Santa Baby, I've really been an awfully good girl

Dear Santa:

I haven’t asked you for anything in a long while because I have so much.

Well, I have a BIG list this year.

I want all Ontario dog owners to be full citizens again. Not the second-class citizenship slapped onto dog owners of all breeds by the Ontario McGuinty Liberals, but full citizenship as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I want every dog owner to be free of fear of malicious persecution. I want every dog owner to be free of the fear that their dog will be seized and killed just because of its shape.

I want people to stop judging dogs and their owners by the shape of the dog. Judge by deed, not by breed.

I want government officials to properly and responsibly inform themselves, rather than relying on media reports and people with hidden agendas.

I want government officials to stop exercising their ambition on the backs of responsible dog owners and dead dogs.

I want the courts to take dog attacks seriously and impose severe penalties, because the owners must take responsibility for their dogs. Breed is irrelevant.

I want journalists to ignore their masters’ call for “more content, dammit, there must be more content!” and instead take the time to properly research their subject and educate the public.

I want dog and cat and ferret and rabbit owners to WAKE UP to the fact that pet ownership is under siege. I want them to get involved, rather than sticking their heads in the sand (or snow).

I want people to spay/neuter their pet animals, because there’s no reason to breed while animals die in shelters and pounds. Breeding for money or through negligence (read – irresponsible ownership) is no way to ensure a loving forever home for the animal, and backyard breeding is no way to bring animals into this world.

I want twits who buy puppies and kittens from pet stores, to stop. I want the pet stores to stop selling puppies and kittens. Breeding for money is no way to ensure a loving forever home for the animal, and puppy and kitten milling is an abusive and criminal way to bring animals into this world.

I want all animals in shelters to find loving forever homes, with love, companionship, food, water, warmth and medical care for the rest of their lives.

I want animal welfare to be in the forefront of the news next year. Not animal rights, and puh-leese not Paris Hilton or any other celebredope. If we are the advanced species we claim to be, we should be responsible for and act responsibly to improve the care and wellbeing of the other animals on the planet.

I want all dog owners who leave dogs out 365/24/7 to spend a few nights on the cold ground with no companionship, chained up and unable to move freely, sometimes without water and food. Let’s see how those owners like it when the tables are turned.

I want people who fight dogs to be put in the pits themselves, to fight to the death with bare hands. It could only improve the gene pool.

I want people who maliciously hurt animals to receive the same treatment, right down to death. Eye for an eye works for me.

I want people to stop thinking their cats should “roam free”. Give me their addresses, so I can drop their dead cat’s body on their doorstep when it’s been hit by a car, killed by another animal (including a sub-human), or died from disease.

I want the human species to get two brain cells, rub them together and start thinking. If we don’t, we are not what we claim to be.

Think you can fit that in the sleigh, Santa?

Regards, Social Mange

Miakoda's memory

The owner of Miakoda, an innocent dog tragically killed by a sub-human, is trying to make some good come of Miakoda's death. Read the post about Miakoda, and the owner's request, and write to the owner.

Addendum

You should read Chicobandido's post on Animal Cruelty and the Ontario Government...

And the followup.

By Jove, I think I've got it

Couldn't put my finger on why "pit bull" phobics bothered me so much, and seemed so familiar.
Then I remembered.
In parts of medieval Europe from approximately 1280 until as late as 1750, the illiterate, superstitious rabble in Europe used to prosecute and execute animals for crimes.
Bingo.
These modern phobics, spouting media hysteria and political propaganda (usually without benefit of grammar or spelling), remind me of the historic animal killers, the mindless rabble controlled by religion and exercising their mindless anger and hate by brutally killing helpless animals.
Now it's a mindless rabble controlled by media and politicians, but still exercising their mindless anger and hate by brutally killing helpless animals.

True stories from Ontaristan

I've been harping about law-abiding people being made into criminals because of their property...two excellent stories that are proof of the poisonous pudding.

Chicobandido has an excellent article, read it here....

Caveat has another, read it here....

And weep.

Goodbye, Woodward and Bernstein

Good thing Watergate didn't happen in London, Ontario. Because it probably would never have been uncovered.

A London Free Press reporter recently stated in an online blog that, in essence, her job is to report the news, not to educate the public. What exactly is this reporter's job? Just to unthinkingly parrot what she's told, not to conduct research, to not provide context for a story, not to expand the public's thinking? Does that mean that any story on an anticipated snowstorm should not include driving tips? All opinion columns should be removed from the media? There will be no more talk shows, no opinion of any kind expressed by a journalist?

Is that what this reporter sees as her role in the fourth estate, merely repeating stories verbatim like a town crier?

Jeffrey Kuehner of the New York Sun wrote a wonderful opinion piece titled The Fifth Estate, read it here. Mr. Kuehner's piece is based on the role of journalists vis-a-vis American politics; however, his fundamental ideas hold true throughout the practice of journalism. To quote Mr. Kuehner:

"The press has long held a cherished role in our democracy: ideally, journalists are the ultimate truth tellers who hold politicians accountable. The press, in conjunction with the separate branches of the government and the judiciary, acts as yet another vital check and balance on political power. Journalists have an invaluable calling: to stand above the political fray in order to protect the interests of the people; to serve as the bold and courageous whistleblowers of corruption and deceit."

Does that sound like a journalist's job should be, "Just the facts, ma'am"?

Mr. Kuehner also mentions that disaffected citizens who no longer trust mainstream media are turning to other sources. To quote, "With lightning speed, the incessant bloggers on the Internet call attention to distortions in the mainstream press. Furthermore, there is a body of original information available on the Internet that does not appear elsewhere. In short, the New Media is becoming the "Fifth Estate."

Well, hooray for the Sixth Estate (explanation below) and thank heavens it exists. There definitely is a growing distrust of mainstream media. I believe that mainstream media has been corrupted by global convergence; the appetite for profit is satisfied at the expense of investigative journalism and educating the public. MSM outlets are now dedicated to feeding the monster, spewing infotainment 365/24/7 at the expense of information and education.

It ties into another hobby horse of mine, the dumbing down of education.

In a period of time where the populace has access to more information than any previous generation, where global events are reported in real time complete with visuals, where borders have no meaning for the delivery of information, some university graduates are only semi-literate; critical and lateral thought are sadly absent in many people; independent thought is a rarity rather than the norm.

Are we acting only as cameras, recording the picture rather than processing the information and extrapolating truths from the data?

Thought process to be continued after breakfast. Talk amongst yourselves, I'm verklempt.

Addendum 1: Caveat has written a wonderful dissection of a Freep editor's attempt to deflect some of the heat from the above-mentioned reporter. Check it out.

Addendum 2: Mr. Kuehner wrote of The Fifth Estate. I'm changing that to the Sixth Estate because according to Wikipedia, Fifth Estate is any class or group in society other than the the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), the middle class (Third Estate), and the press (Fourth Estate)[1]. It has been used to describe trade unions, the poor, organized crime, German propaganda and spies during World War II (by the French). It can also be used to describe media that sees itself in opposition to mainstream (Fourth Estate) media. While the bloggers of the Sixth Estate fit into the last description, they certainly don't fit into the others. I think bloggers deserve an estate of their own.