Worldlog Tjedan 46 – 2013

Animal Justice Party (AJP), odnosno australska stranka za životinje, želi sudjelovati na sljedećim izborima! Nadaju se osvojiti najmanje 100 000 glasova. Bilo bi odlično kad bi se u australskom parlamentu našla stranka koja bi se zalagala za prava životinja. Političke stranke u Australiji vrlo se malo ili uopće ne bave pitanjima dobrobiti životnja i očuvanja prirode, te se za to mora izboriti. Prema riječima AJP-a, sitne su se promjene počele provoditi u politici Australije. Primjerice, sad se priča o zabrani korištenja pokusnih životinja za kozmetičke proizvode. U Europi je to već zabranjeno, nadajmo se da će Australija uskoro slijediti.

Ako poznaješ ljude koji stanuju u državi New South Wales u Australiji, pitaj ih ako žele postati (besplatno)članom AJP-a. Naime, s 850 članova u NSW-u, AJP dobiva mogućnost sudjelovati. Samo naprijed AJP!

Naš internacionalni simpoziji, Animal Politics Foundation, postaje sve bolji. Imamo doista dojmljivu listu govornika, od kojih ću izdvojiti Toma Reagana, Willa Kymlicka i Maneku Gandhi. Pogledaj www.partijvoordedieren.nl/InternationalSymposium za sve informacije o govornicima i rezervaciji karata. Vidimo se 12. i 13. prosinca u Istanbulu!

Prošli mi je tjedan bio vrlo bitan i bila sam vrlo zaposlena. U Zastupničkom smo se domu bavili pitanjem proračuna ministarsva Ekonomije, pod kojim spada i Gospodarstvo. Državna tajnica ministarstva gospodarstva dala je nekoliko zanimljivih izjava. Između ostalog rekla je: „Činjenica je da nas meso, kao dio naših prehrambenih navika, najviše opterečuje“ i „Klimatske će promjene snažno utjecati na Nizozemsku.“ Tu možemo nešto poduzeti!

Ovo je isječak mog doprinosa:

Svi smo dali zelena svjetla kad nam se početkom ove godine pridružila državna tajnica. Moja su očekivanja bila visoka, još uvijek su. Konačno imamo političarku koji nije vezana za tradicionalni gospodarstveni lobi. Moja su očekivanja bila još i veća time što je državna tajnica oduvijek bila pionir ideala. Državna je tajnica imala priliku pozeleniti Nizozemsku, no što je ona učinila? Stavila je prirodu na prodaju najvećem ponuditelju. Kada se Stranka za životinje, povodom toga, pokrenula i pomoću građana otkupila 100 000 kvadratnih metara, samo je sarkastično odvratila „… upitno je koliko će održavanje tih zelenih površina stajati.“ Na sreći, zasad je stala prodaja i to zbog građanskog nemira kojeg je time uzrokovala. Ponosna sam na to. Mi smo organizirali taj građanski nemir. Predviđam državnoj tajnici još nemira ako nastavi ovim putem.

Nažalost je prošlog tjedna španjolski parlament izglasao zakon da stravične borbe bikova postanu kulturno dobro. Nevjerojatno je da se takva barbarska tradicija želi očuvati. Početkom srpnja smo podupirali inicijativu da se u Europi ukinu subvencije za borbe bikova. Nastavljamo se boriti za to!

Novi je gradonačelnik New Yorka pravi borac za prava životinja, čak i svoju djecu potiče na vegetarijanstvo. Čestitam Bill de Blasio! Nadam se da će dobrim promjenama pod njegovim vodstvom.

Ovaj umjetnik stvara prekrasna umjetnička djela od otpalih ptičjih perja!

Želim završiti s prekrasnim citatom Margaret Mead: „Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful , comitted citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.“

Do idućeg tjedna,

Marianne

The Australian Animal Justice Party (AJP) intends to participate in the next national elections! They are going for at least 100,000 votes. It would be great if a party for the animals could hold one or more seats in Australian parliament. Political parties in Australia pay little or no attention to issues related to animal welfare, and a hard fight must also be put up for nature preservation in Australia as well as a healthy environment. I understand from the AJP that minor changes do occur in Australian politics, for instance, talks are being held about imposing a ban on cosmetics testing on animals. It has already been banned in Europe, so hopefully Australia will follow soon.

If you know anybody who lives in the state of New South Wales in Australia, ask them whether they would like to become a member (for free) of the AJP. With 850 members in NSW, the AJP will have a chance to participate. Go for it, AJP!

The international symposium of our Animal Politics Foundation increasingly begins to take shape. What a wonderful and impressive list of speakers, for instance, Tom Reagan, Will Kymlicka and Maneka Gandhi. For comprehensive information on the speakers and on how to book tickets, see www.partyfortheanimals.nl/InternationalSymposium. I look forward to seeing you all in Istanbul on 12 and 13 December!

Last week, in the parliamentary group of the Lower House, I had one of the most important and busiest weeks of the year when discussing the budget of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (which also includes Agriculture). The State Secretary of Agriculture made a few interesting statements, such as: ‘It is a fact that meat constitutes the most environmentally harmful component of our diet’ and ‘Climate change will have major consequences for the Netherlands’. We can do something about that!

A small fragment from my contribution reads as follows:

All lights were green when the State Secretary took office at the beginning of this year. My expectations were – and are – high. At last, a state secretary who has no ties with the traditional agricultural lobby. But my expectations are also high because the State Secretary has turned out to be a pioneer with ideals from her youth up. So, the State Secretary had the opportunity to make the Netherlands greener. But what did she do? She sold out nature to the highest bidder. And when the Party for the Animals mobilised citizens to redeem 100,000 square metres of nature, the State Secretary merely scorned “… that it would become clear how costly it is to maintain that piece of nature.” Thankfully, however, she stopped selling out for the time being due to the social unrest it had invoked. I am proud of that. We organised that social unrest. I predict the State Secretary there will be much more unrest if she misses the green opportunities with an empty goal.

Last week, unfortunately, Spanish parliament officially designated the gruesome bullfighting as part of cultural heritage by law. It is unbelievable how they want to keep up such a barbaric ‘tradition’. Early June, our parliamentary group of the Lower House still carried a motion calling the Cabinet to fight against subsidies for bullfighting in Europe. We will continue this fight!

The new mayor of New York is a true animal rights lawyer, he also raises his two children as vegetarians. Congratulations Bill de Blasio! Hopefully, his policy will generate beautiful things.

This artist makes wonderful works of art of (fallen out) bird feathers!

I would like to conclude with a beautiful quote by Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Until next week,

Marianne