Turkish Dogs - particularly Anatolian Shepherd Dogs

Helmut at Hurley US Open of Surfing

2009-07-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Fun! Geno sent me pics today, some of which have Helmut's perspective of Hurley's US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach.

To read a little more about it and see a slide show, see the OC register, or OrangeCounty.com. Or visit the official US Open of Hurley site: http://www.usopenofsurfing.com/.

Judging by the various slide shows, there were thousands of people at the beach! I saw some pictures of little dogs in some of the slide shows. Very likely Helmut will turn up in another picture collection of this event too. I wonder if the camera dude in the orange shirt marked STAFF, got some pics of Helmut too. :)

Health Care charts

2009-07-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Keeping busy these days. Lots going on. I'll keep this one short, lol.

Two health care flow charts:

Obama Care

Free Market

Speaking of health, during some of my recent downtime, I got a chance to watch a lot of "Andromeda". I never paid much attention to it while it was originally airing (I'm so indifferent to TV and have no TV habit). James rented or bought most all of the whole series and I've really enjoyed the persistent theme of hope that runs through the whole series. My favorite character in the show (aside from Captain Hunt) is Trance.

Legal Broadcasting Network - Mandatory Spay and Neuter - 3 interviews

2009-06-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Lately, way too much going on. Thought I get this one posted at least! I have some nice photos from my crew, and also updates from Helmut. :)

For the ongoing stuff... Legislative session continues as we work to prevent Mandatory Spay and Neuter from being implemented statewide.

Head over to LegalBroadcastNetwork.com to see video interview regarding MSN from three champions people who love their dogs.

"The LB Network is the home base for lawyers across America as well as the professional networking page of The Legal Broadcast Network. It’s entirely Free to join and it opens the door to the future of professional networking and media for attorneys."

Dog Regulations Run Amok? The CDOC vs The City of Los Angeles

No area of the law or regulation creates more controversy and passion then anything linked to dogs, cats and other domestic pets and the lawsuit brought by Concerned Dog Owners of California (CDOC) against the City of Los Angeles over their mandatory spay and neuter regulations is no exception. Last year they filed a lawsuit to over turn the mandatory spay and neuter regulations imposed on all dog owners in the City, in which set dates for spay and neuter are established, civil and administrative penalties are outlined and entire categories of dog breeders, owners and hobbyists now fall under increasingly strict laws and oversight...

Interviews are with:
David Frei - Westminster Kennel Club
John Jensen - lead attorney on the lawsuit against the City of California
Cathie Turner - Executive Director of Concerned Dog Owners of California

the videos are also archived here.

For up-to-date info on California animal law lobbying issues for the first half of 2009, go to True Agendas.

HSUS's 3 Rs -vs- Animal Welfare (AWIC) 3 Rs

2009-05-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

Ohmidog! blog has a blog post titled, "What's that Wayne Pacelle really up to?"
A sort of devil's advocate posting? :)

OhMiDog! says:

Some critics say HSUS has a secret “vegan agenda” — that it wants to take our steaks away. As a meat lover, and a smoker, and a person who likes smoked meats, I say, even if that were the case, so what? The animals I eat deserve a spokesperson.

Secret Agenda? No secret.

Remember Readin', Ritin', and Ritmatic? Those are the three Rs that are the basis of an old time education, of course.

HSUS and Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) each have published versions of their own three Rs.

First see Animal Welfare's (via AWIC's) point of view as it refers to the use of animals in science. Science is dear to my heart as is microbiology, aspects of clinical medical technology and research. I've worked in clinical medicine, grown many types of microorganisms and am familiar with animal components as used in a scientific diagnostic laboratory.

USDA's, AWIC has a presentation on their version of the three Rs' which seeks to educate scientists on ways to minimize animal use or harm to animals in order to meet animal welfare standards. Find it on the page above...
Under WORKSHOPS /and then/ WORKSHOP MATERIALS.
From a PDF slide show. The three R's mentioned are.

* Reduction -Minimize the number of animals used.

* Refinement -Employ techniques that reduce pain and distress.

* Replacement -Substitute animal with nonanimal methods or lower organisms.

NOW... Wayne Pacelle/HSUS mentions three Rs in a blog entry:

We believe in the Three Rs [my formatting below]

* reducing the consumption of meat and other animal-based foods;

* refining the diet by eating products only from methods of production, transport, and slaughter that minimize pain and distress; and

* replacing meat and other animal-based foods in the diet with plant-based foods.

It's no secret.

Here's another NonSecret, there is absolutely NO such thing as a vegan.

NO on SB 250!

2009-05-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

This legislative session in California has really been a PAIN. We have a little problem in that California spends money like a bimbo and creates legislation to force compliance with any number of Politically Correct fads and hairbrained schemes without considering the collateral damage to businesses and farms. Additionally the voting population is not really involved with their own government. I guess we all like to believe that there are checks and balances and that our Constitution will prevail. If you are suspicious, you must be a tin foil hatter. Anyway, California is paying for these sins, left and right, and YET... while we are dealing with these mistakes, our pathetic government continues to pass more pork because of ideas that 'sound good' to the citizens.

If you want to cut right to the chase and do stuff about this bill, go here, a google document page where I have placed essential contact information and instructions on what to do.

The mandatory spay and neuter bill is one such idiot package. SB 250 is our current reincarnation of AB 1634 which did not pass last year when our legislators found the bill to be fundamentally flawed. However the people anxious to pass the bill are trying again. It does NOT work. It will be a disaster for our farms and for millions of dollars income for the state. Furthermore, the premise of the bill presents a false problem and presents an equally false solution!

Charts from saveourdogs.com -click to enlarge
See SAVE OUR DOGS for detail and more issues about Mandatory Spay and Neuter (MSN)

Why are some places passing this bill? In Los Angeles, it passed because the promoters flippantly stated (LIES) as if it were fact that Santa Cruz's problems would be helped with MSN. But as you can see from the chart, they are an unmitigated FAIL. Additionally, since Los Angeles willingly used false info to get the bill passed, they too have increased kills and are not solving their original problem. The first step in solving a problem is to correctly identify it.

The hydra strategy.......
The thing is now, the MSN groups are undaunted with their total failures. They seem to think that their failure is not due to them analyzing their problem but is due to all other people that do not have MSN. Thus, they have multiplied their 'divide and conquer' strategy; it resembles the life form known as a hydra. They have chopped up the bigger goals so that the smaller pieces can pass first and like that hydra, the small bits rebuild into a monster. The multiple bills come together after passage, with many complicated ordinances that can be much worse than the original big bill because the smaller ones are amended further and include even more invasive bits tacked onto them.

Read the news and you will see this in action--HSUS lobbyists go to the legislators of other states and say "your state is behind on animal care issues; this and that bill passed in California and other states." This makes legislators think it's really "by the people" since the other states were 'won' and they become convinced that HSUS represents mainstream thought. This is beyond disingenuous, but this is what they are doing.

HSUS and others in the extremist groups discuss this strategy to educate their peers in how successful it is and get sleepy little towns with their boards of supervisors swinging happily from imaginary "progressive" monkey vines.

JQP becomes part of the problem as they sit back and let these laws be enacted without seeing the need for checks and balance.

Anyway, a great post was on another of the forums I read, so I will copy bits of it here. Some of this material is revived from when we were fighting AB 1634.

http://www.ahba-herding.org/AB1634.htm*

It estimated* the benefit dogs give to California ranchers at *about *$140 million.* Add to that about *$1.3 million* boosting local economies by *herding trial exhibitors.*

another

The AKC conducts ongoing research regarding the economic benefits of our events, and our estimates conclude that these exhibitors contributed approximately *$92 million* to local California economies.

Registries such as AKC (American Kennel Club) and CFA (Cat Fanciers of America) conduct ongoing research regarding the economic benefits of our events, and their estimates conclude that these exhibitors contribute nearly 100 million annually to local California economies. This is the contribution from dog and cat shows and does not include the money spent on vets, groomers, handlers, supplies, pet food, etc.

* So far, this looks like AKC dog shows, CFA cat shows, herding trials and working ranch dogs contribute at least $233.3 million to California's economy every year. * This doesn't include hunting trials and other canine performance events including Schutzhund events, sighthound courses, UKC or ARBA dog shows, etc.

Senate Bill 250 is the linchpin on which all the other HSUS-backed radical animal rights bills depend. Sen. Florez -thinks California can afford to lose these animals, their genetics and their owners? In addition to the *$65 million lost by Long Beach* when AKC cancelled the Eukanuba contract a couple of months ago?

See SAVE OUR DOGS (on Twitter)/web for more updates. See True Agendas (on Twitter)/web for frequently updated brief details.

Fight SB 250! (instructions link again)

Science and Veganism

2009-05-29T01:51:00.001-07:00

Realists celebrate the human/animal bond. Much of the quality of our lives depends on this relationship.

Public health is important. We would not have clean public water nor much commercial food for ourselves or for the animals we care for, without the use of the animal components in laboratory testing media. In the laboratory we prepare tests using media which helps to differentiate the different types of microorganisms, based on what we are looking for. Here's one page showing a type of media used for testing samples for coliforms.

Products cleared for public health standards must pass minimum requirements imposed via technology used in public safety. Restaurants (even "vegan" ones), canneries and more must be able to pass public health requirements with clean standards. Produce such as lettuce, tomatoes, legumes, some nut products, pet foods, as well as lemon festooned drinks (see video) have recently been in the news--for they were contaminated with bacteria that did not meet passing levels. This contamination cannot be determined by use of a coin toss. Coliforms are natural occurring. They are everywhere. On doorknobs, the skins of grapes or on the surfaces of any coinage in your pockets.

Here's an interesting dichotomy. Vegans actively seek consumables such as vitamins, foods and clothing that are not dependent on animal sources or which somehow fit their individual definition of "cruelty free". White sugar and over the counter pregnancy testing involve animal media, and are therefore not vegan. This viewpoint seems rather selective as the same vegan sips from a glass of water or can of soda, or uses public water in their bathing and cooking. Veganism clearly does not exist in reality. Vegans may mean well but tend to languish in scientific denial. I prefer the term, vegetarian. It is certainly more honest. I have vegetarian friends and family members and I do enjoy vegetarian dishes. This commentary only seeks to address the fact that selective denial as practiced by vegans should not be part of our policy making and political processes which influence the balance of good that we (including "vegans") all enjoy because of technology. Imagine if public water and food safety testing ceased.

Using this dichotomy... This denial of reality is used by Animal Rights political groups to condone their activities. These political groups and including Animal Rights Terrorists selectively make targets out of attention getting issues which they feel will not compromise the faith and following of their support groups. In other words, keep the ignorance there, use bad "science", but use this source of ignorant energy to attack others.

Divide, and conquer. What a shame. Imagine what we could accomplish by working together for the goals of human and animal welfare.

That H₂O from the faucet or a plastic bottle; those frozen snow peas, cans of mixed vegetables and Wayne Pacelle's jar of 'vegan' peanut butter are clean foods because of animal products. Vegan irony? Or simple Reality? You'd probably be hard pressed to find a vegan that processes their own sewage using vegan technology and no coliform testing to produce potable water.

There's probably no question that it is good for businesses to find niches to support. Sellers of vegan goods are only doing what is right for them, for business and our economy by appealing to this population. Remember, when people wanted to use 'cholesterol free' vegetable oils, companies knew that putting the 'cholesterol free' label onto these veggie oils could make the difference between making a sale, and not.

So much technology! Why do we need animal testing when we can simulate some things? The answer lies in the complicated realities of unique cellular systems, epigenetics, genome and more. It is not possible to program computers for scenarios when we have insufficient data upon which to base predictions.

"Soybeans and Livestock blog" recently used the following list of charities to remind all, just how much we rely on animal testing and animal media. The charities below are purportedly working to help improve some aspects of life. I'm not making recommendations. Even charities need checks and balances.

If you support reality and research, please consider signing the petition at Americans for Medical Progress and sharing balanced knowlege to discourage ignorance and discourage support for organizations that play on the ignorance of the masses.

*Charities on the People For the Ethical Treament of Animals (PETA) “Do Test” (on animals) List:

AIDS/HIV

1. American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR)

2. Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

3. Pediatric AIDS Foundation

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

4. Alzheimer’s Association

5. Alzheimer’s Disease Research

ARTHRITIS

6. Arthritis Foundation

BIRTH DEFECTS

7. March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation

8. Muscular Dystrophy Association

9. Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children

10. Shriners International Headquarters

11. The Smile Train

12. United Cerebral Palsy

BLIND/VISUALLY IMPAIRED

13. Foundation Fighting Blindness

14. Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund

15. Research to Prevent Blindness

BLOOD

16. American Red Cross

17. Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc

18. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America

19. National Hemophilia Foundation

BURNS

20. Shriners Burn Institute/ Shriners International Headquarters

CANCER

21. American Cancer Society

22. American Institute for Cancer Research,

23. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation

24. Cancer Research Foundation of America

25. Children’s Cancer Research Fund

26. City of Hope

27. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

28. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

29. G & P Foundation for Cancer Research

30. The Jimmy Fund

31. John Wayne Cancer Institute

32. Lance Armstrong Foundation,

33. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America

34. Lombardi Cancer Center

35. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

36. National Cancer Research Center

37. National Foundation for Cancer Research

38. Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research/Lombardi Cancer Research Center,

39. The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

40. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

41. Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

42. The V Foundation for Cancer Research

CHILDREN

43. Boys Town National Research Hospital

44. Children’s Cancer Research Fund

45. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation

46. Children’s National Medical Center

47. Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

48. The Jimmy Fund

49 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF),

50. Pediatric AIDS Foundation

51. Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children/ Shriners International Headquarters,

52. The Smile Train

53. Society for Pediatric Pathology

54. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

55. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Alliance

DEAF/HEARING-IMPAIRED

56. Boys Town National Research Hospital

57. Deafness Research Foundation

DIABETES

58. American Diabetes Association,

59. Joslin Diabetes Center

60. Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International

ELDERLY

61. American Federation for Aging Research,

EMOTIONAL/BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

62. National Alliance for Research of Schizophrenia and Depression

63. National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

EPILEPSY

64. Epilepsy Foundation of America

HEART

65. American Heart Association

66. National Heart Foundation

KIDNEY

67. Kidney Foundation of Canada

68. National Kidney Foundation

LUNG

69. American Lung Association

MISCELLANEOUS

70. Alliance for Lupus Research

71. American Brain Tumor Association

72. American Digestive Health Foundation

73. American Health Assistance Foundation

74. American Liver Foundation

75. American Tinnitus Association,

76. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALS)

77. BNI Foundation,

78. Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America

79. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

80. Endometriosis Association

81. Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

82. Huntington’s Disease Society of America

83. Lupus Foundation of America

84. National Multiple Sclerosis Society

85. Project A.L.S

PARALYSIS

86. American Paralysis Foundation

87. Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation

88. Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association

89. Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

90. Paralyzed Veterans of America

PARKINSON’S DISEASE

91. American Parkinson Disease Association

92. Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

93. National Parkinson Foundation

94. Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Inc.,

STROKE

95. National Stroke Association

VETERANS:

96. Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association/Paralyzed Veterans of America

Follow my Tweets

Busy May!

2009-05-28T01:57:00.000-07:00

Trying to keep track of where all the time goes is just impossible these days. I've certainly had a lot of distractions.

Yummy stuff. Dragon Boat Festival is coming up soon (June 8). Mom doesn't cook any more so her vegetarian or traditional version of zongzi will not happen this year. I did find a page with a pretty classic version of zongzi, and am really happy with the find. Google images of this traditional Chinese food stimulates the appetite for me! :) Of course, it's a pretty huge undertaking (like making homemade tamales but since they are bigger servings, goes quicker) so I'll be trying to find a local place where I can pick some up premade.

Something new to me that I learned this month came by way of Marlene in an email where she mentioned chicken diapers. I had to find a site that featured them to learn more about this oddity and now it doesn't really seem that odd. Chicken diapers allow chickens to kept as house pets. Chickens do make really sweet affectionate companions, except for the occasional rooster from heck (they can get dangerous if they are unpredictable and aggressive, especially if their spurs are long an untrimmed). Some roosters have very nice personalities. If you do not have a good ratio of hens to roosters, your hens will get rather bedraggled; the roosters are pretty randy guys. My chickens have always been livestock and live outside except for that period of time that they need to be under the heat lamp--new peepers from the post office are always exciting! A sick or injured bird however, would be kept in the house, in a cat crate where I could give it attention through the day. It's so easy to imagine making a house pet of one. Imagine a pet rooster waking you up from your headboard in the morning. No snooze button? Maybe some corn scattered on the floor! And you get a few eggs a week from your hen, but if she has no nest, every day could be an Easter egg hunt. :)

HSUS was pretty interesting in the recent week. A stable link to the WSB exposé on HSUS is here. It's been quite an eye opener to see the obsessive levels to which censorship can happen.

Other finds this week. The Library of Congress has some famous and interesting photos on its own Flickr account. From a pit bull chat forum, I learned about this beautiful blog where a man travels on his bike with his pit bull who rides a sidecar. They have beautiful photography there. Check it out, Ara and Spirit's blog, The Oasis of My Soul.

A really funny video. I always wince when it looks like people are getting hurt, but overall, I really had a good laugh with this one. :)

I've had a Twitter account for many months but didn't make much use of it. I've found it very handy for following issues in legislation, foodie blogs, posts about science, agriculture, my breed, genetics, games, humor, photography, news, photo editing and seriously, all manner of other things that interest me. I've added a sidebar to this blog that shows my latest 'tweets' and connects to my Twitter profile.

Crusade against HSUS and Comic Relief from a Ninja Cat :)

2009-04-25T12:36:00.001-07:00

Helmut at the beach with a Great Dane. (pic from earlier this year, via Geno) It's just always great to see happy pics and good news about dogs. :)

'Animal Wrongs' seems to be a better and more accurate phrase than 'Animal Rights' as practiced by HSUS, PeTA and other supporters, including some local animal shelters. Lots of reports suggesting reform abound, but they are still killing pets as they see fit and making it difficult for pet lovers to keep their rights. Seems counter intuitive regarding 'humane' organizations but until reform happens, we still have quite a fight at hand.

Seen on Craigslist

CA AB1122: WHY HSUS DOESN’T WANT “TRANSFERS” OF ANIMALS
April 19, 2009
How does HSUS Work Against Pets+Owners?

HSUS passes laws (HSUS has almost 200 laws for this year) then uses those laws for cases it plans to bring forward, then uses those cases in their incremental process to bring down both interstate commerce and pet ownership, kennels, pet stores, dog breeders, along with difficulties for agriculture and other animals.

We can guarantee that the CA Prop 2 (battery cages) will come back to haunt us in pet ownership, or farming. HSUS will probably find some other ways to outlaw farm animals or make a huge problem for farming–after all HSUS right NOW is trying to outlaw all “non-native” species including birds, herps,guineas,ferrets, turtles and many other common species in the USA that have been owned for 50-100 years.

Ownership in the law, is of the highest legal nature, and as a concept, usually means the ultimate control over the item owned. It also usually refers to having the control legally over such item (property) and also the right to use it for as long as is allowed in the law, and in many instances, to bring a lawsuit where the owner’s rights are affected. Guardianship does NOT necessarily mean any of the same things, which is why animal rights prefers it over “owner.”

CA law has statutes that show one of the main incidents of ownership in property, is the right to TRANSFER it (Bias v Ohio Farmers Indemnity Co (1938) 28 Cal.App.2d 14,16). Or, “A common characteristic of a property right, is that it may be disposed of, transferred to another.” (Douglas Aircraft Co. v Byram (1943) 57 Cal.App.2d 311, 317)

Thefore we can see why Peta wanted to take possession/ownership of different animals because after they owned them, they could just dispose of them in the garbage dump (after killing them via lethal injection)—and they suffered no consequences. [Actually it appeared there was fraud in the procurement of the animals but we don't know if they were hit for that.]

And, we can see why HSUS doesn’t want animals TRANSFERRED to others because that’s an element of OWNERSHIP.

The obvious next step for HSUS is to claim if animals can’t be sold or transferred, then that means THEY ARE NOT PROPERTY.

HSUS is currently trying to outlaw the use (import, export, transport, breeding) or movement in interstate commerce of any non native species via HR669 in Congress by using the Lacey Act. See the PIJAC website for details, or see the post on this site with the link to PIJAC.

This would encompass virtually every bird, reptile, amphibian, fish and some mammals kept as pets. In general only a small number of species have caused environmental issues (in FL and HI.)

This nonsense by HSUS subterfuge has not been lost on us.

We are VERY aware of what HSUS and Animal Rights are trying to do. Clearly the agenda is to chip away at the ownership of animals until we miss the fact that the WORDS USED FOR OWNERSHIP have been eliminated, then next thing you know—-HSUS has eliminated the ownership of animals. No transfers, no selling, no bartering, no trading, etc. This has already been attempted in HSUS anti pet laws where a dog with cropped ears couldn’t be transferred/owned by a rescue because the rescue didn’t have the documents proving how the ears were done.

It would be easier to make “owning” something next to impossible, or exorbitantly too expensive or far too much red tape, than to outright say “you can’t own that”–which is Animal Rights done the HSUS way–as can be seen by the multidue of 180 Anti pet laws HSUS is pushing just this year…..

HSUS has a habit of purposely drafting bad laws, then getting them passed, then taking cases, and using the laws that HSUS has HELPED PASS—as proof that such ideas have already been cemented IN THE LAW. In other words, HSUS makes the very laws it fully intends to use as part of a case it has already planned, then if they win that case, it will set some precedent in the law. THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE HSUS GOAL—TO SET ANIMAL RIGHTS LAW PRECEDENT……………………

If you value your ownership over your pets and animals, and the fact that pet-related businesses are allowed to profit over the selling, buying, trading, owning, or otherwise pet-related legal businesse ownership; if you want CHOICE in what dog or cat or bird or fish that you can BUY, own, or trade or sell; if you want the ability to eat the foods you like (milk, eggs, cheese, meat) then you do NOT want to support ANY HSUS LAWS.

As has been stated on this blog ever since it started—you don’t join the KKK if you’re Black, you don’t push Hitler if you’re Jewish, and you don’t help HSUS if you value ownership of animals.

And because the Pet connection blog online, is one that keeps saying (especially author Gina Spadafori) that HSUS can be trusted to do the right thing—where HSUS cannot be trusted at all…………….it is our opinion that Pet connection lacks the ability to discern Animal Rights in disguise—-and we do not recommend anyone following the opinions of much of the blog—mostly because Spadafori only harps on Peta–but not HSUS.

Just because one authors books, doesn’t mean that one knows Animal Rights. Further, Spadifori harped on Petland claiming that they should be OUT of business if they didn’t ADOPT out dogs, rather than SELL them? That is a very very dangerous proposition, and one that we surely don’t want to push as owners. NOT if you understand the HSUS concept of animal rights–which we don’t believe Spadafori understands [unless she is animal rights herself---]

HSUS is the FAR more dangerous group—if you understand Animal Rights. Spadifori also commended HSUS on filing the lawsuit against Hunte and Petland—that is a mistake, because it indicates that one does NOT understand what HSUS is doing strategy wise.

For example, HSUS pushed the Stevens free speech case, so that Stevens would be prosecuted for selling videos which showed dog fighting (he didn’t make the videos)—BUT the Appeals court held that the statute used (which was likely pushed by HSUS)— which was set up for “crush films”, could cause LEGAL acts to become illegal if the law was upheld, and might even cause the Disney film (Bambi) to be illegal. [See the Stevens case on the Front Page on this blogsite]

Another case is Amazon, where after HSUS pushed the Stevens case (Stevens convicted under the statute ) HSUS sued Amazon to stop the sale of chicken videos or dog video sales, claiming they were violating the law. Another case is the PA commercial kennel laws pushed by HSUS and ASPCA, where after the law was passed, HSUS then sued Petland and Hunte, no doubt so they could use their own law that passed (PA) as proof of concern over the commercial kennel issues. All of this is just a part of the pattern and practice of getting incremental steps in place, passing laws, filing lawsuits, and using the laws to set up precedence for HSUS Animal Rights. We don’t doubt for a second that their entire 16 attorney team or 160 member team or whatever, just goes to the conference room and has a session on strategy for the next 5 years.

Don’t think for a second that we haven’t noticed it, because we knew it a long time ago. Another example is the DNA testing and Breed Specific Legislation that HSUS “claims” it doesn’t support?

HSUS filed an amicus animal rights brief in the DENVER 2008 case re BSL, [yes, we did read it]—- claiming that the DNA companies claimed their DNA test “was 99% accurate.” Then on the animal law and historical society page (Michigan School of Law, Animal Rights Section)—the school has pages which show “how DNA proved” that a particular dog WAS NOT a pitbull subject to BSL. But the key really is, if they can prove it ISN’T a pitbull, and it’s actually 99% accurate, can it prove that IT IS A PITBULL?

And that’s why HSUS put that amicus brief in the Federal Court to Denver. So when that issue comes up down the line, HSUS will be the first to claim that DNA testing should be used [to have pitbull dogs killed], because it’s 99% accurate, despite the fact that the AKC and UKC don’t have the exact same breed name/types for American Pitbull Terriers, or American Stafforshire Terriers. AKC doesn’t recognize the APBT. But that won’t stop HSUS—you wait and see. They like to keep people fooled.

Any Animal Rights group like HSUS that has that much time and money into killing pitbull type dogs is definitely going to try and eliminate more of those dogs, use such dogs as a ploy to raise more funding, and then kill more of them. We have long ago figured out HSUS’ pattern and practice, and that’s why we keep telling everyone not to trust HSUS. They are just Animal Rights that think no one can figure out what they are doing.

WRONG.

You don’t have to be an attorney or have a legal education to figure that one out. And you don’t even have to be a pet owner. You just have to have some logic and common sense to see what is going on.

Not in our lifetime, never, never ever. The demise of HSUS will come first. Because too many people will see what they are REALLY doing. Help us spread the word! Tell everyone you know and make it a point to tell at least 10-50 other people. This is the only way that legislators are going to figure it out, and the only way the public will stop donating.

People that donate to HSUS Animal rights might as well donate to PETA. Because they are carrying out the Peta agenda.

There's been some good news but it's still no time to sit back. To see an example of how convoluted and disgusting some of the problems are, see this article on the removal of Ed Boks from L.A. Animal Services. He was major component in pushing some extremist bills in L.A. County and attempted to get all of California to buy the rotten goods.

One of the things that has taken so much time from me over the past weeks has been the effort to keep up with over two dozen animal related bills on the California agenda. The extremist strategy of chopping up the concepts of larger failed bills, into smaller bite sizes, makes it considerably more difficult to get people to realize that all of the bills are part of the greater goals.

Now for some fun.
I just have to share this video. No need for captions on this one. :)

And more fun!
Free game giveaway of the day is "Around the World in 80 Days", with only eleven hours left for downloads of an unlocked version of the game as I write. This is a beautiful match-3 game and it comes with a screen saver that increases options as you gain levels within the game. Gamezebo reviews this game and gives it a nice write up.

Puppies, Puppies, Fun and Freebies!

2009-04-22T03:07:00.000-07:00

Isn't he gorgeous!
This is Giant Dog Ranch Polar.
OFA Good. UKC registered.
He currently has a litter of puppies available born March 11, 2009.

If you want info on these dogs, here's a quick page with pedigree and contact information details.

Playing the 'my mouth is bigger than yours' game. :o

Lucky Carolyn gets to enjoy the puppy breath. I just get to see the pics. :)
The pups are gorgeous. Now you know when averages are supposed to be half girls and half boys, and the color genetics are thrown in, you sorta have a guess on what to expect. Well, in this case, the average distribution in the litter didn't happen! It's mostly boys, and most are white like their dad (one white girl), and one pinto (a boy) colored like their mom. Funny! So much for random chance, math, science and Punnett squares!

Mom is Semavi Kale Shadow from my bloodline and is a pinto full sister to Ruya (the pretty girl at the bottom left of the screen).
This is a repeat litter between Shadow and Polar producing tall dogs with nice bone and one of their older boys now works for Boone's Animals for Hollywood. For Helmut fans, Helmut's an uncle to this litter.

Now... on to things going on over here... I finally got my video card upgraded and added a new power supply. The power supply is pretty cool. It has a plexiglass case and lights up in a pretty blue. Since I have case with a see through side, the arrangement makes a nice night light to blog by. The reddish light below is for an auxillary fan.

The video card installation (NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+) went well but the semi-compact motherboard and its architecture (various slots) resulted in a very tight fit of some things jammed against each other, agh. The wide load video card takes up two slots as well as most of the length of the semi-compact case--thereby abutting the hard drives so tightly, stuff was hard to plug in without rearranging things. I will need longer cables (cheaper solution), among other things. Actually a NEW full sized mainboard (ugh $$$) might be the way to go as well since the video card majorly crowds the SATA hard drive connections. Bah. I think I'll wait on that.

On to fun things and freebies!

Here is a blog entry which has a cool historic computer chat dialog which (most probably) lead up to the establishment and purpose of the first ever internet smilie. Yuk yuk, trivia we don't usually think about. ;)

I ran into an interesting page which shares brief commentary with a "Favorite Food" recipe box featuring celebrities. See the entry for Dave Berry, and isn't it just like him! :D

A list of the most heartbreaking songs of all time--fun read that both James and I got a kick out of.

What's in a name??? I want a Foof!
And speaking of foof, that takes me back a bit another bit of foofish history, ---waaaaay back to TinyTim MUSH, a MUD that's still around today.

And FREEBIES!!

Free Magazine subscription. Go to Costco.com then in the search box at the top, enter FREEMAG and you'll be taken to a page where you can browse, preview within, and select ONE free digital magazine subscription via Zinio.com. I'm a big fan of Zinio! If reading from your monitor doesn't drive you nuts, you'll probably enjoy digital magazines too.

Give Away of the Day features free software, every day. If you visit the site every day, sooner or later you'll see something you want or you could go crazy and download the free stuff every day and fill up your hard drive. If you go for any of the freebies--download it right away and install it. There will be an unlock code or key that allows you to use the software without having to pay for it. As a freebie user, you don't get support from the vendor, but it's still a great deal. You must install and unlock the download before the 24 hour offer expires. You snooze; you lose! They also offer a free game with the same general download/install protocols at intervals (#update: usually Saturday and Sunday) per week. I've added their software link box to the left panel of my blog.

Okay, that's it for now!

Space.... the final frontier

2009-04-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

Last frontiers? Just messing with images. The background is the Tarantula nebula, from a NASA shot. The golden double helix is from microsoft online graphics collection.

The idea was inspired by this link! http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html
Link should resolve to a night view composite, with a house in the foreground and stars and constellations behind it.

When I look into the night sky, I sometimes imagine a sort of xray vision like that picture, which will let me see what else is up there beyond our hazy atmosphere. Just dreaming though. The night skyview scenes that I remember from Taiwan were so crisp and clear. You could gaze into the nighttime sky and see thousands of stars that just can't be seen in many other places. Tokyo and parts of California included.

While I think that Star Trek's opening narrative is intriguing, I'm convinced that the fields of genetics and that of deep space are equally unknowable. I spend time trying to understand fragments of code which construct and direct life forms, and which make so many organisms the same, and yet so different. The frustration of knowing we can never know or understand it all, is so humbling.

April, between spring showers...

2009-04-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

A picture of happy Coco from today.

L-R: Bella, Ruya and Coco at the gate, alerting at a visitor. (they see James there on the other side headed to the visitor, so they are showing mixed signals)

Molly has gone to her new adoptive home. She seemed to know something was up and seemed a bit stressed about it. We hope to hear good news about how she is settling in. She should be okay soon. She's been such a good girl.

Ruya grinning. She's up on the picnic table, and getting some love. :)

Kirsi sent me some information, completely true of course, about those amazing people in Finland.
Check it out here: http://www.hs.fi/english/extras/toolong :)

April yet?

2009-04-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

Free Hubble wallpapers!
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper/

The above image is an amazing composite shot which captures all of the stages of a celestial star's life.
Here's the info from HubbleSite.

In this stunning picture of the giant galactic nebula NGC 3603, the crisp resolution of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures various stages of the life cycle of stars in one single view.

To the upper right of center is the evolved blue supergiant called Sher 25. The star has a unique circumstellar ring of glowing gas that is a galactic twin to the famous ring around the supernova 1987A. The grayish-bluish color of the ring and the bipolar outflows (blobs to the upper right and lower left of the star) indicates the presence of processed (chemically enriched) material.

Near the center of the view is a so-called starburst cluster dominated by young, hot Wolf-Rayet stars and early O-type stars. A torrent of ionizing radiation and fast stellar winds from these massive stars has blown a large cavity around the cluster.

The most spectacular evidence for the interaction of ionizing radiation with cold molecular-hydrogen cloud material are the giant gaseous pillars to the right and lower left of the cluster. These pillars are sculptured by the same physical processes as the famous pillars Hubble photographed in the M16 Eagle Nebula.

Dark clouds at the upper right are so-called Bok globules, which are probably in an earlier stage of star formation.

To the lower left of the cluster are two compact, tadpole-shaped emission nebulae. Similar structures were found by Hubble in Orion, and have been interpreted as gas and dust evaporation from possibly protoplanetary disks (proplyds). The "proplyds" in NGC 3603 are 5 to 10 times larger in size and correspondingly also more massive.

This single view nicely illustrates the entire stellar life cycle of stars, starting with the Bok globules and giant gaseous pillars, followed by circumstellar disks, and progressing to evolved massive stars in the young starburst cluster. The blue supergiant with its ring and bipolar outflow marks the end of the life cycle.

The color difference between the supergiant's bipolar outflow and the diffuse interstellar medium in the giant nebula dramatically visualizes the enrichment in heavy elements due to synthesis of heavier elements within stars.

This true-color picture was taken on March 5, 1999 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.

This picture is being presented at the 194th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Chicago.

Object Names: NGC 3603, Sher 25

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: Wolfgang Brandner (JPL/IPAC), Eva K. Grebel (Univ. Washington), You-Hua Chu (Univ. Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and NASA

April showers are yet to come but they seem to be on their way. Got tax stuff done, what a pain.

While I wasn't paying attention to this blog, Google's RSS feed of this blog had given some strange hiccups. There was a one line post which said 'eeyore is cute' and dated April 3rd -- probably spawned then pinged google's RSS feed during a browser crash, mystery to me... and I don't even remember typing to the blogger database that day. Then there was an old post from last year that reposted itself the following day... it's still an old post. Annoying. Anyway, back to normal I hope. At least with taxes over, I can unwind and try to catch up with things.

Some fun. :)
Geno sent a few blackberry pics of Helmut sitting under a tree on a mound of snow. I wanted to snuggle! I put the pics on Facebook and you can see them there--from a side panel on the left column that goes to the facebook album.

I was playing with the somewhat grainy and darkish headshots of those two pics and came up with this digital painting below. Was fun to do, need more time and more practice. :)

Isn't he handsome?

Animal owners shrugged (for too long)

2009-03-26T04:06:00.000-07:00

At some point, some recommendations become restrictions and political humor about it just isn't funny any more.

Legislative actions and criminalization of various aspects of animal ownership are coming down like a tsunami from Animal Rightists such as HSUS and PeTA. While it is going on like wildfires all over the country, California has a fresh new list of proposals from them to make many aspects of animal ownership or husbandry into criminal activities.

A member of one of my favorite animal husbandry and law related forums submitted this passage from page 436 of Atlas Shrugged:

"Well, what do you think they're for?"
Dr. Ferris did not notice the sudden look on Rearden's face, the look of a man hit by the first vision of that which he had sought to see. Dr. Ferris was past the stage of seeing; he was intent upon delivering the last blows to an animal caught in a trap.
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against--then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted--and you create a nation of law-breakers--and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

That playlist sound familiar?

Vegans admit it's a religion

2009-03-20T02:28:00.000-07:00

The following is both hilarious

...and sad.

BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF (click link to read -PDF-)

From the standpoint of a microbiologist and medical technologist, the above argument (see PDF) is very selective and funny. Were I to judge this argument, I'd throw these nuts out on their glutei maximi. The man just doesn't want to get a shot, based on this. In my opinion, he should be able to have a choice on the shot but that might restrict where he can work in the hospital, as in the event of an outbreak, since people are so litigious in these times, it would help to protect the jobs of others at the hospital.

But to me... It puts flashing lights around the ignorance of vegans. NOW... if the man is truly vegan, he would not use public water nor use ice cubes manufactured for commercial use. If he were truly vegan, he would not used canned or processed foods, nor would he would eat commercial fruits and vegetables. Veganism is primarily a modern philosophical argument that does not have any strong basis in reality nor any context in human history--although some seem to believe that some primitive groups were vegan. 'Fraid not folks.

I think it might be possible to be a true vegan, and not one that just toys at the idea, if one were homesteading and lived in location where one could have control of all products utilized or otherwise consumed. Climate, diversity of life, a flexible appetite (strong stomach), and a lot of ingenuity and hard work would have to be considered. Maybe a vegan commune of sorts, where enough people could contribute their skills for vegan clothing, foods, putting things up for the winter and so on.

Want more? I generally haven't bothered to get into the mental dichotomy of the vegan philosophy. I have had family members and many friends who are vegetarian to some degree or for periods of time. The long term ones (30 years or so) are no healthier than those the same age, who lived off junk food and the vegans have actually aged faster. :( The women who were veggies prior to having a child, usually have kids with some unfortunate challenges. Younger, long term vegan mothers may not have a pelvis structure wide enough to have a baby without a C-section. And some babies from vegan moms sometimes spend some of the first days or weeks of their lives in the ICU, as they are born with various types of compromise to their health and immune systems.

Weston A Price Foundation has materials that show even the most primitive of societies ensured that women had a wide variety of food stuffs before becoming pregnant. June marriages were traditionally thought to be a favored time since the richness of nutrients in the springtime would contribute to the pregnancy to come. The richness of spring grass on dairy butter creates a naturally golden yellow product because of high level of grass nutrient early in the grazing season. Contrast commercial butter, artificially converted from ghostly white to a pale yellow with the use of annato.

Pre-pregnancy diet may be the period of time that is most critical for the development of ova (and sperm), letting the developing fetus have optimal chances to be perfect. Children, babies and fetuses are not 'lab rats' to raise on the newest vegan philosophies presented by a population of people representing between 1 and 4% of philosophical foodists... Give children every advantage--please. As I have worked in health care and clinical technology (blood & gore, analysis and diagnostic value in health care) I'm familiar with some of the patterns in some of the various dietary lifestyles, and the vegan ranks rather average or quite poorly in the long term.

Vegan IS GOOD initially, because it is an awareness training exercise; people become more aware of what they are putting into their bodies and that they begin to feel healthier because of this. They can opt to go low sugar/junk and seek nutrient dense foods, but some don't because they cannot let go of sugar and junk food habits. For some, it's easier to just generally avoid anything that seems to be animal related. ...although I have seen some enjoying marshmallow laced rice crispy treats and other animal containing foods -- oops! ...but that is okay. None of us are saints.

Older people regardless of diet may start to have less efficient absorption of some nutrients, just as all older beings can over time. Low levels of B12 with higher levels of folate in the diet can lead to rapid cognitive decline. Feel a little woozy or mental fog? ... sometimes B12 can help.

There is no such thing as a truly vegan commercial peanut butter, a truly vegan restaurant, canned food or other commercial product from a food processing facility that is properly licensed, inspected and periodically tested.

Every place has to meet inspection and cleanliness requirements. Products periodically have to be tested for coliforms and other such things and most places use water that has been tested for coliforms anyway.

This coliform testing is done by taking samples, sending them to a laboratory that plates out the specimen onto media.

Guess what this media is made of. It is an animal product.

Even ice machines, wells and sources of drinking water are periodically tested for coliforms. (remember all those lemon water scare videos on youtube?)

Your average fresh commercial tomato and lettuce is also periodically tested for coliforms using animal media. Did you hear about all that lettuce that failed coliform tests? Yes, peptone agars and broth media are not vegan.

What is this media? Here's just one recipe for laboratory media that tests water supplies & ice cubes, among other things.
http://www.bd.com/ds/technicalCenter/inserts/Lactose_Peptone_Broth.pdf

Processed sugar is not vegan although that is counter intuitive to many. Processed white sugar and most processed brown sugar (is usually white sugar that is darkened with molasses) is made that way with non vegan processing. Any place that processes foods anyway, has to pass periodic inspection as mentioned above.

So, among our modern cohorts, there is not a single vegan that truly lives a "vegan" life. They are all, every single one of them, selective about what they consider big deals. Call them hypocrites or even better, hopeless idealists. But as long as they are not trying to 'evangelize' others to join their 'religion' with the use of misinformation, and as long as children and young women planning to have families get the nutrition they need, I'm just not overly concerned unless it's a member of my family.

Heart disease, insulin resistance, gut issues and high blood pressure as well as depression, some increased inability to think clearly are traits among vegans and some vegetarians, and are common long term effects of malnutrition.

What else isn't vegan? HIV testing, premarital testing, a culture for a sore throat, and even an OTC pregnancy test all require animal media. This is different than the peptone media used in water testing. For example, monoclonal antibodies don't come from carrots. ;) So... how many vegans are celibate? Do they screen their partners? What method do they use, coin toss or laboratory testing?

I can forgive people for being ignorant about these issues in medical science because science and critical thinking is not a strong point in our activist, "politically correct" society. Even news is part of entertainment media. I get more than a little annoyed when cult figures like pretty boy Wayne Pacelle and others, pose to be so educated and go on pulling the wool over the eyes of their dittoheads'. I'd rather see that those who choose "vegan" know its limitations and the fallacy of the existence of a 'vegan' lifestyle.

There's a lot of misinformation out there on veggie and vegan bulletin boards. Even nutritionists who may have taken some courses in nursing, generally memorize a script and stick with it to keep their credentials. Many have never made laboratory media, and are generally not involved with endocrinology and cardiology. Simple things such as peptone broth, sheep blood agar plates or brain infusion media, ELISA or Western Blot for different lab tests that their patients may require lose their context, and they forget that these tests are only possible with animal products.

The vegan lifestyle is a selective one but it is often talked about with passion. It's like any other religion where you pick and choose just how 'fundamental' you want to be. It will be interesting if veganism proves to be a valid excuse to avoid getting a shot. :)

Tangentally related to vegetarianism are issues concerning cholesterol in the diet. Veggie groups tend to make a huge fuss about cholesterol. Basic issues are that cholesterol is not what most people have been lead to think it is. This wrong thinking is encouraged via Pharma industries because statins make them so much money. Science has shown that cholesterol is important, has reason for the way it behaves and actually exists to do you good. I'm a huge fan of Thincs.org, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov and Dr. Malcolm McKully. The last doctor has done a lot to clarify issues in Cholesterol. Check out his link.

Game of Inches - Link to 7 Things You Didn't Know about HSUS

2009-02-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

Erica Saunders has a brilliant and timely piece that I will quote here.

February 25
"Life's a game of inches"

If I could ask for something practical and easy from the dog community, breeders & owners, competitors & judges, field and show, rescue & re-sellers, handlers & groomers, I would ask every single one to spend 5 minutes watching the locker room speech in the movie "Any Given Sunday"

"We’re in hell right now, gentlemen, believe me. And, we can stay here -- get the shit kicked out of us -- or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell one inch at a time."

We are the team in that locker room, fighting each other, looking out for our interest and playing it safe to protect our piece. We've been losing ground for years because we haven't pulled together in the same direction.

"But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches."

Some of us have lost already, animals taken becuase laws have been passed to circumvent due process and remove right to appeal. Municipal laws have been added to apply dog limits and push us out of the community, out of sight & out of mind. Care standards are judged by officials without training or experience in animal husbandry or animal behavior.

"The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second."

Everytime we have a dog in public we can fight the fight. We can talk to parents & children. We can carry copies of "7 things you don't know about the HSUS" and offer them to every person who spots to pet or comment on our dog(s). We can fax copies to government representatives. We can contact every puppy owner ever sold to and update them on the current situation, letting them know what is at risk. We can ask pet stores to hand out flyers providing the truth about the HSUS and PETA. (Yes, I said pet stores) We can ask vets, pet food manufacturers and pet supply stores to get involved. Every time we spend a dollar on a dog, we can ask that business "What are you doing to protect the rights to breed/own pet and further the future of YOUR business?" We can bring the brochures/letters/fax sheets to the businesses to hand out and send in. We can ask them for their support so that we can support them. We can contact the AGENTS & PUBLICISTS of celebrity endorsers to advise them of the controversial aspects of PETA and HSUS.

"In any fight, it’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that inch."

These little everday efforts, or their lack, are going to be what wins or loses the fights. AR groups have momentum on their side. They have points on the board, lots of them. They have players in reserve ready to be called up, fresh and full of strength.

"And, either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals."

And that is the simple truth, either we band together, mobilize and push back or we will be picked off in death by attrition and marginalization

"That's all it is.
Now, what are you gonna do?"

That's the question of the hour. What are YOU going to do?
Me? I'm going to go re-watch that speech and think up more chinks in the AR armour.
See you on the field.

Erica Saunders
All rights reserved
Cross-post only by express permission & in entirety

Quotes courtesy of http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/specialengagements/moviespeechonanygivensunday.html
Speech available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

http://animal-rights-isreligion.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!592FC2F8FE625291!160.entry

Related:- another link here about "7 Things You Didn't Know about HSUS".

Pegasus Mail, Comcast and funny vid on ... well, you look. :)

2009-02-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

My favorite email program for over a dozen years... Pegasus mail, now has a Wiki. :)

We had an interesting evening Monday night. Apparently Comcast, our broadband company had local connectivity taken out due to the local storms. Well, I could have used dial up if I felt hard-up to connect, but pages load soooooo slow that way. The thing that really got hubby was the fact that our Comcast service for TV connection was taken out. I was watching him listen to TV -- although video reception was a joke, he could still listen to some of his favorite shows. Later, he was watching one of our smaller old TVs with the rabbit ears, which did a reasonable job picking up TV video and captions. I've worried about how so much of our lifestyles depend on electricity, and typically in my area, there are usually about 3-5 days a year where we might not have any power at all for half a day or more. Just one night of not having Comcast connectivity was interesting in its own way. And speaking of wikis, I noted that there is a section regarding customer satisfaction on a Wiki, about Comcast.

In 2004 and 2007, the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey found that Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the Internal Revenue Service.

Believeable. There were entire weeks last year when we had little to no reliable internet connectivity at all. (We buy local TV channels and the TV service was fine during that period.) I won't even get into some of the strange mis-aliasing that I've seen taking place on Comcast for their email customers who were subscribed to any of the forums I administrate. :p

Now something a little bit different.
I keep laughing every time I see this captioned video. :D

Crufts 2009 goes online.

2009-02-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

Crufts online! The biggest dog show in the world will now have an online presence. I think this is a great step for Crufts! Their website will be the place to visit.

From an announcement:

The live webcast will follow all of the events in the Arena program, from Heelwork to Music and Agility to the Best in Group and Best in Show judging and the ever popular Friends for Life competition that rewards our dog heroes. There will also be a new element to the Arena program where the winners of the We Love Our Dogs competition - which invited all dog owners to send in video clips and photographs of their happy, healthy dogs - will be announced. Peter Purves and Frank Kane will provide commentary for the live web stream, which will be interspersed with features showing the interviews and action from outside the Arena.

This is a great thing for them to do as they in UK (especially recently) are awash with so much anti-animal, anti-purebred dog extremism. I'm finding that the public seems to be too often presented without 'balance' on issues of extreme breeding, puppy mills and attitudes of elitism about purebreds, that more in the way of balance in media is needed to help show the positive side of the world of dogs.

If the only vids, news and tv shows we saw about teenagers, showed only gangsters, druggies, teenage pregnancy, clique snobbishness, risky behavior, vehicle accident deaths, alcohol abuse, suicide and other low-lights of teenage life -- we do (I hope) still have yet enough common sense in the general population -- that any such flooding of bad news about teens doesn't create campaigns, websites, haters, and legislation to destroy ALL teenagers at birth, lol. ;)

Marlow update, some humor and a bit about Facebook

2009-02-23T03:50:00.000-08:00

Check out Marlow (from my 2006 litter, full brother to Helmut) above, and his little people buddy Coen who is tucked in between him and Matty.

Sooooo cute.

and here's another...

Adorable. I love Coen's sweater!! Think he'll share? ;)
Marlow seems to be a nice baby sitter kinda guy. :)

On other things, while it's not new, I got a good chuckle out of revisiting Michael O’Donoghue's guide on How to Write Good at this blog I ran into while trying to find something else (isn't that how it always works?). Another favorite link on bad writing is the Bullwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. While my writing is often full of misadventure and typos, I generally know better most of the time what I intended to convey, so this stuff is funny to me. :D

About two months into it now, I'm finding Facebook to be an interesting experience. It's not a perfect medium, of course. It has its share of bad apples that create spam and spoof. It has some lack of efficiency, some lag, and some less than intuitive elements in its interface. But in some ways I'm finding that it saves time since I can have short conversations regarding some event and get instant feedback on some ideas -- sort of like what Twitter was all about, but much more integrated. I like it much better than MySpace, which has a really 'clunky' interface, in my opinion. Over the past month, some people that had trouble getting their longer emails read by me are able to have short bursts of connection via Facebook and it does save me time. And it's a handy way of keeping in contact with persons that are sometimes below the radar for long periods of time since they can log on at their leisure any time, then catch up with my activities on my 'wall'. Another perk, a broad range of activities available on FB gives one a better rounded feeling for common things in which some friends have an interest. Not bad. :)

I have to mention games since that is one of my interests. Facebook has some third party games integrated into the interface. To me, many of these games that I took a whirl with, are rather mindnumbing after a short while, so I tend to lose interest in them rather quickly. But to be fair, some games are really more complex in ways that I haven't time or patience to indulge. I have some great buds that just pick up a game and rack up their levels in little time at all. Games are part of the attraction to Facebook for many and some create accounts without a real person ID associated with it, just so they can play free games. It's something to do, to while away time and to diffuse personal stress, which latter is probably not a bad thing for most. That said, Facebook games have proven to me that I really am more in love with solving puzzles and utilizing creativity rather than indulging in repetition -- but the preliminary period of discovery about an application does sometimes intrigue me, "Oh, okay, then what happens next?" That's the key. Creativity on Facebook seems to be its main attraction to me, aside from its unique and complex schema for social intercourse.

On Anatolian related issues, I've found that the international diversity on Facebook makes it easier to communicate across the boundaries about our love for these wonderful dogs and learn about something about the interests of others that love these dogs. If you haven't signed up for FB yet, my advice if you are going to do it, is to create a basic account and not divulge too much information about yourself initially (leave most of your profile blank and keep your email address private). Meet up with a few contacts you trust and get to know the interface then take it from there. FB isn't for everyone. I had an account there for a year and had no real use for it other than to see materials that certain friends wanted to share. For some things, unless you can sign in, you just can't see it. There is no need to give more information about yourself than is necessary for creating a log in identity but of course, if your friends connect with you, you're much more likely to find areas of the network that interest you.

Blogs, Aortic aneurysm and cartoons

2009-02-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

When blogrolling is fixed and running, we have another cool blog to add to the list. I love the current header at this site and it only reminds me I never really settled on what to use for mine. :) See Utah Paw.

Several of the blogs have been getting periodic updates so you have to surf a bit from the list page above to find the updated ones until the rolling starts to happen again. Kirsi cracks me up with her Finnish version of Beach Dogs. There's a nice look at one of latest of Turkish imports at Shepherds Rest.

For others who are survivors of aortic dissection or who have a family member that has been affected, there's a page that I recently added to my bookmarks.

I discovered another place to look for captioned video. See http://dotsub.com/
Now if there were only more hours in the day!

On the about.com deaf forum, I discovered some of the work of a cartoonist seeking syndication and I think he deserves syndication so I'm spreading some of his humor so that more will get to know his work. The artist, Peter McEachen has a site here which has samples of his various inspirations. On the link for cartoons, check out his funny family oriented panels for the strips for which he gives examples. I thought the stay at home dad examples were charming (The Daddy Diaries), but I loved them all. The newest strip he is doing is called Living Impaired. This is where he makes cartoons about deafness and other challenges that I can certainly relate to. Living Impaired is not featured on his site as a composite link yet, but he has been posting them on the deafness forum at about.com.

One of my favorites: (click to make bigger)

To see the rest of Living Impaired as posted on the about.com Deafness and HOH forum, go here and have fun! :)

Ideas to go

2009-01-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

Some husbands need to be kept away from webpages like this. I won't mention any names.

Beach dogs!

2009-01-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

Click above pic to enlarge. Credit for these pics go to Susan.
Anatolians at the beach! How blue the sky and the water!
The dogs from left to right: Khazu (6 years), Helmut (2 years) who are both half brothers, and their auntie Dylan (almost 11 years), who is their mother's sister.
The people in the pics are Geno and Dom.

Susan (pic further below) and Geno, both live in different towns down near the beaches in southern California. They had a beautiful Anatolian get-together at the beach. This is the first synchronized beach get together they had with their Anatolians; the first time these dogs met as a trio. These dogs are well socialized and are regular visitors to off leash beaches there.

Many dogs, both purebred and mixed breeds play there. (I wonder how cold that water is at this time of the year?!)
A few of the pics had assorted dogs zipping into the pictures.

Here comes one now!

And look!

WHO can resist this shot (a detail I took from one of several shots.)
Yep, that's him! You know him. That's the guy. That's Dom giving his Anatolian, Helmut, the ol' rabbit ears?
I can't help it, he always makes me laugh out loud! :D
Just look at all the smiles! :)

Here's a great pic of Susan posing with the three related Semavi dogs.
L-R: Helmut, Susan, Khazu, and Dylan.

Susan, thanks so much for bringing the camera along. Thanks to both Geno and Susan for sharing pictures from their day at the beach!

Randomness

2009-01-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

I ran into this amazing video a couple months ago.

I haven't run into any help files that allow me to stop the autoplay. What an amazing woman. I wish I could hear what she does, but apparently she can't hear what she plays, so much as sense it in other ways.

Got an email yesterday that advised a 'blue plate special' on some casual games at Sandlot. Only $5 a game. Not bad! And there's a pirate themed one called "Pirate Island", apparently a variation on 'match 3' with some pretty interesting graphics. :)

Also ran into a google ad for yet another Pirate-themed massively multiplayer web game called "Dogs at Sea III".
One of my goals this year is to at least try a MMORPG for a few hours. As yet, I haven't found one that has a theme that really appeals to me. Maybe I'm just not MMORPG material, but maybe it is just because I'm not sure what I want to see in such a game. I certainly won't be able to get involved with guilds/alliances and planned battles since I'm often away from the keyboard when things get interesting (speaking from recent experience with simple real time chat services!)

About Dogs of the Seas!
"Dogs of the Seas" is a browser based Massive Multiplayer game.

You start your adventure as an unknown pirate in the heart of the Caribbean. Battle and Trade your way to affluence and standing. Your armed battle ships that sail through the Caribbean shall make you famous and dreaded pirate! Find valuable treasures, or hunt for other dreaded pirates. Take missions from the local agents, and qualify for adventurous smuggler jobs, pursue other smugglers or take part in regular events. Handle and trade with rare goods or produce valuable and powerful ships or cannons. Wild computer pirates and peaceful dealers populate the Caribbean waters along with thousands of fellow pirates. Sink your opponents and plunder their vessels in real-time battles player vs player (PvP) or against the computer generated factions. Trade with alliances or friends on the high seas for valuable possessions. Create an alliance or join another to participate in the political turmoil of the Caribbean.

Lastly, this picture of a vast assortment of fresh lokum (Turkish delight) at an Istanbul market has been driving me nuts. Must go to Eve's Market and pick up a few boxes this week.

First week of the year...

2009-01-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

I got some fun pics of Helmut, the Beachboy in SoCal, enjoying the beach. I always get a kick out of these blackberry pics from Geno! This is one Anatolian boy that is sure getting a lot of socialization. :)

And here's one a bit so close, he didn't fit into the frame. Looks like he's having fun with a cute golden retriever.

Late at night, trying to sleep, I can't sleep and trying to keep out of range of hubby who is coughing up a storm (he's the one that got the flu shot!), I ran into a cool logic and problem solving game called World of Goo. Intrigued, I downloaded the demo to my bedside notebook and get a kick of it so far. The opening screens, the humor and some of the graphics are so weird! The game is designed primarily by two guys rather than a whole army of programmers. If you like what Wiki has to say about it in the first link, check out its homepage at http://2dboy.com/ and download the free demo there.

Must be the doggie person in me but when I saw these rugs over at Weburbanist, I was sure some of them would make great beds for a snoozy Anatolian shepherd. I just don't get the one that looks like the aftermath of a sheep shearing event but there's plenty of oddness to be had there.

Hat tip to Diane who shared a very interesting blog post about service animals, particularly the alternative ones. The movie showing Panda the minihorse being clicker trained is amazing! No captions but if you have some familiarity with clicker training, it's easy to see what is being targeted and how well Panda is doing in this training. The NYT article linked in post is a long and interesting read that might annoy some of my service animal associates but the whole matter is probably a 'do not miss' for most!

Not the least of it all, tonight while resetting a license for some publications I get from Zinio, I ran into Arabian Horse World! Check it out. If you like horsey eye candy, take a look at what is available. You can get the sample copy for only 99c (Nov 08). I was a long time subscriber of the paper version which was a very heavy, glossy paged quality publication that would fill up a rural mailbox in its cardboard box back in the mid eighties. Well, now you can see the stunning photography and beautiful horses but in lighter-than-air digital format. What's not to like? Check out the link.