Author: John Royce

China drafts first-ever animal protection laws

china_tang_horse-biting-legI found this to be a topic with some ugly background, but here’s good news … if it happens:

The legislation, drawn up in consultation with the RSPCA, will include provisions to both protect pets and cover how farm animals should be raised, transported and slaughtered. It will also deliver protection for captive wildlife and laboratory animals.

Past efforts to promote animal protection legislation in China have met with steady failure. Possibly, hopefully, this action will lead to a step forward. No great leap requested. We’ll see.

Further reading: “Chinese Animal Protection Law and Other Matters”

Helsinki International Horse Show

FEI_WC10_Oslo_Pius-SchwizerThe second European qualifier for the World Cup of Show Jumping was held over the weekend in Helsinki, Finland.

The on-fire Swiss rider Daniel Etter and his mount Peu a Peu won the event in a 10-horse jumpoff to match their World Cup Qualifier victory last weekend in Oslo. USA rider Lauren Hough on Quick Study took second only 1.08 seconds behind the leader, the best result for a US rider in this early season.

European World Cup Jumping is an exciting indoor series because of the large public crowds and media attention. Show jumping was originally developed in Europe and still leads the world in spectators and dynamic, innovative presentation of the sport.

World Cup Show Jumping: European League Opens in Norway

Meredith_Michaels_Beerbaum__ShutterflyThe European season of World Cup Show Jumping opened today in Oslo, Norway.

The World Cup is an extensive series of indoor qualifiers across the globe, leading to the Finals in April.

It is an interesting odd fact that horse jumping is a  young sport: the ability of horses to jump with a rider was not discovered until the 1700’s. This intriguing competition continues to grow in popularity worldwide. The Show Jumping World Cup series was only begun in 1978, and today the series is contested in 14 leagues on every continent.

In essence, Show Jumping’s World Cup is the sport’s annual international indoor championship. Since the 1950’s, Show Jumping has evolved into a year-round sport, and the tight, colorful, electric atmosphere of indoor jumping is very different than the galloping expanses of outdoor courses. Some horses go better indoors, some prefer outside–this difference in challenge makes for interesting jumping competition year-round.

On the Trail of History

If history may be said to be the memory of the human race, it seems subject to many of the same failings of accuracy and interpretation. We see this even in our most recent history: for example a national self-image embraced bytrail-of-history some which holds America to be a militaristic warrior-race which “won” WWII, rather than the gentler truth that we were beloved as the good guys who did not continue war-making but instead helped rebuild Europe.

If even recent incidents can be mis-interpreted (or mal-interpreted), can events further in the past can be accurate and valuable?

An answer is in corroborative evidence that points to explanation, such as archaeological remains that support period documentation. Art is a hugely valuable window into the heart of a culture. Diaries, journals, new items, accounting records—there are many forms of documentation that can lend credence to historical truth.

Without honest inquiry none of this matters but, even with this impulse, how can one find relevance to our own experience? Is it relevant, say, that as our Roman forebears grew prosperous, a merchant class rose that militarized the culture, formed corporations to buy up land in Italy and dispossessed the working class farmers, replacing the food crops with vineyards which led to starvation and the grain dole and the creation of the infamous masses?

These things happened … do they matter today? If so, how to talk of this in a corporate world with a focus that leaves such history uncovered? Is it necessary to careen from disaster to disaster as humanity has done for millennia, or can we use history to connect the dots and create a better world for all of us?