Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced €65 billion of “exceptional measures to exceptional circumstances,” of spending cuts and tax hikes to be carried out over the next two years:

• €3.5 billion in cut to public spending
• the number of public companies will see a “drastic reduction”
• cuts to civil servants benefits
• no more “Christmas bonus” for senior workers
• the selling of state assets including airports and railways
• 20 percent decrease in funding for unions and political parties
• 21 percent increase from 18 percent for the value added tax (VAT)

Unemployment in Spain is nearly 25 percent and the deficit is the central government is 3.4 percent of gross domestic product.

Clashes were already underway in Madrid. More than 8,000 miners have been on strike since the end of May and many had walked for three weeks to Madrid to a rally whose turnout would be, unions hoped, at least 25,000. At some point the protests saw police fire rubber bullets, demonstrators throwing fire crackers and rocks. At least 22 were injured and sevem arrested. The Guardian described the protests as possibly “the most serious protests we’ve seen in the eurozone for a few months.”

Ship builders in Greece were also on strike and thousands of doctors and nurses in Portugal.

Rumors have emerged, and are bring downplayed, of dissension within the leaders of Greece’s unity coalition. New finance minister Yannis Stournaras is being criticized for “failing to broach the issue of Greece’s demand to extend Greece’s deadline for fiscal adjustment.” Addressing the Greek Vouli (Parliament), Alexis Tsipris, leader of the radical left party Syriza, condemned Stournaras for in effect “surrendering” to Greece’s lenders about the terms of the bailout for Greece.

Besides strikes, Greece has seen an upsurge in attacks on immigrants, with most attributed to members of far right party Chrysi Avgi (Χρυσή Αυγη), the Golden Dawn.

In Ireland, even members of the middle class are turning to smuggling in items such cigarettes. The official price of a pack of cigarettes is about €9.20 due to the VAT; black market prices are about €3.20.VAT is 23 percent in Ireland.

Small wonder analysts, hearing of Rajoy’s plan to raise Spain’s to 21 percent, dubbed it poor medicine.

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NOTE: This is a guest blog post from Eileen Campbell, Director of Justice Campaigns at International Justice Mission.

On June 21st, the State Department released its 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report. The annual TIP Report provides a snapshot of the current state of human trafficking globally, and ranks nearly 190 countries–including the United States–into three tiers based on their efforts to combat the problem. Countries ranked on the lowest tier face the possibility of U.S. sanctions–diplomatic power that the U.S. can leverage to encourage other nations to strengthen their laws and devote increased resources to fight the crime.

Experts estimate that there are 27 million people living in slavery today–more than any other time in history. The modern slave owner traps hundreds of forced laborers in a South Asian brick kiln, makes thousands of dollars pimping minors on the streets of Sacramento, or holds migrant laborers captive on Florida’s tomato fields. The essential elements of what we think of as slavery are the same: the exploitation of one human being by another for profit.

Given our own nation’s history, fighting modern slavery is an issue that resonates deeply with Americans, and it has been a rare point of bipartisan cooperation in Washington. This Congress, however, has thus far failed to pass a critical piece of anti-trafficking legislation: The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). This bill renews the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which made human trafficking a federal crime and established the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to combat trafficking internationally and monitor progress through the annual TIP Report.

The Senate version of the TVPRA was introduced a year ago this month, and has garnered the support of 45 Senate co-sponsors. Although the bill cuts spending and passed out of committee in the fall, it has yet to be voted on by the full Senate, and has likewise stalled out in the House. The stalemate has bewildered activists and veteran lobbyists alike; as a New York Times editorial stated, “[p]assing a law to fight human trafficking and slavery is one of those bipartisan no-brainers that Congress used to be able to accomplish…”

Americans are making their voices heard on this issue–both to Congress and the White House. On the same day the TIP Report was released last week, 2012 TIP Report Hero and International Justice Mission President Gary Haugen, and Passion Movement founder Louie Giglio delivered a letter to the White House asking President Obama to boost U.S. leadership against modern-day slavery. The letter was signed by 73,000 Americans, including thousands of Care2 members. The enormous stack of names (about a foot and a half high) made a strong statement about Americans’ commitment to end trafficking.

As we pass the anniversary of our nation’s founding–a nation “conceived in liberty,” in the words of President Lincoln–Congress should come together again to rid the world of slavery, once and for all.

–
Eileen Campbell is Director of Justice Campaigns at International Justice Mission. International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM’s Justice Campaigns mobilizes people around the country in support of U.S. policies that will lead to the abolition of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Follow IJM Justice Campaigns on Twitter – @IJMCampaigns.

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The latest figures released by the Home Office in its annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals report show the number of animal experiments performed in the UK are at the highest they’ve been in 25 years, with a rise of 68,100 procedures in the last year alone.

The statistics, of course, don’t mention what exactly happened to these animals or how much they suffered, only which species were used and what percentage of experiments were mild, moderate or severe. Tests involving cats went up 26 percent, pigs 37 percent, birds 14 percent and fish 15 percent. Testing of rats was down by 11 percent, guinea pigs by 16 percent and dogs by 21 percent. The number of experiments being done on primates also declined.

Troy Seidle, Director of Research & Toxicology for Humane Society International/UK, called the report “deeply depressing news for science, medical progress and animal welfare.”

According to the Home Office, more than 3.79 million experiments were started in 2011. In 1987, 3.5 million experiments were reported. Animal advocates have found the increase to be at odds with government promises to reduce the overall number of animals used in research.

“You may be able to reduce the number of animals in specific areas, but the overall rise would tend to mask this. It’s something you can’t do in 12 months,” said Martin Walsh, head of the Animals Scientific Procedures division at the Home Office who calls the goal “a long-term project.”

Officials continue to claim that they’re promoting the 3R’s (reduction, refinement and replacement), but the numbers in the report tell a different story.

“The statistics show that last year, 35% of animal experiments were for fundamental biological research – much of it curiosity-driven, only 13% directly for human medicine or dentistry, and 43% of animal research was the breeding of animals with a Harmful Mutation or Genetic Modification (GM). The use of animals for fundamental research in universities has continued to rise (+7%). This rise in abstract/fundamental research, which does not involve trials for medicines, contrasts with the research industry’s public stance that research on animals is focused on testing cures for disease,” according to the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV).

Yet, researchers and politicians continue to claim that their use of animals is vital to human health, or they wouldn’t be doing it otherwise, and that bringing an end to vivisection will mean an end to exploring cures for currently untreatable diseases. Oddly enough, the number of cancer related experiments dropped by 10,200, while toxicology experiments (eye and skin irritation and developmental consequences) went up two percent to 399,000. Apparently getting more chemicals on the market is more important, or profitable, than helping cancer patients.

“The Government has so far got away with doing nothing on its post-election pledge to work to reduce the number of animal experiments. Millions of animals continue to suffer and die in our laboratories. This lack of progress is completely unacceptable. We need to see meaningful and lasting changes for animals in laboratories. The UK should be leading the way in reducing animal testing. Unfortunately, these latest statistics show that the trend is actually going in the opposite direction,” said the BUAV’s Chief Executive Michelle Thew.

“Furthermore, there is no evidence that all this appalling suffering is producing any meaningful benefit to humankind because the Government and research industry persistently refuse to subject animal testing to rigorous review.”

A separate report found 39 license infringements in the past five years, one incident killed more than 200 mice who drowned in flooded cages, while another incident at the same facility resulted in the deaths of nearly 200 rats who were believed to be contaminated by water that had leaked through the roof.

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