#8 may

Finally, it was official: the war in Europe was over, May 8, 1945.

World Donkey Day 

Visit a petting zoo, or simply do some research into the underappreciated, stalwart, useful and intelligent beasts of burden known as donkeys.

World Donkey Day is a show of respect for one of the most enduring and respectable animals in the Equidae family. Throughout history, it has served throughout the world as both a mount and a beast of burden in some of the most challenging terrains and forbidding climates, and has done so with pride and endurance. It’s unsurprising that these beasts’ success is due in part to their stubborn nature, and World Donkey Day honors them for this along with their other, perhaps more laudable, traits.

History of World Donkey Day

Two subspecies of the donkey, the Somalian and the Nubian, were bred together to produce what we think of as the modern Donkey. Available evidence points to the Donkey having been working alongside humanity since 4000 BCE, most likely in Nubia, as a more versatile and resilient pack animal than the ox they were presently using. Since then they have been bred and transplanted all over the world as cultures moved, and the world expanded, and can now be found just about everywhere.

They’re also the progenitors of the sterile mule, a cross-breeding of horse and donkey that results in a breed with the strengths of both. Sadly mules are almost entirely sterile, and the exceptions so rare that no breeding stock of pure mules has ever been able to be achieved, in part due to there having yet to be recorded a case of a breedable mule stallion. Strangely, there have been cases where female mules have birthed what are, for all appearances, pure horses when bred with a horse.

Without the help of donkeys, it is hard to imagine that the modern world could ever have come into existence. These hardy pack animals provided civilization with the motive energy needed to generate wealth, well before the advent of steam power or electricity. For that reason, many people consider donkeys just as fundamental to our society as writing, pottery, and metallurgy.

World Donkey Day is all about celebrating their stoic spirit and individual charm. These creatures aren’t afraid of a hard day’s work. In fact, they more or less invented the concept. Donkeys pull carts, operate mills, and carry cargo for miles and miles, well after other species would have given up. For that reason, they have a special place in our hearts. They’re willing to put in the effort (for no pay) all to serve us – their grateful human masters.

World Donkey Day is the brainchild of Raziq Ark, a scientist whose interests primarily concern desert animals. Around ten years ago, he noticed that nobody was celebrating the humble donkey for its efforts in helping people all over the world improve their quality of life. In recognition of all this hard work, he set up a Facebook group, chronicling the trials and tribulations of the species all over the world. Eventually, the idea to set up a World Donkey Day emerged in 2018, and we’ve been celebrating it ever since.

The concept drew widespread attention in the media. The Daily Express, for instance, ran an article covering ten facts that people don’t know about donkeys. Did you know that a female donkey is called a Jenny? Ark also has thousands of followers on his Facebook page, all showing their support for this amazing creature.

Donkeys have played an essential part in human history. Ark says that they are a “precious genetic resource and a great gift of nature.” You can’t get higher praise than that!

How to celebrate World Donkey Day

The best way to celebrate World Donkey Day, depending on where you are, is merely to research these incredible beasts and the role they had to play in the world. If you’re somewhere you can take a Donkey Ride tour like the Grand Canyon or tours of certain abandoned mines then that’s an even better way to become acquainted with these adorable long-eared equines. World Donkey Day reminds us that we owe a large part of our success on this planet to these fellow travelers on the starship Earth.

There are plenty of other ways that you can show your support to donkeys all over the world and improve their wellbeing. Many of them are in constant pain and need attention fast. Often their owners are too poor to pay for a veterinarian, so it falls to the rest of us to take up the slack. Donating to a donkey charity, therefore, is a great way to show your support for these fabulous creatures directly. Currently, there are a handful of nonprofits working hard all over the world to deliver medical attention to neglected and abused animals. These charities use donated money to provide much-needed treatment to donkeys in their hour of need.

Donkey abandonment is another major issue. Many owners will dump their donkeys at the side of the road if they can no longer afford to take care of them. The animal must then scavenge for food to survive. Giving to a donkey charity, therefore, can provide these victims with shelter where they can live in safety and peace.

Donkeys are beautiful, but neglected creatures. World Donkey Day is a chance for everyone who cares about these animals to highlight their plight and do something practical about it. Are you in?

Past Michael thinks you're doing well, Cal. Past Calum isn't so sure.

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May 8, 1945, is a day of glory for many countries in Europe, rightly so. Nazism has finally been defeated, and it was a relief. But in Algeria, it is a day of national mourning. On that day, the Algerian people took to the streets to demand the release of Messali Hadj, leader of the PPA ( Parti du peuple algérien ), considered at that time one of the most important figures in Algerian independence, a better equality between French people and algerian people, a true vote and not rigged in favor of the settlers. After all, a lot Algerians had participated in the liberation, so why not grant all their demands? Protesters were asked not to display the Algerian flag, but a young man named Bouzid Saâl proudly waved the Algerian flag. A policeman shot him, and he died. Other demonstrations were also brutally suppressed. For example, in Guelma, the deputy prefect Achiary took advantage of the situation to arrest a large number of Algerians, torture them, or kill them. This was followed by a crackdown around Setif in Constantine, where a peasant uprising resulted in around a hundred deaths (of pieds noirs). This led to another disproportionate repression against Algerians, lasting over a month, during which the deaths of these pieds noirs served as a convenient pretext for further repression. In addition to the army, colonial militias participated in the killings, arbitrary arrests were commonplace, and there were even places in Guelma where Algerians were burned alive. The famous writer Kateb Yacine, then a high school student, was arrested while participating in a demonstration, beaten, and several members of his family were killed. Duval would later claim that he gave France peace for 10 years, which is prophetic because many disillusioned Algerians, rightly angered by this umpteenth injustice, inequality, discriminatory laws, and daily repressions, would eventually join the Algerian revolution that began in 1954. De Gaulle, who was in power, approved of everything Papon ( Papon who after having persecuted Jews in France by adopting anti-Semitic decrees, is preparing to do the same thing in Algeria)and Achiary did (it is even possible that de Gaulle gave the orders, because at least he approve them).

This is one of the reasons why I am among those French who do not admire him. Stalin was rightly vilified, but de Gaulle and Churchill escaped such condemnation (you can also see what de Gaulle did in Cameroon to be horrified). What I mean is that as someone who has fought against all double standards, I totally disapprove of the killings of civilian pieds noirs, but we often forget that the colonized were much more massively killed and in total indifference. For the entire French political class, May 8, 1945, is clearly not one of their finest moments (to put it mildly).