THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† A Rat Is Not A Pig Is Not A Dog Is Not A Boy - And Neither Is A Chimp: New York Times editorial board member Adam Cohen defends the efforts of animal rights activists in Europe to grant apes and chimpanzees “human rights”:
Strip away the goofier rhetoric of the ape-rights activists, and their claim is straightforward. Great apes are biologically very close to humans; chimps and humans share about 98 percent of their DNA. Apes have complex communication skills and close emotional bonds. They experience loneliness and sorrow. They deserve some respect.
Cohen acknowledges that “[t]oo often, animal-rights supporters seem to care about animals to the exclusion of people,” citing Leona Helmsley’s $12 million bequest for her pooch’s upkeep, while also noting that “[c]ritics object that recognizing rights for apes would diminish human beings.”
And then he proves both points with this line of reasoning: “It sounds odd to say that apes have rights - or to call a chimpanzee a “person.” As a legal matter, though, it is not such a stretch. People in irreversible comas have rights.”
Perhaps Cohen doesn’t realize that comatose people have human rights because they are still human.
And by the way, wouldn’t it be hugely ironic if animals are granted “rights” that remain subject to debate, ballot initiatives and court cases when it comes to human embryos and fetuses?
† A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Read: Indiana University-Purdue University chancellor Charles Bantz sent janitor and communication studies major Keith John Sampson a letter of apology for accusing him of racial harassment after a co-worker took umbrage at his reading the book “Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan,” reports The Associated Press. Samson, who admits to “an interest in American history,” was told by a union official that reading such a book was like bringing porno to work, and the university’s affirmative action officer reprimanded him. For his part, Sampson - who remains employed by the school - tells AP, “I am not the kind of person that they were painting me as,” but has accepted the apology.
† Updates To Previous Posts (What Freedom Of Speech Means To Muslims, second item): In an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) warn that terrorist financers and their ilk are using British courts to sue American authors for libel, and that the mere threat of such suits - which would be thrown out of court in the U.S. on First Amendment grounds – has led to the cancellation of several books before publication:
To counter this lawsuit trend, we have introduced the Free Speech Protection Act of 2008, a Senate companion to a House bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete King (R., N.Y.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D., N.Y.). This legislation builds on New York State's "Libel Terrorism Protection Act," signed into law by Gov. David Paterson on May 1.
Our bill bars U.S. courts from enforcing libel judgments issued in foreign courts against U.S. residents, if the speech would not be libelous under American law. The bill also permits American authors and publishers to countersue if the material is protected by the First Amendment. If a jury finds that the foreign suit is part of a scheme to suppress free speech rights, it may award treble damages.
† Updates To Previous Posts (Turkish Court Rules In Favor Of Secularism, Modernity And Feminism, third item): Prosecutors indicted 86 secular Turks on terrorism charges for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to provoke a military coup to oust Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist government, reports The Associated Press:
[This is] the latest episode in an ongoing power struggle between the government and secular groups supported by the military and other state institutions, including the judiciary and some trade groups. They accuse the government of attempting to raise Islam's profile in Turkey.
A court must now decide within two weeks whether to open the case.
Turkey's military, which staged three coups in the past, has criticized the government for allegedly eroding the secular system. …
Erdogan's government is facing possible closure by the Constitutional Court for alleged anti-secular activity. The country's prosecutor also wants Erdogan and 70 other party members banned from joining a political party for five years.
Chief prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin said the group includes a former general, journalists, academicians and businessmen – and that a dozen more indictments are being prepared, two of which are against retired senior generals.
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