False.

Before I go any further about pets, perhaps I should make a full confession:

I am a childless cat (and plant) lady.  What of it?

Now that we got that out of the way, we continue on regarding people’s pets.  Specifically the urban legend regarding immigrants (in this case, Haitian) stealing and eating people beloved cats.

Uhm, yeh.  I head this one before, from a dude I worked with very briefly at a warehouse when I first moved into the area.  Only in that case it was “The Chinese.”  And it was dogs.  And that was nearly TWENTY-FIVE years ago.

In other words, that myth has been around for a long, long time and probably has a hundred variations.

Further back in time, over in Europe, the stories were not of the (insert most recent out-of-favor immigrant group here) eating neighborhood cats, or dogs, or whatever.  The stories were of Jews catching and eating pets.  Jews were the group being demonized.  And given what happened in Europe in the 30’s and 40’s….that puts things in a whole other perspective, doesn’t it?  (I better see some heads bobbing ‘yes.’)

But, certainly, my savvy readers, you can smell BS when someone tries to hand it to you.

Setting the Record Straight.

Yes, a little clarification is definitely needed to something I posted some time ago.  There is nothing legally stopping a judge from finalizing a divorce in Missouri if there is a pregnancy.  This is important to know: if you are unsafe: DON'T WAIT.  If you need to get out, contact Hope House for advice and GET OUT.

However, the requirement that Missouri and other states have that a pregnancy must be disclosed while filing for divorce is still problematic to say the least.  I could research, confirm and present all the data and statistics here, but I'm hoping you, wonderful reader (all five of you) will take the issue of domestic abuse seriously enough to engage and research on your own. Suffice it to say here, in this humble blog, that a pregnancy greatly increases the threat to the woman; as well as offering the abuser more avenues to terrify, manipulate and maintain control of the victim.

I'm still digesting this article linked below, and I agree with State Rep. Ashley Aune as she proposes bills to explicitly state that pregnancy statues shall not prevent a divorce or separation from going forward.  I have met her, found her wonderful, and believe she has the best intentions. However, as I begin to ponder this further, I think I may agree with the writer more at least at this point: "Missouri legislators should amend our divorce statute to eliminate required disclosure of pregnancy status." 

But then again, it could be rightfully argued that will not go far enough or offer good enough protections.  I think I better think it out again.. . My opinion can change in a heartbeat as more information comes in.

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/24/no-missouri-law-does-not-require-a-pregnant-woman-to-stay-with-her-husband

Yes, it can.

Yes,  it can happen here.

Well, I wish I could say I was surprised that it happened here.  But I have grown cynical.  And impatient.

In case you missed it, the city I’ve lived in for nearly twenty four years made the national, if not international, news last week when a celebration of a victorious football team turned into mayhem and panic when two squabbling teenagers started firing.  Apparently high caliber weapons.

Not that it matters, but for the record, I have no interest in professional sports – and that goes double for football.  I was not at the parade and rally for said football team, but several of my friends and acquaintances were.  One just barely managed to stay upright and thus avoid being knocked down and trampled in the ensuing stampede as people raced to safety.

In case you were wondering, yes, you read correctly:  one person is dead, at least twenty one were injured (I’ve heard twenty two and even twenty three); an entire city has been left anxious if not traumatized…why?  Because two kids apparently had some kind of dispute going on with each other.  And now their lives are pretty much ruined too, let’s not forget.

Like everybody else, this writer is still trying to capture the words to sum up and process the events.  But the conclusion I have definitely came to – came to a long time ago, in fact – is that we need to send a better class of people to Jefferson City to do our business.  To echo one sentiment read just today: people that will put people’s right and desire to live and be secure as they go about their life ABOVE people’s desire to have a gun with them at all times.  We need the ability to set local ordinances and restrictions as we work on the second part of the equation.  This we cannot do.  In the state with some of the loosest gun laws, we do not even have local control of our police department.  Our mayor is but one voice on the police board that is more or less appointed by the governor with the blessing of the state senate.

The second part of the equation that I mentioned?  We have teenagers, youth, minors, young folk; and they won’t stay young folk forever, that have no idea, none, zero absolutely no ability whatsoever on,how.to.manage.a.conflict. 

How the hell did that happen?  What are they learning or not learning on how to handle it when somebody says something that upsets them?  Where the hell are the adults that are supposed to be modeling this life skill and what behavior are they modeling for an example? Where did we, the adults go wrong?

I want to be positive.  I want to believe that things will get better.  But to echo another statement that I read earlier:  if the murder of children at Sandy Hook all those years ago didn’t change a whole lot, then a shootout involving football fans won’t either. 

If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. 

WE’VE GOT TO CHANGE

 

 

 

 

Grounding

 Go outside. Stand. Wiggle bare toes in the Earth. Listen. Listen deep. Can you hear it? Close your eyes and listen again. Now do you hear it? There it is, yes. That is the heart beat of the Earth trying to sync in rhythm with yours. 

Well met?

 

Yours truly with our new police chief, Stacey Graves.  I have been trying to gauge what I think of her since her promotion a few months ago, and when I found there would be a welcome reception for her close by, I decided that would be an excellent opportunity to maybe make my mind up a little.

Beings that I trend heavily on the introverted side of the spectrum, I loathe such meet and greet functions.  To be blunt, I would rather have a tooth pulled then go to a social mixer where I don’t already know at least some people.  By the time I convinced myself to go, it was mostly over. 

What I remember most about the less than an hour that I was there, however, was not being awkwardly off to the side by myself; debating about how long (or if) I would stay as I had apparently missed whatever remarks or comments she was planning on making that night.  Nor was it trying to look as if I was totally comfortable standing around with a handful of other strangers waiting for my moment to speak a few words to her.

Nope.  What stands out the most in my memory banks was her gracious good humor when I asked for a photo.  She even worked the phone herself to make sure we got a good “twosie” together.

Cleaning the proverbial house after the last police chief is likely to be a huge undertaking, and the jury is still out if she is up to the task; there has already been at least one missed opportunity to start rebuilding trust.

But….well……here’s to hoping that a lot of people, myself included, are pleasantly surprised.