Propaganda

Racial violence?
Wonder which store she looted to get these fine shoes

There was looting during Katrina but it was on a much smaller scale than the media led you to believe. Nobody was "raping babies in the Superdome" (The National Guard was in the the Superdome before Katrina hit and they suffered right along with the folks inside and did not allow this to go on.)

"They are shooting at rescue helicopters".......Not one shot was reported by the Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries or the Coast Guard (the very first government agencies on the scene...Thank You!) These folks didnt wait for orders or a plan. They just started rescuing.



"Why didnt those people evacuate?"



There was no plan to deal with the elderly, the disabled, and Memorial Hospital was completely forgotten about for days.



"Seniors were trembling all alone, left behind by careless family members on the absurd assumption that they'd be okay. Many of them died in terrified solitude-no white-suited nurse holding their trembling hands, no nun telling them God was near. Just a mad rush of sewage water, filling up their lungs, snuffing them out with cruel vengeance. The oxygen tanks emptied and, after that, in some cases there wasnt even a soul around to witness their last breath. One can only pray that they were in a coma or unconscious at the grim time of reckoning." (Doug Brinkley, The Great Deluge)

The Big Easy

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
This was my view 9 1/2 years ago when I visited NOLA. Beautiful isn't it? It still is.

I am going to attempt this again. I don't know if I will be able to finish. 9 1/2 years ago was my last trip to New Orleans. I was there to sprinkle my brother's ashes in Lake Pontchartrain (as were his final wishes). I haven't been back yet. One day I want his son to see the city that his dad loved so much. I have only been relieved twice in my life that my brother was dead. The first was in those days and weeks following The Bitch that was Katrina.

I hope you will follow along with me. I want to show you pictures that not everyone saw and I will try not to show anything too graphic. I will share excerpts from the best book (in my opinion) written about Katrina.
The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley

I want people to remember what happened there....so we may never leave another American city to rot.

That was enough for the Louisiana SPCA, which brooked no discussion and no debate: with the announcement that a major hurricane was on the way, the preset plan went into motion. (The Great Deluge, DB)

263 dog and cats and a few other species were evacuated from the shelter on Japonica Street. It was incredible. No discussion or debate?

No such plan was in place for St. Rita's Nursing Home. The animal shelter had a well organized plan but St. Hell's nursing home let 35 drown. I cannot let go of my anger at this. There are no excuses for not having a plan for the most helpless among us.

A Tale Of Two Bunnies

This is the handsome and kind Pippin. Bunny man Pipster has the most easy going way about him. I am surprised by him. Pippin spent 8 years in a backyard hutch. As I have stated before, Heartland is overflowing with bunnies, there is NO MORE room. Uh huh, well they made room for Pippin. An 8 year sentence of loneliness. Never to have human companionship, not another bunny to snuggle, feet never touching the grass, powerful back legs and feet left to waste away to atrophy. Rusted food bowls, no soft place to get off of the wire, nails long and curling sideways. No treaties, no hay, no nothing.

Pippin has captured all of us. He is so very precious and accepting. He is quietly curious about everything. I love this little bunny dearly. He was a prisoner to indifference. I had the honor of naming him.

Meet Baby Girl (her name is still pending I think)

Did I mention there is no more room at Heartland? Uh huh. This wee one showed up at the animal shelter. Heartland got an email from a visiting vet and a picture. "Do you have room" No, but we will take her anyway. There is no real story here. Supposedly she was found wandering and taken to the shelter. Sorry, I just dont believe that one. I think a family bought her and then someone decided for whatever monsterous reason to cut off her ears and that family, rather than face the demon living in their own house and being too cheap to provide vet care, dumped her at the animal shelter. That is my theory and I am sticking with it.

She is cautious and quick. When I visit her I just wait patiently for her to come to me. Eventually she does and will enjoy a head rub. She isnt really head shy which surprises me. I apologize to her on behalf of humans constantly. She was a prisoner of cruelty and depravity.

Over the last few weeks I have thought about which is worse....Indifference or Cruelty. I have come to the conclusion the indifference is the winner. Cruelty is not as rampant. Indifference is an abomination.

What do you think friends?

Monday Mantra

"The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity."


George Bernard Shaw

If you notice something strange about this little ones ears......yes about a third of her ears have been sliced off. Her story soon.....

Summer, Drought, and Lost in my own head

You have to forgive the quality of the above picture. I took it with my cell phone and it does not take very good pics. The bees wait every morning for me to leave their watering hole. From what I have read they like their water a little funky and the rocks are islands for the ones that fall in the water. I gave them their own birdbath because the creek behind my house is dry. It hasnt been dry in 20 years.

This is a photo taken from Southwest Ok.

I have always hated winter. Its a lonely time. Everything is sleeping and it reminds me of death. The death of my father and the death of my brother. Fall is my favorite time of year, I inhale the smells and it renews me but I carry a dread around with it.....winter will arrive shortly.

I like spring and summer too. Watching the flowers wake up, birds making their babies, the toads that come up on the patio and chow down on the bugs. This spring/summer has been miserable. We have been under a burn ban since June, temps over 100 every day for the last 2 months, no rain and no toads. Everything is the yard is drying up and the animals are struggling. People dying in the heat. Particularly the elderly. Nobody checks on them. It is a crime.

When Haven left, I lost my desire to blog and I am still struggling with it. In march Millie began dragging one of her back legs. We have been to 3 vets, had xrays, tried many different meds and nothing. She is getting around really well and doesnt seem to have any pain. I have to keep reminding myself that she is a bit older and had a history when she adopted me. It frustrates me though. We can get to the moon but they cant fix my girl's leg.

I have been spending far too much time on Facebook. It is the one place I can let it all fly. I wont ever pollute my blog with politics but I can let it rip on FB and have been enjoying it but I must leave it alone for a bit. Its been addicting.

If you noticed I removed a post....its because my blog was "out ted" at work. It doesnt belong there. My co-workers S and T are aware that I was blogging about them but I wasnt comfortable with the nest of vipers having access to my blog. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do. I have been visiting my favorite blogs though, that wont change.

Its coming up on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is something I struggle with every year. I want to blog about it but can never find the words. It is the time that I lost my faith in this country and my belief in god. (and while I appreciate the effort please dont try and convince me otherwise, I am on a journey now) It hurts me and what hurts me more are the callous and flippant remarks I still see and hear about it. "sigh" I am tied to that city in a way I cant describe and I love it and hate it at turns.

I have been able to catch up on my reading this summer. Books are food to me and I lost interest in them for a while. I am getting back to it slowly. Less time on the net and more time reading is what I need. (along with a new camera)

My blog was never meant to be just about bunnies. I find that some folks dont come around when it isnt about bunnies. I am okay with that. The bunnies represent the best parts of my life so I completely get it. But there is good and bad and I will write about the bad when it strikes me. There are 2 bunnies that I want to tell you about and will soon. There are a couple of you that have already met them on FB. (by the way, my blog will never be linked to FB, it is my safe haven and dont want it there)

So we press on. This post is dedicated to the women and babies of Somalia. My heart is with them daily. They are not just an image on the news. They are tied to the same earth and life and death cycle that I am.

Monday Mantra and things

Duds does not approve of my flip flops...why? Because I wore them to the rescue yesterday and they smell like foreign bunnies. He wanted them OFF my feet so I handed them over. He spent quite a bit of time tossing them around and chinning them. Silly bunny!

Monday Mantra:

“When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.”
Abraham Lincoln

I am addicted to these videos.

Camera troubles are keeping me from posting new pics. If you want to smile just watch the video.