Not to pick a fight or anything, but it’s quite noticeable how some men go all ballistic & abusive when a woman disagrees with them but are entirely collegial with men who have the same disagreement. Is it possible these great thinkers, the avant-garde of progressives everywhere, might be women haters? Cause it sure feels like it. That walks like a duck, talks like a duck thing comes into play.

If ever I win the lottery I will dedicate some of the proceeds (after Palestinians, Rohingyas, Kashmiris, & Bhopal) to overturning the Texas laws requiring quarantine for animals. There are far more humane ways to deal with animals that may be diseased. I went to see my little Annie, a tiny Chihuahua, at the animal control penitentiary. She was in a cold area & the closest I could get was four feet through two layers of fence. They advised me that she could contact other contagious diseases or fleas & ticks by being there. Annie of course was crying her heart out & trying to get to me. I can’t bring any other of the dogs to visit her but that wouldn’t comfort her anyway.

I brought her blankets, toys, & treats. They only give dry food which she doesn’t like but told me I could add a homeopathic remedy for fear & trauma to special food I’ll bring her.

This practice of incarcerating terrified animals (they also do it to birds & cats) is absolutely inhumane & not up to standards of animal welfare. But what am I complaining about? They do even worse to refugee children.

“Violence against journalists is all too common in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir and it must stop,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The security forces must take greater precautions when journalists are covering protests.”

https://cpj.org/2019/01/four-kashmiri-photojournalists-hit-by-pellet-gun-f.php?

After work in the morning I take seven of my dogs to the dog park & meet with two friends & their dogs. This morning, a park worker came in to talk to us & some of the dogs were barking at him. My Annie-Lucia nipped him on the leg through heavy work pants. We apologized all over the place & continued chatting until we saw three animal control vehicles & a police car drive up. They threatened to impound all our dogs because we didn’t have vaccination papers on us. Who knew it was a city ordinance to carry vax documents? We had to show proof of vaccination in the state of Texas & two of us take our dogs to Mexico where it’s a lot cheaper. Little did we know that Mexican vaxs are not legitimate in Texas.
After prolonged negotiations, they impounded my little Annie for ten days of quarantine & issued me a citation to appear in municipal court to show proof of a rabies shot in Texas. Without a Texas vax I will be subject to a fine. I will be allowed to visit Annie but may not touch her. They wouldn’t allow me to quarantine her at home, wouldn’t accept a Mexican vax, & wouldn’t let me take her to a vet for tests to show she did not have rabies.

Keep in mind that this region has thousands of abandoned dogs & cats. The problem is so critical that animal shelters are always over capacity & there are caravans by several shelters & rescue groups that each take up to forty animals to other states for adoption every month.

I know I am not nearly as bereft as my little Annie who was rescued from animal control, a shivering terrified little girl who was once attacked by a huge Pitt Bull. I had to put that sweet girl in the animal control van so that her sense of abandonment must be overwhelming. All I know is that I will never again use the dog park & put my dogs at such risk.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/opinion/sunday/martin-luther-king-palestine-israel.html?

This NY Times editorial by Michelle Alexander titled “Time to Break the Silence on Palestine” will knock your socks off. Alexander, who became a NY Times columnist last year, is the author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” Who could imagine that anything as straightforward & hard-hitting as this about Israel & Palestine would ever appear in the NY Times?