I Will Not

No, I will not 'chip in' some money because I signed a petition.

No, I will not review my visit to a physician.

No, I will not review my purchase of a package of dish cloths.

No, I will not sign a petition so the company or the nonprofit can then bombard me with emails. 

No, I will not donate to a GoFundMe for some random person.

No, I do not, and I will not, create an account.

No, I will not donate to any politician regardless of party.

What’s with all the requests for me to review a visit or a purchase? These things are always worded in such a way that negative responses are very difficult to make and very rare to add. I really doubt that my review of a package of dishcloths made in India is going to add value to anybody's shopping experience.

So please, stop bombarding me and everybody else with countless requests for money or reviews. Enough already.

Life Without

 I saw something online this morning, one day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered, that struck a chord.

The poster prayed that Kirk's death will serve as a wake-up call so that no more spouses, children, parents, relatives and friends will have to experience life without a loved one.

Just imagine if this prayer becomes reality. What if people didn't have to live life without .. food, shelter, education, security, personal safety, recognition (the kind we all need, not the kind celebrities crave), positivity and hope.

The only things people should be forced to live life without are scarity, fear, abuse, hunger, persecution and all the other things that we should no longer have to fear.

What a world devoid of life without wouold be. We can't create a world in which no one is forced to live a life without, but shouldn't we at least try?

Let Us Never Forget

 On this 24th  anniversary of worst terror attack in American history, I believe that Sept. 11 should be a national holiday. 

It should be a day to remember all those who died that day while going about their daily lives. September 11 should join other days of remembrance such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day. We should cancel Columbus Day, which is a minor holiday celebrated by the federal government, but not by anyone else. And it is an insult to Native Americans who resent having to honor a man who enslaved and killed so many of their ancestors.

Let us instead honor the nearly 3,000 innocent people who died on that beautiful September day in 2001. Let us also honor those first responders -- police, firefighters and paramedics -- who rushed in to help the victims. Sone 343 New York firefighters and paramedics died that day. An equal number later died of 911-related illnesses.  

Seventy two peace officers died in the line of duty on September 11, with an additional 229 who died of related illnesses.

These attacks killed people of all ages, from young children to senior citizens. They killed US citizens and immigrants. They killed men and women, people of all races, ethnicities and , religions. 

And let us honor the survivors who will forever carry the physical and emotional scars of that day. Let us honor all who were forever scarred by the memories of Sept. 11, 2001. 

Let us remember how Americans came together in the aftermath of that terrible day, in love and support of each other and of this great nation. It didn't matter the gender or nationality or economic status of the victims. We came together as one nation, united in grief. People lined up to donate blood. Other nations, including our adversaries, offered their condolences and their assistance. Our race, out ethnicity, our religion, our political beliefs, ididn't matter. What did matter was that our country had been viciously attacked, and our fellow Americans had died.

Now, more than two decades later, our country bears no resemblance to the united nation we became on that horrible day. Politians go out of their way to attack colleagues of the other party. People feel emboldened to murder those with whom they disagree. Despite the dangers of forcing a religion on others, Republicans are trying to force the United States to become a Christian nation.

Seeing what our country has become and what is happening to our freedoms and rights literally makes my stomach churn.

Let us work to regain the sense of a common humanity, a nation united, that we experienced in the aftermath of this horrible day. Wei need to work on rekindling that sense of unity, that sense of togetherness.

As NBC News anchor Lester Holt commented at the conclusion of a story looking back on the aftermath of 9/11, "What has happened to us?"

Above all, let us never forget.

Our Country Is Broken

It's been obvious for a while that our country is broken. 

There aren't just tears in the fabric of our country. There are gigantic chasms in our country. The chasms are so large that I wonder whether we will survive.

If you don't like somebody, grab a gun and shoot them. If you don't agree with someone's politics, grab a gun and shoot them. If somebody cuts you off in traffic, grab a gun and shoot them. If you disagree with someone's religion, just grab a gun and shoot them. If you want to add a bit of excitement to your life, grab a gun and shoot somebody for fun. This is the world in which we live.

It doesn't matter whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, a socialist or whatever. Gun violence is not the answer.

I have been around for some seven decades. I have never seen the country where I was born, the country in which I grew up and was educated and worked, the country I love, in such a mess.

Reasoned political discussions are non-existent. We live in a world of threats and insults, starting with the highest political positions in the land. Everything, including our beloved national parks and lands, are for sale to the highest bidder. Political appointments go not to the most qualified, but to those with the most money offered and to those who put loyalty to politcs above loyalty to the Constitution. The rule of law means nothing. There is one set of laws for the wealthy and well connected, another for the middle and working classes, and still another for immigrants.

Can the fabric of our country and of our society be repaired? If it can be, what is it going to take to start the repair process? To start the healing process? 

Welcome to America 2025.

Let’s Do Better on This and Future National Dog Days

Why are we still killing millions of dogs and cats every year?

I today, on National Dog Day, seems an appropriate, if somber day to talk about this. I worked for a large California humane society from 1980 to 1988. Although I didn't work with animals directly, I was nevertheless impacted by the constant influx of dogs and cats. I wrote and published the humane society's quarterly magazine, I provided the photos for the magazine, and I photographed cruelty cases to document them for prosecurtion. 

Now, some 35-plus years later, we are still slaughtering dogs and cats at a rate of between 2.7 million and 4 million every year. Sure, some of these animals are unadoptable due to to illness, injury or behavioral issues. But the vast majority of these companion animals is adoptable, if only someone wanted them.

I have adopted 15 dogs over the course of my adult life. Most came from animal shelters or humane societies, although a few were from rescue groups or were adopted directly from their previous families. Several were purebred dogs, but all were rescues. None were purchased from breeders.

Animal shelters require that adopted animals be spayed or neutered. My Jenny was spayed by her rescue group when she was just a few months old -- too young in my opinion. But clearly far too many people don't have their animal companions spayed or neutered. And clearly far too many don't take the steps necessary to prevent their animals from breeding.

Low cost clinics are available in most areas, so the cost of the procedure isn't the real reason for the population boom. Letting a female dog or cat "have just one litter" so the kids "can experience the miracle of birth" is BS. If people want their kids to experience the miracle of birth, they should also experience the miracle of death on a mass scale.

I had one dog who never got neutered. I was advised to wait until he was at least 2 years old to give the growth plates in his bones time to close. He died of meningitis when he was 2 years and 3 months old. Had he lived, he would have been neutered. Likewise, my daughter's golden retriever will be neutered when he turns 2 in October. She already has made the appointment. 

Dogs bring so much to our lives. They give us unconditional love. They serve as eyes for the blind and ears for the hearing impaired. Some can detect epileptic seizures and diabetic shock before anything bad happens. They can track and apprehend criminals. They can detect hidden narcotics and cash and weapons with amazing accuracy and efficiency. Some dogs can detect cancer and Covid. They are our alert system and our guardians. And they’re joyful, happy and often playful.

Dogs give so much more than they receive. And they deserve so much better.

Being Woke

The far right uses the word woke as a slur or an insult.

I don't see it that way. I hope I live up to the ideals of being woke. If being woke means I am kind, that I wish the best for others regardless of where they are from, where they live or whom they love, then I will wear this description with pride. Being woke doesn't mean I am a communist or a fascist. It means simply that I strive to be a good human.

To quote the late Pope Francis, "Who am I to judge?"

 

 

Do You Like to Eat?

So, do you like to eat?

Then think about this: No farmers, no food.

No bees, no food.

No field workers, no food.

No water, no food.

This brief and simple statement is terrifying. I don't know about you, but I enjoy eating. And now with the roundup of farm workers - - you know, the folks who toil in the hot sun harvesting our fruits and vegetables - - either being deported or being too scared to go to work for fear of being deported, who is going to do the hot, dirty, backbreaking work on which our food supply depends? 

One member of the regime has suggested that once the work requirment for recipients of Medicaid kicks in, there will be lots of people to do the dirty agricultural work. Sure, that 65-year-old granny will be a great field worker, right? 

And now, thanks to the current regime in Washington, farmers have lost valuable markets for their crops. Food is rotting in the fields. Grocery prices are skyrocketing.

And now that our longstanding environmental protections are either under attack or have been removed completely, bees and water are ar risk. Without bees to pollinate crops, and without adequate unpollueted water to irrigate plants, we will have no food.

I am not a big eater, especially since I lost my ability to smell or taste food as a result of a respiratory infection (long before covid came on the scene). But I still must eat. I love fresh fruit, the summer fruits in particular. So while I have a stockpile of non-perishable foods, i cannot stockpile fresh fruits and vegetables. 

With the threat of climate change, increasing temperatures and drought, the lack of field workers to harvest our produce and the destruction of environmental protections by the current regime, our food supply is increasingly at risk. We know that higher prices due to tariffs (the Trump tax) on imported foods are already showing up. Expect prices to go even higher. And there may be shortages down the road as well.

So, all you people who enjoy a fresh salad or a good steak (many slaughterhouse workers are brown-skinned immigrants), enjoy it while you can.