Very well said!!!! :)
By the way, i was not intending to say anything positive or negative about
bullfighting in itself, but rather asking that people think about how
different cultures can be! :) Clearly, David got it! :)
On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 7:29 PM, David Duffy <ddu...@hawaii.edu> wrote:
> I hadn't wanted to get involved in this bull (fighting) session but we all
> tend to have a certain perspective that we think is the one true right one.
> However, I am reminded of an example of the Yupik and other Native Alaskans
> who are appalled by fly fishing, while many more recent arrivals in the
> Americas consider as the highest truest form of fishing. The Yupik instead
> consider it as "playing with your food" and this is not something a grownup
> and moral person does, sort of like bull fighting. You only fish if you are
> going to eat it and you never torture your food.
>
> So one man's fly fishing is another's bull fighting. The lesson is that
> cultures distinguish themselves from one another by finding something
> repulsive in the other.
>
> David Duffy
>
>
>
>
> At 10:53 AM 8/19/2010, malcolm McCallum wrote:
>
>> 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!
>>
>> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any
>> attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
>> contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
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>> the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and
>> destroy all copies of the original message.
>>
>
>
>
>
> David Cameron Duffy
> Professor of Botany and Unit Leader
> Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU)
> University of Hawai`i
> 3190 Maile Way St. John 410
> Honolulu, HI 96822-2279
> (808) 956-8218 phone
> (808) 956-4710 fax / (808) 956-3923 (backup fax)
> email address: ddu...@hawaii.edu
>
>
--
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!
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any
attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not
the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and
destroy all copies of the original message.
