American Pit Bulls...

My husband and I rescued an injured and malnourished pit bull the other night. Born October 1, 2004, the couple that had owned him had split up and after some passing back and forth, the dog, who had been named Ghotti and has now been renamed Lucky, was taken by one of the owners, hit by a car while in his custody, then later that night, dropped off at the ex-girlfriend's house.

I won't dwell on where I think he ought to be dropped off.

About a month later, we were at the dog's home and saw him, tied to a fence with clothesline wire, unable to move his hindquarters or walk very well at all and painfully thin.

He went home with us and we took him to the vet the next day, more than half thinking that the dog would have to be put down. The vet went over him with a fine tooth comb. First she had to let him get something in him as he was obviously starved nearly to death and the next day, she did x-rays and found a lot of fusion going on in his hips and legs. He was, at the same time, declared to be a sweet, loving dog by everyone who came in contact with him.

The vet discussed it with my husband (she is his long-time friend, veterenarian extraordinaire and treats all manner of living things) and while I do not know exactly what transpired in that conversation, the dog came home to our house, ostensibly "overnight" to see how he coped with life that included food.

The vet is a terrifc woman, located in Royal Oak, Michigan, with offices in three other SE MI areas. For the absolute best and most reasonably priced veterinary care contact:

Royal Oak Animal Hospital
824 South Main Street
Royal Oak, Michigan 48067
Telephone: 248.542.7330
FAX: 248.542.0306

We don't want another dog. We don't want a "crippled" dog. We don't want a pit bull. We don't want another male. If we ever get another dog, it will be a Chow.

Except.

Lucky's staying. He's a good boy, loving and terribly needy and he needs us. He'll get better and we'll take care of whatever he needs to get better. And unlike the Asshat who allowed him to get hit by a car and then dropped him off without a care in the world, we'll never train him to do things that make his life painful and angry.

I've been reading some interesting information on the breed.

http://www.workingpitbull.com/
http://www.dogexpert.com/HomePage/DogBiteStatistics.html
http://pitbulls.jentown.com/dogattacks.htm
http://www.dogexpert.com/Popular%20Press/Pitbullfriend.html
http://www.pbrc.net/home.html

Now, there are those people and groups who would love to see the breed "outlawed" - PETA for one. "It's a pit bull, it's dangerous, it was bred for killing, blah, blah, blah."

They were originally bred as a hunter's gripping dog, then bred to bait bulls. Gripping dogs have been used for thousands of years in many cultures to hold dangerous wild animals while hunters killed them. The pit bull has had a variety of jobs through his long history, first as a gripping dog for hunters, then as the work-mate of butchers. When you realize how large, strong and unfriendly most bulls (not pit bulls) are, you realize that ancient and medieval butchers had need of a strong, absolutely fearless dog which would, when called, race out and become a "living nose-ring" by attaching themselves to the noses of out of control bulls. From this work came the contest known as "bull-baiting" in which butchers and gamblers would set their dogs on a tied bull to determine who had the better bulldog. The dog which could grasp the bull by the nose and not be shaken nor thrown off, and which could subdue the bull by pinning its nose to the ground, would be the winner.

When bull-baiting was outlawed, certain types of people still wanted to watch animals injure and kill each other, so dog fighting became popular. Since a dog fight is much easier to hide from the police than a bull-bait, dog fighting has remained to this day the most popular way for enthusiasts of animal fighting to get their kicks. You also have a group of criminals who believe that they are the biggest and the baddest if they can turn a decent dog into a complete asshole.

Rather than put the dog down, I have a suggestion......

But, whatever the arguments against Lucky coming to live at our house, he has and he's going to stay.

May he live long and prosper.

Now, that was well said....

On Democrats:

Yet despite the fervency of their commitment against the unborn, they go to great pains to euphemize their position, saying they're actually pro-choice, not pro-abortion, and while greasing the skids to maximize the number of abortions, they insist they want to make abortion rare. Do you think they would play such games of deceit if they were as sure as they pretend to be that the majority of the public aligns with them -- and their abject extremism -- on this issue?

I like David Limbaugh better and better.

Tag, you're it....

Book Tag is a blogger phenomenon wherein various folks ask other folks to answer some questions about themselves and books. The idea is, answer the questions and "tag" five other people. You're all tagged.

Total number of books I've owned: Thousands and thousands. I was once incapable of giving away, throwing away, or even donating books. Since then I have learned that there are so many different groups and people who cannot get access to books as I do. Now, we still own a lot of books but I quite regularly give away books to my daughter, to kids at school, to various groups and to other teachers at school.

Last book I bought: Women of Mystery - a book of short stories by a group of very good mainstream women mystery writes. I bought it to give to a young girl at school who reads non-stop. She reads "bodice rippers" by African-American authors and after skimming through one, I decided she needed to broaden out her reading and thought introducing her to Faye Kellerman, Sara Paretsky, Ruth Rendell, Anne Perry and Mary Higgins Clark might be a step up. As an aside, she admits she never read at all before our school adopted the Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Program. Our children read twenty minutes each and every day at the beginning of their lunch hour.

Last book I read: White Male Infant by Barbara D'Amato - not much impressed.

Five books that mean a lot to me: They mean a lot to me for different reasons. Three of them are by Mark Twain.

The Diaries of Adam and Eve. If you love, or are loved, or want to make someone feel loved, this is a fine, fine book. It is available online as well. This truck a chord with me because when Felix and I were courting, and it was a very odd courting dance, for sure, I hit a point where I felt that my life, with my children, my volunteer work, my hectic schedule, teaching, and all of the other bits and pieces of my life, would really make his life too complex - change things too much for him. His life seemed so simple and ordered - I was afraid of changing it too much and having him resent it later. I quoted this part of the book to him:

This new creature with the long hair is a good deal in the way. It is always hanging around and following me about. I don't like this; I am not used to company. I wish it would stay with the other animals.

He immediately quoted back Adam's statement at Eve's grave, long after they were driven from the Garden:

Wheresoever she was, there was Eden.

Forty years after she came into being, in Twain's book, Eve writes:

It is my prayer, it is my longing, that we may pass from this life together--a longing which shall never perish from the earth, but shall have place in the heart of every wife that loves, until the end of time; and it shall be called by my name. But if one of us must go first, it is my prayer that it shall be I; for he is strong, I am weak, I am not so necessary to him as he is to me--life without him would not be life; now could I endure it? This prayer is also immortal, and will not cease from being offered up while my race continues. I am the first wife; and in the last wife I shall be repeated.

Letters From the Earth. It's a wonderful book and it really goes to the heart of the human race and all of its faults and foibles.

Mark Twain on the Damned Human Race. Nobody writes like Twain.

The Federalist Papers. - Hamilton, Madison and Jay, Edited by Benjamin F. Wright. Reading the Founding Fathers words, knowing how strongly they felt, what commitment they held to our beginnings as a country. It is truly very powerful to read their words.

Safe, Not Sorry by Tanya K. Metaska
It's one of the earliest books I read on self defense, taking control, and making positive change. It's got a lot of anecdotal stuff in it and it is not "perfectly" written, but it opened my eyes. It can be ordered at townhall.com for $17.95 plus shipping.

Addendum - when I was married to my ex-maniac, I got my college education so I could make my escape. I did so by "sneaking" to classes, hiding my books, etc. Terrible punishments were exacted whenever I was caught out of the house without permission. We also had a wood stove for heat (I wasn't allowed to use the furnace without permission). One afternoon, I came home later than I should because I thought he would still be at work. He had gotten fired that day and was (1) home very early and (2) in a foul mood and (3) stupid drunk. When I came into the house it was blazing hot and as I cautiously looked around for where he might be, I looked down the stairs into the family room where the wood stove was and there he sat with the door open on the furnace. Almost simultaneously, I realised that the bookshelves were empty. I opened my mouth to speak, but then he held up my journal and said, "This is what happens when you don't listen." He then threw it into the fire.

Every book in my home, my journals (more than 25 years worth), every magazine, all of it - burned.

Felix gave me a book at our very first meeting and our courting revolved around trips to the range, to Borders and dinners where we talked and talked and talked.

Every woman should be so blessed.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868
The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.
If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.
Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from hishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.
It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.
Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.
By order of
JOHN A. LOGAN,Commander-in-Chief
N.P. CHIPMAN,Adjutant General
Official:WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.

I cannot say it any better than so many before me have. In 2004, LTG James R. Helmly, Commander, US Army Reserve Command Chief, Army Reserve said,in part:

It is this love of liberty that motivates young men and women to continue to enlist in the Army even when they know that soon they will serve in dangerous places far from the land and people they love. It is this love of liberty that provides strength and pride to families and loved ones left behind. It is a source of strength for us all.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
God Bless you, your families, our fellow Soldiers and the United States of America on this Memorial Day.

May God Bless all who have served, who continue to serve and all who have made and continue to make it possible for me to know Liberty and Freedom.

Dear God...

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Please take care of my Doc. Keep him safe in his travels and comfort him when he rests. Help him connect where he wishes to and become invisible when he needs to. Help him and all of his brothers and sisters find whatever it is each of them searches for today and for all of their days. Give him solace and community and let no one, today of all days, hurt him or shame him. Please lend him strength every inch of the way. Give him peace, hope, and a rested soul. Amen.