Cat logic video

This is part of an ad for Rachel Ray Nutrish, which I know nothing about. I am posting it for the cat behavior, not for the food.

Cats knocking things over

This might have been posted before, but here it is for anyone who missed it or whose cat loves doing this. Note how they either look down as if investigating the results of an experiment, or look at their human in proud defiance.

Cats doing the crab walk - compilation

Pre Jacksonville shooting event not covered enough, IMO.

When the racist shooter, Ryan Palmeter, murdered 3 people at the Dollar General store in Jacksonville, the early reports mentioned the proximity of Edward Waters University to the store. Many people wondered why the University was mentioned. Here's why.

A bigger massacre was averted at Edward Waters just prior to the Dollar General shooting, thanks to alert students and campus security.

Palmeter was observed putting on a tactical vest by at least one EWU student, who alerted campus security. If you are a Black student at a primarily Black university, and you see a White man on campus putting on a tactical vest, you know that he is up to no good.

Campus security asked Palmeter for ID. Instead of producing ID, Palmeter left the parking lot, shadowed by security who reported him to police.

So it appears that Palmeter's original intent was to massacre as many students as possible. Interrupted in preparations for that, he went to the Dollar General store instead. A terrible tragedy for the 3 who were murdered there, as well as for their family, friends, and people in the parking lot (where one victim was killed) and in the store.

The student(s) and campus security who intervened at EWU and alerted the police deserve some recognition for their quick, decisive action. I just wish that Jacksonville police could have got to Palmeter before he reached the store.

Star membership question

I renewed my star membership in February in order to have hearts to give out. The star membership is good for one year.

So why have I received two messages today telling me about the benefits of a star membership and asking me to either become a star member or to renew membership?

I know that there is a fund drive going on now, so do those messages mean that if I don't contribute to the fund drive, my star membership will be dropped now after only 6 months?

Some background about Vivek Ramaswamy's family.

Does he come from a poor family, as he claims, who came to the US seeking a better economic life for themselves? According to this comment on Reddit, Ramaswamy's family is from the Brahmin caste in India. I don't know who the person is that posted this comment, or if what he says is true, but it is worth thinking about. Maybe an investigative journalist should look into it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TamilNadu/comments/12y4vne/the_interesting_caste_of_vivek_ramaswamy/

20 cross species adoptions and Bffs.

Feline mystique - What is my furry gal trying to do/say?

Ember has a fuzzy little wind up chicken (with hard plastic beak and feet) that became her comfort toy when she was barely 1 year old. She is 7 now and has been through several "Chickies" because I introduce a new one to her when the old one gets too dirty and broken to keep around.

She carries it around when she is distressed, e.g. when I leave home or sometimes when I'm in the shower.

She used to bring Chickie into bed to rest between Ember and me. Glad she stopped that because I got jabbed by the feet and beak when I rolled over.

Sometimes I came home to find Chickie in Ember's water dish. Never figured out if she was trying to bathe, drown, or baptize Chickie. She stopped doing that a couple years ago, but lately Chickie has been showing up in strange places again.

I came home from the grocery store a couple days ago to find Chickie in Ember's empty food dish. What was that about? Telling me to get food for Chickie? Or saying that she would eat Chickie if I didn't fill the dish? Later, I found Ember napping inside her carrier with Chickie beside her. Was the message, "Take us with you next time?"

This morning, I was out for about half an hour. When I came home, Chickie was in one of my sandals. Am I supposed to take Chickie out for a walk with me? Ember would never let herself be parted from Chickie while I was away, so does it mean, "Take us with you?"

Also, lately Ember has been watching my hand closely when I go out of the apartment. The door handle is the lever type, not a knob. A couple times she has stretched out her paw toward the door handle. It was a half-hearted stretch. If she wanted to, she could easily stretch and jump just enough to touch the lever. I keep the door locked now, just in case she decides to check on what's beyond that door.

Putting it altogether, I think Ember wants to go out with me and take Chickie along.

A valuable movie speech for our times - Judgment at Nuremberg

Spencer Tracy, as Judge Dan Haywood, delivers this speech at the trial of 4 judges in Nuremberg for crimes committed under Nazi rule. His words have meaning today for US politics and values.

Reflections on historical moments

We all live through historical moments. Each day of our lives, personal and world events around us are tomorrow's history.

Some personal events stand out as significant moments that we record in diaries, in family stories, and in our hearts. And some events in the world around us will be recorded in history books for future generations to study.

Occasionally our personal lives intersect with and become a part of recorded history. Abraham Zapruder joined a crowd of citizens lining city streets to watch the US President pass by. He carried a camera to record the moment for his friends, neighbors, children, and grandchildren. It was November 23, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. His film became the famous Zapruder film.

I just happened to be watching TV that day, home sick from school, but well enough to lie down on the couch and watch a TV program. So, at 14 years old, I saw the moment by moment news flashes as reports slowly trickled in about JFK's assassination (no Internet, cell phones, or fax machines). It was a national and international event, but to me it felt personal, too, although my life did not intersect with it like Zapruder's life did. I was young, idealistic, impressionable.

There are many DUers who remember that day. But even the younger ones among us have been witnesses, through news coverage, of major events. It seems like there have been so many "big ones" in our lifetimes. Is it only that increasing technological developments have put news in front of us so quickly and thoroughly? Is it that 24/7 news coverage has amplified everything into "something big?"

Or, are big, history changing events actually happening more often and more rapidly? My parents lived through many technological changes in their lifetimes, but the significant historical events were HUGE - the 1929 stock market crash, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, WWII. It became personal for them when my father joined the Navy and was sent to the Pacific, and my uncle joined the Army and was sent to Europe where he was captured and spent 2 years as a POW in a German camp. After the war, they learned about the Holocaust. A whole new political, financial, and social order came from that war.

Just a little over 2 decades ago, we witnessed external threats again, from international terrorism. But now, we are threatened from within, and it seems to me that historical events in my lifetime have been moving more and more in that direction. Assassinations of the 60s - JFK, RFK, MLK. Watergate and Nixon's pardon. The Reagan backlash against the social and political gains of the 60s civil rights and environmental movements. The SCOTUS decision that put Bush Jr in office. The increasing divisions and loss of sense of community.

And now Trump, with multiple historical events and threats occurring in rapid succession - foreign election interference in 2016, racial attacks being normalized, the J6 insurrection, the backlash against current indictments, and the defendent running for office with party and Congressional support.

To get through it, I remind myself that my parents' generation got through their challenges. I have to believe that we will, too. But to do it, we will have to work just as hard and be just as committed to succeeding. This is our our personal intersection with historical events. Today's events are tomorrow's future for all of us, so the outcome is just as personal for us as Zapruder's film, my father's Pacific service, and my uncle's European service were for them.