking 12 espresso coffees in one go!
Why are they so bad for children?
A typical energy drink contains 27.5g of total sugars in one 250ml can – equivalent to almost seven cubes of sugar. This is more than a child aged seven to 10 should consume in a whole day!
Although energy drinks do usually state ‘not recommended for children’ on their packaging, this has no legal power and is easily ignored. In fact, teenagers are often persuaded to consume these drinks via marketing messages that claim the product improves energy, sport or mental performance.
Sadly, the opposite is true, and energy drinks are linked to poorer attainment in school. We’ve heard from teachers, parents and children alike about how rife this problem is, with teachers sharing horror stories of trying to lead a classroom that’s “under the influence” of energy drinks, and just how obstructive to learning this can be.
Regularly drinking caffeinated, sugary drinks can also cause diet-related disease and tooth decay. Further problems such as dental caries (holes in the teeth) or gum disease are also linked to excess sugar consumption.
What can we do?
Some schools are fighting their own battle against these drinks, by banning them on the premises. But schools can only do so much on their own. We need the government to legally age-restrict the sale of energy drinks, in the same way that scratch cards are only sold to over-16s.
So, let’s start a revolution against fizzy energy drinks, and protect our kids from the damaging sugar and caffeine levels in these products. We need everyone to tell the government to step in. Tweet the Health Secretary, @Jeremy_Hunt, and tell him to ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16, using the hashtag #NotForChildren.
Details of a tortured Brussels deal are not crucial when the fate of both Europe and the UK is at stake
By TIMOTHY GARTON ASH
The Guardian, Saturday 20th, February 2016
A new battle of Britain has begun. On its outcome will depend the fate of two unions: the United Kingdom and the European Union. If the English vote to leave the EU, the Scots will vote to leave the UK. There will then be no Britain. Meanwhile, the shock of Brexit to a continent already staggering under many crises could spell the beginning of the end of the European Union.
So if you care about Britain or Europe, and even more if you care about Britain and Europe, please join this good fight. The final negotiation in Brussels was bruising, and certainly not the kick-off anyone would want, but there is still everything to play for. Continental Europeans often assume that England is, in its heart of oak, incorrigibly hostile to Europe. This is not true. For decades now, the best pollsters have found that on the EU there is a large undecided middle which can go either way. That was the case in the run-up to the 1975 referendum, which saw a large swing from out to in, and it’s true today: 42% of those who tell ComRes they will vote in or out also say they could still change their minds.
I know, from many hostile online comments, that the Guardian has some fiercely Eurosceptic followers, but I’m now mainly addressing the majority of our readers, whether British or not, who want Britain to stay in the EU. It’s a peculiarity of this referendum that Commonwealth citizens may vote in it, whereas French, Italians and Germans who have lived here for many years, and are much more directly affected, may not. But whether or not you have a vote, you still have a voice. Raise it, please, in the pub, in the office or in the friend’s living room.
Here are just a few of the arguments you could make. First of all, the details of the deal are not the crucial issue. Months ago, when David Cameron revealed his renegotiation agenda, it was already clear that this was not going to be a fundamental redefinition of Britain’s relationship with the EU. Nor would we suddenly find ourselves in “a reformed Europe”. On this, Eurosceptics are right: Cameron’s demands were less than he pumped them up to be, and inevitably, given that 27 other European countries had to be satisfied, what he achieved is even more modest. But it would be madness to let a decision about the economic and political future of Britain for decades ahead hinge on the detail of an “emergency brake” on in-work benefits for migrants.
The negotiation of Brexit would be long and bloody. Nigel Lawson blithely suggests that it would be easy: we just repeal the 1972 European Communities Act and with one bound John Bull is free. Our continental partners would give us generous access to the single market through a free trade agreement “that they need far more than we do”. In your dreams. Read the careful analysis by the longtime legal chief of the EU, Jean-Claude Piris, to see what a nightmare of legal unravelling it would be. Talk to continental politicians. What we just saw in Brussels was the most that they are prepared to do to keep us in. They would do us no favours if we were leaving.
Many of our European partners privately envy us the position of being outside the Schengen area and the ill-designed eurozone, but in all the parts that we want to be in. The Brussels deal shows that our European partners have accepted that for the foreseeable future Britain wishes to stop at roughly its current stage of integration. If there is a “best of both worlds”, it is this – and not Brexit.
It is cold outside. The more you look at Norway or Switzerland, the less attractive their position appears, and a clear majority of business and union leaders don’t want to take this gamble. The EU has used the attraction of its single market of 500 million consumers to secure favourable free-trade deals with much of the world. It defies logic to think that Britain would get better deals on its own. Michael B Froman, the United States trade representative, said last year that no free trade agreement would exist with Britain if it left the EU, and the US would have no interest in negotiating one.
Being in the EU helps keep us safe from terrorism and international crime. Don’t listen to me, listen to the Conservative home secretary, Theresa May. This is why she has kept Britain in the most important European networks for police and judicial cooperation, and will argue for Britain to stay in the EU.
It’s also vital to national security. Our highest-ranking soldier, Field Marshal Lord Bramall – no starry-eyed Europhile – warns that if we left, “a broken and demoralised Europe just across the Channel” would imperil our security. If we stay, we can be one of the leaders of a European foreign policy that addresses the root causes of problems such as Middle East refugee flows. Vladimir Putin and Marine Le Pen want us to leave. Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and all our traditional friends, in Europe, North America and the Commonwealth, want us to stay. Need I say more?
Brexit would be disastrous for Ireland. The former Irish prime minister John Bruton says it would “undo much of the work of the peace process and create huge questions over borders and labour market access”. There are more than 380,000 Irish citizens living in Britain, who do have a vote in this referendum, and millions of Brits (including me) with Irish ancestry. If you care about Ireland, vote to remain.
The EU can be changed. While the reforms Cameron has secured are modest, there’s a swelling chorus of voices in countries like Germany saying not just “We must do this, reluctantly, to keep Britain in”, but “We really do need to reform the EU”. If Britain remains, the reform lobby is strong; if it leaves, much weaker.
Most of these arguments are from prudence, not visionary optimism – and none the worse for that. Eurosceptics will decry them as “scaremongering”. Well, I suppose you might call it scaremongering if someone asks you not to jump off the deck of an ocean liner, without a lifebelt, in a force nine storm. Actually, it’s common sense. This is the link to the Spanish translation
Breaking news: people are more likely to buy fruit and vegetables that aren't wrapped in plastic. It has taken several years, and a pretty huge anti-plastic movement, for supermarkets to realise that fresh produce actually sells better when you can see, smell and touch it. Since New Zealand supermarket chain New World stopped wrapping fruit and veggies in plastic as part of its 'food in the nude' campaign, sales of some vegetables have increased by 300%.
"When we first set up the new shelving our customers were blown away," Bishopdale New World supermarket owner Nigel Bond told the New Zealand Herald. "It reminded me of when I was a kid going to the fruiterer with my dad, you could smell the fresh citrus and spring onions. By wrapping products in plastic we sanitise and deprive people of this experience; it (dispensing with plastic) was a huge driver for us."
"After we introduced the concept we noticed sales of spring onions, for example, had increased by 300%," he added. "There may have been other factors at play but we noticed similar increases in other vegetable varieties like silverbeet and radishes."
Bond says that the plastic ban has generated more positive feedback than any other change that has been made during his 30-year career in the supermarket industry. New World supermarkets have replaced plastic packaging with refrigerated shelving that has a built-in vegetable mister. This system keeps vegetables far fresher than polluting plastic packaging.
"Vegetables are 90% water and studies have shown that misted produce not only looks better, retains its colour and texture, but also has higher vitamin content," Bond explained. "We've also installed a reverse osmosis system that treats the water by removing 99% of all bacteria and chlorine, so we are confident the water we're misting with remains pure."
Most New Zealand supermarkets have stopped providing customers with single-use plastic bags. The government will also be introducing a mandatory phase out of single-use plastic bags for all retailers from July 1 this year.
New World owner Foodstuffs has committed to making packaging 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 under New Zealand's Plastic Packaging Declaration. It has already switched to recyclable food trays and is trailing a BYO container scheme for meat and seafood purchases. These initiatives have boosted vegetable sales and helped reduce plastic pollution, but Bond says the suppliers need to get on-board so that supermarkets can phase out plastic packaging completely.
"We are like an intermediary, we sell what they give us," he said. "I think manufacturers have a much bigger part to play."
In Australia, our produce aisles are still full of single-use plastic. Hopefully the success of New Zealand's 'nude' food scheme will encourage the major Australian supermarkets to ditch unnecessary fruit and vegetable packaging too.
The Bank of Australia and New Zealand has revealed a moving ad campaign, encouraging gay couples to keep holding hands, even in the face of uncertainty. It has released the ad as part of its sponsorship of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and Auckland's Pride.
The company says that "even in 2017, the simple act of holding hands is still difficult for some people – let’s change that and #HoldTight."
The ad shows couples holding hands in different social scenes - such as on a date to the cinema or going out to a restaurant - and then quickly dropping them when they encounter someone they are not sure will accept them. In the final scene, after hesitating, the couple decides to hold each other even tighter.
The ANZ bank hopes the clip will empower couples so that “when you feel like letting go, hold tight”, showing couples standing defiant against societal prejudices and fighting for their safety. PS: I find this advert highly educational, both for gay and for straight people. Pass it on.
American graphic artist
Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic “Hope” posters of outgoing US President
Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, is recreating his street art
campaign of hope for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump to “disrupt
the rising tide of hate and fear in America.”
But the new campaign,
dubbed as “We the People,” does not feature the face of the celebrity
businessman turned politician, but instead banners the faces of ordinary and
diverse set of people who were the subject of Trump’s discriminatory attacks in
the campaign trail.
This time, the posters
feature the faces of the marginalized, including a Muslim woman, a Latina
woman, and an African-American kid, with the texts: “We the People Defend
Dignity,” “We the People Protect Each Other,” “We the People are Greater than
Fear.”
A US gay couple asks Madrid passers-by to translate a homophobic note. The film is part of gay rights group’s awareness campaign encouraging people to report hate crimes. A gay couple from the United States makes a reservation online to stay at a hostel in Madrid. When they ask for directions on how to reach it, they receive a message in Spanish from the owner and, not speaking a word of the language, ask for help translating it from passers-by. The note is filled with homophobic insults, including a threat to punch them in the face if they even think about kissing each other inside the hostel. The spontaneous reactions of the people reading out the note to them are recorded in an English-language, Spanish-subtitled video produced by Spain’s State Federation of Lesbian, Gays Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGTB) for its new awareness campaign, Con la voz bien alta (With a loud voice). Two actors were hired to play the couple, but the reactions of the passers-by were genuine. The aim of the campaign is to remind people that they have the right to file a police complaint against anyone who threatens, insults or physically assaults someone because of their sexual orientation. According to the group, 38 percent of the LGBT community in Spain has been a victim of some kind of assault, but only 10 percent report such incidents to police. FELGTB wants the new campaign to educate people about the hate crimes that many suffer because of their sexual orientation and also to pressure the government into passing a law against what it has labeled “LGBT-phobia.”
A 15-year-old girl smokes alongside her 17-year-old friend in Madrid. / SAMUEL SÁNCHEZ
It’s 8.15am outside the Santa Bárbara high school in central Madrid and bitingly cold. A teenage boy and girl sit chatting and smoking as they wait for classes to begin. “We smoke a cigarette every morning when we get here, it helps with the stress of the first couple of hours,” says the girl, who prefers to use the fictitious name of Ana Pérez. She is aged 15, and says she tried her first cigarette when she was 13. Spanish Health Ministry figures from 2013 show that 12.5 percent of 14- to 18-year-olds smoke on a daily basis, a fall of just 0.02 percent since 2011, despite continued awareness campaigns about the dangers.
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and smoking is a first step toward contracting the disease. The Spanish Association for Lung Cancer Victims (AECaP) says that smoking is the number one cause of the illness, which affects 21,000 people each year in Spain. And that first step tends to be taken early: figures from 2010 collected by the National Statistics Institute (INE) show that young people generally start smoking between the ages of 13 and 14.
“You see all your friends smoking and so I decided to try it, and that’s how I started,” says the teenager huddled against the cold outside school. “It was pretty stupid really, just something that was fashionable,” adds her friend, who also prefers to remain anonymous, giving the name José Ramírez. He is aged 17, and started smoking when he was 13.
Both say their friends also smoke: more than 90 percent of school students say they know that smoking can damage their health, according to the Health Ministry. Aside from helping deal with stress, among the other reasons smoking continues to attract young people, says health psychologist José Elías, is that it “makes them feel older” and that they are “breaking the rules.”
The young man calling himself José Ramírez explains that his mother smoked for many years, and only gave up when she was told she would soon have to use a respirator. “I used to smoke a packet a day. I started to cut down because I realized I was smoking too much, and now I buy a packet every three days,” he says, adding that the rising cost of tobacco has helped decrease his consumption.“Smoking rates among young people in our country, and particularly among females, are very worrying,” says Dr Rosario García Campelo, a cancer specialist and member of SEOM, the Spanish Society for Medical Oncology. AECaP warns that the number of deaths in Europe from lung cancer this year will outnumber those from breast tumors for the first time.
There’s no hard evidence that younger lungs are more susceptible to cancer, but risk of the disease is certainly increased by the amount of time someone smokes over their lifetime. “The younger you start to smoke, the greater the likelihood” of contracting the disease, says Dr Bartomeu Massuti, head of the oncology department at Alicante’s main hospital.
Luis Fernández – another fictitious name – also knows something about the risks of smoking. At the age of 16 he is already an ex-smoker. He admits to having smoked around three cigarettes a day. “Especially at parties and during recess, although I had it pretty much under control,” he says. “I liked it, but this year I have felt bad physically, so I’ve stopped. I no longer cough, and have no pains, I’m much better.” He says his girlfriend introduced him to smoking.
Figures show that more than 43 percent of school students have smoked at least once in their lives, and this despite a ban on smoking in public places since 2006 and extensive media campaigns focused on discouraging young people from taking up the habit.
Ana Pérez and José Ramírez say they smoke around six cigarettes each a day. They both put out their first of the morning. It’s now 8.30am and their classes are about to begin and they make their way into school. Aside from the “obligatory” puff as soon as they leave their homes in the morning, they will light up at morning recess, have another at lunch time, and a final one before heading home for the day.
Raif Badawi is a Saudi Arabian blogger who is serving a sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for starting an online forum. On January 9, the Saudi authorities carried out the first round of floggings. Raif is set to be flogged every Friday. Act now to help stop the floggings and #FreeRaif.Learn more
Irish people living overseas have been tweeting news of their journeys home to vote in same-sex marriage poll.
Irish citizens have been sharing photographs and stories on social media as they travel home to vote in the gay marriage referendum.
Ireland could become the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through a referendum. More than 3 million people are eligible to vote, including 60,000 expats. Those who have left the country less than 18 months ago are able to vote in the referendum, but need to show up at a polling station in person.
Before the vote on Friday, Twitter was filled with pictures of people returning home to have their say on gay marriage, with some decorating their trains accordingly. Others, upon their return, found their parents had decorated for them.
The account @gettheboat2vote Twitter account has been encouraging Irish citizens overseas to travel home and has also been sharing their stories. According to these tweets, Irish expats have been travelling from far and wide to vote. Some who were unable to vote because they could not get back to Ireland have been encouraging others to vote yes with the hashtag #BeMyYes
The referendum result is expected to be announced on Saturday afternoon.The Guardian
Yes supporters gather in Dublin Castle square as the referendum on same-sex marriage has been massively approved by Irish voters. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Ireland becomes first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote
Irish voters have decisively voted in favour of marriage equality, making Ireland the first country to do so through the ballot box. Only one of the 43 constituencies voted against the proposal – Roscommon-South Leitrim – while the yes vote exceeded 70% in many parts of Dublin. The no campaigners have paid tribute to their opponents, and the archbishop of Dublin has said the result should be a wake-up call for the Catholic church in Ireland.
All the results are in, and the returning officer, Ríona Ní Fhlanghaile, has declared that Ireland has passed the same-sex marriage referendum by 1,201,607 votes to 734,300. That’s 62.1% yes to 37.9% no. The total turnout was 60.5%. The Guardian +Ireland says yes to same-sex marriage -in pictures
