Hunter approaches a fox and tries to kill it with a rifle butt.
However,
The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw,” one prosecutor was quoted as saying.
Cats
Friday Catblogging: So What’s in Purina Kitten Chow Anyway?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wired answers the question of What’s Inside: Purina Kitten Chow.
Here are the main ingredients: Biotin, Brewers Rice, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Animal Fat Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols, Fish Meal, Chicken ByProduct Meal, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Taurine, and Soy Flour.
The Wired story describes why each ingredient is included, and it’s well worth a cat lover’s time to see what’s part of his or her kitten’s diet.
Comment Forum, Music
Friday Comment Forum: Worst Song Ever
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the Friday open comments post.
Today’s suggested topic — The Canadians have banned a Dire Straits song. If you were going to ban a song — although I think banning’s a bad idea — what would you ban? Less intrusively, what song would you switch off the moment you heard it?
My pick —
Frosty the Snowman — I really dislike that song. I certainly wouldn’t ban it, as Sister Aloysius Beauvier would, but I don’t like it, as it’s just grating to me.
Think I’m wrong? Play this a few times — I dare you.
The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings is, of course, fine.
Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.
I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon. more >>
Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Music
Canada Bans Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” for Being Too Offensive
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m sure the song is offensive to many — but that’s no reason to ban it.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has ruled that Dire Straits’ 1980s hit Money for Nothing is too offensive for Canadian radio.
The ruling, released Wednesday, was in response to a complaint against St. John’s radio station CHOZ-FM. The listener complained that the word faggot – which appears three times in the song is “extremely offensive” to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
For those unfamiliar, here’s the song:
Via Canada Bans Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” for Being Too Offensive. No, I’m Not Kidding – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine. more >>
Economy
One Million Homes Repossessed in 2010
by JOHN ADAMS •
For millions, 2010 was a difficult year.
Foreclosures were at a record high in 2010, and more than 1 million people lost their homes, even as notices started leveling off during the end year.
In total, there were nearly 2.9 million foreclosure notices filed during the year, according to report released Thursday by RealtyTrac. That was a record high, but just 1.7% above 2009.
The story notes that foreclosures would have been higher had lenders not reduced the number of notices toward the end of the year due to complaints about robo-signing.
What to think about this high number of foreclosures? Megan McArdle thinks that it’s a complicated legal matter, and hard to assess. Thomas Sowell thinks that bailing out homeowners is bad policy.
I’d say both are true: it is legally complicated, but except for the truly disadvantaged, bailing out homeowners is bad policy (and denies prospective buyers their chance for a home). There’s also much demonizing of lenders in all this, when not all lenders are at fault for unlawful practices.
In most of these cases, especially for those borrowers with good incomes, this should be a matter between lender and borrower, without government intervention.
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 1-14-11
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning,
For today, the Whitewater’s forecast calls for a slight chance of flurries, with a high temperature of twenty-three.
In our schools, at Washington School, it’s Family Fitness Night, from 6-8 p.m, and at the Middle School it’s Activity Night from 7-9:30 p.m.
Over at Science News, there’s a post entitled, The write stuff for test anxiety:
Students score higher after jotting down worries before a big exam.
Psychologists Gerardo Ramirez and Sian Beilock, of the University of Chicago, contend that
High school and college students go from choking to smoking on big tests by writing about their exam fears beforehand, a new study suggests.
In what amounts to a Heimlich maneuver for choking under pressure, writing down test-related worries for 10 minutes before taking a major exam appears to dislodge those concerns and clear the way for higher achievement….
That’s intriguing, and contrary to a traditional view that holds that one should ignore one’s worries, and concentrate only on the subject matter. Beilock has a book on the topic of test anxiety: Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To.
Here’s Beilock talking about her book —
Science/Nature
Injured Turtle Gets Wheels To Walk
by JOHN ADAMS •
According to MSNBC, she was brought into Israel’s Wildlife Hospital in the Ramat Gan Safari, near Tel Aviv, because she had been run over by a lawnmower. She sustained fractures in her shell that became infected….
Because of this, the veterinarians gave her a set of wheels. The turtle liked them so much that the prototype had to be replaced with a stronger set.
Via Huffington Post Injured Turtle Gets Wheels To Walk (VIDEO).
City
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters January 2011 Newsletter
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ January 2011 Newsletter is out, and it includes articles and a calendar of upcoming LWV events. The latest copy of the LWV newsletter is available as a link on my blogroll, and is embedded below, with coding through Google.
Here’s a sampling of upcoming events for the Whitewater-Area League —
Date: January 20 (Thursday)
Event: Speaker, Attorney Victor Arellano on Immigration and Naturalization Law
Where: 7 PM City Municipal Building, Council Chambers
Description:
Attorney Victor M. Arellano will address issues of immigration and naturalization in the Council Chambers of City Hall in Whitewater on January 20th at 7PM. This event is free and open to the public.
Attorney Arellano practices law in Madison and is an expert in immigration law and international adoptions. He is admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, both Wisconsin Federal District Courts, Immigration Court and the United States Tax Court. In 2007 Governor Jim Doyle appointed Mr. Arellano to the Commission on Reducing Racial Disparities in Wisconsin’s Criminal Justice System. In addition, he was one of eleven Wisconsin attorneys selected as a Leader in the Law for 2006 in the Wisconsin Law Journal. Recently, Mr. Arellano was listed along with other outstanding attorneys across the country in Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition 2009.
Attorney Arellano participates in many civic activities including hosting his own radio program, “En Vivo con Victor Arellano/Live with Victor Arellano” on AM 1480, La Movida Spanish radio programming where he provides legal advice to the Latino Community. In addition, Mr. Arellano regularly serves as a Moot Court Judge for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. Mr. Arellano frequently handles pro bono cases. He has also written numerous “Know your rights” articles in Spanish for various bilingual newspapers. Victor M. Arellano received the Hispanic Youth award from Madison’s Centro Hispano and participates annually in the Latino Youth Career Fair.
Date: February 17 (Thursday)
Event: Meeting with LWV-affiliated Student Organization
Where: 6:30-8:30 PM UW-W campus, University Center, Room 264
Date: March 8 (Tuesday)
Event: Viewing of movie “Iron Jawed Angels”
Where: UW-W campus, University Center, Summers Auditorium
For more on the Iron Jawed Angels, see http://iron-jawed-angels.com
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 1-13-11
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning,
Today’s forecast calls for snow, of limited accumulation, with a high temperature of twenty-three degrees.
Tuna’s a popular food, but tuna fishing in U.S. waters may be restricted. The Wall Street Journal, in a story entitled, Tuna Fight Muddies Waters Over Damage From BP Spill, reports that
The bluefin tuna is one of the most majestic and prized creatures in the sea. Last week, one caught off Japan sold in Tokyo for $396,000, to be used as sushi.
Now the fish is the subject of a scientific fight that shows how hard it will be to gauge the environmental fallout of the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The U.S. government will wrap up public meetings next week on whether to recommend declaring the Atlantic bluefin an endangered species….
Beautiful Whitewater
A Field of Dreams
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Janesville Gazette, there’s a fine story about the Treyton Kilar Field of Dreams project. The story describes the project:
The project is an effort to make something great out of something unspeakably tragic. Treyton Kilar of Whitewater was killed last Sept. 2 in a crash involving a driver who now faces charges of homicide by drunken driving.
Kilar’s parents and others are working to raise nearly $500,000 to pay for construction of a baseball field in Whitewater, dubbed the Treyton Kilar Field of Dreams.
See, Field of Dreams project seeks help.
The most important and enduring things are free of politics. They’re an unalloyed good, borne of noble dreams. It was an English jurist who once wrote that Americans are, fundamentally, noble dreamers. The Treyton Kilar Field of Dreams project is such a dream, grand and noble and an unalloyed good.
I’ve been voting for it each day, and I hope that you’ll do so, too.
Here’s the project overview, from the Pepsi Refresh website —
Treyton Kilar, age 6, was killed in a senseless car crash by a drunk driver on September 2, 2010. In an effort to create hope out of despair, the Whitewater community has united to build a new baseball field to honor Treyton and provide a happy, healthy place for families and children to come together safely. Treyton’s big dream was to someday play professional baseball.
He spent countless hours practicing at home and on teams through the Whitewater Parks and Recreation Department. Although Treyton’s dream was cut short by a senseless tragedy, this new ball field will provide our young people with an opportunity to achieve their dreams. By providing a place for family friendly and safe activities, the Treyton Kilar Field of Dreams will provide an alternative to drinking and driving and be a monument to overcoming evil with goodness and love.
Here’s how to vote —
1. Register at http://www.refresheverything.com/treytonkilar and then vote for the Field of Dreams project. You’ll only need to register once, and then you’ll be able to vote for the project each day through January 31st.
2. For Facebook, go to http://www.refresheverything.com/treytonkilar, and install the blue Facebook application (it’s in the right column of the page).
3. Text 105500 to Pepsi (73774)
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 1-12-11
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning,
Whitewater’s Wednesday forecast calls for a chance of snow, with a high temperature of twenty-six.
In the Whippet City today, there’s a 9 a.m. meeting of the Tech Park Board. The agenda for the meeting is available online.
At Washington School, home of the Golden Eagles, there’s a 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. fifth grade band concert. At the middle school, there’s a 7 p.m. PTO meeting tonight.
NASA has had more than its share of challenges lately, and a supporter of space exploration recently took to YouTube to offer a tribute to that agency’s work. YouTUbe user dameswe‘s creation is better than any promotional video NASA’s recently offered.
Enjoy.
Hat tip to Huffington Post for the link. more >>
Cats, Crime
Cat-Hating Misfit Pleads Guilty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Giovanni Estrada, now 20, entered the plea in court this morning. Investigators say he tried to drown the cat in its locked carrier back in September because it killed one of his pet crawfish.
The cat, later named “Lovie” for her affection towards caretakers, had been shot by a BB gun multiple times. She was found by a passerby after the carrier was thrown into McKay Bay. Lovie was cared for by veterinarians and later adopted.
Via Lovie the Cat abuse suspect pleads guilty.
For an earlier post about this case, see Cat-Abusing Savagery in Florida.
Freedom of Speech
Volokh: The First Amendment and Speech That Allegedly Threatens Public Officials
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s well past time for a primer on the boundaries of free speech and public officials. Fortunately, Eugene Volokh of UCLA has that very post on his website. See, The First Amendment and Speech That Allegedly Threatens Public Officials.
Prof. Volokh lists seven key points for understanding First Amendment law involving allegedly threatening speech toward officials. His post is well worth reading (as is true, I think, of all his work).
Police, Politics
Arizona Republic: Pima County Sheriff Should Remember Duty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Indeed.
On Saturday afternoon, with his friend Gabby Giffords in surgery fighting for her life, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik railed against the tense partisan politics – “the anger, the hatred, the bigotry” – that prompted the mass murders outside Tucson, in his view.
And, jarring as such claims may be, we understood. Or tried to understand, despite the spectacle of a lawman – an official whose very job it is to dispassionately gather facts and to maintain order and calm – tying the attack on Rep. Giffords and others to political speech in Arizona, which he considers prejudiced and bigoted. There is no evidence that the state’s politics in any way contributed to this atrocity….
Dupnik took up his cause again on Monday. And, in response, we have to say at last . . . enough. Enough attacks, sheriff. Enough vitriol. It is well past time for the sheriff of Pima County to get a grip on his emotions and remember his duty.
With each passing hour, we learn more about the 22-year-old suspect. And everything we learn adds to the profile of a deeply troubled young man detached from reality. There is nothing to date that suggests any partisan motivation for his crimes, whether right-wing or left.
Dupnik needs to recall that he is elected to be a lawman. With each additional comment, the Democratic sheriff of Pima County is revealing his agenda as partisan, and, as such, every bit as recklessly antagonistic as the talk-show hosts and politicians he chooses to decry.