Sneaky Snake Bite

You can add another reason to your list of why over-imbibing disconnects your brain cells from reality.

First of all, I have doubts about the mentality of anyone who would keep a snake as a pet, and I know a number of people would argue against me on this subject, but I stand firm on this point. And here is a good example.

An Oregon man had a few beers with friends, opened his mouth and inserted his pet Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake’s head. (This is North America’s largest venomous snake.) What would most people assume would happen? Well, it did.

He was rushed to the hospital with enough venom in him to kill 12 to 15 people. His tongue swelled, filled his mouth and obstructed his airway. With an obstructed airway, he had only seven minutes to get major medical help before he died of asphyxiation.

The doctors put him in a medical coma for three days. Three weeks later, he is home, recovering well, and still handling his rattlesnake as casually as someone else would a pet Chihuahua. Since he is keeping the snake, he would be smart to give up the beer. But I doubt it.

To read one news report, click here.
www.mercyandpercy.com/

Tomorrow Has Come

A tribute to my mother, who passed away one year ago today.

TOMORROW HAS COME

By Janice Price

How swiftly do the years flow by (comparing now with then).
The hands that rocked my cradle then, now barely hold a pen.
The feet that paced the floor with me are sore and wracked with pain.
The sturdy legs that climbed the stairs reluctantly abstain.

A stroke, some falls, a shattered hip – all things we couldn’t share.
Determinedly, her swollen feet propel her “rolling chair.”
Where once we could stand back to back and match at five-foot-four,
Her body’s lost the war with time. Her neck bends toward the floor.

Her eyesight faded years ago. She legally is blind.
She keeps up with the daily news to exercise her mind.
She once could hear a silent sin. Her hearing was acute.
She now maintains volume control is languishing on “mute.”

Her hair remains quite dark and fine, with just a touch of gray.
She misses how her gardening once brightened up her day.
Tomorrow was a future date. No way we could foresee
She'd live in prison, physically, though technically she’s free.

One day tomorrow came to pass. My mother has grown old.
We need to share more memories - relate the tales untold.
She smiled her way through failing health. One day she’d rest a while.
Tomorrow’s here. Let’s share a joke. And launch that impish smile

Epilogue:
But now her time on earth has passed. Her steadfast faith endured.
No longer deaf or blind or lame – of this we are assured.
We buried her beside her son, through tears – emotions numb.
Though death is not the journey’s end, tomorrow sure has come.

© 2000, 2007 Janice Price

www.mercyandpercy.com/

Outrage Over Abuse

Hardly anyone in the United States today does not know who Michael Vick is. He has come to symbolize public outrage against the bloodthirsty and criminal “sport” of dogfighting. He is not, however, the first sports figure to be involved. More than one black sports player has expressed astonishment at Vick’s arrest and defended him. After all, dogfighting abounds in their home state. Well, those guys might know where all the local dogfights are held, but that doesn’t make dogfighting popular with the masses or an integral part of their “culture.”

Vick’s defenders claim the clamor is racially motivated and he is being unjustly persecuted. Well, I am not racially motivated in my outrage against any dogfighter. I don’t care if he is black, white or pink with purple polka dots. What he is doing is despicable! Thankfully, today it’s also illegal.

Dogfighting is not a harmless sport! And the victims are not those like Vick who are arrested, but the dogs which have been trained, specially bred and sometimes pumped up on steroids to fight other dogs. The humans might go to jail, but the dogs are killed. Even though they are gentle and obedient with humans, they are trained to be dangerously aggressive toward other animals.

In fact, in this “sport,” one of the tools used to train one of these dogs might have been the Labrador Retriever, the Chihuahua, or the cat that was stolen from your back yard. Or it might have been the kittens or puppies you gave away “free to a good home” in the Wal-mart parking lot or with a sign on the tree in your front yard.

What stirred me to write this is an article by Rowland S. Martin. He echoes the sentiments of other editorials written in recent months, which purport that the outpouring of outrage was solely because Vick is a celebrity. I understand what he is saying. Readers and viewers are more interested in Britney Spears or any other famous person than unknowns who are violently and senselessly abused and often killed.

Because where, he asks, is the outrage when violence is perpetrated against humans? I don’t know about you, but I am still outraged when I read or hear of any type of abuse. There is so mind-numbing much of it worldwide, but the outrage still exists.

For many of us.

But for others, their consciences have been seared, their hearts hardened, and all traces of empathy have been washed away. There are no tears left for the pain and suffering of another living being, whether man or beast. Society often faults latchkey children, the popularity of violent video games, gory movies, the necessity of joining a gang to survive in some areas, etc.

Shouldn’t misplaced hero worship be added to the list? Just because an actor or a sports player earns – excuse me, is insanely paid - an astronomical sum, that person is not automatically a person of character or one to be emulated. But young folks don’t understand that, any more than they understand that if Dad takes them to a dogfight, a cockfight, or a hog-dog rodeo, the violence they encounter in such an atmosphere will condition them to become insensitive to bloodshed and the pain of living beings.

And so we are inundated in the news with horrid details of teenagers and even young children perpetrating unbelievable abuse against animals. It is basically only a matter of time before they graduate to criminal abuse against humans – if they haven’t already. The lack of remorse some of these young people demonstrate concerns law enforcement and the judicial system.

Shouldn’t we be grateful there has been a vocal and sustained outcry against what Michael Vick subsequently admitted to doing? Let’s teach our youth that it is not okay to hero worship and imitate Michael Vick, who played football well but was cruel to animals and gambled heavily. And let’s put all the Michael Vicks out of business! There are too many like Michael Vick who believe their fame and money places them on a pedestal and protects them when they mess up or break the law. Vick, the hero Quarterback, let his team down when he gambled and lied about it. He let his idolizing fans down. He broke state and federal dogfighting laws. His actions deserved a public hue and cry of outrage. Prominent people are not above the law - man’s law or God’s law.

It should be no more permissible to abuse an animal than a human being, and although many will be quick to protest that animals are not human, that is no excuse for the pain and suffering of the animals men subject to dogfighting, cockfighting or any other vicious blood “sport.”

Don’t support abuse by ignoring it, condoning it or participating in it.
www.mercyandpercy.com/

Thank you, Sheriff Conway

Just over a month ago, Sheriff Butch Conway offered a reward of $10,000 – from his own pocket, mind you – for information leading to the arrest and conviction of dogfighters in Gwinnette County, Georgia. Way to Go, Sheriff!

Georgia has the most deplorable dogfighting laws in the country. Law enforcement has shown little interest in pursuing these lawbreakers because little or nothing results from the investigations and arrests. But it looks as if that might change.

Thanks to Sheriff Conway of Lawrenceville, the Georgia Sheriffs' Association is now offering up to $2500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in dogfighting.

Thank you, Georgia Sheriffs' Association! It isn’t much of a reward in comparison to Sheriff Conway’s offer, but it gives hope that law enforcement intends to buckle down and pursue those involved in dogfighting.

Forcing any type of animals to fight, often to the death, is a despicable form of animal abuse! Parents who bring children to these “sporting events” should be charged with child abuse. Children are not only exposed to the bloody brutality of fighting, but these fights attract heavy betting and drug sales/usage.

Already Sheriff Conway’s offer of a reward has resulted in a raid in Snellville. Four men have been charged with dogfighting, 10 pit bulls have been seized, and drugs have been confiscated. Unfortunately, it is the dogs that will receive the harshest penalty. Pit bulls live to please their masters. Their reward for obedience? They will be put to death.

It’s way past time for Georgia to get serious on sniffing out dogfighters and meting out swift and stiff punishment to them.

www.mercyandpercy.com/

Help Them See

I never heard of the Yahoo group before the other day when a welcome-to-the-group email arrived.

Complete your Yahoo! Groups account: Your email address has been added to the email list of a Yahoo! Group. To gain access to all of your group's web features (previous messages, photos, files, calendar, etc.) and easier control of your message delivery options, we highly recommend that you complete your account by connecting your email address to a Yahoo account. It is easy and free.

A second message arrived at the same time – a profile form for me to fill out and return. I ignored both messages. The next morning another profile form arrived to be filled out. Along with it came several other messages, some profiles of strangers and a few message postings from group members.

I reread the original message. I checked out the website, trying to find how to “opt out” without linking this Mercy And Percy email address to a Yahoo account. I wasted a lot of time trying to find out whether this was even legitimate. Email and web addresses can be faked. Finally, I decided to take Yahoo up on the abuse reporting policy stated in the email.

Report abuse: Because Yahoo! Groups values your privacy, it is a violation of our
service rules for moderators to add subscribers to a group against their wishes. If you feel this has happened, please notify us:

My privacy was definitely violated! I neither signed myself up nor was given any advance notification the group intended to add my email address. I went to the above Yahoo address and circled round and round the site, never able to find a means to report abuse without signing up to link this email address to a Yahoo account.

Now why would I want to give out a lot of personal information for something I did not initiate or approve? It would seem that if Yahoo enables the group to usurp email addresses and add new “members” without permission, then Yahoo should enable those “members” to report abuse without having to sign up for a Yahoo account.

I googled Yahoo abuse and found an email address. My message was returned with the notation they were the wrong department and I should go to this link that took me back to the same point where I went round in circles again. I gave up and there were no messages for a couple of days.

This morning there was a host of emails from the group, including another blank profile form. (I presently have 63 Yahoo group messages.) Again I went round and round Yahoo. Finally I was forced to do the last thing I wanted to do – I replied to the spamming “Christian” group, telling them to delete my email address. They kept sending back you-must-unsubscribe” messages and eventually that’s what I had to do. Unsubscribe to a group I never subscribed to.

I couldn’t believe it but they shot back a form sorry-you’re-leaving message and wanted to know why I was leaving. So I told them. And the message also asked what they can do to make their ministry better. They can stop hijacking email addresses and invite people to join or at provide a means to sign up voluntarily.

I do not want to give them publicity so I won’t name the group, (but you can connect the letters - h e l p t o s e e) but I’m writing this to make you aware Yahoo provides opportunity for groups to harvest email addresses and subscribe people without notice or permission and then makes it impossible to complain without giving out personal information for Yahoo to collect.

It’s too bad neither Yahoo nor the group will read this because it might help them to see – Yahoo, that there is a great weakness in their abuse reporting and group systems, and the group that their “Christian” sign-up system is seriously flawed.

www.mercyandpercy.com/