Showing posts with label Doom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doom. Show all posts
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Bad news for houndsmen...
.. and all hunters. David Zincavage reports, furiously, here.
From an unremarkable story, earlier:
"California Fish and Game commissioner Dan W. Richards travelled deep into the wicked terrain of Idaho’s Flying B Ranch to fulfill a long-held goal. “It was the most physically exhausting hunt of my lifetime. Eight hours of cold weather hiking in very difficult terrain. I told the guides I appreciated the hard work. They were unbelievably professional, first class all the way,” he said. Richards said he took the big cat over iron sights using a Winchester Centennial lever action .45 carbine. Asked about California’s mountain lion moratorium, Richards didn’t hesitate. “I’m glad it’s legal in Idaho.”
And now he is ousted from office:
"Although the kill was legal in Idaho, California has outlawed the hunting of mountain lions for decades. More than 40 state legislators called for Richards to resign in March, saying he showed poor judgment in killing the cougar when the practice is opposed by most Californians...[Michael] Sutton, an executive with the Audubon Society [who was at the same time elected Vice President of the Fish and Game Commission], said later that the killing of the lion and Richards’ comments defending it were factors in his decision to vote to replace Richards."
Zincavage: "The president of the State Fish & Game Commission is supposed, in California, to be out of line when he uses his office to speak in favor of hunting."
LA Weekly, though reporting that some comments against Richards were "pretty terroristy", is flat- out exultant:
"Needless to say, he was immediately attacked by every shade of the left -- from animal-rights crazies to some of the Legislature's most mainstream Democrats... [really?!]... although Fish and Game commissioners haven't explained specifically why they decided to vote Richards down from his throne today, it was clearly a symbolic move to kill the human who killed the beast... Let this be a lesson for all trigger-happy Republicans who dare to dream of swimming against California's blue tide: We'll eat your grin for dinner."
Several churning thoughts: is hunting in Cal really that partisan an issue, or just in a few big cities? What do some of my friends who are Democrats and hunters say, in and out of Cal? What does this bode for the politics of hunting, and the nation?
For certain, it is a black day for the hounds. I wonder who they will call when a lion next stalks, or eats, a runner. Will they let them use hounds?... even end up begging for them, when nothing else works? I wouldn't let my dogs step foot in California, where a coursing ban is on the agenda, and mandatory spay- neuter waits in the wings...
From an unremarkable story, earlier:
"California Fish and Game commissioner Dan W. Richards travelled deep into the wicked terrain of Idaho’s Flying B Ranch to fulfill a long-held goal. “It was the most physically exhausting hunt of my lifetime. Eight hours of cold weather hiking in very difficult terrain. I told the guides I appreciated the hard work. They were unbelievably professional, first class all the way,” he said. Richards said he took the big cat over iron sights using a Winchester Centennial lever action .45 carbine. Asked about California’s mountain lion moratorium, Richards didn’t hesitate. “I’m glad it’s legal in Idaho.”
And now he is ousted from office:
"Although the kill was legal in Idaho, California has outlawed the hunting of mountain lions for decades. More than 40 state legislators called for Richards to resign in March, saying he showed poor judgment in killing the cougar when the practice is opposed by most Californians...[Michael] Sutton, an executive with the Audubon Society [who was at the same time elected Vice President of the Fish and Game Commission], said later that the killing of the lion and Richards’ comments defending it were factors in his decision to vote to replace Richards."
Zincavage: "The president of the State Fish & Game Commission is supposed, in California, to be out of line when he uses his office to speak in favor of hunting."
LA Weekly, though reporting that some comments against Richards were "pretty terroristy", is flat- out exultant:
"Needless to say, he was immediately attacked by every shade of the left -- from animal-rights crazies to some of the Legislature's most mainstream Democrats... [really?!]... although Fish and Game commissioners haven't explained specifically why they decided to vote Richards down from his throne today, it was clearly a symbolic move to kill the human who killed the beast... Let this be a lesson for all trigger-happy Republicans who dare to dream of swimming against California's blue tide: We'll eat your grin for dinner."
Several churning thoughts: is hunting in Cal really that partisan an issue, or just in a few big cities? What do some of my friends who are Democrats and hunters say, in and out of Cal? What does this bode for the politics of hunting, and the nation?
For certain, it is a black day for the hounds. I wonder who they will call when a lion next stalks, or eats, a runner. Will they let them use hounds?... even end up begging for them, when nothing else works? I wouldn't let my dogs step foot in California, where a coursing ban is on the agenda, and mandatory spay- neuter waits in the wings...
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Important Reminder
... for anyone who breeds dogs or cares about the Old Ways: please write to oppose the new federal APHIS regs! Jess sums it up well:
"The comment period is to let APHIS know that there are problems with this new rule. It should be abandoned completely. Tell them. Do you plan to purchase a puppy that will be shipped to you? Tell them. Do you have a rare breed that depends on easy shipping to maintain genetic diversity? Tell them. Do you want to be able to buy from the breeder of your choice, whether that breeder is local or across the country? Tell them. Do you know breeders that will not be able to comply with the AWA regulations? Tell them."
This post is an essential example of the blog category "Read The Whole Thing". If these regs had been in place when I brought my three breeders back from Asia, the whole Querencia tazi family and strain would be nothing but imaginary, unfulfilled potential in Asia. Jess, who has a few more dogs than we do, would not be legally able to let her dogs sleep in her bed any more (seriously), by sudden and utterly arbitrary federal fiat.
Whether driven by a sinister conspiracy or "merely" invincible ignorance (I think chance determines more disasters than conspiracy but also that well- organized fanatics can move faster than the complacent majority), these regs must be stopped. Someone on another blog thought my use of the challenge or outright dare "Molon labe!" ("Come and take them...") was over the top. How would you feel if the government planned to casually destroy over a decade of your work and love, your intentional and careful breeding of a unique domestic animal in a tradition thousands of years old? Now multiply throughout the nation...
"The comment period is to let APHIS know that there are problems with this new rule. It should be abandoned completely. Tell them. Do you plan to purchase a puppy that will be shipped to you? Tell them. Do you have a rare breed that depends on easy shipping to maintain genetic diversity? Tell them. Do you want to be able to buy from the breeder of your choice, whether that breeder is local or across the country? Tell them. Do you know breeders that will not be able to comply with the AWA regulations? Tell them."
This post is an essential example of the blog category "Read The Whole Thing". If these regs had been in place when I brought my three breeders back from Asia, the whole Querencia tazi family and strain would be nothing but imaginary, unfulfilled potential in Asia. Jess, who has a few more dogs than we do, would not be legally able to let her dogs sleep in her bed any more (seriously), by sudden and utterly arbitrary federal fiat.
Whether driven by a sinister conspiracy or "merely" invincible ignorance (I think chance determines more disasters than conspiracy but also that well- organized fanatics can move faster than the complacent majority), these regs must be stopped. Someone on another blog thought my use of the challenge or outright dare "Molon labe!" ("Come and take them...") was over the top. How would you feel if the government planned to casually destroy over a decade of your work and love, your intentional and careful breeding of a unique domestic animal in a tradition thousands of years old? Now multiply throughout the nation...
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
If this model were law...
None of my dogs could breed (or have been bred); nor could virtually any dog I have had in New Mexico, nor my friends' dogs, all working hunters, all sound. EVERY DOG YOU HAVE EVER SEEN IN Q BLOG.*
Think about that when somebody says such "guidelines" are no threat...
Click on diagram to enlarge:
(Thanks to Jess)
*(No "titled" ancestors in Asia; no saluki registration so no "standard" to adhere to; and the longdogs and lurchers are not "purebred". The so- called "crosses" of Asian tazis and salukis are not considered so by the SCOA either although they are no more, or less, crosses than ones of Arab X Kurdish blood).
Think about that when somebody says such "guidelines" are no threat...
Click on diagram to enlarge:
(Thanks to Jess)
*(No "titled" ancestors in Asia; no saluki registration so no "standard" to adhere to; and the longdogs and lurchers are not "purebred". The so- called "crosses" of Asian tazis and salukis are not considered so by the SCOA either although they are no more, or less, crosses than ones of Arab X Kurdish blood).
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The end of Civilization?
This would be hilarious if it were a last- page ad satire in Wired. But somebody BUYS these. We. Are. So. Doomed
I was going to quit for the night with this but will post two real working rifles above. Their combined cost with scopes is less than this one's.
I was going to quit for the night with this but will post two real working rifles above. Their combined cost with scopes is less than this one's.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Why we won't shut up
Jess has taken down the post explaining why we fight against arbitrary breeding regs and requested I remove the link. I will let my own words stand for now.
Virtually EVERY DOG THAT APPEARS HERE REGULARLY, or that I have ever bred, is ineligible to breed under Los Angeles and fer Chrissake EL PASO rules, and arguably or at least practically speaking by Albuquerque ones, be they rare breeds, salukis blocked by SCOA factions because they come from improper countries or have "bad" colors, lurchers, or longdogs. I am tired of hearing (A) it won't affect me (B) I'll just ignore it (C) I live in a rural place. You know my favorite Trotsky paraphrase: You may not be interested in "X", but "X" IS interested in you.
More cheerful programming to resume soon. Below, useless forbidden mutts here and in Kyrgizstan.
Virtually EVERY DOG THAT APPEARS HERE REGULARLY, or that I have ever bred, is ineligible to breed under Los Angeles and fer Chrissake EL PASO rules, and arguably or at least practically speaking by Albuquerque ones, be they rare breeds, salukis blocked by SCOA factions because they come from improper countries or have "bad" colors, lurchers, or longdogs. I am tired of hearing (A) it won't affect me (B) I'll just ignore it (C) I live in a rural place. You know my favorite Trotsky paraphrase: You may not be interested in "X", but "X" IS interested in you.
More cheerful programming to resume soon. Below, useless forbidden mutts here and in Kyrgizstan.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Politicians & Animal Rights vs the right to breed YOUR dogs
By intention I don't do much politics here- I am neither partisan or, mostly, interested enough. But does ANYONE pay attention to the fact that one socially conservative Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, is in bed with HSUS, Wayne Pacelle, and the whole Animal Rights movement, and has been for many years? Worse, he seems to fly totally under the radar. If you care about hunting, or, especially, private dog breeding, Google “Santorum HSUS” or "Animal Rights" or even "Wayne Pacelle"...
A lot of nutty stuff left and right, approving and critical, is available, but some of real substance is up too. Many people think or comment "I'm against puppy mills." Fine, but much of the proposed legislation, like Governor Perry's below or some of Santorum's failed attempts, would not just ban commercial breeders (who in any case have the money to move, fight, rebuild their kennels in technical compliance, or otherwise evade). Such laws would have prohibited my breeding (all of five non- profit pre- homed unique sighthound litters so far), and/ or have stopped me from bringing over my entire hound family, including Ataika, Queen of the World, who we got and lived with for a month in Almaty-- she was among other things, including just IMPORTED (apparently inherently evil), under 6 months old. Think she would have been as social and civilized later?*
The very sane Bob Kane on Santorum's proposed 2005 PAWS bill:
"PAWS has virtually nothing to do with animal welfare or closing Animal Welfare Act "loopholes." It's a direct attack on U.S. hobby breeders, hunting dog owners and animal rescuers. PAWS federalizes hobby pet breeding."
And then there is his fellow Republican Rick Perry, who fails on dumbass grounds anyway but tends to pose as a red blooded western foe of bureaucracy. I call bullshit. From petbreedersandowners.com: “HB1451 created a new state agency, allows for entry into a private residence without the owners presence, establishes a public database to include the private information of pet breeders, established a bounty fund for animal rights activists to report pet breeders to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and is a contradiction of the key values supposedly upheld by Gov. Perry. These bills were heavily backed by the H$U$, ASPCA, PETA, and other animal rights groups, and promote their agenda.”
Statist meddlers & "botherers" both...
The results can be seen in Continental European countries, where an unholy alliance of government and closed registry breed clubs can now decide who is born. A friend in Germany wrote:
"But here in Germany it is very difficult to breed with brindle salukis. I think you remember the brindle Metzlers dogs. They tried to get permission to breed their bitch Bahia, but in the shows they only got a "good" and that is not good enough for the breeding permissions."
Priceless unique genetic diversity is being lost for no demonstrable reason at all, and it CAN happen here-- intact dogs of my AKC and Saluki Club unacceptable bloodlines are in peril of compulsory sterilization in Albuquerque because of former (Democrat-- stupid knows no partisan boundaries) Mayor Marty Chavez's Orwellianly- named HEART regs. Longdogs and staghounds, types prized and run in New Mexico longer than (I suspect) the authors of such regulations, are mere worthless "mongrels" of course.
[Elaborated from a comment of mine at Atomic Nerds.]
*Meanwhile it seems it is OK for urban shelters to import strays from Mexico to meet the demand caused by the "birth dearth" apparently resulting from too much compulsory spay neuter in pc precincts-- look it up...
A lot of nutty stuff left and right, approving and critical, is available, but some of real substance is up too. Many people think or comment "I'm against puppy mills." Fine, but much of the proposed legislation, like Governor Perry's below or some of Santorum's failed attempts, would not just ban commercial breeders (who in any case have the money to move, fight, rebuild their kennels in technical compliance, or otherwise evade). Such laws would have prohibited my breeding (all of five non- profit pre- homed unique sighthound litters so far), and/ or have stopped me from bringing over my entire hound family, including Ataika, Queen of the World, who we got and lived with for a month in Almaty-- she was among other things, including just IMPORTED (apparently inherently evil), under 6 months old. Think she would have been as social and civilized later?*
The very sane Bob Kane on Santorum's proposed 2005 PAWS bill:
"PAWS has virtually nothing to do with animal welfare or closing Animal Welfare Act "loopholes." It's a direct attack on U.S. hobby breeders, hunting dog owners and animal rescuers. PAWS federalizes hobby pet breeding."
And then there is his fellow Republican Rick Perry, who fails on dumbass grounds anyway but tends to pose as a red blooded western foe of bureaucracy. I call bullshit. From petbreedersandowners.com: “HB1451 created a new state agency, allows for entry into a private residence without the owners presence, establishes a public database to include the private information of pet breeders, established a bounty fund for animal rights activists to report pet breeders to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and is a contradiction of the key values supposedly upheld by Gov. Perry. These bills were heavily backed by the H$U$, ASPCA, PETA, and other animal rights groups, and promote their agenda.”
Statist meddlers & "botherers" both...
The results can be seen in Continental European countries, where an unholy alliance of government and closed registry breed clubs can now decide who is born. A friend in Germany wrote:
"But here in Germany it is very difficult to breed with brindle salukis. I think you remember the brindle Metzlers dogs. They tried to get permission to breed their bitch Bahia, but in the shows they only got a "good" and that is not good enough for the breeding permissions."
Priceless unique genetic diversity is being lost for no demonstrable reason at all, and it CAN happen here-- intact dogs of my AKC and Saluki Club unacceptable bloodlines are in peril of compulsory sterilization in Albuquerque because of former (Democrat-- stupid knows no partisan boundaries) Mayor Marty Chavez's Orwellianly- named HEART regs. Longdogs and staghounds, types prized and run in New Mexico longer than (I suspect) the authors of such regulations, are mere worthless "mongrels" of course.
[Elaborated from a comment of mine at Atomic Nerds.]
*Meanwhile it seems it is OK for urban shelters to import strays from Mexico to meet the demand caused by the "birth dearth" apparently resulting from too much compulsory spay neuter in pc precincts-- look it up...
Monday, August 01, 2011
More Doom
Birmingham, once one of the greatest gun centers in the world, has renamed its gun quarter.
"One of Britain’s oldest industrial areas has been renamed after council leaders claimed local people no longer wanted to be associated with the weapons of war.
"Opponents of the name change say the Gun Quarter has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
"But the move has been approved by council cabinet member for regeneration, Tim Huxtable, who said he was simply responding to public opinion.
"The council received a petition signed by just 50 people objecting to the name...
"Evidence produced by the council to back the move included a report from the Newtown Neighbourhood Forum claiming that “it is not wise” to retain the Gun Quarter because the area has suffered from gun crime and the name is also associated with the arms trade." (Arms trade? Well, of sorts-- see below).
The two parties did not line up as you might expect:
"The decision resulted in Coun Huxtable, a Conservative, being accused of political correctness by Sir Albert Bore, leader of the opposition Labour group.
Sir Albert (Lab Ladywood) said: “What kind of nonsense is it when we replace the Gun Quarter with St George and St Chad?
“Like it or not, and I am not into the arms trade myself, the Gun Quarter has a historical connection with this city. This is just political correctness.
"The decision was described as “a terrible shame” by the owner of Birmingham’s best known surviving gun maker, Westley Richards & Co." ("International arms traders"-- makers of six figure bespoke doubles!)
The locals seem generally unhappy. "Pauline Luke, who worked for 30 years in a company in the Gun Quarter, said the re-naming was “ridiculous”.
“Making guns is part of our heritage and something we should be proud of, not ashamed of,” she said.
"Her boyfriend, John Dangerfield, said: “Calling it after St Chad Cathedral makes sense but not St George – wasn’t he all about slaying and killing people?”"
Uh, yeah. "RTWT".
HT Vic Venters. And full disclosure: I own a Birmingham gun.
One more thought re Brit pop culture: not all that long ago, when Tom Baker was Dr Who, he could evoke knowing grins as he took a punt gun into the sewers of Victorian London to use against Weng Chiang's giant rat, "made of good Birmingham steel". Of course he also mentioned a fish dinner with the venerable Bede in the same episode...
"One of Britain’s oldest industrial areas has been renamed after council leaders claimed local people no longer wanted to be associated with the weapons of war.
"Opponents of the name change say the Gun Quarter has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
"But the move has been approved by council cabinet member for regeneration, Tim Huxtable, who said he was simply responding to public opinion.
"The council received a petition signed by just 50 people objecting to the name...
"Evidence produced by the council to back the move included a report from the Newtown Neighbourhood Forum claiming that “it is not wise” to retain the Gun Quarter because the area has suffered from gun crime and the name is also associated with the arms trade." (Arms trade? Well, of sorts-- see below).
The two parties did not line up as you might expect:
"The decision resulted in Coun Huxtable, a Conservative, being accused of political correctness by Sir Albert Bore, leader of the opposition Labour group.
Sir Albert (Lab Ladywood) said: “What kind of nonsense is it when we replace the Gun Quarter with St George and St Chad?
“Like it or not, and I am not into the arms trade myself, the Gun Quarter has a historical connection with this city. This is just political correctness.
"The decision was described as “a terrible shame” by the owner of Birmingham’s best known surviving gun maker, Westley Richards & Co." ("International arms traders"-- makers of six figure bespoke doubles!)
The locals seem generally unhappy. "Pauline Luke, who worked for 30 years in a company in the Gun Quarter, said the re-naming was “ridiculous”.
“Making guns is part of our heritage and something we should be proud of, not ashamed of,” she said.
"Her boyfriend, John Dangerfield, said: “Calling it after St Chad Cathedral makes sense but not St George – wasn’t he all about slaying and killing people?”"
Uh, yeah. "RTWT".
HT Vic Venters. And full disclosure: I own a Birmingham gun.
One more thought re Brit pop culture: not all that long ago, when Tom Baker was Dr Who, he could evoke knowing grins as he took a punt gun into the sewers of Victorian London to use against Weng Chiang's giant rat, "made of good Birmingham steel". Of course he also mentioned a fish dinner with the venerable Bede in the same episode...
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Queen Victoria's Hound?
Terence Clark sent a fine Landseer portrait from the 19th century of what appears to be a female saluki-- or, better, tazi; actually to my eye the dog seems eastern, Asian, even specifically "Turkmeni". She is doing the rarely portrayed "propitiating" smile and but for color resembles Ataika I think. Terence said, quoting the Country Life article, that it was a portrait of a dog called "Eos", a favorite of Victoria's, and could better be seen at this gallery.
Jess at Desert Windhounds was puzzled-- like all of us she is curious about what one might call non- traditional saluki provenance, and this one and the name Eos seemed disconnected:
"Eos was a greyhound belonging to Prince Albert, brought with him from Germany."
Terence suggested the dog in the painting might be one of two "Indian greyhounds"-- salukis-- that the younger Prince Albert (King Edward to- be) brought back from India in 1876, but Jess reminded him the dog in that painting couldn't have been one of the Indian salukis because Edwin Landseer died in 1873.
And why should we care? I do, at least, because with increasing efforts by scientifically illiterate breed fascists to restrict the term, and all legal breeding, to the descendants of forty- odd Arab dogs randomly selected by British colonial administrators in the early 20th century (apologies to Terence, an Arabic- speaking former diplomat who does NOT believe this!), we need all the evidence we can find of the high- quality "metapopulation" that runs from North Africa through Central Asia. Jess is on the track:
"According to The Year-book of Facts in Science and Art, John Timbs, 1839, from 1830 to 1837 eleven Persian Greyhounds [emphasis mine-- SB] were bred or kept in the Zoological Society Gardens. Which wouldn't include dogs in private hands.
"The Book of Sports, British and Foreign, 1843, has an account of Zillah (who was black and tan though I've never read that Landseer painted her), and mentions that at that time there was a dog at the Zoological Society Gardens, and one owned by the Duke of Devonshire, who owned several Landseer originals, and had one of his own dogs painted into "Laying Down the Law."
"I can find a record of a Landseer work called "Persian and Greyhounds" from 1837, but no image online."
Does anyone have any leads?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Some "Country" Music Videos: Nostalgia and Chills...
Not all "country" music is unsophisticated or even American. Here I give you a bunch of stuff I have been working through and following. Let us start with Tom Russell's classic "US Steel"-- a straight- up traditional country lament complete with sweet pedal steel, but set in Pennsylvania rather than on the border or even Appalachia, full of sad images of decaying industry. I sent it to Marty Stupich, who worked in and documented that mill in the 80's and now is photographing the abandoned smelter in El Paso, and to Retrieverman in West Virginia, who has been musing on such things. (I also suggested he look at a pre- doctrinaire Steve Earle in the stirring if slightly sinister "Copperhead Road" -- a mini- movie with echoes of Thunder Road. Rednecks strike back...)
Which suggested in turn Show of Hands' poignant "Country Life". No jobs... no pubs... even in the American west, are we following England down?
The next jump almost leaves the tradition-- Show of Hands provides the soundtrack to a traditional, rhyming poem turned strange, a very dark contemporary Christmas tale by Charles Causley, but the images in this version are adopted from Anime! I think it works. Causley changed Herod, the archetype of an arbitrary wicked king, into a more contemporary bogeyman, a sort of supernatural child molester, and put him in the English countryside. SOH gave him a soundtrack that stands at least MY hair on end. And the animator covered all this and added an apocalyptic edge-- look at the sky and feel the wind over the line "...melt in a million suns".
Enough doom! End your tour with "Longdog", a merry tale of a merry poacher and his lurcher, also by Show of Hands; a hunter- gatherer, a "Municipal Paleolithic Man" in action. If dogs are outlawed only outlaws will have dogs...
Which suggested in turn Show of Hands' poignant "Country Life". No jobs... no pubs... even in the American west, are we following England down?
The next jump almost leaves the tradition-- Show of Hands provides the soundtrack to a traditional, rhyming poem turned strange, a very dark contemporary Christmas tale by Charles Causley, but the images in this version are adopted from Anime! I think it works. Causley changed Herod, the archetype of an arbitrary wicked king, into a more contemporary bogeyman, a sort of supernatural child molester, and put him in the English countryside. SOH gave him a soundtrack that stands at least MY hair on end. And the animator covered all this and added an apocalyptic edge-- look at the sky and feel the wind over the line "...melt in a million suns".
Enough doom! End your tour with "Longdog", a merry tale of a merry poacher and his lurcher, also by Show of Hands; a hunter- gatherer, a "Municipal Paleolithic Man" in action. If dogs are outlawed only outlaws will have dogs...
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Clinton Loses It?
It is late at night but I don't THINK this is a hoax.
"President Bill Clinton has been named PETA’s 2010 Person of the Year, the animal rights organization announced Monday.
"Though he was famously a fan of Big Macs while in office, Clinton turned to a vegan diet this year for health reasons in advance of his daughter Chelsea’s wedding in July and has continued to forgo meat and dairy ever since, PETA’s Campaigns Assistant Media Manager, Amanda Schinke, told POLITICO via e-mail.
"The former POTUS has publicly expounded the virtues of veganism and has said he’s lost 24 pounds on his plant-based diet.
" "Bill Clinton won not only because he's the most prominent person to go vegan this year but also because he used his platform to articulate the reasons why a plant-based diet is the most healthy diet," said PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews. "And of course, it doesn't hurt that he has Chelsea's lead to follow. She went vegan at 10, though her motivation was simply not wanting to support cruelty to animals." "
In today's philosophical climate he is a "moderate".
Doomed...
"President Bill Clinton has been named PETA’s 2010 Person of the Year, the animal rights organization announced Monday.
"Though he was famously a fan of Big Macs while in office, Clinton turned to a vegan diet this year for health reasons in advance of his daughter Chelsea’s wedding in July and has continued to forgo meat and dairy ever since, PETA’s Campaigns Assistant Media Manager, Amanda Schinke, told POLITICO via e-mail.
"The former POTUS has publicly expounded the virtues of veganism and has said he’s lost 24 pounds on his plant-based diet.
" "Bill Clinton won not only because he's the most prominent person to go vegan this year but also because he used his platform to articulate the reasons why a plant-based diet is the most healthy diet," said PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews. "And of course, it doesn't hurt that he has Chelsea's lead to follow. She went vegan at 10, though her motivation was simply not wanting to support cruelty to animals." "
In today's philosophical climate he is a "moderate".
Doomed...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
More Dog Morons
Sari from our Asia Group sent me a link to this (nearly) unbelievable story about New Guinea singing dogs.
It begins: "The New Guinea Singing Dogs are the rarest in the world. Just 150 were known to exist before the bust at Randy Hammond's home. Now there are 235."
So they "rescued" and neutered them.
Was their owner abusing them? Even the idiotic story suggests not:
"The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture describes Hammond as a hoarder, and he's been charged with animal cruelty, among other offenses. Despite the 85 dogs living in 27 small enclosures, Wendt describes these fox-like canines who can climb trees as "pretty healthy...In the last two years, Hammond turned all his attention to care for his wife, battling cancer...Wendt says Hammond has been very cooperative with his group and law enforcement, and that he truly cares about the dogs, who are attached to him... The number of dogs "just exploded. It went from 50 to 85 dogs in two years," Wendt says. "That's when it turns into chaos."
First they were going to rescue them by-- what else? -- putting them down. (Vicki Hearne used to say ARists preferred all animals to be either cute or dead). But (the "caring" warden who arrested the owner, one Georgia) "...Martin wouldn't allow that. As Wendt writes in a note of thanks on the New Guinea Singing Dog International Yahoo site: ...(She) realized that these rare and special dogs needed a chance to survive..."
With no descendants-- genetically and evolutionarily dead. Sorry, I don't buy "too inbred" either-- why not breed out to some of those other rare dogs?
But the fix is in. No dissent mentioned in the story. Four "choices" to make about it-- "This story makes me happy/ inspired/ laugh/ intrigued"-- why not disgusted, appalled, murderous, depressed? And you can only comment on (Evil) Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg being a private arm of Big Brother...
When Big Nanny, AR, and moronic institutionalized "compassion" meet there are no civil rights and no fertile dogs. (Re)read Vicki Hearne. Me? I'll defend my own genetic gold. Molon labe.
It begins: "The New Guinea Singing Dogs are the rarest in the world. Just 150 were known to exist before the bust at Randy Hammond's home. Now there are 235."
So they "rescued" and neutered them.
Was their owner abusing them? Even the idiotic story suggests not:
"The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture describes Hammond as a hoarder, and he's been charged with animal cruelty, among other offenses. Despite the 85 dogs living in 27 small enclosures, Wendt describes these fox-like canines who can climb trees as "pretty healthy...In the last two years, Hammond turned all his attention to care for his wife, battling cancer...Wendt says Hammond has been very cooperative with his group and law enforcement, and that he truly cares about the dogs, who are attached to him... The number of dogs "just exploded. It went from 50 to 85 dogs in two years," Wendt says. "That's when it turns into chaos."
First they were going to rescue them by-- what else? -- putting them down. (Vicki Hearne used to say ARists preferred all animals to be either cute or dead). But (the "caring" warden who arrested the owner, one Georgia) "...Martin wouldn't allow that. As Wendt writes in a note of thanks on the New Guinea Singing Dog International Yahoo site: ...(She) realized that these rare and special dogs needed a chance to survive..."
With no descendants-- genetically and evolutionarily dead. Sorry, I don't buy "too inbred" either-- why not breed out to some of those other rare dogs?
But the fix is in. No dissent mentioned in the story. Four "choices" to make about it-- "This story makes me happy/ inspired/ laugh/ intrigued"-- why not disgusted, appalled, murderous, depressed? And you can only comment on (Evil) Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg being a private arm of Big Brother...
When Big Nanny, AR, and moronic institutionalized "compassion" meet there are no civil rights and no fertile dogs. (Re)read Vicki Hearne. Me? I'll defend my own genetic gold. Molon labe.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Dog Rant
The Lady With the Black Dogs (who happen to be "real" fierce staunch old- fashioned Afghans, rare today) sent me a note and a link, knowing it would provoke me and push all my buttons on genetics, bombast, and bullshit, not to mention on the kind of dog commercialism that makes AR types try to ban "backyard" breeders like me.
She gave me a link and wrote: "This bitch [the hound!- SB] is apparently desert bred - brought back by a GI ... the woman is trying to make a lot of money apparently ... didn't know if you'd seen it or not ..."
I have no intention of giving her a link and further publicity, though I am sure anyone here could use Google and find the site. I just want to present the issues to an intelligent audience, and sad experience has taught me there is no arguing with people who make statements like the ones below. What follows is a mildly edited version of what I sent to TLWTBD:
Re: And Now - Saluki-Doodles .... words fail me.
Well, not really <(;-))
Never mind her tired recycling of romantic (& fictional) Bedouin mythology: "Allah said to the South Wind, “Become solid flesh, for I will make a new creature of thee. I give thee the power of flight without wings.”
Never mind her long- outdated implication that salukis are 6000 years ancient IN ARABIA. They could well be that old but WE know where they come from, "salukis" and "black dogs" both! [Added for the blog post: that is, Asia, whether you favor Persia (Terence) Clark-- or the "Kyrgiz Steppe"-- now part of Kazakhstan- Altai/ Tian Shan-- me and many friends, both via the Silk Road. Everything from genetics and rock art to written accounts shows them very old in Asia, and points to their getting to Arabia about the same time as Islam. There are pix in CHINA older than that.]
(Incidentally if you don't follow it, lately the Arabs are displaying a mixture of conspicuous consumption greed-- Gulf sheikhs bringing in Euro show champs to cross with their desert dogs-- conceivably barring his color Irbis is more like an old Bedouin dog-- and fanaticism, as Salafists in Arabia and, sadly, Arab- influenced Afghans decide tazis are dogs after all and abandon them. I'll take the Asians, thanks).
It is not just this remarkable piece of natural history: "Most of the U.S.A. is not a hot desert and Salukis needs more fur! When temperatures fall to 45 degrees, I put Alice’s sweater on." I live in a near- desert I suppose but it's COLD. December and January days are usually in the teens and twenties, with nights going below zero or at least into single digits. Still, two of my five tazis CHOOSE to sleep outdoors (in good doghouses granted) including thin- coated 8 year old Lashyn who we are trying to persuade in; and another, the male Kyran, prefers his kennel on the unheated porch. ALL but Ataika who will jump the 8 foot fence if she gets bored stay outside all day; all hunt in any weather. (We won't even bring up your black dogs, a “different breed", or the good Af/sal/ taz crosses the kids are making in Texas, or Vladimir's slightly longer coated St Petersburg male, or the patterned "racing Afghan" coat one of my pups grows every winter in snowy N Utah and then sheds...)
It is not even her trashing the English language with such coinages as (ughhh!) "Salukidoodle".
No, it is this amazing statement (I would say "lie" but I don't know how un- knowing she may be): "To my knowledge, there are NO SALUKI PUPPIES for sale in the United States at this time", implying that her bitch, which she is mating to a poodle or labradoodle or something to "improve" it, is the only saluki brood bitch in the USA. (That they won't be "SALUKI PUPPIES" anyway seems almost beside the point).
And are there saluki puppies for sale at this time? Depends on the meaning of "at this time" I suppose, like Clinton's "is". In the last few years? MANY AKC show salukis, the vast majority, even if I have no love for them. Society for the Perpetuation of Desert Bred (SPDBS) salukis, including many of the Country Of Origin (COO) dogs in the country. [Prominent importer breeder's] Kurdish Iranian dogs, admirable dogs and a whole new gene pool. My three litters. Vladimir's first, and the one he is planning...
For the last three at least, and probably for any of the DB lines, demand exceeds supply, too. I guess words really do fail me on this one.
I see she recycles this bull also: "Historically, in the Middle East, one could not purchase a Saluki, because they were too precious. These dogs were gifts given by royal families to favored others.” Where to start? First, they are owned or were by everyone down to the poorest villagers-- certainly are in Kazakhstan & Turkey today-- so what is this “royal”? Second, people WILL give you a dog if they like you-- Atai and Kyran ended up almost free-- but there are always dogs for sale. One of the reasons Kostya Plakhov initially gave us Atai-- pick of the litter at that!-- was that he was offended that commercial tazi and falcon breeder Bulekbaev asked us for $800! By then the Plakhovs had realized we were as poor as they were and had gone into the hole to get to Kazakhstan, so we ended up with a better pup, for shipping & shots.
The Royal Gift thing is just a way of increasing one’s own self- importance. It reminds me of an oilman and his wife who contacted me just before I got Lashyn, explaining how I would never be able to get a tazi because they were, wait for it, “only given away to important people”--!! HE had one, of course. A brindle female. They brought her to the US, where he bragged that she was the only one.
Then, they neutered her.
I don’t know if I need any new wars at the moment but this pushes all my buttons.
Seems obvious she is trying to make big $$ from the ignorant or is clueless herself, the two not being mutually contradictory. Ironically they will probably be fine pups, even if "technically" MUTTS not an exotic breed-- remember that accidental poodle- Afghan cross my friend got, black, that looks like a taigan (I blogged here)? Great dog, but from a shelter for the price of shots!
In addition to my sheer distaste for dishonesty and my dislike of the perpetuation of disproved myths, let me give TLWTBD's the last word on why this crass commercialization is wrong:
"We've just had a horrible trauma of abused and starving Afs in a "show kennel" ... apparently intentional starvation if you can imagine .... and I am just in no damned mood for anyone who abuses these dogs for the sake of money or ego, or a scrap of cheap-assed ribbon to feed their self-absorbed egos.
"Anyway - I've tossed you the ball ... run with it - I wish there was some way to disabuse the general public of the idea that these dogs are "rare and unobtainable" or worse, that there is zillions of dollars to be made in breeding them ..."
She gave me a link and wrote: "This bitch [the hound!- SB] is apparently desert bred - brought back by a GI ... the woman is trying to make a lot of money apparently ... didn't know if you'd seen it or not ..."
I have no intention of giving her a link and further publicity, though I am sure anyone here could use Google and find the site. I just want to present the issues to an intelligent audience, and sad experience has taught me there is no arguing with people who make statements like the ones below. What follows is a mildly edited version of what I sent to TLWTBD:
Re: And Now - Saluki-Doodles .... words fail me.
Well, not really <(;-))
Never mind her tired recycling of romantic (& fictional) Bedouin mythology: "Allah said to the South Wind, “Become solid flesh, for I will make a new creature of thee. I give thee the power of flight without wings.”
Never mind her long- outdated implication that salukis are 6000 years ancient IN ARABIA. They could well be that old but WE know where they come from, "salukis" and "black dogs" both! [Added for the blog post: that is, Asia, whether you favor Persia (Terence) Clark-- or the "Kyrgiz Steppe"-- now part of Kazakhstan- Altai/ Tian Shan-- me and many friends, both via the Silk Road. Everything from genetics and rock art to written accounts shows them very old in Asia, and points to their getting to Arabia about the same time as Islam. There are pix in CHINA older than that.]
(Incidentally if you don't follow it, lately the Arabs are displaying a mixture of conspicuous consumption greed-- Gulf sheikhs bringing in Euro show champs to cross with their desert dogs-- conceivably barring his color Irbis is more like an old Bedouin dog-- and fanaticism, as Salafists in Arabia and, sadly, Arab- influenced Afghans decide tazis are dogs after all and abandon them. I'll take the Asians, thanks).
It is not just this remarkable piece of natural history: "Most of the U.S.A. is not a hot desert and Salukis needs more fur! When temperatures fall to 45 degrees, I put Alice’s sweater on." I live in a near- desert I suppose but it's COLD. December and January days are usually in the teens and twenties, with nights going below zero or at least into single digits. Still, two of my five tazis CHOOSE to sleep outdoors (in good doghouses granted) including thin- coated 8 year old Lashyn who we are trying to persuade in; and another, the male Kyran, prefers his kennel on the unheated porch. ALL but Ataika who will jump the 8 foot fence if she gets bored stay outside all day; all hunt in any weather. (We won't even bring up your black dogs, a “different breed", or the good Af/sal/ taz crosses the kids are making in Texas, or Vladimir's slightly longer coated St Petersburg male, or the patterned "racing Afghan" coat one of my pups grows every winter in snowy N Utah and then sheds...)
It is not even her trashing the English language with such coinages as (ughhh!) "Salukidoodle".
No, it is this amazing statement (I would say "lie" but I don't know how un- knowing she may be): "To my knowledge, there are NO SALUKI PUPPIES for sale in the United States at this time", implying that her bitch, which she is mating to a poodle or labradoodle or something to "improve" it, is the only saluki brood bitch in the USA. (That they won't be "SALUKI PUPPIES" anyway seems almost beside the point).
And are there saluki puppies for sale at this time? Depends on the meaning of "at this time" I suppose, like Clinton's "is". In the last few years? MANY AKC show salukis, the vast majority, even if I have no love for them. Society for the Perpetuation of Desert Bred (SPDBS) salukis, including many of the Country Of Origin (COO) dogs in the country. [Prominent importer breeder's] Kurdish Iranian dogs, admirable dogs and a whole new gene pool. My three litters. Vladimir's first, and the one he is planning...
For the last three at least, and probably for any of the DB lines, demand exceeds supply, too. I guess words really do fail me on this one.
I see she recycles this bull also: "Historically, in the Middle East, one could not purchase a Saluki, because they were too precious. These dogs were gifts given by royal families to favored others.” Where to start? First, they are owned or were by everyone down to the poorest villagers-- certainly are in Kazakhstan & Turkey today-- so what is this “royal”? Second, people WILL give you a dog if they like you-- Atai and Kyran ended up almost free-- but there are always dogs for sale. One of the reasons Kostya Plakhov initially gave us Atai-- pick of the litter at that!-- was that he was offended that commercial tazi and falcon breeder Bulekbaev asked us for $800! By then the Plakhovs had realized we were as poor as they were and had gone into the hole to get to Kazakhstan, so we ended up with a better pup, for shipping & shots.
The Royal Gift thing is just a way of increasing one’s own self- importance. It reminds me of an oilman and his wife who contacted me just before I got Lashyn, explaining how I would never be able to get a tazi because they were, wait for it, “only given away to important people”--!! HE had one, of course. A brindle female. They brought her to the US, where he bragged that she was the only one.
Then, they neutered her.
I don’t know if I need any new wars at the moment but this pushes all my buttons.
Seems obvious she is trying to make big $$ from the ignorant or is clueless herself, the two not being mutually contradictory. Ironically they will probably be fine pups, even if "technically" MUTTS not an exotic breed-- remember that accidental poodle- Afghan cross my friend got, black, that looks like a taigan (I blogged here)? Great dog, but from a shelter for the price of shots!
In addition to my sheer distaste for dishonesty and my dislike of the perpetuation of disproved myths, let me give TLWTBD's the last word on why this crass commercialization is wrong:
"We've just had a horrible trauma of abused and starving Afs in a "show kennel" ... apparently intentional starvation if you can imagine .... and I am just in no damned mood for anyone who abuses these dogs for the sake of money or ego, or a scrap of cheap-assed ribbon to feed their self-absorbed egos.
"Anyway - I've tossed you the ball ... run with it - I wish there was some way to disabuse the general public of the idea that these dogs are "rare and unobtainable" or worse, that there is zillions of dollars to be made in breeding them ..."
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Modern Fears
From Schneier on Security: the winning entry in contest he suggested, a litany of modern fears, in the style of the late great Edward Gorey:
The Gashlycrumb Terrors, by Laura
A is for anthrax, so deadly and white.
B is for burglars who break in at night.
C is for cars that, with minds of their own,
accelerate suddenly in a school zone.
D is for dynamite lit with a fuse.
E is for everything we have to lose.
F is for foreigners, different and strange.
G is for gangs and the crimes they arrange.
H is for hand lotion, more than three ounces;
pray some brave agent sees it and pounces.
I is for ingenious criminal plans.
J is for jury-rigged pipe-bombs in vans.
K is for kids who would recklessly play
in playgrounds and parks with their friends every day.
L is for lead in our toys and our food.
M is for Mom’s cavalier attitude.
N is for neighbors — you never can tell:
is that a book club or terrorist cell?
O is for ostrich, with head in the sand.
P is for plots to blow up Disneyland.
Q is for those who would question authorities.
R is for radical sects and minorities.
S is for Satanists, who have been seen
giving kids razor blades on Halloween.
T is for terrorists, by definition.
U is for uncensored acts of sedition.
V is for vigilance, our leaders’ tool,
keeping us safe, both at home and at school.
W is for warnings with colors and levels.
X is for x-raying bags at all revels.
Y is for *you*, my dear daughter or son
Z is for Zero! No tolerance! None!
Don't ignore the (prolific) original writer- artist either; here is a link to one appropriate work, The Gashlycrumb Tinies: "B is for Basil, eaten by bears". Betsy, Libby, and I were all separately Gorey fans, and I still have some first editions from Betsy. Peculiar grew up on these as well as outdoor adventure, but I don't think our odd ideas about children's lit warped him too much...
The Gashlycrumb Terrors, by Laura
A is for anthrax, so deadly and white.
B is for burglars who break in at night.
C is for cars that, with minds of their own,
accelerate suddenly in a school zone.
D is for dynamite lit with a fuse.
E is for everything we have to lose.
F is for foreigners, different and strange.
G is for gangs and the crimes they arrange.
H is for hand lotion, more than three ounces;
pray some brave agent sees it and pounces.
I is for ingenious criminal plans.
J is for jury-rigged pipe-bombs in vans.
K is for kids who would recklessly play
in playgrounds and parks with their friends every day.
L is for lead in our toys and our food.
M is for Mom’s cavalier attitude.
N is for neighbors — you never can tell:
is that a book club or terrorist cell?
O is for ostrich, with head in the sand.
P is for plots to blow up Disneyland.
Q is for those who would question authorities.
R is for radical sects and minorities.
S is for Satanists, who have been seen
giving kids razor blades on Halloween.
T is for terrorists, by definition.
U is for uncensored acts of sedition.
V is for vigilance, our leaders’ tool,
keeping us safe, both at home and at school.
W is for warnings with colors and levels.
X is for x-raying bags at all revels.
Y is for *you*, my dear daughter or son
Z is for Zero! No tolerance! None!
Don't ignore the (prolific) original writer- artist either; here is a link to one appropriate work, The Gashlycrumb Tinies: "B is for Basil, eaten by bears". Betsy, Libby, and I were all separately Gorey fans, and I still have some first editions from Betsy. Peculiar grew up on these as well as outdoor adventure, but I don't think our odd ideas about children's lit warped him too much...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
5000 Year-Old Scammer?
David Z (see below) sent us the latest on Hari Scam and and, amazingly, it is even more ridiculous than what has gone before.
"Among the mixed-bag films at Tribeca this year, Thorkell Hardarson and Örn Marino Arnason’s Feathered Cocaine was arguably the most mixed. Alan Howell Parrott, an American Sikh convert, introduced falconry to the Middle East, much to his eternal regret. Though falcon populations had held stable for centuries of falconry practice, Persian Gulf smuggling now threatens the noble birds with extinction, transplanting them to inhospitable climates and polluting their gene pool with designer hybrids."
This goes beyond everything being lies including and and the, though it all is. Does the film actually make these claims or are the reviewers crazier or lazier then the filmmakers? Where is the North American Falconers Association? Hell, where are the Wall Street Journal and New York Times?
As Matt says, re Hari's introducing falconry to the Middle East,"Parrot introduced falconry TO THE MIDDLE EAST???? Wow--I had no idea the man was 5,000 YEARS OLD!"
One more odd thought-- why is a guy whom most Salafist Islamists would consider a Hindu heretic, and a convert at that, getting invited to hunt with them? Why would he want to?
I'd really like to get some planned stuff on science, dogs, old guns, and more, with pix, up, but I still tire easily and this mole needs whacking. Besides, he'd be hilarious if he were less dangerous, and if seemingly sane people weren't taking him seriously.
"Among the mixed-bag films at Tribeca this year, Thorkell Hardarson and Örn Marino Arnason’s Feathered Cocaine was arguably the most mixed. Alan Howell Parrott, an American Sikh convert, introduced falconry to the Middle East, much to his eternal regret. Though falcon populations had held stable for centuries of falconry practice, Persian Gulf smuggling now threatens the noble birds with extinction, transplanting them to inhospitable climates and polluting their gene pool with designer hybrids."
This goes beyond everything being lies including and and the, though it all is. Does the film actually make these claims or are the reviewers crazier or lazier then the filmmakers? Where is the North American Falconers Association? Hell, where are the Wall Street Journal and New York Times?
As Matt says, re Hari's introducing falconry to the Middle East,"Parrot introduced falconry TO THE MIDDLE EAST???? Wow--I had no idea the man was 5,000 YEARS OLD!"
One more odd thought-- why is a guy whom most Salafist Islamists would consider a Hindu heretic, and a convert at that, getting invited to hunt with them? Why would he want to?
I'd really like to get some planned stuff on science, dogs, old guns, and more, with pix, up, but I still tire easily and this mole needs whacking. Besides, he'd be hilarious if he were less dangerous, and if seemingly sane people weren't taking him seriously.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Decline and Fall
Via Patrick; an English ex- soldier will be sentenced to five years in jail for finding a gun in a trash bin and returning it to the police:
"(His lawyer) also showed jurors a leaflet printed by Surrey Police explaining to citizens what they can do at a police station, which included "reporting found firearms".
"Quizzing officer Garnett, who arrested Mr Clarke, he asked: "Are you aware of any notice issued by Surrey Police, or any publicity given to, telling citizens that if they find a firearm the only thing they should do is not touch it, report it by telephone, and not take it into a police station?"
"To which, Mr Garnett replied: "No, I don't believe so."
"Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a "strict liability" charge – therefore Mr Clarke's allegedly honest intent was irrelevant.
"Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added."
No doubt about it-- England is Doomed!
"(His lawyer) also showed jurors a leaflet printed by Surrey Police explaining to citizens what they can do at a police station, which included "reporting found firearms".
"Quizzing officer Garnett, who arrested Mr Clarke, he asked: "Are you aware of any notice issued by Surrey Police, or any publicity given to, telling citizens that if they find a firearm the only thing they should do is not touch it, report it by telephone, and not take it into a police station?"
"To which, Mr Garnett replied: "No, I don't believe so."
"Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a "strict liability" charge – therefore Mr Clarke's allegedly honest intent was irrelevant.
"Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added."
No doubt about it-- England is Doomed!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Latest idiot news
A prep school destroys its library.
"James Tracy, the current headmaster, finds the whole idea of a library, and the objects they traditionally contain, positively quaint. Speaking to The Boston Globe, he actually said, apparently without embarrassment, “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books.”"
They really did it:
"Cushing is disburdening itself of its library’s 20,000 books and spending $500,000 to establish a “learning center” — the name, the Globe reports, is tentative, but whatever they settle on you can be sure the scare quotes will be appropriate. Of course, once you dump a library’s books, you have a lot of extra space to fill, so Cushing . . . will be spending $42,000 for some large flat-screen monitors to display data from the Internet as well as $20,000 for “laptop-friendly” study carrels. In place of the reference desk, the Globe reports, Cushing is building “a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.”
Meanwhile, in England, boy scouts can no longer use penknives. HT Tom Mcintyre.
John Derbyshire is right. We are DOOMED!
"James Tracy, the current headmaster, finds the whole idea of a library, and the objects they traditionally contain, positively quaint. Speaking to The Boston Globe, he actually said, apparently without embarrassment, “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books.”"
They really did it:
"Cushing is disburdening itself of its library’s 20,000 books and spending $500,000 to establish a “learning center” — the name, the Globe reports, is tentative, but whatever they settle on you can be sure the scare quotes will be appropriate. Of course, once you dump a library’s books, you have a lot of extra space to fill, so Cushing . . . will be spending $42,000 for some large flat-screen monitors to display data from the Internet as well as $20,000 for “laptop-friendly” study carrels. In place of the reference desk, the Globe reports, Cushing is building “a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.”
Meanwhile, in England, boy scouts can no longer use penknives. HT Tom Mcintyre.
John Derbyshire is right. We are DOOMED!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
More on the Murder Hollow Bssetts
David Zincavage takes on Patrick Burns' seeming complacence over the outrage. Also read the post below for a gut- wrenching description of what might happen to any multiple animal owner.
Did you know that PETA's new slogan is "There are NO good breeders!"
Did you know that PETA's new slogan is "There are NO good breeders!"
Thursday, August 06, 2009
A True Tale of Bureaucracy and Individuals
I posted this as a comment below but decided it could stand as a post.
Re "individuals" and beaureaucrats.
When Libby was in Bozeman an INDIVIDUAL woman who disapproved of Libby's keeping company with a hunter (really) got the town to go after our then third dog, as no one could keep three without all neighbors' permission. The town actually told us to put down one, our choice.
A law firm took us on pro bono, thank God. We won, but the bill, to the town, was $27,000. The town then appealed to the Montana State Supreme Court, who found again in our favor, costing thousands more. At the time Libby couldn't leave and we couldn't have afforded to pay the lawyers.
One of the low points was the neighbor's husband's perjuring herself by saying in court that my Goshawk's screaming was keeping him awake. I was able to prove that his hearing was remarkable; the Gos had been in NM for 6 months.
After it all one of the city councilmen told me: "You beat us on dogs. Now we are coming after your hawk. And if you beat us on that we'll come after your pigeons."
Now in Bozeman you must have all neighbors' permission for ANYTHING. I believe the regs say "if your neighbor has a problem you have a problem". As the feed store owner sadly told me: "This used to be Montana".
I see no reason NOT to fear such monstrous violations of freedom, unless perhaps you have millions to fight them. That is why I consider bureaucrat- free zones like Mongolia, Kazakhstan (yes), Wyoming (outside of Jackson perhaps) and Catron county (guns mandatory, no other bureaucracy wanted). Albuquerque, with virtually no public input, rushed in the most stringent AR regs in the country.
You are not paranoid when they are after you.
Re "individuals" and beaureaucrats.
When Libby was in Bozeman an INDIVIDUAL woman who disapproved of Libby's keeping company with a hunter (really) got the town to go after our then third dog, as no one could keep three without all neighbors' permission. The town actually told us to put down one, our choice.
A law firm took us on pro bono, thank God. We won, but the bill, to the town, was $27,000. The town then appealed to the Montana State Supreme Court, who found again in our favor, costing thousands more. At the time Libby couldn't leave and we couldn't have afforded to pay the lawyers.
One of the low points was the neighbor's husband's perjuring herself by saying in court that my Goshawk's screaming was keeping him awake. I was able to prove that his hearing was remarkable; the Gos had been in NM for 6 months.
After it all one of the city councilmen told me: "You beat us on dogs. Now we are coming after your hawk. And if you beat us on that we'll come after your pigeons."
Now in Bozeman you must have all neighbors' permission for ANYTHING. I believe the regs say "if your neighbor has a problem you have a problem". As the feed store owner sadly told me: "This used to be Montana".
I see no reason NOT to fear such monstrous violations of freedom, unless perhaps you have millions to fight them. That is why I consider bureaucrat- free zones like Mongolia, Kazakhstan (yes), Wyoming (outside of Jackson perhaps) and Catron county (guns mandatory, no other bureaucracy wanted). Albuquerque, with virtually no public input, rushed in the most stringent AR regs in the country.
You are not paranoid when they are after you.
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