Ecolog:
Humans aren't perfect, and thinking they are is their greatest defect.
However, if we are to lay claim as the most intelligent of species, we will
have to strive toward improvement in our understanding of reality rather
than simply accept "old ways" out of romanticism, cultural relativism, and
its ugly stepchild, political correctness.
Humans, like all other animals, have periods of goofy behavior, and some of
it gets enshrined. I was raised in a hunting culture that valued clean kills
and abhorred unnecessary infliction of pain or any form of torture. Pulling
the wings off flies, for example, was a sure sign of a screwy kid. Some
people would say that any killing at all is an abhorrent practice; others
would say that agriculture is highly destructive of ecosystems.
A. H. Maslow once said that intelligence consisted primarily of the ability
to distinguish the superior from the inferior. He didn't say it was easy,
nor did he say that it was prevalent or consistent.
Even the recent history of the USA reveals torture, even as part of
governmental policy, but dogfighting must be conducted in secret and is
pilloried (ain't irony grand?) by society when discovered, and is illegal.
At one time it was fairly common. Racism is part of our history, and it
still reigns in the minds of some . . .
The question is, is a given change for better or for worse? Does it advance
society or retard it? What does it do to or for ecosystems?
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "malcolm McCallum" <malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 1:53 PM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Bullfighting
Back in the 1970s my uncle (Douglas McCallum) in Joliet did a pencil sketch
of a bullfighter.
IT is a great picture, my uncle was an artist who did quite a bit of pretty
good stuff in the 70s
before he got injured and could no longer do it. Anyway, just as he
finished the drawing, people
started raising awareness of animal welfare issues associated with
bullfighting. So, here he
had this wonderful picture and no where to market it because of the stigma.
My mother loved
the picture and he gave it to her for christmas or something. Anyway, it
hands over my parents
sofa in the living room. It is a fantastic drawing of a significant part of
Mexican and Spanish
culture.
It is interesting to me that bullfighting, whether we like it or not, is one
area of culture that might
be better disbanded, but is still a part of history and its cultural and
historical significance still
remains. There are many aspects of culture that are completely at odds with
society.
The difficult part is balancing where do we draw the line between cultural
taboos and modern
cultural values. We are increasingly faced in a broadening global society
with cultural
practices that stand very counter to our own values. I have no answers for
how we deal
with these conflicts, but it is important to recognize that such conflicts
are more significant than
the usual kinds of strife that we in american and the remainder of western
society generally
deal with.
Malcolm
On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 6:48 AM, William Silvert <cien...@silvert.org>wrote:
Since we recently had an exchange about the Catalonian ban on
bullfighting,
I thought that this account of a bull fighting back might be of interest.
Ironically this was not a regular bullfight but rather a macho game of
bull
dodging. Sort of the opposite of a Portuguese bullfight, where the bull
charges into a row of young men who try to wrestle it to the ground (the
horns are covered with wood, but the bull can still do a lot of damage).
Raging bull rams spectators in Spain
AFP AUGUST 19, 2010 7:20 AM
A bull leaps out of the arena at a bullring in Tafalla near Pamplona,
northern Spain on August 18, 2010, and charged into a crowd of terrified
spectators. Some 30 people were injured.
Three people, including a 10-year-old boy, remained in hospital Thursday
with injuries suffered when a bull charged into a crowd of terrified
spectators at a bullring in Spain, local authorities said.
Spanish television showed dramatic images of screaming spectators,
including children, frantically trying to avoid the rampaging animal after
it leapt several metres (yards) over a security barrier and then clambered
over a fence and into the crowded stands Wednesday evening.
The animal stumbled around the stands before falling down several steps,
crushing more people, at the bullring in the town of Tafalla, in the
northern Navarra region.
Several employees of the bullring finally managed to get a rope around the
bull after about 15 minutes, and it was killed and removed by a crane.
The Navarra regional government said 32 people were treated at hospitals
and clinics. Most suffered minor injuries such as bruising and were
released, but three remained hospitalized Thursday.
A 10-year-old boy was in serious but stable condition with "abdominal
trauma" after the bull fell on him, it said in a statement.
A 23-year-old woman was being treated for a crushed vertebrae, and a
47-year-old man for wounds suffered when he was gored in the lower back.
Both were in stable condition.
In addition to the 32, "several more" suffered shock or minor scratches
and
bruises, the statement said.
The incident did not take place during a traditional bullfight but during
a
contest of "recortadores", in which participants try to dodge the bull
while
staying as close to it as possible.
The bull, named Quesero, had already twice tried to jump the barrier
during
the event, breaking one of its horns, and was about to be removed from the
arena when it launched itself into the crowd.
"I was terrified. I ran out of the stadium, crying," one young woman told
the television of the neighbouring Basque region.
Another young woman said, "people started to fall over each other . . .
Then I couldn't find my friends, what happened was awful."
"I have never felt so afraid. I'm still shaking," one of those injured
told
the ABC newspaper.
"The bull had already made a few attempts, but I was relatively calm. And
suddenly, I saw that the animal had jumped and, after staying stuck on the
fence for a few seconds, it came over. Then there was chaos . . . There
was
stomping, pushing, shrieks, blows."
The Navarra government said most of the spectators were young people who
were able to react in time to avoid the bull, or the number of casualties
could have been far higher.
Such incidents are very unusual at bullfights. Although the animals
occasionally manage to leap the security barrier they very rarely get into
the stands.
Wednesday's incident came amid intense debate in Spain over the
centuries-old tradition of bullfighting.
The northeastern region of Catalonia last month became the first part of
mainland Spain to ban the practice, which animal activists condemn as a
form
of torture and others see as part of the country's cultural heritage.
In a recent opinion poll, 60 per cent of Spaniards said they do not
approve
of the spectacle, which ends with the death of the bull from a well-placed
sword.
Navarra, where Tafalla is located, is famous for the traditional "running
of the bulls" in the regional capital of Pamplona.
Dozens of people are injured each year when the runners try to outrace
bulls which charge through the old town's narrow streets to a bullring
where
a bullfight is staged.
© Copyright (c) AFP
--
Malcolm L. McCallum
Managing Editor,
Herpetological Conservation and Biology
1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert
1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,
and pollution.
2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction
MAY help restore populations.
2022: Soylent Green is People!
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