Cat Lovers Be Warned: This Post Will Make You Mad

My last post was rather tongue-in-cheekly annoyed about certain kinds of Facebook statuses.  It's not something that gets me genuinely angry, merely something that kind of bugs me; a ripple of discontent in an otherwise relatively smooth afternoon, you could say.

What I'm about to tell you today, on the other hand, makes me truly, sincerely, gut-churningly livid.  And sick.  And sad.

I learned about this the day after making the Facebook-related update, and I've been waiting ever since to update my readers.  Not because I want to ruin your week the way this ruined mine, but because there's a call for action here that needs to be answered.  This is not for the faint-hearted, so if you can't stomach the mistreatment of animals, I suggest you click the Back button now.

Here we go.

I'm going to try to skimp on the details as much as I can.  Back in June, in Florida, a mother (and I use the term as loosely as possible) and her two sons found a pair of kittens in a public park.  Eight-week-old adorable black and white kittens.  And they beat them with an aluminum baseball bat.  For no discernible reason.

Sorry.  I shake just writing this.  One of the kittens died from his injuries; the other, who was named Dexter by the veterinary staff who worked valiantly to save him, ultimately had to be euthanized in August.  Dexter and his brother, who was posthumously named Drake, were Hemingway cats, with seven toes on each foot.

Why this woman isn't in jail with her children in the custody of the state is beyond me.  Somehow she was able to get out on $3,500 bail, and she still has her kids living with her.  This sick excuse for a human being is currently at liberty. 

Now, I wouldn't have gone about ruining your day for no reason.  There is something you can do.  A petition exists online to have this woman prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  The case against Wilana Frazier is currently proceeding, and they say the evidence against her is strong (apparently her own sister-in-law was among the witnesses and testified against her), but the petition is meanwhile ongoing and will not close until it reaches its target goal of 100,000 signatures.  It's almost halfway there.  Every time another thousand signatures is added, a fresh copy is sent to the Hernando County State Attorney's office.  Backing the petition is Care2, one of the internet's biggest sites devoted to animals and the environment.

You can also show your support for PetLuvs, the nonprofit clinic that labored for several weeks to save Dexter's life, by purchasing Team Dexter memorial bands.  Each band costs $3 and the money will benefit their spay/neuter clinic.

From what I'm reading, they're gearing up to make this a landmark case and possibly change the animal abuse laws in Florida.  Maybe, with enough of us lending our voices and expressing our outrage, we can prevent what happened to Drake and Dexter from happening again.

Books, Doctors, and Marriage (None of Them Mine)

Sometimes, when I don't know what to write about, I scour my Twitter feed and hope that something catches my attention. A couple of things did, so yay, there's a post today.

First up, in the world of cheerful bloggery, I came across a tweet from my redoubtable friend Kate (she of BookCrossing fame). She shared the news that a fellow resident of Blogspot, book reviewer Evie-Bookish, is celebrating the acquisition of her 200th follower by hosting a young adult literature giveaway. This is a great idea and if I ever reach 200 followers, I might do something similar. Actually, I don't have the patience for that, so I might do something when I reach 20 followers. Anyway, if you click on that link, Evie explains what you need to do in order to be eligible to win your choice of some YA series.

One of the feeds I track regularly on Twitter is that of Doctors Without Borders. Recently, they've been posting something I thought was pretty disturbing. According to their information, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson holds the patents for three HIV drugs that are desperately needed in the developing world. There is what's called a "patent pool," which is a setup designed to make it easier for people in developing countries to afford the medicines they need. Guess who's refusing to participate in the patent pool, and is thus making it impossible for people who need those HIV drugs to get them?

The article is here. It includes a video that can explain the patent pool better than I can, and a downloadable letter that you can send to J&J to urge them to join the patent pool. Also, if you're on Twitter, you can follow Doctors Without Borders and participate in the viral retweeting to try to get J&J to change their minds.

Finally, I'm having a really hard time finding information about tomorrow's royal wedding, because it's receiving so little news coverage. *rimshot* No, I'm happy for Prince William and his princess-to-be, I am. The British royal family fascinates me and I've devoted countless hours of free time to studying the Plantagenets, Yorks, Tudors, and...I've completely forgotten what Queen Victoria's family was but them too.

Will and Kate's ceremony is not the marriage I want to talk about here, though. I recently became acquainted with the existence of Girl Up, a United Nations program designed to empower girls and help them change the world. Their representatives recently visited Ethiopia and talked with teenaged girls who were fortunate enough to escape from what they call child marriage. In developing countries, one out of every seven girls is married by the age of 15; as they say in the video of the experience, some are betrothed or even married as young as five. Do you remember what you did when you were five? I'm not sure I do, but I'm pretty certain it had nothing to do with being somebody's wife.

Here is the video. I liked the part where one father said he will support his daughter's education rather than get her married young, and that he hopes she becomes a doctor. So much eye-opening information crammed into just over three minutes! This is definitely worth passing on, so that's what I'm doing.

I hope you'll do it too.

Skirting (Or Kilting) the TSA Issue

I should preface this post by saying that I am not a frequent flyer. If you consider a round trip to be one instance, I can count all of my lifetime plane trips on one hand. Nor do I have plans to get on an airplane any time before next June, by which time I am sincerely hoping this whole pat-down thing will no longer be happening. I have...issues...with being touched by complete strangers.

The TSA, of course, is the Transportation Security Administration. As you may have heard by now, they're stepping up the already-stringent security measures being taken at airports. The official statement (dated October 28th) is as follows:

"TSA is in the process of implementing new pat-down procedures at checkpoints nationwide as one of our many layers of security to keep the traveling public safe. Pat-downs are one important tool to help TSA detect hidden and dangerous items such as explosives. Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams, among others."

Oh. Goody. Maybe I'll start planning on taking the bus to my goddaughter's wedding. Or if I leave right after Christmas, I could probably walk there in time.

The pat-down procedure in and of itself is not wholly bad, I suppose...well, okay, that's probably one of those lies we tell ourselves to reduce personal panic. But what's worse is some of the stories that are coming out about how TSA employees are handling the matter. Some of the reports make the experience sound like it almost qualifies as assault. For example, there was the recent incident where a three-year-old girl, upset at the idea of her beloved teddy bear being put through the x-ray machine, managed to set off a detector with her tantrum and had to be patted down. A three-year-old? Really? What's more, she turned out to be the daughter of Steve Simon, a television reporter, who managed to film the incident and then reported it on his news program. You can see part of it here.

As I mentioned, I have a problem with being manhandled touched by complete strangers, and that's just because I'm a fussy little git. I can only imagine how these new procedures must be upsetting to someone who has a legitimate reason to not want to be touched, e.g. a survivor of assault or sexual abuse. Newsweek brought up this very issue in a recent article. For a specific example, they linked to the blog post of John Tyner, who is now under investigation after walking away from a screening that was, in his opinion, sexual assault. I'm kind of horrified.

Part of the problem seems to be that they're not too strictly worried about who's doing the patting. According to the blog of the ACLU, the TSA has no time to train their screeners. Their source of information is a little hard to refute, too -- it's the recent report compiled by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. Among the more disturbing bits are where one employee admits that some workers are encouraged to just sign the statement that they received their reading materials and training without ever having done so.

Is the pat-down absolutely required? Sadly, the pat-down is apparently the lesser of two evils. The alternative involves being scanned by something called a backscatter machine, which essentially takes naked pictures of you. The ACLU describes your choices as being "between a virtual strip-search and a really aggressive grope." They encourage concerned Americans to stand up for their rights not to be felt up by TSA employees, and tell Congress exactly how they feel. I encourage you to do it too.

In addition to sending your concerns to Congress, however, you might want to consider participating in another form of protest. If you have to fly in the near future -- and many people do, what with American Thanksgiving being only a week away -- you can be part of National Opt-Out Day on November 24th. You opt out of the backscatter scan, which the TSA acknowledges is your right, but then are subjected to the pat-down. You should be prepared for that. You should also insist that the pat-down take place in public, so everyone can see what's being done to you.

If you're male, you can add a fun little extra something-something to your pat-down by pretending to be Scottish. Inspired by a comment from Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, some supporters of National Opt-Out Day are encouraging men to wear kilts when they fly on November 24th, and to wear them regimental-style -- that is, sans underwear. You have to admit, if the pat-down gets a bit too friendly, that's one way to surprise the employees.

And maybe the TSA would do well to remember the words of the esteemed Benjamin Franklin, who once remarked, "Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Special thanks to my friend Rachel, who directed me to the ACLU blog, and to Debbie Tenzer of Do One Nice Thing, who alerted me to the kilted protest.