Aloha, pal!

 

On this Fathers Day, we ask the Village to wrap their arms around one of our own #VillageDads as we say ALOHA to our beloved #HomeSanctuary #ElderBull, #NMDOG PILGRIM 

Sadly, last week I got a call with concerns that PIGGY appeared bloated & did not eat his breakfast - both very out of the ordinary for our boy. I responded immediately, took one look & I knew he was in serious trouble  His abdomen was severely distended, he was unenthusiastic about my arrival & his gums were very pale. I loaded him up & we went straight to see our #VetMed partners with Thrive Pet Healthcare Specialists. Poor PIGGY..... they took him back for triage & rads, then returned with devastating news. PILGRIM was full of cancer & it was clear what needed to be done....my heart sank as I called his Dad.

I was shocked to see the number & sheer size of the tumors in his chest, around the heart, his abdomen & liver....PIGGY never showed us any signs that he was even sick! PILGRIM just had a spa day the week before & hes never missed one single meal while in our care...he didnt get the nickname "PIGGY" for nothin 

We had 2 options - both with the blessing of PILGRIMS ER Doc - I could leave PIGGUMS there, go pick up Dad go back to the clinic & say our goodbyes or, we could administer some supportive care - as I was assured he was experiencing minimal (if any) pain - take him back home, monitor closely to allow them a little more time & have our home euthanasia Vet meet with us later in the day. We choose the latter 

With lots of treats, so many kisses, snuggles & wags...we all said goodbye & we told PILGRIM what a #BestBoy he was, what a difference he made in many lives & what an honor its been, being his rescue.

It is both a blessing & a curse that his cancer came on so quickly & so seemingly out of nowhere. We are grateful that PILGRIM knew only health, happiness & LoVe since coming into our care...as this is our ultimate promise to each of them. PIGGY-WIG was #UNchained in a #ValenciaCounty cruelty case, Thanksgiving 2019. He was our first Valencia County Animal Control case ordered to pay restitution & an order that his abuser not have custody or control of any dog while residing in the County. We are so proud of the progress we have seen on the #FrontLines in Valencia County over the past few years....& PILGRIM was one of our fave enforcement success stories! Everyone did such a great job on his behalf: Vet Team; Field Officers; Shelter Staff; Volunteers & The Honorable Judge #PILGRIMthePioneer we are so PROUD of you little buddy 

Chained for 10 long years, suffering allllllll of the "things" = patterns of fresh wounds & old scars from dog fights & dog attacks, injuries with no medical treatment including losing the use of his eye, internal & external parasites, tick-borne disease, malnutrition, severe periodontal disease, osteoarthritis, sunburn, scars from frostbite, flystrike & more....PILGRIM retained his #BigGiantPitty heart & LoVe of people, despite the hell he endured. I believe the day that stupid chain was removed from his neck was truly the first day of the rest of his life! #BestDayEver & PIGGY did not waste any time.

Once PILGRIM healed from his many medical issues & really began to feel better...we learned what he needed & wanted for his #JustRight FoReVeR home & we made that happen for his special needs, by way of the NMDOG Home Sanctuary Program. As an NMDOG HS Kid, we pledge to cover all expenses involved in the LIFEtime care & considerations for each specific Dog. Whatever it takes to provide the best quality of life in order for them to live well in a true home environment...we go to the ends of the earth to make that happen for them. PILGRIM had a wonderful time with his wonderful Dad for the (almost) 3 wonderful years he was with us...& we dont do this work alone 

True Sanctuary (with ALL needs being met) requires a lot of commitment & support...& #NMDOGvillage, you enable us to right these kind of wrongs....every. single. day. Your ongoing support of our lifesaving work enables us to turn tragedy into a #HappyTail giving once Forgotten Dogs like PILGRIM a brand new life! His bright shining spirit & his story of triumph sparked inspiration to many along the way. PILGRIM also touched the heart of our Friends with The Grey Muzzle Organization as well as their fans & followers across the globe. The photo taken during PILGRIMS #adoption ceremony (below) got lots of attention & will soon be seen in a national campaign promoting #SeniorDog #SeniorPeople matches & healing their broken hearts.

Our precious PIGGUMS packed a LOT of living into what feels like 3 short short years & I know his Dad packed in a lot of LoVe in that short time as well. We are so grateful to PIGGYS Dad Woody....for giving our #BullyDozer boy such a sweet spot to spend his best best years!!
PILGRIM will always be remembered as our big ol goofy #CouchSeal who never lost his will to LoVe & live 
Fly free Mr PIGGUMS....now you have your wings 

#UntilWeMeetAgain

The "Free" Press Isn't (and it's NOT your Ally)

 The "Press" not your ally!

The news isn't presented objectively, or even disinterestedly. It's slanted--sometimes subtly, sometimes brazenly--to protect corpoRat interests and the status quo. In the "corporate State," "corporate" media ARE "State" media.

The institutional discourse of the "press" is resistant and hostile to change. The propaganda function is more apparent as adjustments are made to the rhetoric. Meanwhile, the "gate-keeper" function assures that the stories that get covered are the ones best suited to the internal discourses of the industry. 

The decline and demise of the free and independent press can be traced to Watergate and the fall of Nixon.

Since the monopolization process (aka, "media consolidation") began in the late 70s, in response to the WaPo's bringing down Nixon, the "press" has ceased to be an advocate for the people (whence, deserving of its protection), and has  been transformed into an active agent for the CorpoRat Status Quo, led ESPECIALLY, by the NYTimes.

After Watergate and the WaPo brought down Nixon, the PTB decided that nothing like that was never gonna be permitted to happen again, and so they killed off the "independent" press with monopolization, beginning already in the middle 70s...

Shuffle Up and Deal -- New Blackjack

 Grafitti is the art of

"Signing" the world; you could say

It's coded "self-inscryption."

Civility's the shit-soaked
ball-gag the Bosses force on
"The People" to quell their rage.

A 'gentleman' should be known

for his generosity

with his own intoxicants.

The BEST trick "bad" people pull
Is convincing victims their
"Evil"'s mere incompetence.

Wanna know what torques my ass?

People who equivocate

about dangers of fascism.

Elections: democracy's
Achilles heel; once trust's lost
The wound is always mortal.

As for this life around me,
I am enraged, but I laugh
because it's too late to cry.

Locomotively speaking,

My most perilous moments
Occur when I change my mind.

I'm getting worse and worse and...
I snarl'd at someone today.
I snarl a lot more lately.

"Compromise" for "Unity?"

What, or more like whom, will you

Offer up to close the deal?

You want to tear it all down?
Just you go right on ahead,
Only please, wait til I'm dead.

Black-jack Poetry

 

You are undoubtedly familiar with Haiku, the form of poetry that condenses a single phenomenon into 17 syllables in three lines: 

“A World of Dew” by Kobayashi Issa

A world of dew,

And within every dewdrop

A world of struggle.

I have recently learned of another form of poetic abbreviation: Black-Jack poems. The idea is similar, but the format provides 21 syllables (hence the name) in three lines. I've been fooling around with the form for a couple of weeks. Here are some examples:

I'm indifferent to "gods."

"Yeah there are," or "No there ain't?"

Utterly irrelevant!

I cannot be expected
To meet stupidity with
Placid equanimity.

I have some, a few, regrets.

But they don't trouble me like

That mountain of karmic debt.

 The Dog watches as I eat,

Silently reproaching me

For every bite I DON'T share.

A country staggering like

A behemoth lurching from

Unhealed mortal injury.

 

"Not today!" Why not "Today?"

Is the evidence of your

Hypocrisy still bleeding?

Do any spent blossoms look

More ravaged than irises

When their flashy days are done?

 

My heart's been dormant so long

--Ten years last June since she died--

I can't disturb it now.

The thing about blasphemy

Is, it's really GOTTA STING.

Otherwise, why'd ya bother?

In this vernal, desert light, 

green's to blue as black to white;

on the ether, nature writes. 

Iris in its "pupal" stage:

Fat bulge on a sturdy stalk.

Then, the blossom emerges.

The Dog watches as I eat,
Silently reproaching me
For every bite I DON'T share.The Dog watches as I eat,

A Hospice Tale, of Smoky and Mr. P

Five years ago, I accepted a bedraggled, abused, elderly (enormous), shaggy, frightened, shell-shocked male Malamute, whom his rescuers dubbed"Nobel," into my home. He was in sad shape when he was rescued: a groomer shaved 30 lbs of matted fur. He was weak and aloof. Rescuers thought he might have six months to live; I was able to stretch that out to 20...

And I changed his "home" name to Smoky or Mr. Smokes because of his grey, black and white coloring, and because he moved so silently through the house. 

Smokes was, expectably, not house-trained (at first, though he learned pretty fast). But at first, not so much; so I attached a bell to his collar. I'm a light sleeper so I could hear the bell when, at night, he started moving around. Movement usually portended the need to excrete. This enabled me to prevent many "accidents" by directing him outside. 

Eventually--after close to a year--he began to warm to me, but he never became "affectionate, though we did learn to play, especially after NMDOG, the rescuers, sent along a "companion,"  a young, tri-pod husky named Tasha, who taught Smokes to "dog" all over again. He was doing very well, until his hind legs started to fail him.

Smoky went on ahead in August 15, 2018. I kept Tasha until April, 2019, when I shattered the humerus in my left arm and could no longer keep up with her, and I had to relinquish her back to NMDOG. Sometime later, NMDOG recovered Piggums, who came to me as a hospice in June, 2019.

There are things to know about animal "hospice. The situation is fraught. Abused dogs require a long time to re-acquire the capacity to trust humans, and it will try your patience. 

Don't let it:
1: When accepting a hospice dog, don't expect them to take to you like a puppy would. Older dogs will have "human trust" issues which may be resolved in time, but may not. In 18 months, Smoky never rolled over for a belly rub, because exposing yer belly isn't easy for a dog. He was starting to be more affect-ionate (stet) in hisa last summer. I've had Mr. Piggums for 18 mos, and he's still reluctant, though he can be cajoled.

2) The "Loss" Thing

I've thought about this a lot. Before anyone accepts a hospice dog, one MUST accept that "losing" such a companion in the relatively foreseeable future is an inevitable part of the deal. You HAVE to have that knowledge before you take in an old or injured fur-being. It cannot intrude in loving them, because that's what you're THERE for: love and comfort.

Related: Over the many years of having dogs and their meeting their sad but necessary departures, I've found it really helpful to regard these duties the way the Hopi regard the deaths of their elders: They are going (and I am sending them) on ahead. 

OVERTAKEN BY CHEATS

 The Price of Exceptionalism

Americans are prisoners of myth and fantasy:

Y/our "exceptionalism."

The "best ever," the "greatest ever," the "freest ever," and yadda-yadda. Repeat that stuff long enough, and without any countervailing, critical narrative or correction, and you're gonna end up with a pretty distorted idea of your situation. whuch we have (see above).

The emergence of "Critical--Legal, Race, Educational, Economic, Historical, etc.--Theory" has spotlighted what the exceptionalist propaganda has elided almost from the first: the disjuncture between the principles "we" espouse and the deeds we commit.

The overwhelming majority of y/our compatriots have absolutely NO fucking idea about how the country and the economy AND the Empire actually "work," and have no interest in--or capacity for--learning.

Yet they have zero hesitation about furiously and bitterly criticizing and inveighing against that about which they know embarrassingly little; or, worse, blindly following the shrillest, meanest-spirited demagogues who most loudly spew what they need to hear to sustain their fantasies and amplify their grievances.

It wasn't always this way--though the current conditions were always immanent within the system--and it is turning out that the commentators who have warned that the Constitution could become a mutual suicide pact might be correct, after all.

It was/is a system predicated on an ideal of "honor," on "playing fair," which had/has no way of dealing with a concerted, "popular" effort to cheat.

And we have been overtaken by cheaters.