rambling othercat

I'm a 40 sumthin' computer geek. I like to barmp my sax with the band on thursday nights. I live in Toronto with my partner, and Grendel, a chihuahua.

Monday, July 31, 2006


Sun sets on the Volunteer camping at Hillside #23, but the thunderheads brewing in the sky above are still illuminated.  Posted by Picasa

Sassinak, Hubris, and I are all in need of a long soapy shower after hanging out at the Hillside Festival for the last 5 days. It's been a blast as usual, but you can only get so clean in the lake.  Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, July 26, 2006


Grendel looks a little bit puzzled. He's wondering why I'm just lying there when there are other dogs in the park. He's got an agenda, and sometimes it doesn't coincide with mine. He's such a dog. Posted by Picasa

Monday, July 24, 2006

Handsome Jack

It appears that Whycocomagh has finally started her blog. I feel kinda brutish at the moment, because she's found herself a lovely blog layout, and she's written a profile for herself, and that's it. I've urged her to start a blog, because she's a writer, and usually has some pretty incisive things to say. Now that all the ground work is in place, her blog sits there with one sad little post with nothing in it.

Am I a secretly a bully? I sure hope not. Maybe bully is too strong a word, but there's a fine line between encouragement and bullying.

To make matters worse, I've stuck my tongue out and made a comment on her empty blog post. Jeez... I'm sure her incisiveness will appear and tell me what a knucklehead I am.

When there is some actual content, I'll do the right thing and make a link on my sidebar.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Food For Thought

"Every gun that is made, every warship that is launched, every rocket that is fired signifies a theft from those that hunger and are not fed, from those who are cold and are not clothed."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Finished Before It Started

Grendel almost had his big break today. The little fugger was going to appear with PJ in a segment for "Ancestors in the Attic", a pending History Television Canada show about Genealogy. Grendel likes to park on PJ's desk in his little doggie bed while PJ works his magic and unravels the current mystery. The cameras were primed and ready, and the lights were set.

And then, Grendel blew his chance. It seems that his baser instincts got the better of him, and he left the confines of his little bed and guzzled PJ's muffin. As the muffins were an integral part of the story, it didn't work very well for one of the extras to leave his mark and eat the prop. Everyone had a good laugh. Grendel finished the muffin, and his TV career was finished before it even started.

He could have been a star. Instead he got to go for a walk with me while the crew and PJ finished the shot without him. I guess the simpler life will have to suffice for the wee canine. He just couldn't hack it on the set.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Time To Get Serious Again

This Tuesday past, J, my substitute pilates teacher mentioned that she was just finding out about the current havoc in the middle east. Needless to say, she was pretty upset about the news that bombs were dropping like snowflakes in a blizzard. I'm pretty upset too, and even though I have no friends or family in that part of the world, I'm deeply concerned about the events unfolding. People are suffering on a grand scale.

I'm going to put it in simplistic terms, and if you think I'm a nutcase, then you're welcome to say so. I'm not a foreign policy expert, and I'm not privy to the discussions that have provoked this outrage either. I do know that events are seriously wrong.

It seems to me that the Israelis are going completely overboard. The kidnap of a handful of soldiers (not civilians) by a known military group has provoked a disproportionate response from the Israeli government and military. Is the life of a soldier or two worth bombing an entire country into oblivion? Lebanon has been turned into a nation of homeless people. There are literally millions of people fleeing for their lives, while western governments, unfortunately including my own, are saying the Israelis have a right to defend themselves. Defense? It sure looks like offense to me.

Using the pretext that a small group of militants has kidnapped a handful of soldiers, Israel has unleashed a terrible campaign of violence against the entire nation of Lebanon. Lebanon is not Hezbollah. The entire city of Beirut is not responsible for the kidnapping of the soldiers. What it all boils down to is, millions of people should not be paying for the misdeeds of a handful.

My heart goes out to the good people of Lebanon, and I hope they get some relief and soon. While the USA supports dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, the legitimately elected regime in Lebanon is in danger of collapsing under the strain of the Israeli-led and American-financed invasion. I have to ask "How is this helping spread stability and democracy?"

Might does not make right, and far too many people hold on to the mistaken impression that the opposite is true. To paraphrase Eisenhower, every weapon purchased is a diversion of money that could be better used to house, cloth, and feed people. Eisenhower was right and he ought to have known. He saw enough brutality during World War II to see it first hand. It's a travesty, and I'm getting irritated by all of the weapons and violence in the world.

The same self righteous bastards who claim they are defending themselves are ruining the lives of millions. They go to their churches, synagogues and mosques and pray for peace. It's a sickening contradiction. If there is a God, She's getting very angry.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Have You Humiliated Your Pet Today?

I wish to propose a new holiday.

Write or phone your Member of Parliament, or your Congressman or whoever you think would get the best mileage from my lame idea. We should have a new holiday called "Pet Humiliation Day." For all the wretched things we have to endure like cleaning up excrement and other dog and cat related messes, we should be able to poke fun at our pets one day of the year to make up for it.

Grendel with His Alpaca Toupee

Silly outfits and publicly distributed pictures would be a good start. And it doesn't matter whether you have a commonplace quadrupedal vertebrate like a barncat or a chihuahua, or something more exotic. They all make messes, so they could all use a dose of humility.

Whaddaya think? A day off with your ridiculously attired pet. What is there to dislike?

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Down But Not Out


Spot has survived her brush with mortality, and comes home this evening.

Apparently, the auld cat has regained her appetite, and is strong enough to come home, as long as I administer sub-cutaneous fluids to keep her fluids up. I guess she's like an old car. We love it, but the car burns a litre of oil to go any distance, and you have to top it up once in a while.

After all we've been through, I'm surprised Spot made it at all. I guess she's more of a fighter than we figured. I honestly thought I'd have to make a tough decision on Monday. Here it is two days later, and Spot is rallying. Go Barncats!

Grendel should keep his distance, because I'm sure Spot will be in no mood for a young knuckleheaded puppy after four days in the hospital. The feline equivalent of swearing like a sailor will issue forth, and Grendel will know in no uncertain terms that Spot doesn't want any of his juvenile crap.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Bathtime for Bonehead



On a lighter note, here's a picture of the wee canine having his monthly bath. Spot's doing better, so there's life in the old gal yet. More news tomorrow.

Walking On Eggshells

It's been a bit nerve-wracking today. I took Grendel on a long walk this afternoon, and I checked at the veterinary clinic to see how W. Spotticus Maximus was doing. After my previous entry, Sassinak convinced me to take Spot in last night, and considering her state, I'm glad I did. It just got the treatment going 14 hours sooner. I'm trying not to feel guilty about not taking her to the clinic sooner.

She's definitely suffering from acute kidney failure right now, and apparently her potassium levels are not very good either. It's all an indicator that this might be the bitter end for the combative barncat. She's getting rehydrated with IV, and hopefully the fluids will kick start the kidneys again.

Spot was born in Paris, ON, on August 18th, 1991. She's a Parisite, through and through. Her mum was a mostly white tortoise shell cat, and her dad was a barncat from somewhere near Chesley. Male parentage unknown, but likely a fearsome critter that ruled the area in the vicinity of his farm. The attitude comes through in Spot. She was never one to shirk the responsibility of telling the humans off when it was necessary.

I am hoping the strong 'tude, as they say in the vernacular, will carry her through her current problem. Some of her feistiness is showing apparently, so the Doctors haven't given up hope just yet (ka-ching). I guess I'll know later whether she's going to make it or not. I'm just glad my friends are around, and they can help me through my four-legged friend's ordeal. Sassinak and I are both a little bummed out. It would be nice to hear the deep throated growl as Grendel gets too close for comfort again.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Kinda Bummed






It's a beautiful day in Toronto today. The sun is shining, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The streets are full of people going about their business and enjoying the street performers on Yonge St. Despite all this I'm a little down.

Spot, my auld feline is not doing so well. She is off her food, and doesn't have any spring left in her step. She's sleeping most of the time, and she isn't her usual self. She can't even rouse herself to fight with Grendel. She'll throw a swing at him and growl a little bit, and then she'll just sit there staring at him hoping he'll lose interest and go somewhere else.

Spot has been around since 1991. If she lasts another month she'll celebrate her fifteenth birthday on August 18. Pretty good for an old feline. I would rather not see her fading away so quickly, but such is life. When you don't feel like carrying on, there's not much anyone else can do about it. I hope the good Doctor can help tomorrow when I take her to the clinic.

I'll keep you posted. Until then, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that things turn around for the old kitty.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Worth Repeating

I found this disturbing piece on the web, and it is worth repeating. Our American neighbours, and our own Canadian troops in Afghanistan are using depleted uranium ordinants more and more, and the author of this editorial has hit the nail right on the head. It's hard to lie about spreading peace and democracy, when we're really spreading toxins and illness. Cancer affects us all, and we should expend a lot more care when it comes to covering the entire surface of the earth with microscopic traces of U-238. I'm not a scientist, but after having worked at a nuclear power station, I feel qualified to put in my two cents worth on the subject. We were trained to treat even trace amounts of radioactive stuff with the utmost care, and now we're letting soldiers fire the stuff at their enemies with impunity. It's just wrong, and I'm pissed off about it.

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Spreading Cancer

By Robert C. Koehler
Tribune Media Services


Thursday 29 June 2006

The unending game of "pretend" that the U.S. media allow George Bush to play on the global stage, so often letting his lying utterances hang suspended, unchallenged, in the middle of the story, as though they were plausible - as though a class of third-graders couldn't demolish them with a few innocent questions - feels like the journalistic equivalent of waterboarding. Gasp! Some truth, please!

I suggest the prez has forfeited the right to command a headline, or half a story, or an uninterrupted quote: "... we'll defend ourselves, but at the same time we're actively working with our partners to spread peace and democracy," he said last week in Austria.

Surely "spreading democracy" should no longer be allowed to appear in print, between now and 2008, unless accompanied by a parenthetical clarification ("not true," stated as profanely as local standards allow). And that, of course, would only be the media's first step back into integrity with the public.

The occupation of Iraq, the occupation of Afghanistan, the entire war (to promote) terror ... please, please, can these no longer be trotted out in consequence-free abstraction, but as the high-tech malevolence they are, actively continuing the incalculable devastation of countries and their populations?

The bodies keep piling up, the toxic horrors spread. Hasn't anyone in this place ever heard of depleted uranium? Is the health crisis in Iraq and, indeed, throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, not to mention Kosovo and among returning vets for the last four American wars, somehow irrelevant to "the course" we're asked to stay?

"Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with two cancers - one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney - he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families. We have 58 families here with more than one person affected by cancer.... My wife has nine members of her family with cancer."

This is Dr. Jawad Al-Ali, director of the oncology center at the largest hospital in Basra, speaking in 2003 at a peace conference in Japan. Why is it that only peace activists are able to hear people like this? Why hasn't he been asked to testify before Congress as its members debate the future of this war and the next?

"Children in particular are susceptible to DU poisoning," he went on. "They have a much higher absorption rate as their blood is being used to build and nourish their bones and they have a lot of soft tissues. Bone cancer and leukemia used to be diseases affecting them the most. However, cancer of the lymph system, which can develop anywhere on the body and has rarely been seen before the age of 12, is now also common."

Depleted uranium - DU - is the Defense Establishment euphemism for U-238, a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process and the ultimate dirty weapon material. It's almost twice as dense as lead, catches fire when launched and explodes on impact into microscopically fine particles, or "nano-particles," which are easily inhaled or absorbed through the skin; it's also radioactive, with a half-life of 4.468 billion years.

And we make bombs and bullets out of it - it's the ultimate penetrating weapon. We dropped at least 300 tons of it on Iraq during Gulf War I (the first time it was used in combat) and created Gulf War Syndrome. This time around, the estimated DU use on defenseless Iraq is 1,700 tons, far more of it in major population centers. Remember shock and awe? We were pounding Baghdad, in those triumphant early days, with low-grade nuclear weapons, raining down cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects and much, much more on the people we claimed to be liberating. We weren't spreading democracy, we were altering the human genome.

As we "protected ourselves," in the words of the president, from Iraq's non-existent weapons of mass destruction, we opened our own arsenal of WMD on them, contaminating the country's soil and polluting its air - indeed, unleashing a nuclear dust into the troposphere and contaminating the whole world.

"We used to think (DU) traveled up to a hundred miles," Chris Busby told me. Busby, a chemical physicist and member of the British government's radiation risk committee, as well as the founder of the European Committee of Radiation Risk, has monitored air quality in Great Britain. Based on these findings, "It looks like it goes quite around the planet," he said.

While Bush mouths ironic whoppers - "We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled," he told the U.N. General Assembly a while back - his actions pass, in the words of former Livermore Labs scientist Leuren Moret, "a death sentence on the Middle East and Central Asia."

A war crime of unprecedented dimension is unfolding as we avert our eyes. Perhaps it's simply too big to see, or to grasp, so we lull ourselves into the half-belief that the powers that be know what they're doing and it will all turn out for the best. Meanwhile, the contagion spreads, the children die, the planet becomes uninhabitable.