why we have animals spayed or neutered

     Someone suggested recently that people have animals spayed or neutered simply to be mean. Not so. We have animals (dogs and cats) spayed or neutered so that they won't have any kittens or puppies. Isn't that mean? No. Kittens and puppies are very cute, The problem is that no one wants all of the kittens and puppies we have now. Animal shelters across the United States kill them by the millions every year--because nobody wants them, and they can't be left roaming the streets--they would quickly become a health and safety hazard to people. So if you really like kittens and puppies, have your dog or cat spayed or neutered. Then some of the kittens and puppies in animal shelters will get a home the next time someone wants a kitten or puppy. If you really just have to have a houseful of kittens or puppies, ask your local animal shelter if they need anyone to foster a pregnant animal. Fostering means keeping the animal until it finds a permanent home. You can enjoy a houseful of kittens or puppies, and help shelter animals at the same time.

the internet--part 1--satellite maps

     The internet is a wonder. It may someday do what some people thought television would do--teach everyone.While we're working our way up to that, there seems to be a large set of people who believe the world was created the day the internet was first switched on.  Many of them don't seem to understand that the real world, and the print world, are merely accessible through the medium of the internet. I watched a video on maps the other day. A person starting out with the idea that maps were created when satellites sent the first images back from space would have been left at the end of the video with the same impression. So I had to wonder--have the satellite images done much "correcting" of the maps made the old-fashioned way?

health food

Health food-- I eat it every day. There's coffee--a legume, I think. The sugar in my doughnuts is made from beets, a vegetable--and good for you. And the doughnuts are fried in vegetable oil. Tobacco is my favorite leafy green. When I do drink whiskey, I make sure it's whole grain.

are "manners" hypocritical?

     Someone suggested to me recently that manners are hypocritical.  That it is emotionally "wrong" in some way to be polite to people one does not "like", or to offer what was once called common courtesy. This person so completely missed the point that I was somewhat befuddled as to how to answer. Manners aren't about your emotions, or about what you think about other people. Manners are a code of behavior people have worked out over time. The code of manners is  meant to avoid conflict with strangers, particularly, and to facilitate movement in public places. When people abide by this code, they have little or no conflict.
     Anyone insisting that they have some sort of emotions connected to perfect strangers is on very shaky ground, anyway. They may not need mental health counseling ( which is probably where they are sent after displaying "emotions" to strangers in public places ), but they need some serious re-education.

yet more probation

     You can move into an apartment in our fair city, and your neighbors may be serving a prison sentence under a form of house arrest. You may be watched and monitored by the people whose job it is to watch and monitor your neighbors. Your neighbors may be serving  a term of probation, after having been convicted of a crime. They may actually be serving a kind of prison sentence. Your address can become the address of a jail, in effect. No one seems to have any responsibility for informing tenants or householders that their neighbors may be on probation or serving sentences. A speedy and a public trial ought to mean just that. We don't owe anyone convicted of a crime a rehabilitated reputation. No one can legally be tried in secret in the United States, so how is this happening?  We would need to change the US Constitution to make it legal to try people in private.I suggest that you take an interest. It might be your neighbors, too.

probation, again

     We have a probation system that pays people, basically, for being on probation. They may get a weekly check, medical and dental care, their rent and utilities paid, and an allowance for transportation and job related-expenses. This stops when their term of probation has ended. For some, the way to continue to get along is to commit another crime that will probably get them another term of probation as a sentence. Many of these people do find jobs--but the probation office is paying their wages. Some employers are getting free employees--and don't want them anymore when they are not on probation. If they want their jobs back, they have to commit a new crime, and get sentenced to probation again.

Suggestion--look here for the source of a lot of crime

illiteracy, again

     People spend years in jail, and when they get out, they are illiterate. This is outrageous. There isn't anyone who couldn't learn basic literacy skills in six months or less. What are they doing in there?