China's dog meat trade

In recent months, there have been petitions trying to impact the use of dogs in China for food.  Tonight I received a post that illustrated how the Chinese use puppies to eat for their meals.  The cruelty of the method sickened me so that I am using this blog just to emote.  I am outraged about it but there is absolutely nothing I can do. I have often seen Chinese markets that made me nauseated but nothing has disturbed me more than the sight of this poor puppy being used to fill some Chinese belly!

Yes, we can sign petitions.  We can write letters. I see through Change.org that there are several petitions.  More disturbing was the fact that a town was celebrating its dogmeat festival for which there was a petition to stop it.  That petition was a sound and sensible warning to the Chinese of the dangers in eating dog meat.  It mentioned how many dogs in that particular region suffered rabies, and how often that particular town had had trouble with rabies.

In making a remark about the insanity of this kind of mistreatment to a poor animal, I received another which was worse. There are videos on youtube which also show the horrors of the dog trade in China.  I read the explanation and warning about the effects of watching the film so that I would not watch it. I cannot stand cruelty to animals and I did not want this to enter my consciousness since the author said it might stay with me for years.  It is so horrendous to watch.

All the comments on this European effort to change life in China was to denounce the Chinese of course, but many are full of despair and negativity about the chances of change in China.  The Chinese do believe that their diets should include such fare as this so that they harvest animals cruelly.

The friend who sent it to me said that they had no soul.  It does show that they do not fully understand the concept of lovingness.  They do not get joy out of seeing a baby animal in the same way that we do.  What kind of people is it that can do this to a helpless animal is what I want to know.  I know that environment has always been a reason that sociologists and psychologists explain behavior but this is the saddest and sorriest community in the world that has never learned to care for and protect animals.

It puzzles me to see how much joy in life that these Chinese people are missing.  They are truly amongst the poorest of people in the world in that respect. I remember reading years ago how Mao Tse Tung had said that while they were poor they could at least paint flowers.  If you can paint a beautiful flower, why can't you value you a precious life?

I am distressed about this.  Let us hope that we can bring change to this body of people who so dreadfully seem to need it.  Only a starving fool would ever treat a dog in this fashion!

Politics in America

We have some very difficult times ahead of us in this country.  Barack Obama is at the end of his term with only two years to go before he is a free man, once more only a citizen and not a chief executive.

But the Republicans who won a majority in the last election in both the Senate and the House are suddenly acting as if they are possibly more powerful than the President which is making things a bit tense.  However, tense as it may be, the people will have a chance to see what would happen if the Republicans gained any more power than they already have.

The Republicans have taken off proving that they intend to make their views and opinions dominant.  The problem will be to know if the American public is aware of this or not.  Too often, Americans tune out politics rather than tuning in.

One issue that has popped its ugly head is that of Iran and its nuclear weapons so that the Majority leader Boehner has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress without even consulting President Barack Obama, and Benjamin Netanyahu accepted.   Netanyahu and Obama do not get along very well so that this appears to be an insult and an affront to the President who has decided not to invite Benjamin to the White House or to the State Department.

I believe that Benjamin Netanyahu palpably hates Barack Obama. I am certain that he scorns him as much as he had Yasser Arafat from the way he behaves.  So his action to accept John Boehner's invitation to speak says volumes about his attitude about Congress and the President.  In this case, I am definitely disapproving who I call Bonehead Boehner's decision to do this stupid and meaningless act.

Naturally, all the Obama haters will approve of this insult to the White House, but I personally find it distasteful, repugnant, and downright insulting and wrong.  The President is the person who should have initiated any such visit by Netanyahu and not John Boehner who is bonehead of the week in my opinion.

Netanyahu is upset with Europe who has finally acknowledged the Palestinians as a state so that the Palestinians have charged Netanyahu with being a war criminal.  Turkey is one of the main countries that is opposed to the Israeli's for having bombed a ship that was carrying medical  supplies to the Palestinians for the wounded and the ill.  Netanyahu is having a hissy fit about being considered a war criminal but the nations who believe it have the United Nations assistance.

I suppose that Netanyahu is wanting to impress Congress with how dangerous the Iranians are.  Europeans and Americans are both trying to work out a program with Iran to limit their nuclear capabilities.  So that is the reason that Boehner has asked Netanyahu to speak to Congress, to attempt to persuade them to fear Iran already more than they already do.  What a useless and unnecessary speech!

No matter what happens, this is a most unpleasant event which spells real trouble for both Congress and the President who had said that they had wanted to work together.  Like heck!  It looks as though they are declaring war on each other.  Not what Americans want to hear right now.

But I am hoping that the Republicans do show all their cards now that they think that they have the upper hand.  It will either make Americans approve or disapprove their antiquated thinking.

There is little doubt that America is moving.  America is making great changes.  Some appear to be for the good while many seem to be going backward instead of forward.  I think that we are spending way too much time on war games rather than building bridges, highways, and other infrastructure programs to keep the nation safe and sound.

If the Republicans really want to be accepted as credible then they will have to prove that they have the interests of the nation at heart, not their own petty personal interests.  Americans themselves are going to have to learn not to go to extremes in deciding upon the leaders of our country.  Too many serious issues which caused a particular party to win are too often neglected and forgotten once the elected official takes office.

Headlines persuade people too much.  Illegal immigration, excessive force by police officers,  ISIS and Al Qaeda, school shootings, and sex trafficking are problems making the news daily it would seem.  Just the problem of gun control alone sets people on fire.  Children who kill their mother in a Walmart, or their baby brother at home, or the latest one is a child who killed himself using his parent's gun are the latest bad news headlines we read.  It is senseless!

So I do not anticipate any good news in the coming months, and for a time, it made me feel depressed.  I mean who can feel happy about all the bad news that we are fed on a daily basis but we must know what is going on around us.  I overdose on positive thoughts to make me realize that I am very lucky, very fortunate, not to be bothered by any major problems of my own but more by learning of the plight of others.

Yet I can do nothing to solve any of these problems.  I can only listen and hope that someone who has the power to impact these miserable lives will do so.  It is an endless cycle of bad news from each and every part of the world.  Surely, there is something that someone can do to right these wrongs.   We would hope.

Super Bowl 49

Deflated balls are the cause for concern about the New England Patriots. It seems that 11 balls out of 12 were found to be deflated during the playoff game between the Indiana Colts and the Patriots.  Supposedly, the balls were found to be perfect before the game began but during the course of the game an interception made one of the Colts report that he believed that the football was lighter than it should have been.  That complaint led to an investigation after the game which has proved that the balls that the Patriots used during the game were 2 lbs lighter than regulation play allows.

So today Tom Brady, quarterback for the Patriots, had a news conference to answer questions put to him by reporters about the problem.  Naturally, he protested his innocence in knowing anything about the problem, and his fans and friends believe him while his detractors naturally do not believe him.

Enemies of the Patriots are calling the Patriots cheaters while others are supporting them.  I personally believe that when the Colts realized that the balls were not properly inflated that they should have told the referees about it at the time.  Had they done that, they may have been able to correct it even if had delayed the game.  It would be better than this ongoing ridiculous means of painting the Patriots as cheaters.

The most interesting comment  that Tom Brady said at the news conference is that the NFL had not yet talked to him about it.  He should have been a bit more truthful about realizing that the balls were not inflated properly but he ducked it by saying he was too busy thinking the process of the game rather than worrying about the pigskin itself.  I frankly do understand why it is odd that a receiver from the opposition team would notice it right away but a quarterback would not sense it.  I think that is why people think that Tom Brady is not telling the truth, but he asserted that he had nothing to do with altering the balls, and had not noticed anything unusual at all.  

For 11 balls to be determined to be under inflated makes me wonder.  How can that many balls lose the same amount of air during a game?  Who has the ball when the team goes into a huddle?  Where is that ball at all times?  Why is it that only one team suffers that problem while the other teams balls do not?  Can a receiver carry some hidden device to puncture the ball?  Or while nobody is looking, (with all those cameras) is some keeper of the balls playing around with them?  

I wonder if this will be solved at all because all the enemies of the Patriots are talking big time punishment worse than that they have suffered before.  Some even think that they should not play in the Super Bowl.  Without proof and evidence of guilt, there is no reason to go that far.  But the time to correct the problem and penalize the Patriots was when the game was played, not after. It is done now.

And on that fact, the Colts are being humiliated by some saying that even had the ball been a beach ball or a brick, that the Patriots would have won anyway.  The Colts were that bad in that game, which for a fact is true, but did the Colts just decide to not even bother once they realized that the balls were deflated.  Maybe they called a halt to the game realizing how far the Patriots might go to win the game.  As if the size and weight of the football is the criteria that makes one win a game. In the case of a passing game, it is that important.

At any rate, it has left a black mark on the game now that it is being overly discussed, mocked, and satirized.  Some video tonight ridiculing Tom Brady and his balls is making the rounds of the internet.  

What a shame!

Experimenting.

I learned  a few lessons tonight on photo blogs.  I have not really known how to make a photo blog but I am trying to figure it out now.  Well, I just looked at all the photos that I made from month to month in the past year. I am happy that I took them and I have resolved to take some this year as well, but so far I have taken only a few. I have a new phone as well so that may make a lot of difference.

It is getting late and I must go to bed.  I will work on this more now that I have made some inroads. I will try to put a few here for the purpose of this first experiment.Now if I want to add some copy what will happen. I see what happened.  I took these pictures last summer sometime.  My hair has grown since then.  I will publish these simply to prove that I have learned a few things about photos.

Gotta go to bed now

Super Bowl will feature Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots

Finally, Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will face each other February 1, 2015 in the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.  This football stadium probably shares a lot in common with the new concert hall that  just opened in Paris.  It is too far out of town for most to travel to see.  It is in the northwest corner of the Valley, but most of the activities that will promote the party set will be either downtown in Phoenix  or in this side of town, in Scottsdale.

The game itself will be on the first of February but the party will be all week long, and now that the teams are settled, all the major activity in this town starts now.

A local casino is giving each of its regular customers a chance to win two tickets to the big game by using their players cards when playing games at the casino.  I think that is one of the smartest promotions I have heard yet.  Who would not want to have a chance to win tickets to the game?

It just so happens that the Phoenix Golf Tournament is taking place that same week, and the main talk of the town has been that Tiger Woods has decided to play in the Invitational this year.  Now, isn't that just too ducky for words!  He has not made an appearance here in years, but with all the brouhaha about the SuperBowl he is one more superstar to add to the mix.  Nobody can miss the magnanimity of this action, can they?

Play ball!

Captain Arabia and Captain America

Tonight there was another post about ISIS but it was a bit of a spoof!  Someone added a video spoofing ISIS that was entitled Captain Arabia.

It was full of humor imitating Americans in some ways that turned out not to be flattery but more satire and a bit of an  insight into the way Americans puff themselves up.

I mean really!  When Hollywood has to make movies called Captain America you do have to wonder, are we so lacking in self esteem that we have to have a movie or a comic book even called Captain America.   I then thought about all the other nations of the world who must wonder about our narcissistic movies that have to portray ourselves as the saviors of the world.

Captain Arabia does do the mean thing to a little kid by breaking his trophys that he has collected so that the little boy cries.  A lot like the Islamic tribes in Niger who had a hissy fit over the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

There is no doubt that Americans can dish it out.   But can Americans take it when dished back at us?