I've always figured if a young cat is dirty, wormy, and doesn't have a chip: fair game even if it isn't technically a stray. Cats are so destructive to native wildlife that they shouldn't be allowed outside, so removing one from the streets is a social good even if it nominally belongs to someone.
Hunter Thompson's routine according to E. Jean Carroll:
3:00 p.m. rise
3:05 Chivas Regal with the morning papers, Dunhills
3:45 cocaine
3:50 another glass of Chivas, Dunhill
4:05 first cup of coffee, Dunhill
4:15 cocaine
4:16 orange juice, Dunhill
4:30 cocaine
4:54 cocaine
5:05 cocaine
5:11 coffee, Dunhills
5:30 more ice in the Chivas
5:45 cocaine, etc., etc.
6:00 grass to take the edge off the day
7:05 Woody Creek Tavern for lunch-Heineken, two margaritas, coleslaw, a taco salad, a double order of fried onion rings, carrot cake, ice cream, a bean fritter, Dunhills, another Heineken, cocaine, and for the ride home, a snow cone (a glass of shredded ice over which is poured three or four jiggers of Chivas)
9:00 starts snorting cocaine seriously
10:00 drops acid
11:00 Chartreuse, cocaine, grass
11:30 cocaine, etc, etc.
12:00 midnight, Hunter S. Thompson is ready to write
12:05-6:00 a.m. Chartreuse, cocaine, grass, Chivas, coffee, Heineken, clove cigarettes, grapefruit, Dunhills, orange juice, gin, continuous pornographic movies.
6:00 the hot tub-champagne, Dove Bars, fettuccine Alfredo
8:00 Halcyon
8:20 sleep
Yeah, dogs have much stronger sense of self, however. They feel insult, shame, sadness, guilt, and unfairness. I think cats view the laughter as more of aggression/dominance thing than the emotions humans or dogs would map to.
I have a cat that can call birds. We had a gap under the garage door, and she called sparrows in under the door before I adjusted the hang. She murder-a-lized them all over the house.
Had another, even more sadistic, cat that was very aggressive towards other people. I always had to warn guests not to believe her and not to pet her or they would get cut. She would call people to her and let a little petting happen before ripping a finger or arm. Same cat enjoyed scaring children, one time she jumped through the air and barked in a child's face just to watch the fun. She had to be put down, I was the only person that was safe around her.
They use these instincts on us to get what they want. They often want petting, treats, or attention so we don't notice.
This applies to cats of average or above intelligence. There are a few dumb cats that have about as much awareness as a tater.
I've never had a shelter or bred cat. Instead, they just appear from the outside, get found in a parking lot, or sometimes materialize and no one knows where they came from. They get cleaned up and shots, chip, and fixed.
Some cats will get their prey/play drive mixed up and snap on you unexpectedly. Almost like they're startled but it's internal, they will often be 'apologetic' or confused afterwards. Some cats are worse about this than others and you shouldn't wrestle or play rough with this kind using your hands, toys only.
And, yes. Cats are absolutely aware of the size and power differential. They're always watching it at some level. Trust must be earned and often slowly built. Had one cat knock down a stack of pans and run behind me for protection. Some cats dislike being laughed at and it can cause aggression or cause retreat.
A cat's love is transactional to a high degree, they're lazy psychos that can learn friendship through trust. They love the comfort of you as much as they actually love you. They mimic affection and scheme a lot more than most people would like to think.
All cats are bad, it's what makes them so great to have in your life.
Woah, never heard of this. Got a link or a technical term?
The naturally occuring nuclear reactor in Africa is really interesting as well. So is the coal fire in Australia that's been going on for like a thousand years.
Yeah, life goes on. What can I do about it without jeopardizing the safety of my people? Nothing, at this point.
We moved to a better state, I'm loving the first real winter of my life.
Getting chickens and probably rabbits in the spring. Time to prune apples, grapes, and blueberries as soon as I get a thaw. About to lift the main beam of my garage so I can repair it in preparation for redoing the roof. We agreed this evening that family movie night is Sundays and family game night is Thursdays. Our son knows to mostly keep his mouth shut at school and he makes straight As. My girl and I have some parties to attend coming up and I've got a cigar social on Saturday. Will pick up some work at a local shop this year to save up more money to build my own little machine shop.
Life goes on.
I passed through terrifying back when Q started pushing nazi crap and friends, family, and coworkers were parroting it and couldn't be convinced otherwise. Propaganda is wild and people don't know much history.
Roll the dice and hope it doesn't play out that way again. We're about as ready as we can be, not going to try and fight the power. We're married white homeowners and very low key.
There was an elderly German couple that lived across the street from us for a little while when I was a kid. I'll never forget her saying, "We knew, everyone knew. Don't ever let anyone tell you they didn't know. But what could we do about it?"
Looks like you caught another ban. I just had a thread removed for sealioning. Ehh.
Anyhow, hit me up by PM if you want.
As far as firearms go, yah, but nuanced. I do support more stringent purchasing requirements, some common sense limitations. Ultimately, we need a cultural shift back to where they are viewed as tools and not a male enhancement device. I use them for farming and hunting. However, the gun debate is pointless until the US rejects the overt fascism that we are seeing now. Bigger fish to fry.
While I'm obviously in favor of free speech, I think the algorithmically altered shit that is happening with corporate social media is a major problem. As is state level actors like Russia and China using Western social media to influence elections. Foreign involvement in US election social media should be squished like a bug, that is the opposite of free speech.
DEI in particular, that whole thing has been so politicized that it's hard to see the forest through the trees. Systemic racism is real, seen it all my life in the deep South. Fought against racism when running a corporate shop and it was an uphill battle. IDK, I'm probably more sympathetic to too much DEI than none. I feel like it and cancel culture are a distraction mostly used by the Right. Discrimination is a real problem, and discrimination laws along with workman's comp and other protections should actually be enforced. The companies that do this shit should be fined out of existence.
Having moved from the south to the northeast, I'm liking the higher level of government involvement in some areas, especially schools and roads. Sucks that I can't throw away cardboard, recycling bins aren't big enough to get rid of it, can't burn it, and I'm not allowed to burn it.
Anyhow, mostly I dislike fanaticism of any stripe. Religious, political, or whatever. I've said before, to the Republicans, I'm a radical leftist demon. To the leftists outside of the US, I'm a centrist or right. We've lost nuance. Currently the far right is a much greater threat to my people than the the far left.
Mostly, I'm looking for unbiased and timely discussion of news. Warning of what may be coming from the nuts now in power.
We've got a 100 year old toilet roll holder, the spindle was turned on a lathe and the wooden cutout it sits in was hand carved. It is a poor fit for modern high sheet count rolls. We can't stand to get rid of it so we just leave the roll outside of it until it is small enough to fit.