CHIMPANZEE CORRECTNESS

Socialists want to protect their close relatives

Spain's governing Socialist Party is promoting a controversial parliamentary initiative to grant rights to great apes on the basis of their resemblance to humans, news reports said on Wednesday. If the initiative is approved, it would make Spain one of the first countries to officially protect the rights of apes, said a spokesperson for the animal rights association Adda.

The socialists want to prohibit the "enslaving" of gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-utangs and bonobos. Spain would thus adhere to the international Great Ape Project, granting the animals the rights to life and freedom and to not being tortured. "We are not talking about granting human rights to great apes," but about "protecting (their) habitat, avoiding their ill-treatment and their use in various circus activities," environment minister Cristina Narbona explained.

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AMAZING CHEEK

But it shows American law-enforcement as the random lottery that it is

Six illegal immigrant day laborers sued a Westchester village in federal court Thursday, claiming they were being harassed by the police to keep them from soliciting work in public places. The workers claimed that new Mamaroneck village regulations and the selective enforcement of them were infringing on their right to free speech. They said it was unconstitutional to keep them from speaking with contractors who drive by to hire manual labor for repairing and landscaping area homes. The plaintiffs all used the name John Doe because they are illegal immigrants, said John Garcia, a spokesman for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represents them.

While immigration control has become a national political issue, immigrant day laborers, most of them Hispanic, have become increasingly visible in Mamaroneck and other suburbs, clustering in the early morning in hopes of getting a day's work. Three months ago, the village, which is 23 miles north of New York City, closed a parking lot area near Columbus Park that had been designated since 2004 as a day laborer pickup spot. Mayor Philip Trifiletti, who is named as a defendant, said Thursday that the area had attracted workers from far beyond Mamaroneck and as numbers reached 200 workers a day there were incidents of fighting, drug use and harassment of women.

He called the lawsuit, which was filed in White Plains, "misinformed and misdirected," saying workers are allowed to gather and be picked up along Mamaroneck Avenue near the old site. He acknowledged that numbers are down to 40 or 50 since the old pickup site was closed. Police Chief Edward Flynn, the other named defendant, would not comment.

The plaintiffs, all residents of the village, asked the court for an injunction that would block what they consider harassment and would allow them back into the old pickup site, which was closed because the developer of a condominium across the street complained about the laborers. With the lot closed to them, the laborers moved out to the edges of the park and the sidewalks, the lawsuit says, and the village then imposed traffic laws to keep contractors from stopping there.

In affidavits, the men said police have told them they cannot even stand on street corners. "Policemen have repeatedly parked their vehicles with lights flashing next to groups of Latino men on streets and sidewalks around the park," the lawsuit says. "When the men move to another place on the street or sidewalk, the policemen have followed them, effectively chasing them from place to place." One worker claimed that after he was picked up by a contractor, police pulled over the contractor's truck and forced both men to stay in the cab for two hours.

The lawsuit noted that the village turned down an offer from Westchester County to use some county property in the village as a hiring site. The suit was filed the day after County Executive Andrew Spano, in his State of the County speech, called for "less intolerance and more understanding" toward immigrants.

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OK TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WHITES

A federal jury has decided a Chicago Police commander did not racially discriminate against two lieutenants and a sergeant. But the jury still awarded the plaintiffs $325,000 because the city allegedly retaliated against them after they filed a racial discrimination complaint against the commander, Marienne Perry, in 2000. The verdict -- reached Monday -- provides $250,000 to Sgt. Nancy Lipman, $50,000 to Lt. Diane B. O'Sullivan and $25,000 to Sgt. Janice Roche.

In a lawsuit filed in 2001, the three plaintiffs accused Perry, who was commander of the Wentworth District, of removing white officers systematically and replacing them with black officers. Perry is African-American. Although the jury ruled against the plaintiffs on the race issue, it found the city had retaliated against Lipman, O'Sullivan and Roche after they filed a grievance against Perry on Sept. 27, 2000, for alleged racial discrimination and harassment.

The lawsuit claimed police agent Geraldo Garcia initiated false complaints against Lipman and O'Sullivan. The lawsuit also accused Perry of initiating a false complaint against O'Sullivan and Roche in retaliation for their filing the grievance against Perry. Court filings do not elaborate on why the jury ruled in favor of the city on the racial discrimination allegations and against the city on the retaliation allegations.

Perry, a 29-year department veteran, became a commander in 1999. After heading the Wentworth District, she was commander of the Calumet Area detective division. Last May, she was named commander of the Preventative Services Section. She declined to comment.

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Australian Do-gooders not happy with teenagers' freedom to order what food they want



McDonald's is supersizing burgers on demand, but is refusing to advertise these high-fat options. While the fast-food giant strongly advertises its "healthy" alternatives, it is feeding customers burgers that are double, triple and even quadruple their displayed menu size. At a Melbourne store this week, a Sunday Herald Sun reporter ordered a Quarter Pounder, but with four beef patties and four slices of cheese. The McDonald's staffer simply punched the Quarter Pounder ($3.25, with 28.5g of fat) request into the counter computer, added three extra patties and cheese slices and, presto, a "Full Pounder" ($8.35, with 55.5g fat) was born. Teenagers have given new names to the supersized versions of the well-known burgers. Also, there are the "Mega Mac" and the "Quadruple Cheeseburger".

The trend to fatten up the takeaway meal, not advertised or included on menus, is "the rage" with teens. They say they are getting better value for their money. Recommended daily fat dose for an adult is 60g. A spokesman for McDonald's, which has promised to change its menu to help combat Australia's obesity crisis, said stores did not offer upsizing, but allowed customers to make "grill orders" and "variations". Deakin University nutritionist Prof Tim Crowe said: "We love to get value for money, but this is just over consumption."

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