Cats and stuff

[plonq]

atara dropped Belladonna at the vet on her way in to work this morning for some teeth cleaning and, depending on the results of the cleaning, a possible extraction or two. Obviously we are worried since there are no guarantees when they put your cat under for any kind of surgery. She's been anesthetized before without any bad reactions, so I am optimistic.

In there was a recent local homicide where the victim had filed a protection order against the murderer. Naturally the local media have latched onto this story and are milking it for ratings. As I was driving in this morning, they were interviewing the sister of a woman who was killed in a similar situation out in Calgary. This woman is championing the cause for requiring mandatory tracking devices for anyone has a restraining, or protection order filed against them.

The host pointed out that the system is far from perfect, and even subject to abuse at times, and putting a tracking device on everyone who is the target of a restraining or protection order could result in innocent people being tracked.

The advocate's response was chilling and priceless. Innocent people should want to wear a tracking device so that they can prove their innocence.

That makes sense. By extension, innocent people should be happy to have their houses routinely searched, and be stopped and frisked in the street so that they can prove their continued innocence. Maybe we could tap their phones and monitor their online activities too.

This is the kind of fertile ground where bills like C51 find nourishment for their roots. Fortunately, they brought in a sane person once they were done with her and they wrapped up the segment with a refreshing bit of non-crazy.

Comments

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

Big images like that should be behind a link. Otherwise, they make all my LJ entries scroll off the side of the window.

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Oops, my bad. It is a link, but I forgot to scale it before I posted it. I usually limit the width to 500-600px with a link back to the full size, but I was in a rush this morning.

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

ty :)

[dalesql.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who want not to have to worry about anything and have the benevolent protective father figure take care of protecting them from all the bad things. It's a very comfortable place to be, mentally. You don't have to worry about that unpleasant reality out there, mommy and daddy will protect me from all the bad things. The problem is that it's an illusion. and when the bad shit starts to happen, these people who have never had to deal with hardship or adversity, let alone someone with evil intent coming after them, have no mental coping skills to deal with it. They panic, look for the daddy, do all sorts of random (mostly useless) things, and become victims. They are, for lack of a better term, the sheep of the human race. All they know how to do is stay with the herd and eat everything in reach.

Often they block the others who have the skills and mindset to actually do something about the problem. They deny them the the resources ahead of the event because even thinking that bad shit happening here and preparing for it is too painful to contemplate. They block preparations for dealing with bad shit by substituting their own version of utopia social engineering to keep bad things from happening. and when the bad shit actually happens, they get in the way of dealing with the problem, because none of the available solutions conform to their illusion of how the world should work.

SO when the wolves come calling on the sheep to discuss dinner plans, the sheep just run about madly and try to rejoin their herd, because they think the herd is safe for them. Luckily for them, there are a few folks who can't be sheep. They become the shepherds who look out for the sheep, and take the dangerous step of convincing some of the wolves that it is in the wolves best interest to become sheepdogs, and protect the sheep from the wild wolves. But the sheep look at the dogs and all they can see is that they are wolves, and do their best to demonize them and keep them away from the herd.

Unfortunately we live in a democracy, and the sheep have a lot more votes than the shepherds or sheepdogs. And the sheep like nothing more than to follow a charismatic leader who promises them that if they just do as they are told, they will be safe. So don't be a sheep. Look at the sometimes unpleasant realities of the world we live in. Accept that there is no such thing as perfect safety, and take responsibility for your own actions and life.