BRUTALITY IN THE NAME OF FASHION, VANITY & PROFIT

A few days ago Mary – a regular reader of this blog – sent me an email with a video and these comments:

“It is unbearable to watch and who in their right mind would actually desire to see such suffering inflicted by men for women’s vanity? What an education.”

So what’s it all about? It’s part of PETA’s campaign against the use of fur in fashion. I warn you it’s pretty horrific stuff but if you want to combat this unspeakable and unwatchable cruelty then you have to make a stand!

PETA explains the process below:

Undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International toured fur farms in China's Hebei Province, and it quickly became clear why outsiders are banned from visiting. There are no regulations governing fur farms in China—farmers can house and slaughter animals however they see fit. The investigators found horrors beyond their worst imaginings and concluded, “Conditions on Chinese fur farms make a mockery of the most elementary animal welfare standards. In their lives and their unspeakable deaths, these animals have been denied even the simplest acts of kindness.”

On these farms, foxes, minks, rabbits, and other animals pace and shiver in outdoor wire cages, exposed to driving rain, freezing nights, and, at other times, scorching sun. Mother animals, who are driven crazy from rough handling and intense confinement and have nowhere to hide while giving birth, often kill their babies after delivering litters.

With a hidden camera, animals were filmed being skinned alive. The furriers claim it is done to get a more perfect “cut”…afterwards the carcasses are tossed into a pile, many still alive, and for up to 10 minutes you can see their hearts still beating, in agony, their eyes still blinking, and the puppies little paws still shaking in intense shock. There is one dog (barely recognisable as such) that is left still able to lift his skinned fur-less head & gaze at the camera with bloodied eyes.

If you don’t care to see the video you can pledge to go fur free on the link below.

Or you can visit the PETA website to learn more about their various campaigns.

But do something because if we don’t protect animals from this type of brutality, we become accomplices.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE VIDEO - CLICK HERE

TO SIGN THE PLEDGE TO GO FUR FREE – CLICK HERE

IF YOU WANT TO VISIT THE PETA WEBSITE – CLICK HERE

JIMENA’S WATER BATTLES

It is often said that the future wars will be over water – you might say “and fuel” – but of course we’re fighting over that now. There are no wars in Jimena de la Frontera but there are currently two battles over water which perhaps are a sign of the wider things to come.

The Andalucía regional government and its water agency seem intent on proceeding with the project to build a reservoir on the Gibralmedina to meet the water needs of the western Costa del Sol.

The Gibralmedina stream flows through the zone known as the “arroyo de las gallinas” in Jimena. The rural lane and stream meets the Guadiaro river in Jimena although half the valley zone is in Gaucín.

In January on this blog I broke the news that the water agency was undertaking drillings in the valley. At the time the local residents spoken to voiced their strong opposition to the area being turned in to a giant reservoir as many people would loose both their lands and homes. Indeed many refused to allow the surveyors and drilling equipment on to their land.

Curiously the initial report from the regional government says the residents fully support the project. However local resident Dominic Bolus said: “They have not yet contacted anybody. The whole valley will be up in arms against it and we will fight it.”

The people who do support it is the association speaking for agriculture sector in nearby San Pablo de Buceite who say they’ve been demanding such a reservoir of years. There is no indication they’ll be able to irrigate their land with water destined for the Costa del Sol - and few if any of the association’s members live in the valley.

The reservoir would have a capacity of at least 100 cubic hectometres. This is said to be sufficient water to meet the needs of the western Costa del Sol and the Campo de Gibraltar.

Agaden spokesperson, Quico Rebolledo, has condemned the project as “an authentic barbarity” and it is known that a protest campaign is to be started. The Izquierda Unida co-ordinator general in Jimena, Francisco Gómez, said his party was in contact with Agaden and would back its efforts. He added that talks were being held with the Andalucía IU MP for Cádiz, Ignacio García, to discover just what the regional government is intending.

The IU’s MP for Málaga and the co-ordinator of the party in the province, José Antonio Castro, accused the water agency and regional government of following an “incoherent” policy. He stated that in the Ley de Agua de Andalucía the policy is not to build giant dams of this type. In last week’s parliamentary debate on the law he expressed his party’s opposition to the Gibralmedina project saying the dam would break the natural cycle of the river in a natural zone where it is so important.

To the other side of Jimena and running past the village itself is the Hozgarganta river. The ecologist group Agaden has made an official complaint to the Cádiz environmental prosecutor over the indiscriminate removal of land with vegetation that has been taking place there in recent weeks.

Izquierda Unida in Jimena says the works at Treveris were permitted but the company involved had exceeded the depth permitted by its licence and this has led to the collapse of a natural wall with the threat of flooding when the rains come. They also confirm that the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil – Seprona - and the forest guard have ordered a halt on frequent occasions.

The IU added that there could exist possible administrative irregularities as the company has taken the earth from the river to an earth storage area in Marchenilla where it will be used for commercial gain without any permissions being granted.

The co-ordinator general of the IU in Jimena, Francisco Gómez, has called for the immediate resignation of any officials who have been involved in this operation. The IU says it is ironic that for some months the ministry of the environment has been staging its “Anda Ríos” conservation programme in Jimena promoting the value of the river, fauna and habitat at the same time the town hall has stood by and allowed the destruction of the Hozgarganta.

Jimena de la Frontera is an area of great natural beauty part of which sits in Los Alcornocales national park. The responsible management of the area’s water is vital to maintain the rich flora and fauna – and indeed for ‘us’ to survive.

Of course Jimena is one small zone in Andalucía but this scenario is being played out in municipalities and regions throughout Spain – and across the wider world. Today’s battles will become tomorrow’s wars.

Photos: top - possible site of dam on the Gibralmedina; below - Fran Gómez at earth removal site on Hozgarganta.

The arroyo las Gallinas lane and the Gibralmedina stream that runs through it is to the Manilva - Gaucín side of the Guadiaro river. It can be reached from the San Pablo to Gaucín road - its entry is on the left, beyond the Málaga boundary at a lane with a bus stop, several houses and the Venta Manolo. From Jimena you can cross the bridge at the bar at the junction of the Marchanilla - San Martín - San Pablo roads, then go left at the t-junction and the lane starts between the wood yard and El Dorado farm school. The Gibralmedina joins the Guadiaro about half a kilometre up stream from the bridge on the left. The stream is dry except in heavy rains but the waters now run below the surface hence the drillings to test its flow and the aquifers. During the drought of the 1990s the wells in the valley never ran dry. As far as I am aware there are no plans to dam the Guadiaro and the photo at the top of the page shows the most likely dam wall location.

CHILD ON PARENT VIOLENCE

One of the subjects I concentrate on is domestic violence which is normally accepted as being aggression on the part of the male on his wife, girlfriend or former partner. Of course in some instances it is the woman who is the aggressor. Cases also occur of a partner alleging violence at as act of vengeance when none has happened.

Domestic violence has become a hot topic in Spain in recent years because the government has taken steps to offer protection and help to the victims so that many cases that in the past would have remained hidden now come out in to the open. It has to be said that the immigrant communities account for many of the deaths and acts of violence – and sadly Britons make up part of that number.

What caught my attention this week was the number of acts of aggression by young sons and daughters on their parents and grandparents. These have doubled in the last two years with the number of reports having risen from around 2,000 to 4,000.

According to data supplied by the minor’s prosecutor, Consuelo Madrigal, 40 per cent of the cases involve the daughters or grand daughters. She says this type of violence is one of the most worrying developments that have occurred since she took office in 2008.

It is believed that the frequency of attacks by children on the parents is probably higher as it is likely that many are not reported or brought before the courts. It was the case that 80 per cent of the attacks were by sons and 80 per cent of the victims were the mothers. However whilst mothers are still the main victims of abuse more attacks are now coming from the daughters.

There is apparently no profile either social or psychological for children who attack their parents. It is true to say that such assaults are more frequent in single parent families or where the father is absent permanently or for much of the time. Convicted children are normally placed in a family education unit where the minor will receive treatment and therapy – the majority of such cases are successfully treated. None-the-less I find this development very worrying especially in a society where respect for senior family members has always been strong.

By coincidence as these statistics were issued a 20-year-old youth was arrested in Sevilla for allegedly having stabbed his father to death in the bar he owned. The attack took place at around 7.30 and it was first thought that the father had died whilst confronting a thief. At 20 the son is over the age of being a minor but it is still a grim reminder of the reality of child on parent violence.

ROYAL NAVY DIDN’T SHOOT AT SPANISH FLAG

If you read the Daily Telegraph last Friday you would have found a report headlined: “Royal Navy used ‘Spanish flag’ for target practice off Gibraltar.” If you read on you would have found the navy did no such thing. I suspect there is still a “Johnny Foreigner” view at the Telegraph which has no place in the modern world.

If the Royal Navy had shot at the Spanish flag then those involved should have been booted out of the service. Put it another way – had the Guardia Civil used the Union flag for target practice in what they deem as the Bay of Algeciras how would Britons and the residents of Gibraltar felt? Outraged –and quite rightly so.

What happened was the crew of a Guardia Civil launch reported spotting the fast RN patrol boat Scimitar firing at “Spanish colours” during a military exercise in international waters off the Rock.

Britain’s new ambassador to Spain is Giles Paxman, the younger brother of the BBC broadcaster Jeremy Paxman. He was duly summoned to Spain’s foreign ministry to explain what had transpired. He insisted the flag on top of the buoy used in the target practice was not in fact a Spanish flag but a standard target flag that did use the red and yellow and he apologised for what he called a lack of judgement by the British navy.

In a statement the Spanish foreign ministry said: “The ambassador insisted that, however it may have appeared, it did not represent the flag of Spain.

“He presented his apologies for an error of judgement and the lack of sensibility shown and promised to launch an investigation and to take the necessary measures to ensure that incidents of this kind will not be repeated.”

The Ministry of Defence acknowledged the striking resemblance between the Spanish national flag and the signal marker chosen for the routine exercise that has two red horizontal stripes separated by yellow. The MOD explained: “HMS Scimitar was using Flag No1 during gunnery practice, traditionally chosen due to its high visibility. However we recognise its similarity to the Spanish national flag and will use an alternative marker during gunnery practice in this area in the future.”

The embarrassing incident happened at a sensitive time in Gibraltar’s waters which Spain claims as her own. The EU has given Spain jurisdiction over much of the area for environmental purposes due to a cock-up in Whitehall and Guardia Civil patrol boats often enter the area to test Gibraltar’s and Britain’s resolve.

(I have blogged numerous times on the territorial waters issue – two of my recent blogs appear below if you scroll down the page.)

HENRY! GIVE US A CALL

The concept behind the European Union is very simple. It is the member states linked together first in a community and now in a tighter union.

In some ways it mirrors that great other union across the pond where the states govern themselves but come together under Congress, the Senate and ultimately the President to be the United States of America.

The problem with the European Union of States is that it was and is designed by bureaucrats – hence simple it isn’t.

The Treaty of Lisbon was meant to iron out many of these wrinkles, create openness and democracy – but it failed at the first hurdle. Some countries held a referendum to vote for its approval, others opted to pass it in parliament, in Britain a referendum was promised but the Labour Government fearing it would be rejected reneged and used its large parliamentary majority to force the treaty through.

Yesterday was meant to be a milestone for the European Union. Its leaders –not the voters - selected a president Herman Van Rompuy. You might not recognise his name but he is the prime minister of Belgium, is credited with holding that fractious country together and is probably also known to the people of surrounding nations such as Holland, Luxembourg and France. His main selling point is he isn’t Tony Blair!

Also selected was a new European supremo for foreign affairs. This post goes to a Briton who has two names. In the UK, because we are meant to tug our forelocks, she’s Baroness Ashton. In Europe she’s plain Catherine Ashton, I think at last night’s press conference she was even called Cathy – but she is Lady Catherine to the likes of me.

Now I doubt if many people in the UK have ever heard of Baroness Ashton. She has never been elected to public office but apparently as one of our Commissioners in Europe has made a name for herself handling the trade portfolio. Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, hailed her appointment at his press conference saying this proved the UK was at the heart of Europe and argued that Britons would be delighted and proud she’d attained the position. As I write news of pending street parties in celebration has yet to reach me.

Ok – so Europe now has a president – Herman Van Rompuy. But hang on – there’s another president too. Let us not forget Durao Barroso from Portugal, who has been president of the European Commission and continues in that role. It is also probably fair to say he is wider known in Europe and internationally than Rompuy and certainly more so than the Baroness.

So that’s two then. Well yes and no. Every six months a member state holds the presidency of the European Union. Currently it is Sweden – in January it is my adopted home of Spain. That means that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – the president of the Spanish Government but not the country because Spain is a monarchy – will oversee the affairs of the EU. Now if Spain has the presidency surely that means that Zapatero in some form or other is a president too. So that makes three.

It was Henry Kissinger who said – when you want to contact Europe who do you call? It’s quite simple Henry – the president. And if you can’t get one, you can always try the other two.

EXTRACTIONS OR BOTOX

My mind hasn’t been on blogging this week.

It hasn’t been the lack of events I normally cover – my mind simply has been elsewhere.

To show you how bad things are I even turned down a free meal from Conservatives Abroad in Puerto Banús who this very evening entertain Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Peter Caruana.

Those who know me will vouch for the fact that I do not turn down free meals lightly – especially as I am rarely offered one.

No this was the week of the dentist and although my session was yesterday I have been counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds since Sunday.

Two extractions were on the menu and numerous stitches. The picture from my good friend Prospero tells all you need to know.

Then I read a report from Ohio informing me that the same person who fills my cavities also could be filling my wrinkles—with Botox.

Some US dentists now are offering cosmetic procedures such as Botox but plastic surgeons say you should stick with them.

The Ohio State Dental Board has ruled that treatments, such as Botox, are within the scope of practice for dentists as long as they are limited to the facial areas.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons said Botox falls squarely within the practice of medicine and should only be done by a board-certified plastic surgeon.

Whatever!

However looking at myself in the mirror this morning I am not sure whether my face is a result of dental surgery or Botox – I’d say it could be either.

One thing is for certain though – beauty treatment it wasn’t!

CALL MY BLUFF!

I have written here oft times before about the confrontations in Gibraltar’s waters between the Guardia Civil on one hand and the Royal Gibraltar Police - Royal Navy patrols on the other. Yesterday Gibraltar’s GSLP – Liberal Opposition issued the following statement which highlighted comments made to the Spanish daily “El Mundo” by a Guardia Civil officer. First the key parts of the statement:

“The Opposition is concerned at the fact that, according to the Spanish Guardia Civil, their patrol boats are now challenging British sovereignty and jurisdiction in the territorial waters of Gibraltar practically on a daily basis. It is obvious that despite the professions of friendship and cooperation that we continue to hear so much about, the Spanish Government continues to increase the tension in the waters that surround Gibraltar.

“A Spanish Civil Guard has told the newspaper “El Mundo” that one of these days something very serious is going to happen in the waters around Gibraltar. They have also revealed that incidents between the Civil Guard and the Royal Navy or the Royal Gibraltar Police are now happening “on a daily basis”. The Civil Guard claim that since the summer they have been harassed by British patrol boats within the three-mile limit around the Rock which “they consider to be their area of influence”. The Civil Guard have repeated the well-known position of the Spanish Government that Gibraltar has no waters on the basis that none were explicitly ceded by the Treaty of Utrecht except those inside the Port.

“The Opposition consider that it is the height of hypocrisy for the Civil Guard to claim that they are being the victims of harassment when everyone knows that it is they who have been harassing and intimidating local boat owners in waters which are outside Spain’s jurisdiction. The Civil Guard have in the past stopped, questioned and requested papers from the occupants of Gibraltar registered boats barely a few metres from the Rock and well inside the three-mile limit. In fact, this harassment on their part led the Gibraltar Government at the time to call on boat owners to set off a flare gun or call the Royal Gibraltar Police when they were challenged in this manner.

“It is clear that there is an orchestrated campaign on the part of the Spanish Government and its agencies to undermine the sovereignty of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. This was seen last year when the Spanish proposed a designation of our waters as if they belonged to Spain in an EU directive. The acceptance of this by the EU then had an immediate, practical effect in the waters around the Rock. It was followed by an incursion by a Spanish navy fisheries protection vessel in May this year and by frequent incursions by Civil Guard patrol boats who continue to behave as if our waters belonged to them.”

The report in the centre right “El Mundo” comes from an unattributed Guardia Civil source. Hence it could be fact or fiction destined for home consumption to strengthen the snipping from the Partido Popular who accuse the government on going soft on the Rock.

It also has to be said that neither the Royal Gibraltar Police, Royal Navy, Gibraltar nor British Government have publicly spoken about these daily confrontations in Gibraltar’s waters. This doesn’t mean to say they do not happen – just that there has been no comment from Gibraltarian or British sources. Indeed on the few occasions when Spain has put its toe in to Gibraltar’s internationally recognized waters it has pulled it out promptly and left the scene peacefully when confronted by the RGP or RN patrols.

However if “something serious did happen” it would escalate the dispute into a major incident. If the armed Guardia Civil tangled with the RGP or Royal Navy patrols it would be a confrontation between Spain and Britain. In addition it has to be remembered that the Rock’s port is a NATO facility hence British Royal Navy warships plus those from the USA frequently visit as do nuclear submarines. It would be all too easy for them to be caught up in the pistol fire.

I am a firm supporter of the Córdoba Agreement and I certainly believe that jaw-jaw beats war-war. For its part this Spanish Government has invested much time and effort in seeking to build bridges with the Llanitos. If that bridge collapsed it would leave its policy towards Gibraltar in disarray. None-the-less these discussions can only continue if Spain respects Gibraltar’s institutions and boundaries. If it chooses not to then Britain should call Spain’s bluff and suspend the process until it does. And if it doesn’t…