The Mad Dog Days Of Summer

It's hot outside.  I'm hot.  Hub is in the kitchen creating, as only he can, hot salsa made from Hatch chili peppers. With the heat comes madness at this time of year.

Crime is escalating.  We've even had a killing here in Coeur d'Alene by a cop against a man who allegedly posed no threat except to himself.  Nothing for which to die at the hands of another, especially a cop.

Neighboring Spokane has had a slew of killings over the past couple of weeks. The most egregious was an 88 year old man who was beaten to death by two teens in a robbery that netted them $50.

Pretty awful, right?  Especially since the man, nick named "Shorty", was small in stature and the teens were pretty strapping at 15 and 16.  It has been on the national news so you may have seen it.

The boys are black.  And not the best of boys, having had run ins with the law before.  More was made of the fact the man was a vet who survived a shot in the leg at the battle of Okinawa during World War II.  He came back and lived a long productive life and was still active at 88 considering at the time of the attack he was sitting in his car waiting for a friend for a date to shoot pool.

The police chief has been on the air assuring us that the attack was not racially motivated but rather a crime of opportunity. Why? Is every crime committed by black on white or white on black racially motivated?  Have we really sunk so low that that's a truth?  I have no trouble believing the chief.  What I do wonder is why so much was made that and the fact the victim was a vet.

To me it didn't add to the story nor change how I felt about the attackers.  Two young trouble makers looking for an easy score beat to death an elderly man.  It doesn't matter that they're black and it doesn't matter that the victim was a vet.

What matters is two young men felt motivated to do this and chose what they thought was an easy target.  An old man.  It's horrible and senseless and is happening far more often than acceptable.  As for the Coeur d'Alene incident, no mention was made of race nor military service of either the officer or the victim.  Only a news photo made his race clear.  This too is horrible and senseless and is happening far more often than acceptable.

All the descriptive enhancement makes it no more so or less. It's egregious crime.  It's madness. 

Race, The Fear Factor And Politics

Race equates fear.  Even our President seems to be willing to promote this philosophy.  How a son of his would look like Treyvon.  They'd look like the three that recently killed a young baseball player and the two that beat to death an 87 year old sitting in his car too. It's the wrong comparison, Mr. President, for I doubt if you had a son they'd behave that way because they would have been taught better.

Just for the heck of it I'm going to explain who I fear and why.  The President says he experienced women holding on to their purses more tightly when he or others like him approached.  It was the 'black experience'. I'd do the same but it would depend on their dress and demeanor, not their color.

But you see, it's not just blacks.  I cringe when I see a bunch of white kids using foul language, dressed like nothing that should be allowed in a decent place of business and hogging the sidewalk or whatever.  It's the dress and demeanor.  They take pleasure in intimidating.

I've lived in both Texas and southern California where Hispanics actually dominated in some areas.  They never gave me pause because they weren't known for criminal behavior and didn't appear threatening. They were industrious, hard workers.

It's pretty much the same with Orientals.  I think of them more as achievers than anything else.  They don't appear threatening, even in groups.

On the other hand, there was a time  I'd not have given a thought to people of obvious middle eastern heritage.  Today I find myself tending to steer clear.  It's because of how they are now perceived, justified or not.

It's an issue of which I'm now keenly aware because we're inundated with it thanks to the media.  When terrorism is emanating from those middle easterners and you hear about it enough it affects you.  When the crimes that get the most publicity are crimes committed by blacks against whites and you hear about it enough it instills caution if not fear.

I have never been witness to an administration that made more of a point of race than this one and then calls foul when it's pointed out.  Instead we should be looking at the crimes and what inspires young men to kill for a thrill or $50.  Of course we know what a lot of it is.  The old cliche, the breakdown of the family.

I might add that it's also too much welfare.  The more kids, the more money.  The father is necessary only to create the kid. It's an evil, ugly, vicious cycle with no easy fix. We're creating a society of dependency. We did it with the native Americans, we're doing it with the poor blacks.  Meanwhile, those of a different skin color who are industrious are moving up and in and will one day dominate our society and we will be relegated to the status of the failed.  All because our leaders blame all the wrong reasons for why our society and civility is deteriorating. They go for the feel good fixes rather than those of substance.  Substance requires effort from all sides. It's work and it isn't easy.  But the fix would be a real one.  If only...

If the politicians feel the policies of this President are bad for the country it's time for them to say so rather than quaking in their boots in fear of being called a racist.  It's time for them to understand it's those who call them racist  who are the racists and move ahead.  He and his administration are the leaders of the whole country no matter the ethnicity.  To continually use it as a wedge is a disservice to the entire country and in the end it will be more than a footnote in his legacy. And it will be deserved.

Where There's Smoke, There's Fire!

When you see sky like this in the summer in the western United States you can bet it's not a cumulus cloud!  It's more likely to be a wild fire.

We rarely travel during the summer months but for some reason this year we've been out and about twice.  Never again.  Too many people, too hot and too expensive!

Then there are the fires. We were headed to Billings, MT for an art show and some casual poking around the area, the zoo, on down to Red Lodge, through the Parks to Jackson and the galleries, then home. We didn't see clear sky until we got to Jackson.  There's a huge fire clouding Missoula, another hovering over Bozeman, Billings was hot and smokey then the Bear Tooth Highway fire outside of Red Lodge was so intense the air stung your eyes and dried your throat. There were at least three fires in Yellowstone.

We passed fire fighting base camps everywhere.  You talk about unsung heros!  You want to salute when you see the Hot Shot trucks.

Then the people. A lady standing outside the motel Thursday morning commenting how you could smell the smoke as she puffed on a cigarette.  Irony at it's best?  And the cigarette butt lying on the path a short distance from the Pictograph Caves just south of Billings where the surroundings and the grass was so dry it crunched under your shoes.

This isn't my usual type of 'return from vacation' monologue, but every summer the west burns.  Perhaps we don't grasp the vastness of it unless we try to get out and about.  We had the same experience in July when we were mostly in Utah.

It's just sad.  The beauty that is the west is disappearing bit by bit.  It takes far longer to grown back than to burn and burn it does. For those young men and women who year after year manage to save untold homes and acreage from the wrath of Mother Nature, thank mothers of a different sort for you!

We sure don't need man to add to the insult on our land by building selfishly or camping stupidly.  Mother Nature, in the form of lightening strikes, does well enough on her own!

Too Many Walls

The Vietnam Memorial Wall and it's accompanying War On Terror Wall is in town for the weekend.

Hub lost his law school roommate in the war, a Navy pilot shot down and never recovered.  We went to find his name and give a nod of honor and remembrance.

Having never seen the full scale wall in Washington I was overwhelmed with the immensity of even this scaled down version.  I stopped in my tracks and my eyes teared.  As so many before me have thought, "So many names!"    

As the world seems to be imploding around us it brought to mind that each and everyone one of those war dead has a name and those who loved them.  What a waste of so many human lives.  American lives.

It makes me more determined than ever to keep voicing my opposition to those who feel they have the right to demolish our constitution for their own ends.  All the names on these walls gave their lives so it couldn't happen.  We owe it to them to let it not have been in vain. I will be out of town for the next week. I can think of nothing better to leave you with to contemplate.


 

Man's Best Friend Comes In Many Guises

The title for the picture is "Which animal doesn't belong?"  Right!  The one in the lower left hand corner.  That's a Ferret masquerading as a Toy Poodle.  How anyone could be fooled is beyond me but for a time in Argentina there was a thriving business selling these little guys. They aren't alone, however, in trying to fool some of the people all of the time.

It seems China must have a shortage of zoo animals because they're clipping and dying various breeds to look like wild animals.  It just goes to show you not every one sees things the same way!  Politicians take note.

But I don't want to go political today.  The world is too much of a mess and we all need a respite so revisionist dogdom will be my subject.

The handsome fellow at in the upper left box is a Lion.  Seriously. King of the beasts don't you know!  My what a long nose you have, and furry body and small feet!  Even the Chinese viewing this Tibetan Mastiff weren't fooled though.  You see, he barked.

In the upper right we have the Chinese version of a tiger - floppy ears and all.  I guess everyone has to suffer dog days in the summer!

And the lower right.  An adorable Panda. He is, really.  So is the dog breed with the black tongues that he seems to resemble.  Some of us know them as Chow Chows. Perhaps since they are both native to China they're interchangeable.

It's kind of nice though to be able to look at some of the absurdities of the world and get a smile out of them.  It beats banning rodeo clowns for life for a distasteful joke which is in and of itself an absurdity. Or having to read one more story about Anthony Weiner or the mayor of San Diego.  Or listening to rush Limbaugh tell us he could never moderate a political debate because he's too famous and it would detract from the subject and people at hand.  We're surrounded by absurdities.

But today, I'll take furry absurdities who probably went along with all the snipping and clipping in good spirits.  Oh, yeah, the handsome devil on the right is the late, great Bacchus.  A Saint Bernard.  Now he was a dog!