Stonepounder
Stonepounder's JournalPlease send prayers, good thoughts, and hope my way. (Updated - see below. Good News)
About 10 years ago we got a new puppy to be a companion for our Sancho. Being conscientious pet parents, we enrolled in a puppy class at PetSmart to teach our new puppy how to train us. Since Sancho hated being alone, we took him to the class as an observer. Everyone at PetSmart knew us as 'those crazy dog people'.
Along about the second or third week of class, one of the employees came running up to us and said 'we have one of your dogs in the adoption display'. Well, we and our two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels went back to see. Well, he wasn't a Cavalier, he was an English Toy Spaniel. He had been rescued from a puppy mill where he had been standing stud. Since we had just gotten a second dog, we really weren't looking for another one. I made the mistake of reaching into his cage and scratching him behind the ears. We made it out of PetSmart without a third dog.
The next day my wife called me at work. She couldn't stop worrying about him. She asked me to find out if he had been adopted. So, I called PetSmart to find out. They didn't know, but the gave me the number of the shelter that had been there. So, I called the shelter. I told the person I talked to, "I don't know if you remember me, but we were the couple who looked at the English Toy". She laughed and said: "Remember you? We have a pool going as to when you were going to call!" No he hadn't been adopted and they would be happy to hold him till the next Sunday when they would be back at PetSmart.
So, the next Sunday, Bosley came home with us. He is the sweetest, most joyful dog, we have ever known. If he is awake, his tail is wagging. He always wants to be in the same room with you, preferably cuddled up next to you. Six years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes. The expected life-span for a diabetic dog is 3-5 years. We had him into the vet about 10 days ago for a regular check up and our vet was very impressed with how well he was doing.
Yesterday afternoon, Bosley started puking. We had him on some arthritis pain meds and we thought perhaps the meds were upsetting his stomach, so we skipped his last dose. Today he has pretty much slept all day and seems to have trouble walking. (He has always had trouble with his right rear hip which we always assumed was from living for 4 years in a cage.) We can tell that he just isn't feeling well. These symptoms in a 14 year old, diabetic dog are scary. We'll be sitting outside our vet's office when they open at 8:00 am tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, any positive energy you can send our way would be appreciated.
A kid walked into a GameStop wearing a Kaepernick jersey. Two NFL players bought him an Xbox.
http://wapo.st/2xJTcPbSaundra Watts was getting her makeup done in the Dulles 28 Centre in Sterling on Tuesday, killing time while her dog was groomed at Petco, when her 10-year-old grandson, Jaden, came running into the store.
“He’s jumping up and down, saying, ‘Nana! Nana! Nana! These two guys want to buy me an Xbox. You’ve got to come right now,’ ” Watts recalled in a phone interview on Thursday.
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When they entered GameStop, Jaden introduced Saundra to the two men in shorts and T-shirts who had made the generous offer: Washington Redskins running backs Keith Marshall and Rob Kelley.
“Is it okay if we buy your son an Xbox?” Marshall asked Saundra, who was flattered Marshall thought she was Jaden’s mom. “I was like, ‘Really?’ Now mind you, I didn’t know they were Redskins, and neither did Jaden.”
Jaden was wearing a Kaepernick jersey and the two Redskin players just happened to be in the store. They were impressed by the fact Jaden was wearing the jersey. In a phone interview Jaden said:
“I liked how he wasn’t afraid to show what he thought,” Jaden, who is African American, said in a phone interview Thursday of Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality last season. “He risked getting fired, which was a big thing. I wouldn’t even do that, but he did, and I really like him for standing out. I don’t know if people agree with it, but he just doesn’t care what people say and that’s inspired me and probably inspired other people.”
Just a reminder of how horrible NFL players are and how the hate America. Right?
There Is No Joy In "Kushnerville" Slumlord Jared's A$$ Is Getting Sued -- Class Action No Less
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/tenants-hit-jared-kushners-real-estate-company-with-a-class-action-lawsuit/Tenants hit Jared Kushner’s real-estate company with a class action lawsuit
Tenants of the Baltimore-area apartment complexes owned by Jared Kushner’s real-estate company have brought a class-action lawsuit against the firm’s property management arm over its aggressive pursuit of tenants for allegedly unpaid rent.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Circuit Court for Baltimore City, alleges that the management company and related corporate entities have been improperly inflating payments owed by tenants by charging them late fees that are often unfounded and court fees that are not actually approved by any court. This, the lawsuit charges, sets in motion a vicious cycle in which tenants’ rent payments are partly assessed toward the fees instead of the actual rent owed, thus deeming the tenant once again “late” on his or her rent payment, leading to yet more late fees and court fees. Making matters worse, the 5 percent late fees are frequently assessed on principal that includes allegedly unpaid fees, not just the rent itself. Tenants are pressured to pay the snowballing bills with immediate threat of eviction, the suit alleges.
“The routine practice of charging tenants illegal fees combined with filing eviction proceedings against tenants who have paid their rent on time is predatory and destructive to hard-working Marylanders and their families. This is yet another example of corporations profiting from deceptive policies,” said Chelsea Ortega of Santoni, Vocci & Ortega, a Baltimore-area firm that has also brought class-action suits for similar “fee-churning” practices against two other large property management companies in the area. In this case, the firm is working with Brown Goldstein & Levy, a Baltimore firm specializing in civil rights cases, and the Public Justice Center, a civil legal aid office based in Baltimore that has also brought cases against area landlords over similar practices.
A spokesman for the Kushner Companies declined to comment on the particulars of the lawsuit. “We will respond to the complaint at the appropriate time in the legal proceedings,” he said.
Sounds like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, even if the 'tree' is only an in-law.
Virginian Charters Jet To Rescue 300 Pets Stranded On Virgin Islands After Irma
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/virgin-islands-pet-rescue_us_59c30796e4b0c90504fb69e2When Hurricane Maria took aim at the U.S. Virgin Islands last week, Sali Gear knew she had to move fast.
Gear, the co-founder of Virginia Beach’s Island Dog Rescue, grew up in the islands. She had been working on plans to evacuate all the pets from all three of the U.S. Virgin Islands ― St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix ― after Hurricane Irma devastated the area.
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Instead of flying the animals out in separate groups, Gear chartered a private jet to take the animals all at once Monday back to Norfolk, Virginia, where they were taken to Gear’s farm or sent into the care of volunteers and rescue groups across the country. She offered to fly pet owners’ animals off the islands free of charge and gathered pets that had been abandoned or were in shelters.
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Gear was indeed there for the island animals every step of the way. she evacuated more than 300 dogs and cats that had been gathered on St. Thomas after she arranged for boats to pick them up from the other two islands.
Read the whole story at link. Posting to Pets rather than Good News because I think more of you can relate.
Trump Doubles Down On Criticism of Kim Jong Un During Alabama Rally
Source: Huffington Post
President Donald Trump went after Kim Jong Un during a campaign rally for Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) in Alabama on Friday night, the latest barb in the ongoing exchange of threats and insults between the two leaders.
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“I believe the best path to the most peaceful world are proud, independent sovereign nations that respect their people,” Trump said to the Alabama crowd.
“We can’t have mad men out there shooting rockets all over the place,” he added. “And, by the way, rocket man should’ve been handled a long time ago ... This shouldn’t be handled now, but I’m going to handle it because we have to handle it.”
“Little rocket man,” the president continued. “We’re going to do it because we really have no choice. He’s talking about a massive weapon exploding over the ocean ... which causes tremendous calamity.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-alabama-rally-kim-jong-un_us_59c59e18e4b06ddf45f80a8e?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
I find myself waking up each morning mildly surprised that we are all still alive and that one of the two nuclear madmen hasn't pushed the button.
Undersea earthquake, Bali volcano may disrupt holiday plans
Source: Perth Now (AU)
Undersea earthquake, Bali volcano may disrupt holiday plans
Geoffrey Thomas, PerthNow
September 20, 2017 10:52pm
AN undersea earthquake has struck north of Bali, amid volcanic activity which is set to cause flight chaos in the holiday hotspot.
The 5.7-magnitude quake was recorded 125km north-east of Surabaya, on Java this morning, the US Geological Survey has confirmed.
The quake has reportedly sparked fears of a tsunami and follows a week of heightened volcanic activity in the area. Seismic activity is increasing from within Mount Agung with 400 tremors recorded yesterday.
Consumer Protection has advised travellers heading to Bali for the school holidays their flights may be delayed or cancelled due to volcanic activity on the island.
Read more: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/undersea-earthquake-bali-volcano-may-disrupt-holiday-plans/news-story/ec6c0f5b518439f44652a451d3f6e982
This is being reported by a number of Australian and UK sources. Nothing on US news yet.
The Fix Analysis How well does Jimmy Kimmel understand the GOP health-care bill?
http://wapo.st/2xQA2bFLate-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel inserted himself into the health-care debate in May by telling a harrowing story of the birth of his son, Billy, who was born with a congenital heart defect and required a lot of expensive, attentive medical care to stay alive.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) latched onto the moment to promote his own version of Obamacare repeal: “Does it pass the Jimmy Kimmel test?” he asked. He went on Kimmel's show. They talked about their shared values of providing people health care even if they can't afford it.
Now Cassidy's bill has a shot — however slim — at becoming law in the next week and a half. And Kimmel thinks it sucks and he got burned by Cassidy. “This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face,” Kimmel said on his show Tuesday.
“I'm sorry he does not understand,” Cassidy retorted on CNN on Wednesday, arguing that in many states, he thinks insurance will become more affordable than Obamacare under his plan. It turns out Kimmel understands the bill's impact better than its authors do. Here are five of Kimmel's claims matched up to with what we know about the bill.
The article goes on to pretty much rip the Cassidy-Graham bill and picks it apart point by point. Well worth the read.
In War of Elton John Lyrics, Kim Jong Un Calls Trump Honky Cat (Borowitz)
http://bit.ly/2xuVceyPYONGYANG (The Borowitz Report)—In what some security experts fear could be a high-stakes war of Elton John lyrics, minutes after Donald Trump called Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man,” the North Korean dictator responded by calling Trump “Honky Cat.”
As he issued the Elton John-based attack, Kim warned that he had an extensive collection of the singer-songwriter’s albums and was prepared to weaponize every lyric in them.
The White House immediately struck back, warning Kim that “any further provocation involving an Elton John lyric, especially ‘Tiny Dancer,’ will be seen as an act of war.”
But any hope that Kim would be silenced was short-lived. Responding to the White House, Kim stated, “I see the bitch is back,” before signing off, “Goodbye, Yellow-Wigged Toad.”
UK Officials Say Trumps Speculation On London Tube Attack Is Unhelpful
Source: Huffington Post
ONDON ― U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were quick to slam President Donald Trump’s response to Friday’s terror attack at a London tube station.
In a Friday morning Twitter rant, Trump speculated heavily about the perpetrators of a bomb attack that left at least 22 people injured. He referenced the so-called Islamic State, despite there being very little confirmed information about the bombing. He also used the incident as an excuse to push his U.S. travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries.
“I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,” May said on Friday.
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His comments come in contrast to his silence for two days following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month. He justified his inability to condemn hatred by claiming he didn’t want to speak because he “didn’t know all the facts.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uk-criticize-trump-london_us_59bbdab9e4b02da0e1414e6e?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
The Huffington Post banner when you just go to the site is:
U.K. to Trump: STFU
White House Rejects Supremacist Label (Borowitz)
http://bit.ly/2h2kjPsWhite House Rejects Supremacist Label: “No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior”
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Upbraiding the ESPN anchor Jemele Hill for calling Donald Trump a “white supremacist,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said on Wednesday that “no one has done more than President Trump to prove that white people are not superior.”
“It’s grossly unfair that Ms. Hill sought to portray Donald Trump as an upholder of white supremacy, when everything he says or does directly undermines that whole concept,” Sanders said. “Anyone who thinks that Donald Trump is on some mission to make white people look good hasn’t been paying attention.”
Sanders urged the ESPN anchor to “do her homework” on Trump before making baseless allegations. “Read his tweets,” she said. “Listen to his speeches. If you still think Donald Trump is trying to prove that white people are superior, I tip my hat to you.”
Ending on a personal note, Sanders said that she was “a hundred-per-cent sure” that her boss is not a white supremacist. “Donald Trump cannot even spell the word ‘supremacist,’ ” she said.
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