Harold Fish Self Defense Fund

Apparently Arizona prosecutors have decided to go ahead with prosecuting Mr. Fish. If you can help Mr. Fish out, please make a check out to Jones, Skelton, Hockuli for the amount you wish to donate, and in the memo section of the check, please write for the benefit of Harold Fish

The address to send it to is:

2901 N Central Ste #800
Phoenix AZ 85012

My synopsis:

Mr. Kuenzli was a man with some mental health problems. He had a therapy dog and he frequently walked dogs for the Payson Humane Society. One of Mr. Kuenzli's previous problems with authorities was a penchant for not leashing his dog.

Payson Humane Society knew something of Mr. Kuenzli's problems. They permitted him to walk two dogs from the Humane Society along with his own therapy dog. One of the dogs released to Mr. Kuenzli on the fateful day was a dog of known aggression, barely saved from being shot by a detective who had been bit in the leg by the dog.

Mr. Kuenzli was out with the 3 dogs unleashed in a forest preserve. Mr. Fish came from the other direction. According to Mr. Fish, the 3 dogs charged Mr. Fish. Mr. Fish fired a warning shot and the dogs scattered. So far so good.

Then Mr. Kuenzli charged Mr. Fish. Mr Fish warned Mr. Kuenzli to stop, but Kuenzli did not stop. Fish fired and Kuenzli died.

"Coconino County sheriff's detectives say the shooting of 43-year-old Grant Kuenzli was a justifiable homicide. But the victim's friends say he was a peaceful man who had volunteered to take a couple of dogs from an animal shelter out for exercise and didn't deserve to die."

The sheriff's department didn't want to prosecute the guy. Animal rights lovers, imho, have pressured this arrest into taking place. Payson's animal shelter appears to me to be the 'most guilty' party in this. They KNEW they had a dangerous dog, they KNEW they had a potentially unstable dog-walker, they KNOWINGLY made the combination and let it loose on society.

My hunch is that Payson's is pushing for prosecution of Mr. Fish to distract attention from their own, obvious, criminal negligence.

This is discussed emotionally over at
The High Road, with copies and links to various newspaper articles. I know some will hear the word 'dog' and immediately side against Mr. Fish. Before you do that, would you please read my post on role-playing, where I've relayed the incident only without the dogs.

Thanks.

Update: Blogspot being blogspot, the link to the earlier post doesn't actually take you there.  Here's the text of the June 8th post:

"Let's do some role-playing

Count to ten, clear your mind, and imagine this:

You are standing at the bottom of a hill. Some guy comes running at you, saying he's going to kill you. His fists are clenched and you can't tell if he has anything in them.Your gun is drawn. You tell him to stop. He doesn't.What do you do?"


& that's the essence of the Fish case.

Update II, Aug 1: Mr. Fish has pled not guilty to 2nd degree murder charges. Court date is August 16.

A different sort of quiz

and one that really brings meaning to the term Anger of Compassion, which is the website that pointed me to it.


You correctly answered...

25 %

of the questions. This marks you as

an Intermediate
student of Communist atrocities.

It says something about our knowledge of things that actually matter, if a score of 25% marks me as an Intermediate instead of Pretty Clueless. Take the test and read the answers.


Sample:

EXCLUSIVE of the Ukrainian famine in 1932-33, the numbered of "kulaks," or better-off peasants (and their families) murdered by Stalin numbered about:

A) Only a few thousand village leaders - almost all of the "kulak" fatalities actually occurred during the Ukrainian famine following the dekulakization campaign.

B) 100,000 - about as many Japanese who died from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

C) 250,000 - about equal to the number of Gypsies exterminated by Hitler.

D) 1.5 million - about as many as the Turks killed in the Armenian holocaust.

E) 2 million - about as many as killed by Pol Pot in Cambodia.
 
F) 6.5 million - somewhat more than the number of Jews murdered by Hitler.


Your answer, C, was incorrect. The correct answer was F.

"Dekulakization" was truly the crime of the century - for not only did it exterminate on a Hitlerian scale, but it also largely escaped the world's attention then and since. The mass deportations of kulak families preceded forced collectivization - it was apparently directed at "decapitating" peasant communities of any leaders who might organize resistance to Stalin's policies. "Kulaks," incidentally, were often very poor - an extra cow or a careless word spoken to a Party member were easy ways to earn this deadly label. While Soviet sources long denied the Ukrainian famine, they have always admitted that entire kulak families were "liquidated" on a large scale. See Robert Conquest, The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine.

Relax . . your government is in control [snicker]

Snopes has officially declared that the Anne Jacobsen story is a false alarm. Normally, Snopes is one of the few sources I'm inclined to trust. Not this time.

I mean, yeah, maybe, in this particular instance the guys were really simple brain-dead musicians with no idea of proper airplane behaviour. It could be.

That doesn't alter the fact that their behaviour was suspicious, and should have been called to the attention of authorities. Ms. Jacobsen did the right thing.

I am most perturbed by the way this story has been handled by the authorities, by the media, by the musicians, and by a good portion of the public.

We only have two names - Anne Jacobsen and David Adams, FBI spokesman. We have no musician names, no band names, no casino names. We have no statement from the band manager, saying "Sorry, they're a bunch of typical airhead musicians and didn't realize they were scaring the heck out of people by ignoring airplane rules." What we do have from the FBI is the utterly absurd and blatantly false statement that being concerned about terrorists can cause as much damage as being a terrorist.

Horseshit. HORSESHIT! Even if the entire plane had panicked and attacked the band, the ultimate worst would be a couple of people dead and a few injured. Bad? Yes, very bad indeed. As bad as an entire planeload of the dead? As bad as an occupied building destroyed, along with all its contents including humans? No. No comparison.

So WTF, FBI? What game are you playing here? Why are you encouraging the American Public to fall asleep at the wheel? It seems to be working on some people, but for me, the more I hear that kind of talk from government authorities, the less inclined I am to follow it.

Real Cars

'Member real cars? This site even has the sound of a real car!

Rob at the Backroad prompted this nostalgia.

Water Ballet

Normalcy left Driver's life on May 28 . . .

How many of us can pinpoint the exact day that normalcy left our lives?

Photos here.

Anti-social valentines melting under rug

All from Eric at Classical Values.

Your Icecream Flavour is...Neopolitan!

You aren't satisfied with just one flavor. They say variety is the spice of life and this shines through in your Ice cream of choice! Just don't eat all the chocolate and leave the strawberry and vanilla behind!

What is your Icecream Flavour?

Find out at Go Quiz



You will be smothered under a rug. You're a little
anti-social, and may want to start gaining new
social skills by making prank phone calls.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

Get thee over to Gut Rumbles and give Aciddaughter a hand. She's getting a troll infestation.

She's probably tuff enuff to handle it, but still . .

Fly Your Colors!

Rachel is, of course, terrific. Today, she is specifically being terrific regarding 14 Syrians on an airplane.

Rachel links to Michelle Malkin's post on same. Ms. Malkin's posts are open for comment, and many of the comments are "you're all racists for being concerned" (condensed version).

There isn't much response to that but 'No we're not" "Yes you are" etc.

SO, in an effort to bring peace, harmony and facts into the discussion, if perchance you will be traveling with a group of people who share your racial/physical characteristics, coordinate amongst yourselves behaving like terrorists on a dry run. I'd be interested in hearing what happens.

Maybe you are one of those people who travel somewhere exotic for your wedding, and take the whole wedding party with you. As long as you're stuck on a flight, you may as well go to the lavatory. There's nothing else to do on a plane anyway. Just make sure that when you go, you take something with you and leave it in the john. Also, go at a time when you're not permitted to leave your seat. Finally, block the aisles as you talk softly in a foreign language to your bride's maids and ushers. If you don't know a foreign language, just mutter some gibberish. We won't be able to understand you anyway.

Was it racist to be afraid? Was it reverse racist to not do anything about it?

My personal hunch is that, if that group had been white, black or chinese, the plane's reaction would have been a simple "Sit down, ya knuckleheads!" Not deathly fear, just annoyance. And we're more conditioned to deal with annoying people than with killers. We know so many jerks, but few genuine psychopathic killers.

I'm really sorry I can't afford to hire a bunch of ethnic groups to fly and behave like terrorists (dry run only!). Well, maybe I'll win the lottery weekend.

Stars in the American Firmament

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

Read the whole Monday Night at Morton's column. This is the first I've heard of Ben Stein's column, and apparently it's his farewell colum.

Thanks for the link, Jayne!

Anne Jacobsen's Flight

John at the Castle ARRRRGGGH! posts about Annie Jacobsen's Scarey Flight. It recalled to my mind that, on my flight to California, there actually was a mid-east person trying to wander about the plane during takeoff. I put my hands on the person, saying "No, it's not safe!" while another passenger called the stewardess.

What was the difference? Was I and that other passenger a pair of brave heroes?

Well . . no. The mid-east person was an older woman, clearly trying to make for the lavatory. I can relate. Further, I knew her command of English wasn't too good. For one thing, it was a Southwest 'grab your seat, every man for himself' flight. She was in the middle seat of the very front row, with no one on either side of her. When I boarded the plane with my lowly C ticket (last group to board) I almost cried with joy seeing those two prime open seats. "Excuse me, are those seats open?" says I. "Yes," says she. I merrily grabbed the window seat.

Then was treated to hearing other boarding passengers question the lady about the remaining front row aisle seat. . . "Excuse me, is that seat taken?" "Yes" . . . "Excuse me, is someone sitting there?" "Yes"

OK, I'm next to an older foreign woman in a hajib (sp?) who at least knows the word 'yes.' The plane is in take-off and this older woman stands up, clutching various things in a manner that clearly indicates her legs are a little weak and the angle of the plane isn't helping. O yeah, I'm gonna grab her. A passenger across the way signaled to the stewardness and we got her back into her seat for a bit . . but boy she had that desparate "I gotta go" look on her face. She still went to the lavatory before she should have, but at least waited until the plane leveled out a bit. I stayed behind her to the galley, and the stewardness helped her back.

Actually I stayed with her until she got her luggage and her son showed up at the airport. She was as sweet as apple pie, and very grateful for the assistance. Her son, too, seemed pleased that someone had taken care of momma.

I would be shy about tackling someone and forcing them back into their seats for my own safety if I wondered if somebody might perhaps be a Bad Guy plotting nefarious deeds - but had none about setting someone back into her seat for her own safety.

and yet - she was muslim, she had a metal cane, I suppose she could, theoretically have been a bad guy - in which case my assistance could actually have deflected suspicion, if there was any to deflect, which there wasn't.

Whaddimeantersayis - an elderly woman with a cane could actually do a lot of damage if she wanted to.

O well, I suppose anybody could if the motivation is strong enough.

It's highly possible that there's a point to this post.

It is easier to destroy than to create



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

"I think it is despicable that the ACLU would file a lawsuit to destroy a veterans memorial when American men and women are again risking their lives in war zones at this very time," said Roger Baldwin.


I think so, too.

The San Bernadino County's article seems reasonably balanced for something produced by major media. It's a refreshing change.

If an energetic person feels like researching the veracity of this Congressional Record of Sept 20, 1961, I'd be interested in the results.

In 1948, the Reverend Heist protested the withdrawal of the use of their hall by Occidental College to an identified Communist poet, Langston Hughes, who was to speak on a poem of his entitled, "Goodbye, Christ," which called for "Christ, Jesus, Lord God Jehovah" to "beat it" and "make way for a new guy named Marx, Communist Lenin, Peasant Stalin, and worker me." (Reference: Hollywood Citizen News, February 26, 1948.) This would not be a strange protest from an atheistic Communist, but when it comes from a Methodist minister?

Some fairly well-known politician is also a fan of Langston Hughes.

People who pay for chocolate become irritated when they are given sand instead.

Linda Ronstadt is a thief.

Linda Ronstadt vomited forth praise of Michael (the Moor) Moore at a Vegas concert, and the audience was not pleased. Yelling 'Farenheit' in a crowded theater got Ms. Ronstadt escorted out of the Aladdin Hotel for provoking a 'near-riot.'

It's about time that innocent people paying for entertainment aren't forced to listen to foolish political blathering. I'm pleased by this.

The cries of 'evil conservative censorship and dicatorship' have already started. Yawn. At the Washington Dispatch comments(click on Ronstadt above), we have:

It's scary how conservatives in this country try to shut down dissent and turn America into some kind of dictatorship with blind acceptance of leaders and foolish cheerleading that has nothing to do with real patriotism.

I haven't the stamina to continue arguing with persons bereft of logic. I posted my own bit of silliness instead:

It's scarey, the way liberals think they're entitled to steal money from others and use that money to spread their propaganda. Liberals like Linda Ronstadt are trying to turn this county into a dictatorship by constantly forcing their viewpoints on captive audiences, without allowing those same audiences to express alternating viewpoints.

I daresay I'll regret it, but c'mon, people! get a clue!!

There is an organization named Hezbollah that considers me, Linda Ronstadt, my auto mechanic, and your dry cleaner a walking-talking military target. This same organization considers a film produced by Michael Moore worthy of their efforts to assist in the distribution of said film in the Middle East. Farenheit 911 is considered a useful propaganda tool by people who want to kill Linda Ronstadt and her entire Aladdin Hotel audience and the LLLs don't even pause for thought.

!

Update: Ravenswood weighs in. Puggs at Random Nuclear Strikes brings this interesting little quote to the fore:

In an interview with the R-J’s Mike Weatherford before the show, Ronstadt said with a laugh: “I keep hoping that if I’m annoying enough to them, they won’t hire me back.”

ok. You're fired. Oh, Ms. Ronstadt? It would be an act of gracious honesty if, when the LLL screams 'censorship,' you point out to the loud amongst us that your removal from the Aladdin Hotel is precisely what you wanted and worked for.

My life is rated PG-13.
What is your life rated?

Who knew there was that much excitement in my life?

This quiz was found over at The Cheese Stands Alone. HAH! "The Cheese Stands Alone," my foot! Sure, that's they want us to think.

Thank goodness for the Internet. Without it, I would never have known that it's not the 'jooooos' who are the real power in this world. Why, the Jews don't even exist!

No, it's the Queen of England, pulling the strings of her reptilian puppets. IT"S ALL FOR CHEEEEEEEESE!!

Read, and open your eyes, o sheeple!

Use Clean Cooking Utensils!

An emergency room nurse who works the hospital of a small prison town tells us she had about eight prisoners in one night. Seems they used the toilet bowl to make hooch.

Botulism is ugly.

I need to update my blogroll because without the formal links, I go looking for Baldilocks, but instead of her, I get Baldilocks.

Scarey.

The Ultra Rich Fairy Godmother of the Radical Left

This is making the email rounds. I can't vouch for its accuracy, although the Tides and Cair references, at least, are spot-on

Following is a brief backround on Mrs. John Kerry . She hates being called that, by the way:

Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry. Married Senator Kerry in 1995. She only took his name eighteen months ago and she is an "interesting" paradox of conflicts.

If you thought John Kerry was scary, he doesn't hold a candle to his wife! Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry was born in Mozambique, the daughter of a Portuguese physician, was educated in Switzerland and South Africa. Fluent in five languages, she was working as a United Nations interpreter in Geneva in the mid-60's when she met a "handsome" young American, H. John Heinz, III, who worked at a bank in Geneva. He told her his family was "in the food business."

They were married in 1966 and returned to Pittsburgh where his family ran the giant H. J. Heinz food company. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1971, and in 1976 he was elected to the first of three terms in the United States Senate. A Republican, he wrote a burning diatribe against some of the causes backed by young House member John Kerry.

Several years later, in 1991, he was killed when his plane collided with a Sun Oil Company helicopter over a Philadelphia suburb. The senator,his pilot and copilot, and both of Sun's helicopter pilots were killed. He was survived by his wife, Teresa, and their three young sons.

Four years later, having inherited Heinz's $500 million fortune, she married Senator John Forbes Kerry, the liberal then-junior senator from Massachusetts. She became a registered Democrat and the process of her radicalization was set in motion.

Heinz Kerry is not shy about telling people that she required Kerry to sign a prenuptial agreement before they were married John Kerry may not have check writing privileges on the Heinz catsup and pickle fortune, but he is certainly a willing and uncomplaining beneficiary of it.

A lot of hard-earned money, made through many years of hawking catsup, mustard, and pickles has fallen into the hands of two people who despise successful entrepreneurship and who believe in the confiscatory redistribution of wealth.

So how does Mrs. Heinz Kerry spend John Heinz's money?

Just one example:
According to the G2 Bulletin, an online intelligence newsletter of WorldNetDaily, in the years between 1995-2001 she gave more than $4 million to an organization called the Tides Foundation. And what does the Tides Foundation do with John Heinz's money?

They support numerous antiwar groups, including Ramsey Clark's International Action Center. Clark has offered to defend Saddam Hussein when he's tried.

They support the Democratic Justice Fund, a joint venture of the Tides Foundation and billionaire hate-monger George Soros. The Democratic Justice Fund seeks to ease restrictions on Muslim immigration from "terrorist" states.

They support the Council for American-Islamic Relations, whose leaders are known to have close ties to the terrorist group, Hamas.

They support the National Lawyers Guild, organized as a communist front during the Cold War era. One of their attorneys, Lynne Stewart, has been arrested for helping a client, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with terror cells in Egypt. He is the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

They support the "Barrio Warriors," a radical Hispanic group whose primary goal is to return all of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to Mexico.

These are but a few of the radical groups that benefit, through the anonymity provided by the Tides Foundation, from the generosity of our would-be first lady, the wealthy widow of Republican senator John Heinz, and now the wife of the Democratic senator who aspires to be the 44th President of the United States.

Aiding and supporting our enemies is not good for America, regardless of your political views.

If voters will open their eyes, educate themselves and see the real Teresa Heinz Kerry, they will not appreciate her position as ultra rich fairy godmother of the radical left. They will not want to imagine her laying her head on a pillow each night inches away from the President of the United States.

Hopefully they love this country enough to decide that the only way these two will ever be allowed into the White House is with an engraved invitation in hand.

Those who buy the Kerry facade, beware what you vote for - - - you may regret that you got it!

It takes C.A.T.S to identify your inner dog.

The Canine Algorithmic Transfer System at Gone to the Dogs, a website for a British comedy, tells me I'm a German Pinscher.

Often described as spirited and self possessed, this is in fact a good natured, playful dog which is good with children and makes a fine guard. It is alert, loyal, watchful and and fearless. However, they can be bull-headed and stubborn and need to know who is boss. For this reason, the German Pinscher is not a good breed for children. They will bite first and think later.

Well, it got my faults right. Look down on the righthand side of Gone 2 the Dogs webpage for quiz link.

It happened to the friend of my nephew's boss's neighbor's dentist's aunt by marriage, so it must be true.

Just a cute little story making the email rounds

"I work with a gentleman from India who tries hard to improve his knowledge of English, and frequently asks me for help. One day, he asked me what the term 'having sex' meant.

Somewhat embarrassed, I explained. He looked bewildered. "And that is all? Then why do you say it when you greet someone?"

It was my turn to look bewildered. "You know," he reminded me. "You say, 'O, for having sex, it's good to see you again!"

Happy Wednesday

Don't Forget

July 9th is International link to IMAO day.

sigh

It's been a while since we had a declaratory and restrictive clause.

Amendment III


No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Hey! That declaratory and restrictive clause is still untainted!!!

P.S. Maybe I shouldn't say this, even on my own blog, but doesn't it just figure, that the one clause that would get me a strapping young man in my very own home is the one clause that hasn't been brutalized. Go figure . . .

Catalina Island

My sister and I spent a couple of days on Catalina Island. Catalina has one of the lousiest tourist websites I've ever seen, (caution: takes forever to load)so here's my supplement.

Catalina Island has no bridges leading to it, very limited handicap access, no easy access to cars, and most hotels are not smoker-friendly. For all of that, we had a pretty good time.

It may be pet-friendly.

The only way to get there is by boat. If you don't have a boat of your own, you can take the Catalina Flyer for $44 per person round trip, or the Catalina Express, rates unpublished on the web. The Flyer leaves once a day, the Express leaves several times a day. There are probably a few other boats, as well.

We took the Express, as the trip was included in our hotel package. It took about an hour on the water; add 1/2 hour to load and unload. The boat has a little snack bar with coffee and potato chips, etc. The inside is pretty comfortable, sort of airplane-ish. The boat has TV screens inside. On the trip out they showed the GPS heading/speed etc, and it was quite interesting. On the trip back they had Entertainment Tonight or some such similar trash on and I nearly got seasick for the 1st time in my life. There ought to be a law against inflicting Michael Moore's lying face on people entrapped on a boat. Smoking is permitted on the main deck, outside in the back. At least one woman on a different trip than ours took her dog on the boat with her. I have no details; it may have been a guide dog. This is only to say don't automatically exclude your dog if you don't want to, but call the boat and see what they say. Apparently it can be done, at least under certain circumstances.

I had to call about 7 hotels before I could find one with smoking rooms. We finally settled on Cloud 7, which turned out to be a very good choice indeed. Clean, quiet, and comfy. Nice, helpful people. Like much of Catalina, it's on a steep incline and if it had wheelchair access, it was cleverly hidden.

There are very few cars on Catalina. You can't bring one or rent one. The official websites and tourist literature pump up golf cart rental, but that's crap. Yeah, you can rent a golf cart - for two hours, which is hardly enough time to go anywhere and see anything, and it certainly won't take you back to your hotel at night. Catalina's best kept secret seems to be the tram. Get yourself an all-day $5 tram ticket and you'll be able to get a ride every 35 minutes to just about anyplace you'll want to go. You can buy tickets right from the driver.

My sister's theory was that the tourist industry doesn't like to discuss the tram because the golf carts rake in so much money. She's probably right.

Those stupid golf carts!! $30 an hour, and all you do is drive around the mountain. That's more than it costs to rent a car, for pete's sake.

We rented one anyway, and drove it dutifully around the mountain. It was kind of like a drive-your-own roller coaster. Exhilarating, and some killer views, but it is not transportation.

Anyway, if you go, wear comfortable walking shoes, bring some aspercreme, and take the tram.

Lessee, what else? We took the tram to the botanical gardens and Wrigley memorial - well worth it if you like either gardens or artchitecture or views. The hills are very, very, very steep.

We took the Casino tour and were blessed with a super guide full of history and human-interest tidbits, like a 'time-out' room where they put gentlemen who were dancing too close to the ladies. Apparently the sexes had to be an arm's length apart while dancing.

We also took the glass bottom boat, which was neat.

Antonio's has a wonderful cheeseburger. The Country Club makes some mighty powerful drinks. No watered-down whiskey there, lemme tell ya! Normally I don't get quite that sloshed on my second.

Avoid the steak at Cafe Prego.

Lots and lots of shops, most of which seem overpriced. However, it is an island and everything has to be brought in by boat, so it's not actually a rip-off, except for those damn golf carts.

The Chicago Cubs did their spring training on the island until 1951, so we'd hoped for more Cubs history than we actually got. However, there was more info on WWII than we'd expected, as apparently it was used for training. The army and special ops would practice taking over the Coast Guard at Catalina for WWII training.

All in all, a good time, if somewhat exhausting due to the terrain.

Parts of California are A-Ok!

I'm baaaccckkk!!

Spent the 4th in Wrightwood, California, for Mountaineer Days, a little festival for July 3rd & 4th. 'Twas wonderful. It's a very small, very charming town in the mountains with a good spirit. They only had about two military people to march in their parade, but those two got the biggest cheer of the day. As small as the place was, they managed to squeeze in two very good bands, but regrettably neither one had CDs for sale.

Apparently this is an old song, but I had never heard it:

Up against the wall, redneck mother
mother that has raised your son so well
He's 34 and drinking in a honkytonk.
kicking hippie ass and raising hell.

Good folks, good music, good bar-b-q. What more can one ask for?