http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/humanrights.animalwelfare

Spanish parliament approves 'human rights' for apes

• Lee Glendinning
• guardian.co.uk,
• Thursday June 26, 2008
• Article history

A female chimpanzee holds her one-month-old baby. Photograph: Tom Gilbert/AP

Great apes should have the right to life and freedom, according to a resolution passed in the Spanish parliament, in what could become landmark legislation to enshrine human rights for chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans and bonobos.

The environmental committee in the Spanish parliament has approved resolutions urging the country to comply with the Great Apes Project, founded in 1993, which argues that "non-human hominids" should enjoy the right to life, freedom and not to be tortured.

The project was started by the philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, who argued that the ape is the closest genetic relative to humans – that it displays emotions such as love, fear, anxiety and jealousy – and should be protected by similar laws.

The resolutions have cross-party support and it is thought they will become law, meaning that potential experiments on apes in Spain will be banned within a year, according to a Reuters report.

"This is a historic day in the struggle for animal rights and in defence of our evolutionary comrades which will doubtless go down in the history of humanity," Pedro Pozas, the Spanish director of the Great Apes Project, said.

"We have no knowledge of great apes being used in experiments in Spain, but there is currently no law preventing that from happening.''

Using apes in circuses, television commercials or filming will also be banned and while housing apes in Spanish zoos, of which there are currently 315, will remain legal, supporters of the bill have said the conditions in which most of them live will need to improve substantially.

In 1999, scientists and lawyers petitioned New Zealand's parliament to pass a bill conferring "rights" on chimpanzees and other primates. The government gave the great apes something less than human rights, but also something more practical: legal protection from animal experimentation.

The first country to take such a decision was Britain: Home Office guidelines now forbid experiments on chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas

RARÍSSIMAS CONVIDA 

 

 

 

 

Apresentação do conselho científico

 

 

            &nb sp; 

 

 

Promover, divulgar e informar sobre as doenças raras é o principal objectivo do Conselho Científico e Consultivo da Associação Raríssimas, a ser apresentado ao público dia 3 de Julho.

 

 

Presidido pela Dra. Leonor Beleza, o conselho científico e consultivo surge na sequência da estratégia traçada pela associação que, desta forma, promove a diferenciação positiva no diagnóstico, a referenciação, o tratamento e acompanhamento dos doentes com doenças raras não só a nível nacional, como a nível internacional.

 

 

Adalberto Campos Fernandes, Ana Escoval, António Gentil Martins, António Vaz Carneiro, Cristina Sampaio, Daniel Serrão, Eulália Calado, Helena Gervásio, Isabel Cordeiro, Isabel do Carmo, Jaime Branco, Jorge Saraiva, José Pedro Vieira, Laird Jackson, Luís Nunes, Luís Pisco, Manuel Delgado, Margarida Reis Lima, Purificação Tavares garantindo assim a assistência a representação dos portadores de doenças raras e seus familiares.

 

 

Dia 03 de Julho, pelas 10 h, a Dra. Maria Cavaco Silva marcará presença no Hotel Meridien, em Lisboa, sala Lisboa Atlantic onde, conjuntamente com o Dr. Luís Pisco apresentarão este projecto pensado, como sempre, em prol daqueles que sofrem de doenças órfãs.

web: http://www.rarissimas.pt/
e-mail: info@rarissimas.pt
blog: raríssimas.blogs.sapo.pt

 

 

 

 

 

 

AlmaLusa in USA.

 

 

DÁ QUE PENSAR !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

In USA

 
What a difference a sad event in someone's life makes.
GEORGE CARLIN (His wife recently died...)   HE PASSED AWAY THIS WEEK AS WELL AT 71

 

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.
A Message by George Carlin:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We b uild more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
If you don't send this to at least 8 people....Who cares?

George Carlin

Morre o actor e comediante George Carlin
(23/06/2008 - 10h48)

George Carlin e David Zucker,
em Todo Mundo em Pânico 3
Morreu neste domingo (22/6) o comediante George Carlin (Menina dos Olhos) aos 71 anos. Ele, que tinha um histórico de problemas cardíacos e dependência de drogas, faleceu às 18h no Saint John's Health Center, em Santa Mônica, Los Angeles, depois de ser internado no começo da tarde com dores no peito, disse seu representante Jeff Abraham.

 

Conhecido por ser provocante e nervoso, Carlin ganhou fama de ícone anti-estadista nos anos 70 com suas apresentações stand-up (onde o comediante não interpreta nenhum personagem, apenas sobre ao palco para contar piadas) cheias de referências às drogas e a uma rotina chamada Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television (sete palavras que você não poderá falar nunca na televisão, na tradução literal).

 

A sensibilidade humorística de Carlin sempre se voltava para um tema central: a humanidade está condenada. "Eu não tenho nenhuma opinião ou vícios. Eu não acredito neste país, não acredito em religião, ou em Deus, e não acredito em todas essas idéias institucionais criadas pelos homens", disse o comediante em uma entrevista à agência Reuters em 2001.

 

Ele atuou em vários filmes, entre eles Dogma (1999), com Ben Affleck (Medo da Verdade) e Matt Damon (O Ultimato Bourne); Todo Mundo em Pânico 3 (2003); e Menina dos Olhos (2004), com Affleck, Damon, Liv Tyler (O Incrível Hulk) e Jennifer Lopez (A Sogra).

 

Carlin, que escreveu alguns livros e atuou em vários especiais de comédia para a TV, deixa sua mulher, Sally Wade, e uma filha, Kelly Carlin McCall.

Please, take a look!!! Por favor, dêem uma olhadela, pois vale a pena

ver.Hilariante no mínimo...!EXCELENTE CUMUNICADOR!!!

Irreverente e polémico, como todas as pessoas geniais e únicas,

podem ser, Carlin, possuía aquele magnetismo animal, que diferencia

os homens INCOMUNS..!

http://www.jibjab.com/view/222025 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=george+carlin&search_type=&aq=f 

 

Graça Braz

 

 

IN USA.

 

Crime!!!E Castigo?????...

Será que ninguém pára este Flagelo????

Bárbaro,ignóbil,aterrador,sem classificação!!!

Desculpem se os incomodo,mas Eles,as pobres

indefesas e inocentes vítimas,pedem-nos Ajuda!

Também já vomitei o almoço...,façam agora a vossa parte,

POR FAVOR!!! DENUNCIEM ESTA BARBÁRIE!||

AlmaLusa in USA.

 

 

china_do2.wmv

 

 

In Usa.

Birth Name

Carl Edward Sagan

Mini Biography

Astronomer, educator and author, Sagan was perhaps the world's greatest popularizer of science, reaching millions of people through newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts. He is well-known for his work on the PBS series Cosmos, the Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning show that became the most watched series in public-television history. It was seen by more than 500 million people in 60 countries. The accompanying book, Cosmos (1980), was on The New York Times bestseller list for 70 weeks and was the best-selling science book ever published in English. Carl Edward Sagan was born Nov. 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, N.Y. At Cornell since 1968, Sagan received a bachelor's degree in 1955 and a master's degree in 1956, both in physics, and a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics in 1960, all from the University of Chicago. He taught at Harvard University in the early 1960s before coming to Cornell, where he became a full professor in 1971. Sagan played a leading role in NASA's Mariner, Viking, Voyager and Galileo expeditions to other planets. He received NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and twice for Distinguished Public Service and the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. His research focused on topics such as the greenhouse effect on Venus; windblown dust as an explanation for the seasonal changes on Mars; organic aerosols on Titan, Saturn's moon; the long-term environmental consequences of nuclear war; and the origin of life on Earth. A pioneer in the field of exobiology, he continued to teach graduate and undergraduate students in courses in astronomy and space sciences and in critical thinking at Cornell. The breadth of his interests were made evident in October 1994, at a Cornell-sponsored symposium in honor of Sagan's 60th birthday. The two-day event featured speakers in areas of planetary exploration, life in the cosmos, science education, public policy and government regulation of science and the environment -- all fields in which Sagan had worked or had a strong interest. Sagan was the recipient of numerous awards in addition to his NASA recognition. He received 22 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities for his contributions to science, literature, education and the preservation of the environment and many awards for his work on the long-term consequences of nuclear war and reversing the nuclear arms race. Among his other awards were: the John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award of the American Astronautical Society; the Explorers Club 75th Anniversary Award; the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Medal of the Soviet Cosmonauts Federation and the Masursky Award of the American Astronomical Society. He also was the recipient of the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences, "for distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare." Sagan was elected chairman of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, president of the Planetology Section of the American Geophysical Union and chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For 12 years he was editor of Icarus, the leading professional journal devoted to planetary research. He is co-founder of The Planetary Society, a 100,000-member organization and the largest space-interest group in the world. The society supports major research programs in the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the investigation of near-Earth asteroids and, with the French and Russian space agencies, the development and testing of balloon and mobile robotic exploration of Mars. Sagan also was Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and was contributing editor of Parade magazine, where he published many articles about science and about the disease that he battled for the last two years of his life.

Named 1981 Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association "in recognition of his work as an educator, skeptic, activist, and populizer of science".

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 537-540. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Despite being known for, and frequently quoted with, his famous phrase "billions and billions...", Carl Sagan never actually said it during the entire single-season run of "Cosmos" (1980). The actual phrase is "billions UPON billions," and the complete quote which includes this often-misquoted phrase is "A galaxy is composed of gas and dust and stars - billions upon billions of stars."

Suffered from rare blood disorder that led to cancer and ultimately his death.

Interview With Carl Sagan
Author, Astronomer

NOVA: Speculate for a moment on the parts of human nature, the commonality of believing in abductions, or aliens anyway, and the part of human nature that wants to search for other life forms in the universe.

SAGAN: I personally have been captured by the notion of extraterrestrial life, and especially extraterrestrial intelligence from childhood. It swept me up, and I've been involved in sending space craft to nearby planets to look for life and in the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence...



It would be an absolutely transforming event in human history. But, the stakes are so high on whether it's true or false, that we must demand the more rigorous standards of evidence. Precisely because it's so exciting. That's the circumstance in which our hopes may dominate our skeptical scrutiny of the data. So, we have to be very careful. There have been a few instances in the [past]. We thought we found something, and it always turned out to be explicable...

So, a kind of skepticism is routinely applied to the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence by its most fervent proponents. I do not see [in] the alien abduction situation a similar rigorous application of scientific skepticism by its proponents. Instead, I see enormous acceptance at face value - and leading the witness and all sorts of suggestions. Plus, the contamination by the general culture of this idea.

It seems to me there is a big difference between the two approaches to extraterrestrial intelligence, although I'm frequently written to [to] say how could I search for extraterrestrial intelligence and disbelieve that we're being visited. I don't see any contradiction at all. It's a wonderful prospect, but requires the most severe and rigorous standards of evidence.

NOVA: Could you please comment on the part of the quality of the evidence that is put forward by these so-called "abduction proponents."

SAGAN: Well, it's almost entirely anecdote. Someone says something happened to them...And, people can say anything. The fact that someone says something doesn't mean it's true. Doesn't mean they're lying, but it doesn't mean it's true.

To be taken seriously, you need physical evidence that can be examined at leisure by skeptical scientists: a scraping of the whole ship, and the discovery that it contains isotopic ratios that aren't present on earth, chemical elements form the so-called island of stability, very heavy elements that don't exist on earth. Or material of absolutely bizarre properties of many sorts -- electrical conductivity or ductility. There are many things like that that would instantly give serious credence to an account.

But there's no scrapings, no interior photographs, no filched page from the captain's log book. All there are are stories. There are instances of disturbed soil, but I can disturb soil with a shovel. There are instances of people claiming to flash lights at UFOs and the UFOs flash back. But, pilots of airplanes can also flash back, especially if they think it would be a good joke to play on the UFO enthusiast. So, that does not constitute good evidence.

And, a very interesting example of this sort of thing is the so-called crop circles in England in which wheat and rye and other grains -- these beautiful immense circles appeared and then -- this was in the 70's and 80's -- and then over progressive years, more and more complex geometries. And there were lots of people who said that these were made by UFOs that were landing and that it was too complex or too highly mathematical to be a hoax.

And it turns out that two blokes in Southern England, at their regular bar one night, thought it would be a good idea to make a kind of hoax to see if they could lure in UFO enthusiasts. And they succeeded every time--every time an explanation was proferred: a peculiar kind of wind, they then made another one which contradicted that hypothesis. And they were very pleased when it was said that no human intelligence could do this. That gave them great satisfaction. And for 15 years, they succeeded in these nocturnal expeditions using rope and board -- all the technology they needed.

And in their 60's, they finally confessed to the press with a demonstration of how it was done. And, of course, the confession received very little play in the media. And the claims of alien influence had received prominent exposure.

NOVA: I want you to comment on John Mack.

SAGAN: Many of the principle advocates of UFO abduction seem to want the validation of science without submitting to its rigorous standards of evidence. When John Mack talks about parallel universes or other dimensions, he's using scientific ideas. Those have long been in play in the Physics and Astronomy community. But, there is no evidence for them. He also criticizes the current paradigm that is the skeptical scientific method. But, this isn't validated. We don't believe it just out of prejudice; we believe it because it works.

NOVA: In the absence of hard physical evidence about alien abductions, what does science tell us about the plausibility of what these aliens are supposed to do?

SAGAN: Well, if you look at the advantages in human technology in just the last few hundred years, the Voyager spacecraft on its way to the stars, compared to what we knew in the time of Charlemagne, let's say, that's less than a thousand years. And the progress is simply stunning.

So, if you postulate the existence of highly technical civilizations, thousands, much less millions of years in our future, unless the hypothesis strongly contradicts known laws of physics, I think you have to say it's possible. So, travel at very high speeds between the stars, that's by no means out of the question. Walking through walls is a little tough for me. I don't see how it could be done. And the basic reading program idea of the alien abduction, the paradigm, they seem strangely backward in biology for all their advances in physics, if you take it seriously. Why are they doing breeding one on one at such a slow pace? Why not steal a few humans, sequence our DNA, look at variations and make whatever genetic engineering changes they want. We almost have the ability to do that. It seems naive in terms of molecular biology.

...Precisely because of human fallibility, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Now, I know that Budd Hopkins responds that extraordinary claims require extraordinary investigations. And I have two kinds of responses to that.

There is a claim that a brontosaurus is tramping through the jungles today in the republic of Congo. Should a massive expedition be mounted with government funds to find it, or it is so implausible as not to be worth serious sustained systematic attention?

And my second point is that to the extent that extraordinary claims require extraordinary investigations, those investigations must be true to the spirit of science. And that means highly skeptical, demanding, rigorous standards of evidence. And it's not a hint of that from alien abduction enthusiasts ... I think that the alien abduction enthusiasts understand the need for physical evidence. It's the pathway to some degree of respectability. And for 40 years, they've been telling us that real evidence is just around the corner, it's about to be released, it's being studied at this moment - and nothing ever comes of it.

NOVA: Well, now we've run into this alleged alien abduction footage. Have you heard about this? What do you make of the film footage of this alleged animal autopsy?

SAGAN: I haven't myself seen it, but I have talked in some detail with those who have, and I've read an analysis in the Times of London. There are several things to notice. One is that the creature in question has a strong resemblance to the alien abduction paradigm, although with six fingers on each hand. It is dissected in a movie taken with lots of blocking of the body and numerous out of focus excursions by the camera. And the humans involved in the autopsy are all dressed in these 1950's radiation suits which are covered head to toe and there's just a little rectangular window to look out, which means that nobody can be identified.

The key piece of evidence that it's not a fake is said to be a leader from the beginning of one of the rolls that was -- you know, and they're all encoded, and it was submitted to Kodak, the manufacturer. And Kodak came back and said this was shot in 1947 or some year close to that. And that demonstrates that its not a fake. But, an important proviso is that Kodak was not given a reel that had the autopsy on it. They were just given a snippet, give to Kodak, and then alleged that it came from the beginning of the autopsy film. So, I think that it's a clever fake, if it's a fake. But, it's certainly not compelling

NOVA: According to Hopkins and others, the main evidence for these stories--in the absence of other evidence--is the similarity of details. In your opinion, what other explanations might account for the similarity and the details of the stories or hallucinations of these abductees?

SAGAN: The culture contaminates movies, television programs, books, haunting pages of aliens, and television interviews with passionate abductees - all communicate to the widest possible community the alien abduction paradigm. So, it's not as if each abductee has been hermetically sealed from the outside world and has no input about what others are saying. It's all cross contaminated and it has been for decades. I think that's the clearest evidence for it not being good evidence -- that many people tell the same story.

NOVA: If you could speak directly to the multitudes of people who believe they're going to bed and perhaps being abducted by aliens, what is it you would like to say to them?

SAGAN: If I were speaking to a group of abductees, I think the first thing I would do would be to tell them that I'm sure to many of them the pain that is expressed is genuine, that they're not just making this up. And it's very important to be compassionate. At the same time, I would stress that hallucinations are a human common place, and not a sign that you are crazy. And that absolutely clear hallucinations have occured to normal people and it has a compelling feeling of reality, but it's generated in the head.

And that being the case, I would ask them to try to be as objective as they can and see if anything like that might, in fact, explain what they said happened to them. And I'd remind them that children, universally, have terrible nightmares, especially around 7 to 11, and wake up from sleep absolutely terrified about a monster, a witch, a goblin, a demon, and why shouldn't some of us retain that? I mean, there's no question that those monsters don't exist and they're hiding in the closet or under the bed. That's something generated in the mind. Why should it all go away when we grow up? We should retain some of that. And could not something like that be an explanation?

I would try to simply ask them to adopt the scientific method of multiple working hypothesis. Right now, they have only one hypothesis and their minds are, in many cases, closed to the alternative. I would ask them to do a serious consideration of the alternative, see if it makes sense.

NOVA: Can you tell us how you feel if someone came to you with good evidence that there was, in fact, alien life trying to communicate with us? How would that make you feel as a scientist?

SAGAN: If someone came to me with compelling, bona fide evidence that we're being visited, my reaction would be "Whoopee!" And I'd want to play a role in analyzing the evidence. I would try very hard to bring in the absolute best scientists in the world to study it, depending on what the evidence is like. And I don't doubt that there would be a lot of cooperation from the scientific community. I don't think that scientists are prejudiced to begin with. Prejudice means pre-judging. They're post-judice. After examining the evidence they decide there's nothing to it. There's a big difference between prejudice and post-judice.

Quotations by Author

Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)
US astronomer & popularizer of astronomy [more author details]
  Showing quotations 1 to 17 of 17 total        - We have 2 book reviews related to Carl Sagan.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.  Carl Sagan All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.  Carl Sagan But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.  Carl Sagan I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.  Carl Sagan If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?  Carl Sagan If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.  Carl Sagan In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.  Carl Sagan It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese.  Carl Sagan One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.  Carl Sagan Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.  Carl Sagan Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense.  Carl Sagan The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.  Carl Sagan When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'll never forget it.  Carl Sagan Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.  Carl Sagan A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.  Carl Sagan, "Contact" In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time someting like that happened in politics or religion.  Carl Sagan, 1987 CSICOP Keynote Address Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves.  Carl Sagan, Cosmos (Blues for a Red Planet) In USA.