This is Mercy, formerly named Trouble.

I wasn’t going to foster again, but I armtwisted myself into this one. Although two rescue groups, furrydoc, and her staff have already gone several extra miles for her in the last couple of weeks, she’s a little hard case who needs all the help she can get. How to count her disadvantages?

* Pitbull

* About 10 years old

* Overbred

* Deaf (or nearly so)

* Not housebroken

* Suffering antibiotic-resistant skin sores (though fortunately furrydoc, who’s very good at such things, persuaded a local pharmacy to donate meds that appear to be helping)

* Not gaining weight despite loving care and fancy-schmancy no-grain, hypoallergenic food.

* Stressed to the max and desperately missing the man she’s loved all her life.

Said man is in prison (child molesting, I believe). He handed her off to friends when he went away. They starved her.

Fortunately, his ex-girlfriend took custody of her and turned her over to local rescuers.

I didn’t realize it when I picked her up this afternoon, but she’s from my neighborhood. First thing she did when I got her home was escape the yard when I went inside for a minute. But furrydoc’s office assistant (best observer and critter-networker around — Hi, T!) knew exactly which couple of drug houses Mercy would most likely bee-line for — places her human used to hang out. And one of those is where I found her.

Poor thing, though — she’s within sniffing distance of places she thinks of as “home” and cruel, rotten me is holding her captive. She’s protesting at the moment in a voice that sounds like a rooster trying to crow while being held under water and garrotted. Horrific noise. And loud enough that I fear I’d better go over and explain to the neighbor. (“I’m really not torturing helpless farm animals. Honestly, it’s just a very sad, very bereft dog.”)

Would love to let Mercy hang out with the family. She’s mild-mannered and already gets along fine with Ava and Robbie. But not ’til you understand that my rug’s not your personal potty, girly. Sorry.

How does anybody have a dog for nine or ten years, take her everywhere (which her former owner, however irresponsible otherwise, did) and somehow not house train her? People. Very strange beasts.

But she loved that man and in his way he loved her, and now she just gazes off in the direction of “home” and wonders why I won’t open the gate and let her go.

Share or Bookmark

• We must ban those deadly stiletto assault heels NOW!
• Well, that’s a different look at Snowden and the NSA …
• Medical marijuana. For our pets. (H/T. L)
• Hm. This is the first thing I’ve heard that makes me think a smartphone could be a great idea. (I’m sure there are other things; just none that grabbed me.)
• Double hm. What exactly is Governor Sandoval of Nevada up to? Might be worth the 15 seconds it takes, especially if it ticks off Bloomberg.
• While I disagree with her lumping us with “we,” whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has a point. (Heard on NPR this afternoon that a solid majority of Americans is still all in favor of NSA phone snooping; made me wonder what they’d say if they were first informed about … Oh well. Doesn’t matter what they think. Majorities don’t change the world.) (H/T JJ for the link.)
• “Soldier boy will stop invading homes and killing beasts and human victims when the price is too high. Thus far it is still too easy on Soldier boy.” The excellent Hershel Smith via the equally excellent Codrea.

And on an entirely different subject …

(You may have to skip horrible ads, sorry.)

Sad Cat Diary

Source for those who can’t see the embed.

Sad Dog Diary (NB: Sorta gross.)

Source for those who can’t see the embed.

Share or Bookmark

Okay, a little lightening up seems in order.

Dogs in pantyhose.

Petheadz portraits by Zachary Rose.

And in honor of graduation season: Six college degrees for dogs.

Eight signs your cat is actually a dog:

Source for those who don’t see the embed.

And what if your roommates were like cats or dogs?

Source.

Share or Bookmark

Via Borepatch, here’s the happiest story you’ll read on Memorial Day. Or all week.

Share or Bookmark

Funny how freedomista books can turn up out of the blue, disguised as something else. Two such landed in my hold box at the library this week.

I went online, searching for the parody The Dangerous Book for Dogs. In the mysterious ways of the library’s search engine, the words “dangerous” and “dogs” popped up a few other titles, as well. Children’s books. Hm, I thought.

Pretty soon both Dangerous and two other titles were waiting for me. While I expected to be just mildly entertained (because a good kid’s book is a good book, and usually easy on the brain), I was blown away by a pair of freedomista stories.

—–

The first is A Dog Called Grk.

Grk is a small black-and-white mutt found in the streets of London by independent 12-year-old Timothy Malt. Tim’s fussy, workaholic parents won’t even let him bring the dog in their house, and when they learn that Grk’s owner, a 12-year-old girl named Natascha Raffifi, has left London and returned to her native Stanislavia (an obscure nation somewhere near Russia), they determine to take the dog to a kill shelter.

Tim, who has a finely developed sense of right and wrong, decides that’s quite wrong. What’s right is to return Grk to young Natascha, no matter where she may be. So off he goes with the dog to Stanislavia. He is undeterred in his efforts to restore the dog to her — even when he learns that the girl and her family have been arrested by the evil Colonel Zinfandel, who has overthrown Stanislavia’s government. Zinfandel now holds the girl and her brother in prison and unbeknownst to them has killed their parents.

Tim lets nothing stop him — not Authority, not border crossing procedures, not carefully staged governmental PR events, not even the fact that flying a real helicopter isn’t exactly like “flying” one via computer simulation.

Adults will recognize … well, a certain lack of regard for reality. Kids should have a blast. And there were a couple of scenes that, if they appeared in a more conventional, explicit freedom novel, would have you cheering the courage and integrity of the characters. What the heck; they’re worth a cheer here, also.

A Dog Called Grk turns out to be book one of a growing series of comic adventure books featuring Tim, Grk, Natascha, and her older brother Max. And I say let me at ‘em!

—–

The second book is entirely different. Stormy is hyper-realistic. It’s also old enough to be called a classic. It was originally published in 1959, the 46th (and final) novel by outdoorsman and children’s author Jim Kjelgaard.

Kjelgaard (whose most famous work was Big Red, which became a Disney movie) believed you should never talk down to children, that in fact you had to live up to their expectations. And he does in this ultimate guy book.

Teenager Allan Marley is living alone in subartic wilderness. He and his father once earned their living guiding hunters who came to their lodge. But now his hot-tempered father is in prison for nearly beating a neighbor to death, and the neighbor’s vengeful family has cut off vehicle access to the lodge so hunters no longer come. Allan survives by hunting, fishing, and raising his own crops. He earns money by trapping and selling pelts, but his funds are rapidly diminishing.

Then, as winter sets in, early and harsh, Allan discovers a magnificent mixed-breed retriever, wounded (but dauntless) in the snow and ice. He learns that the dog is an “outlaw,” to be shot on sight for having attacked its last master. But Allan quickly realizes the dog, which he names Stormy, is not vicious at all, but an independent soul like himself, whose trust must be won and who will tolerate no mistreatment.

One of the things I enjoyed about Stormy is that, even though Allan interacts frequently with people in the nearby town, including authority figures like the local game warden, no one ever questions his right to be on his own or suggests that he needs any help or care. Everyone — including Allan himself — implicitly understands that he’s perfectly capable.

The novel is as much survival manual as story; you may get more information about wilderness living than you really want to know. But there are valuable lessons here, including think rationally and don’t panic even when a situation looks dire. Oh, and there’s a decent, if thin, plot in there, too.

Stormy is available via Amazon, but you can also read it free online via Project Gutenberg Canada.

—–

The Dangerous Book for Dogs (a comic twist on the famous Dangerous Book for Boys) turned out to be entertaining — anything from howlingly funny to mildly lame and doggily gross. But A Dog Called Grk and Stormy were the real prizes of the week’s book haul.

Share or Bookmark

• No fair! How come the CIA doesn’t deliver bags of cash to me? I’m sure I could stay bought at least as well as the typical third-world puppet. (We all know those standards aren’t too high.) It’s a sure thing I could find some cronies to share the loot with. Heck, I’d probably have cronies crawling out of the woodwork as soon as they learned I was the source of buckets of untraceable dollars. I’ll bet I could even find a warlord or two to fund. So why not me? Why not you? But since it’s not us, I’d like to ask the CIA: Are you being sure to write suspicious activity reports (SARs) on yourself for sneaking all that secret dough out of the country? Are you going to arrest yourself and confiscate all your own assets any time soon? P.S. If you ever do start delivering to me, I prefer gold. Paper is so ticky-tacky. Thank you.
• Ahem. In other news: First dog to get four prosthetic limbs. And he’s still got that troublemakin’ cattledog grin.
• Fans of the anti-snitch book: here’s some more good advice, particularly if you’re involved in any group activism. (Thank you, Hobbit, for the link.)
• Creepy. Weird. Surprise school shooting scenario. At least the teachers drew good rural western conclusions. Still creepy. Still weird. (H/T MF from comments.)
• Man spends (fortunately small) life savings. On a carnival game. Wins a stuffed banana. With dreadlocks. No doubt it was all the carnival operator’s fault. The idiot victim will probably end up getting compensation and tax-paid counseling.
• This is not a good way to go Outlaw. Still, it’s pretty amazing this disappearing mom remained between the cracks so long even in the Surveillance Age.

NOTE: Somehow, comments got turned off on this post. Links posts don’t usually get a lot of comment, anyhow. But I just caught the problem and turned that feature back on, in case anyone’s interested.

Share or Bookmark

How can people know that the state is a powerful club, yet still believe it to be omni-benevolent?

Why do people continue to believe the government exists to help them when the phrase, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” is known as an irony to one and all?

How can anyone think their health-care system will improve once it’s operated by the kind of people who run the DMV?

—–

What do you do if you’ve already enacted your own personal austerity regime and you’re still not making it?

Why will some people glibly answer that question with, “Get a better job!” In this economy? You kidding?

Would I eat my dogs if things got really bad?

If I died and nobody noticed, would the dogs eat me?

Well, of course they would, but the real question is would I then be remembered forever as “Claire? Oh yeah, she’s the one got eaten by her dogs”? (For the record, I’m not the slightest bit bothered by the prospect of my dogs eating me, but I’m horrified at the thought of being remembered that way.)

—–

How come pot growing was so much simpler before Washington v*ted to make it legal?

Why don’t people get that, if you’re going to have “public policy” at all, this is the principle on which it must stand: “I think the burden of proof in public policy should fall on those who seek power rather than those who seek liberty; in short, there should be a presumption in favor of liberty.” — Art Carden (Which may also be the most brilliantly succinct statement of minarchist principles ever uttered.)

Share or Bookmark

Good news and think pieces only today.

• How mindfulness (aka meditation) might improve brain power. (H/T. JB)
• Young goldendoodle saves pregnant woman and her unborn baby. (H/T ML) Also, while this “news” isn’t new, it’s a nice v*te of confidence for bully breed dogs. (One of my neighbors has the most gorgeous, most sweet pit bull/American bulldog mix — aka aka Bullypit or Colorado bulldog. I could fall in love.)
• “Why I’m getting rid of most of my stuff.” By the inimitable (and slightly crazy) James Altucher. (I can identify. I’ve been in an accumulating mode since buying this house; after a couple of years of that, I find myself wanting to “travel light” again.)
• Since we’ve given dogs their due, here’s one for you cat people. And Ayn Rand fans. (Tip o’ hat to CB.)
• PBS deigns to interview a maverick free-market economics guys. You know him from the Keynes/Hayek rap videos.
• What you and I have known for years: Cannabis has won the war on drugs. So send the damn troops home, already!

One bit of bad (but not unexpected) news: the great film critic Roger Ebert has died. His love and knowledge of movies enriched the lives of millions of movie fans — and millions of non-fans, for that matter.

Share or Bookmark