Rights vs Wrongs

"Tolerance is a two-way street, as a group of Somali taxi drivers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., are about to find out. In May, the Metropolitan Airports Commission in the Twin Cities is set to adopt new rules that will punish cabbies who refuse to haul passengers carrying liquor, even though the drivers claim their Muslim faith forbids them to do so. The Somali intolerance doesn't just extend to alcohol. Some drivers have also refused to carry blind passengers with guide dogs, on grounds that the Quran says dog saliva is unclean. And some Muslim store cashiers in the Twin Cities have refused to scan pork products, alleging this also violates their faith."

This controversy is a result of the perversion of opinions of our Constitution and Bill of Rights by activists and the courts over the years.

Bill Of Rights Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

It is time to re-visit the meaning of freedom. Muslims in this country should be free to do or not do whatever they please regarding these kinds of private transactions. On the other hand, employers should be able to fire Muslims if they can't or won't do work that the job entails. This is about private individuals doing what private individuals want, or don't want, to do. The government shouldn't be involved in this at all. If a cab company, for example, wants to bar certain passengers from its cabs, well then, let the market decide whether they make money or not. If the cab company decides it doesn't want to hire Muslims, or carry dogs, or whatever, then let them try that and see if they can make money or not doing that. If Muslims can't get cabbie jobs because they won't carry certain types of passengers, then let them find a job somewhere else. That is what freedom is all about.

The cab business is an overly regulated, semi-monopolistic business which the government has no business fine tuning. We are so concerned with everyone's feelings that we can't understand that sometimes we just all need to learn to step aside and let people sort out their differences outside the court system. Otherwise, we'll become like Europe, nit picking every little detail to the point that we erode the very freedoms we want for ourselves.

We meddle too much in people's lives these days. This stuff doesn't necessitate another set of laws and regulations. If you like dogs, then great. If you don't, then I shouldn't be able to force my dog ownership on you, even if I am blind. Public opinion and the "invisible hand" of the marketplace will settle the rest.

Dog Problem Or Parent Problem?

The canine menace was back to haunt the citizens of Hyderabad as a six-month-old baby boy was mauled to death by stray dogs. The six-month-old's father Ranjith Singh, a washer man, informed that he had left the baby sleeping under a tree and within minutes found him seriously injured by stray dogs in the area. The Municipal Corporation authorities say that they have been monitoring the stray dog situation very closely and are doing the best to avoid such unfortunate incidents.

So... you leave a baby to sleep under a tree... LEAVE THE BABY THERE UNSUPERVISED... and the baby gets hurt. And you live in an area where there are stray dogs roaming around. What is my opinion? First, the parent should be prosecuted for leaving a baby unattended. Second, this is what happens when you allow feral dogs to roam the countryside. They go back to a wild state and act as any wild animal would. Dogs need supervision, training, containment, and proper socialization.

This reminds me of stories I have been hearing about how people are dropping their dogs off at off leash parks, then LEAVING the area. Kind of a cheapskate's doggie daycare program, eh? The dog could attack someone or be attacked, and the owners wouldn't be there to intervene. How stupid is that? And worse, I see people entering the off leash areas with kids, and letting the kids roam around unsupervised. That's stupid, too. This is one reason I recommend people to use a good quality doggie daycare instead of these home made solutions.

Pig Ears Recalled

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is recalling Pig Ears dog treats sold at BJ's Wholesale club because they could be contaminated with Salmonella.

This isn't the first time I have heard of pig ears having a Salmonella contamination. I am not sure you should feed these to your dogs, especially if you have small kids in the home that might handle the pig ears and then put their hands in their mouths.

Akita Attacks Woman At Dog Show

The decision on whether to euthanize an aggressive Akita could come within weeks, as investigators try to learn why the sturdy dog attacked a 70-year-old woman at a dog show competition Sunday, leaving her ankle mangled.

Who knows why these types of attacks occur. When I evaluate dogs for biting, there are times when the only way to know what happened is to spend some time with the dog. Most of the biters I encounter are insecure.

In addition, some Akitas don't like strangers petting them until they have had a chance to get to know the person. I am working with an Akita right now, and the dog doesn't like strangers to just come up and start "lovin'" on her. Once she has had a chance to get to know you, especially after a day or so, she remembers you and is quite friendly and playful. She also remembers if you aren't friendly with her, and the next time she sees you she will be unfriendly to you. Many dogs are this way, and I don't consider it to be a fault. However, if you know your dog is this way, you shouldn't let strangers come up and be overly friendly with your dog. In addition, this is also why you should be kind when you are training any dog, especially an Akita. Rough treatment makes many dogs into biters.

Pet Food Recall

The laboratory that identified the poison believed to be responsible for the death of pets around the country has started testing individual components of the tainted pet food to determine which ingredient was contaminated, officials said Monday. Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory on Friday identified aminopterin as the likely culprit in a poisoning scare that prompted the recall of 95 brands of "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food.

Have you been following this pet food poisoning story? I looked up aminopterin on Wikipedia to see what it is, and here is what I found:

Its antifolate activity was first used by Sidney Farber in 1947 to induce remissions among children with leukemia.^[1][2] Although more potent than the closely related compound methotrexate, it was replaced by methotrexate in the 1950s, due to unpredictable toxicity. Now in a more pure preparation, aminopterin is back in clinical trials for patients with leukemia.^[3]

The compound was used as an abortifacient in the 1960s and earlier, but was associated with congenital malformations.^[4] The name for its teratogenic effects is fetal aminopterin syndrome. When a similar cluster of abnormalies appears in the absence of exposure to antifolates it is referred to as aminopterin-like syndrome without aminopterin.^[5]

Aminopterin can be used as a rodenticide, although it is not approved for that use in Canada or the United States.^[6] It has an LD_Lo of 2.5mg/kg when orally administered to rats.^[7]

So, it suppresses immunity, can cause chemical abortions, can cause birth defects, and is used as a rat poison. Great. Imagine all the pets that didn't die. Will this cause a host of birth defects in our pure bred dogs over the next few years? This is more than just a poison.

Further, I am seriously wondering if this might have been a "test run" by a terror organization to see how vulnerable our food delivery system is in the US, and how we would respond to an emergency. I could be paranoid about this, but how does such a chemical get near, or, worse yet, mixed in, a batch of FOOD?! Seems mighty weird to me.

Bunker The Dog

On April 7, 2006, one of my students will be competing on a nationally televised TV show called America's Cutest Puppy.

Go see Bunker The Dog

Bunker is a 10 month old Bull Terrier, and he really is the cutest puppy I know!

From what I hear, the show should be a lot like American Idol. The show will be a blast!

We are also hoping Bunker is able to help raise funds to help find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Click HERE to find out more, and to find out how you can help. My wife has MS, so this disease directly impacts my family. Please watch this blog for TV air times and dates, and please contribute to the National MS Society.