Rome is taking the welfare of pets into serious consideration and has actually banned small fish bowls! The popular round fish bowls have been banned under a new by-law which also stops fish or other animals from being given away as fairground prizes. The bowls apparently do not supply adequate oxygen for fish and can cause them to go blind.
Dog walking is also becoming mandatory for pet owners and dog owners are required to regularly walk their dogs and stop clipping their tails for esthetic reasons.
“It’s good to do whatever we can for our animals who, in exchange for a little love, fill our existence with their attention,†said Monica Cirinna, the councilor behind the by-law.
It’s nice to know that pets out there are getting the rights to live a good quality of life!
Freedom
Writer Challenges Freedom
Orhan Pamuk is a famous writer from Turkey who is challenging freedom of expression in his country. In daring to comment about the genocide of thousands in Turkey he is now facing prosecution for the ‘public denigration of Turkish identity’. If convicted, Pamuk faces three years in prison, even longer if he publicly discusses his case before it goes to trial in December.
‘I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey, and I stand by that. For me, these are scholarly issues,’ said Pamuk. ‘I am a novelist. I address human suffering and pain and it is obvious, even in Turkey, that there was an immense hidden pain which we now have to face.’
In finding the courage to speak out about his views on freedom of expression Orhan is creating a stir all throughout Turkey. The International community is taking notice of his case as well and this week he is being awarded with the German Peace Prize.
When people in the public eye challenge oppression and human rights violations it is a huge and bold step toward creating change.
‘It goes without saying that I stand by my words,’ he’s said in recent interviews. ‘And even more, I stand by my right to say them.’
UN Primary Reason for Decline in Armed Conflicts
Since the end of the Cold War armed conflicts around the globe have decreased, thanks mainly to the United Nations being able to launch peacekeeping operations. Altogether the planet has seen a decrease in conflicted-related deaths including a decrease in human rights abuses.
The report, financed by five governments, also states that major conflicts with 1,000 or more deaths have seen an 80% decrease since 1992. The average amount of deaths created by a single war has decreased dramatically as well.
Royal Society Issues IP Charter
Slashdot has a great short post about a good proposition for dealing with intellectual property from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in Britain.
Essentially they feel that intellectually property is helping the few, opposed to helping the public good, and that this needs to be changed – in fast. Power to them!
Thanks, Ben Powers!
A Bee Plus for Finding Landmines
Bees can now take the sting out of land mines – kinda. Bees can be trained to track down buried land mines without risking the lives of humans or trained dogs.
By making the bees associate the smell of explosives with food swarms of bees will be attracted to land mines. The bees hover around for a few seconds looking for food, then fly off disappointed. But by following swarms of bees land mines can be found.
Of course a human will have to defuse the device. Regardless, trained bees can help in the predicted 450 year time frame it will take to discover and diffuse all the land mines in the world today.