Sea Life

Mommy (the Beadshaper) has opened a new gallery on her website devoted to presenting glass beads in the shape of fish and turtles (maybe other sea life in the future). So far no dog beads. I guess fish and turtles are more exotic.
Anyway, to see the new gallery on the web, go to http://www.beadshaper.com/ , scroll down to the Galleries, and select the Sea Life link.

The Real Obama Has Come Forward

Hi American Humans,
Hooray for the President. With extending the tax cuts, he has shown wisdom, pragmatism, and the ability to make a deal. The extremist idealogues on the Right and Left are having a fit, but Obama is acting like the Obama that the majority of the American Humans elected, a leader who can lead us through the center to get things done. Maybe the richest people shouldn't get a tax break, but if that's what it takes, so be it for now.
Chloe

Air Travel Safety

Hi Humans,
I see in the news that some people are complaining about screening of passengers at airports. They claim it violates the rights of individuals. How stupid can those humans be? Isn't arriving at one's destination safely more important than one's privacy. I think getting blown up by a terrorist is a greater invasion of privacy than anything the TSA can do. We dogs would never get unglued if an inspector saw our private parts on a monitoring screen. Big deal!! We dogs go naked all the time. When I fly with Mommy and Daddy on a trip to Chicago, I want to actually arrive there, not be killed on the way by a terrorist because some stupid humans pressured the government to tie the hands of the people who are there to protect us (humans and dogs).
.
By the way, Mommy has a lot of her new viking knit jewelry on her web site, www.beadshaper.com as well as her lampwork glass beads. Check them out.
.
Chloe

Insults

Hi Humans,
I'm glad I'm a dog and not a human. You humans seem so hung up on sensitivies. You are so easily insulted. You care so much about who says what to whom. You get unhappy if someone looks at you the wrong way or says something using words that you consider offensive. You care so much about that stuff that you often miss what's really important.
As a dog, I'm happy if I am fed, my basic comforts are attended to, and I feel safe. Then you can call me whatever you want. Who cares?
Chloe

Hooray for California

Hi Humans,
Hooray for California. For once you California humans have shown yourselves to be smarter than the the humans in the rest of the USA. While the rest of the country was swept along blindly by their emotions because President Obama and the Democrats hadn't completely fixed the economic problems, California recognized that the problems were created by lack of financial oversight and wild borrowing to support wild spending by the preceding Republican administration. Instead of being clever in fighting our enemies, President Bush drained our treasury with an all out frontal assault on the wrong battlefield in Iraq, without an exit strategy, without consulting and engaging our allies sufficiently, and without a good plan for after the initial battle ended. The Wall Street melt down occured because of the Republican fantasy that markets will regulate themselves without government interference. The stimulus actually began in the last days of the Bush administration when the Bush people realized at the end of an 8 year learning curve that they needed to change course.
Perhaps the Republican victory in the House of Representatives might actually help President Obama get re-elected in 2 years. After all, the economy is beginning to turn around because of the stimulus and should result in a good job picture by the time of the next election. Obama's important legislation has already been passed by the Democratic Congress in the past 2 years. The Republican House won't be able to stop it because they don't have the Senate or the President's veto power, not to mention the lack of public support when people start finding it easier to get a job.
Well anyway that's what this doggie thinks. But what do I know? I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Obama

Some people who supported President Obama in the last election have become foolishly disillusioned with him. People on the extreme Left are unhappy because he is too moderate, but they just never listened to him. He always has been a moderate. Other people are unhappy because he hasn't solved all of the county's problems. But the economy really is beginning to turn around. What do you expect from humans? They don't have the patience and moderation that we dogs enjoy.

Preserving High Wages

There was an article in the paper recently about how people from Vietnam are going into China illegally to find better paying jobs. Sounds familiar? It seems that when a lower paid community beats out a higher paid community by being able to offer cheaper prices, they will eventually rise up to become higher paid than someone else. If the high paid community wants to remain high paid, high tariffs to artificially keep their wages up might work temporarily but not in the long term. Instead, the high paid community has to continually offer new products and services that others can not (at least until the others figure out how to do it or make it themselves). That is the challenge for you American humans. Your strength is in your ability to innovate, and in your ability to attract and integrate immigrants from all over the world to bring new ideas to America. If an American dog like me can see it, hopefully enough of you American humans can see it too.

Politics Should Not Pervert Religion

More examples of where religion and politics should not be mixed together. That crazy minister who has been on the news lately for wanting to burn the Koran is not only promoting something that is wrong for its own sake, but he is also playing into the hands of the crazies on the other side who also use religion for ulterior motives. Then there are those people who oppose the building of a mosque 2 blocks from Gound Zero. Who cares? It's private property, and they are not doing anything illegal or immoral. Again opposing a basic American right of freedom takes the focus off things that are really important and gives ammunition to the enemies of freedom. The scum that destroyed the Twin Towers perverted religion by killing themselves and others because in their stupid view of things they thought it would promote the politics of their religion over the politics of other religions. Human idiots! The purpose of belief in God since prehistoric times has been an attempt to deal with the temporary nature of life, not to make it more temporary for selfish goals.
If we dogs had religion, we would not squander it away so foolishly.
Chloe

Hi Israeli and Palestinian Humans,
As a follow up to my blog yesterday about the Israel/Palestine peace talks, let me give a little doggie advice to you. As I said yestrerday, the biggest problems are not between Israelis and Palestinians, at least not between the majority of you who are sane. The big issues are between Israelis and Israelis and between Palestinians and Palestinians.
To Israelis I would say, don't narrow the definition of who is a Jew and who should be an Israeli. Narrowness is demographic suicide. Immigrant workers who want their children to remain in Israel as Hebrew speaking loyal Israelis should be encouraged, not discouraged. Immigrants give a country life, progress, and innovation. It was not Herzl's dream to make Israel a closed national ghetto theocracy. The Middle East already has too much of that. Judaism is a beautiful religion, but you you don't have to be a religious Jew to be a Hebrew.
To the West Bank Palestinians I would say, your bretheren in the Gaza strip have bought themselves a bad leadership in Hamas that is taking them nowhere. Don't let them drag you down. Partnership and peace with Israel has already brought you a certain measure of prosperity with the potential for even more growth. Cut Gaza loose. Do your own thing. Make your own peace. If and when Gaza is ready for peace in the future, the two of you can join together if by then you still want to.
Anyway, that's how this dog sees it, and I think dogs have greater insight than humans.
Chloe

Peace

Hi Humans,
There is an article in the latest issue of Time Magazine that comes with a front page headline in bold letters that says that Israel doesn't care about peace. But if one reads the content of the article, one does not necessarily come to that conclusion. Essentially, the article reports that after the Palestinian leadership under Arafat rejected the Clinton/Barak Plan for a 2 state solution, the 2nd Intifada began which assaulted Israel with a wave of suicide bombings. The Israelis being a relatively intelligent people as humans go, built a wall with a defense system that has neutralized the effects of the Intifada. At present the economy in Israel is doing well. The average Israeli is more content with the relative peace that exists in Israel now than the potential peace that an agreement might bring. So, the challenge is to bring a peace agreement that will bring real peace, which means no terrorism or bombs or killings, not just a piece of paper that creates a Palestinian state. So, the title is misleading. Actually the Israeli people desperately want peace, but it has to be a real peace that preserves the present relative peace that the Israeli people enjoy, not a phony peace which gives the peacemakers the ability to claim success while terorrism resumes. Actually, there is a possibility now that a 2 state solution and peace can both be achieved. Not only has Israel's economy thrived recently, but so has the economy on the West Bank. The biggest hurdles are not between Israel and Palestine, but within each country. It is impossible for Palestine to include Gaza and maintain security there as long as Gaza is ruled by Hamas which by words and actions has shown no sign of wanting to make real peace with Israel or the West Bank. Israel has its own divisions between religious nationalists and secular Israelis who would prefer to separate religion and government.
Anyway, we dogs don't need screaming headlines. We take things as they are.
Chloe

Territoriality

Hi Humans,
One thing we dogs have in common with you humans is our desire to control territory. You make fun of our territoriality customs (like marking our territory with urine). You humans make it so complicated with deeds, fences, realtors, and lawyers. Isn't urine much simpler and less expensive? You should follow our example.
Chloe

Elton John

I love Elton John. He is a human I can really respect. Not only does he make great music, but he also does what is right no matter what the flock of sheep around him do.
Chloe

Eating

I eat when I am hungry, and when I am full I stop eating. But some of you humans don't know when to stop eating. You eat for silly reasons, because you're sad, because you're happy, or whatever, to the point of making yourselves sick. Other humans starve themselves to maintain their figures. And you humans are supposed to be so much smarter than us dogs. You humans never cease to amaze me with your strange habits.
By the way, Mommy has started a new series of pendant beads with floral designs. You can check them out at Floral Pendants .

The Price of Fame

Hi Humans,
Have you noticed how brilliant famous humans can do great things and then screw everything up with something stupid. For example, look at General McCrystal who apparently was uniquely good at managing a war and then torpedoed himself with loose talk to a magazine reporter. Look at President Clinton who managed the economy of the USA brilliantly and then made himself into a cartoon character in his silly sexual expoits. Then there was the Republican senator who was caught soliciting in an airport men's room. And then there was President Nixon who took himself down by supporting dirty tricks to gain unfair advantage in an election that he probably would have won anyway. The list goes on and on. Don't those people know they are living in a fish bowl? That's the price of fame. Well I'm glad I'm just an obscure dog. And I don't do any of those dumb things anyway.
Chloe

Back to California

Hi Humans,
I am returning to California tomorrow, back to my doggie door, back to my side yard dog run, away from the tall buildings, sidewalks full of hoards of humans rushing back and forth, and all the noises of traffic, ambulances, and other assorted stuff. Vacation was fun, but it will be good to come home.
By the way, Mommy will be back at work, and her web site at www.beadshaper.com will be completely open again.
Chloe

My Adventure in Chicago

Hi Humans,
Let me tell you about my latest adventure. I am spending a month in a small apartment in downtown Chicago. I have to tell you it has been a real experience for this little dog. First of all, it was my first opportunity to fly in an airplane. Now dogs can't just sit in a seat like you humans. I had to stay in a sherpa bag under the seat for the whole flight. It was a little snug but comfy with a soft fuzzy floor. I like crouching in cozy places, but it was a few hours, and when it was time to come out it was great to stretch and relieve myself. Fortunately, I weighed in at 19 pounds (including my sherpa) at the airport which was under the 20 pound or less requirement to fly with Mom and Dad in the cabin. My hair cut at the groomer the day before the flight helped keep my weight down.
I must say, living in the downtown of large centralized vibrant city like Chicago is fun for Mom and Dad, but a little intimidating for a little dog who is used to the quiet green grass of our street at the edge of L.A. First of all I had to get used to relieving myself in the gravel of a small dog park. Can you believe it, no grass? The one patch of grass I came across in the neighborhood had a sign that said "No dogs allowed!" So then what is the grass for?
There are other dogs in the building who share the dog park and the hallways and the service elevator. They come in all sizes and dispositions. Some want to be friendly and some not. Well I like to pick and choose which dogs I want to be friendly with too? I tend to be shy which is not necessarily a bad quality.
And walking down the sidewalk there can be something! Can you believe it? Hoards of humans coming at you, back and forth, all in a hurry to go somewhere. And then there are the ones on bicycles who think it's OK to ride those things on the sidewalk. One really needs to watch out for them. There's hardly room for an ant on the sidewalk, let alone a little dog walking below the multitude towering above. Well that's all I have to report so far.
Chloe

Arizona

Hi Arizonans and other Humans,
Will chihuahas have to carry identity papers in Arizona under the new law? What about English bull dogs and South African ridgebacks? Will the police stop them too? Some people think poodles are French. I'd better stay away from that place or who knows what would become of me.
Chloe

The People

Hi Humans,
Have you noticed that the minority party always claims to represent "the people." In the late 60s and early 70s, the Left mantra was "power to the people" claiming that they represented "the people" when the majority of the people actuall elected someone else. Now the Tea Party wackos and other screwballs in the radical Right are under the delusion that they represent "the people." Remember, we live in a democratic republic in which the president is elected by the majority of the people (the real people). Those are the people who overwhelmingly elected President Obama. Those are the American people who elected an intelligent thoughtful pragmatic president over a "shoot from the hip" before thinking candidate who was accompanied by a "Joe Six Pack Hockey Mom" preceded by an inept Republican administration who fought the war on terrorism on the wrong battlefield without sufficient preparation, without a clear mission, who allowed us to fall into our present financial crisis, and who claim fiscal responsibility after squandering away the public's treasury by borrowing instead of pay as you go taxation.
But then again, what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Beastly Bombers at the Moscow Subway (Зверский Бомбардировщики в Московском метро)

Hi Humans,
The Moscow subway suicide bombings have been big in the News the last few days. Can you believe the gulliblity of some humans, to blow themselves up into nothingness just for the privilege of killing other people. A dog would never do something so stupid. And what about their handlers, the cruel and cowardly humans who use them like cannon fodder. And this is in the name of religion? Religion should be a means of dealing with the inevitable tragedy of life, not a tool to hasten that tragedy for the innocent. Medvedev, the leader of Russia, called the suicide bombers and their handlers "beasts". I'm sorry to contradict you, Mr. Medvedev, but it's an insult to us beasts to be categorized with those creatures.
(Incidentally I have included a Russian tranlation using the Google translating tool)
Chloe

Привет Люди,
Москва взрывов метро самоубийства были большие в новостях последних дней. Можете ли вы поверить gulliblity некоторых людей, чтобы взорвать себя в небытие только за право убивать других людей. Собака никогда не будет делать что-то настолько глуп. А как насчет их проводников, жестокие и трусливые люди, которые используют их как пушечное мясо. И это во имя религии? Религия должна быть средством борьбы с неизбежной трагедии жизни, а не инструмент, чтобы ускорить эту трагедию для невинных людей. Медведев, лидер России, называют террористов-смертников и их проводников "звери". Очень жаль, противоречит, г-н Медведев, но это оскорбление для нас зверей быть классифицированы с теми существами.
(Кстати, я включил русский переводов и использования Google перевод инструмент)
Хлоя

Congratulations President Obama

Hi President Obama,
Congratulations on passing the Health Bill. It is a step forward for you American Humans. You have the most technologically advanced and best educated health care system in the world, but you have 2 problems. All this great medical stuff is becoming progressively more expensive and the distribution of medicine doesn't reach all the human people for various reasons. So Mr. President, your challenge is to make it work in a way that improves the distribution of medical care, keeps down costs, and doesn't do too much damage to what America already has.
I have 3 suggestions that might help in keeping down medical costs:
1. Make advertising of prescription drugs illegal (and anything else that will limit drug costs).
2. Tort reform
3. Limit the amount of money that can be distributed from health insurance companies to investors. The most effective HMOs in the USA are the non-profits because they can plow the money above costs back into the company to lower premiums and give more effective care.
Anyway that's what this little dog thinks. Good luck in implementing what the Congress has legislated. I know that if anyone can do it right, you can.
Chloe

A Letter to the Governor

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

I know I'm just a dog and as such I can't vote, but I do live in your State of California. So if I might be so presumptuous, I must critique your performance as my human governor. Your predescessor was unceremoniously kicked out of office in a recall election spearheaded by your Republican party because they accused him of causing financial problems for California. I know that you were not responsible for the recall of Governor Davis, but you were elected to fix the problems. They said we need a "business man" to do the job, a fiscally responsible Republican. So, why are we now in a worse financial mess than ever? Now the national financial crisis doesn't get you off the hook. First of all it was created by your Republican National Party and it's delusion that unregulated markets will take care of themselves, not to mention the wild spending of the Bush administration backed by borrowing money instead of conservative pay as you go with taxes. California is supposed to be a leader in this country, not a follower. But that's too much to hope for when we have a "Girlie Man" governor who won't stand up to his rich cronies, but instead expects the most vulnerable people in the state to carry the burden of recovery. You look for conservation by taking money away from the educational system which will have a crippling effect on California's future economy. You want to lower the gasoline tax when you should be raising it. Do you want us to be always controlled by the oil industry and the oil producing countries? If you had the balls to raise the gas tax, California could once again lead the nation in the right direction.
Now I don't propose that you be recalled. It was mean spirited to do that to Governor Davis, and we should not do it to you either. After all, you do seem to be a nice person, even though you are somewhat misguided in financial affairs. Arnold, just grow up and lead us in the right direction.
But what do I know. I'm only a dog.
Chloe

The Art of Smell

Hi Humans,
Here is my latest poem:
.
The beauty of smell,
We dogs know it well.
You can take your Van Gogh
To a dog it's so so,
But for poetry or prose,
To us it's the nose.
.
Chloe

Jerusalem

Hi Humans,
I am disturbed by the recent difficulties between the US government and the Israeli government over the announcement by Israel that it is authorizing the building of new housing units in East Jerusalem. I love America, Israel, and President Obama. For me it’s like an argument within my family and friends. On the one hand, the timing of the announcement during Vice President Biden’s visit was stupid. One can disagree with a friend, but that’s no reason to blazingly embarrass the friend. On the other hand, there is logic to Israel building housing in East Jerusalem. Israelis do not view Jerusalem in the same way as the West Bank. The Israeli mantra since 1967 has been that Jerusalem should remain undivided. Israel already demonstrated a willingness to dismantle the West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements and cede the land to a new State of Palestine a decade ago in the Clinton/Barak Plan which Ehud Barak offered to Yasser Arafat and was rejected by Arafat. Barak also offered Arafat some kind of limited presence in Jerusalem, but that is as far as the negotiations went because Arafat rejected the offer, did not proceed with further negotiation, and instead started the Intifada. So that is where the negotiations left off. To stop building in East Jerusalem would be to concede something over which the Israeli people feel strongly before even beginning negotiations.
Religious zealots and ultra-nationalists in Israel exist, but as a minority (percentage-wise smaller and less radical than on the Palestinian Arab side). The majority of the Israeli people are secularists who would like to simply get on with their lives without being subject to suicide bombers and incoming rockets, and without putting their children in harms way in the military. There are 2 reasons why Netanyahu, who is know as a hard liner, is prime minister of Israel. The lesser reason is that Israel’s parliamentary system of government allows minority parties ( including the most right wing) to hold the balance of power in elections. The greater reason is that every effort to make peace by more liberal governments has been rejected by the Arabs resulting in disaster, for example the Clinton/Barak plan and the more recent unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza strip. The Hezbollah rocket invasion of northern Israel also occurred during a liberal administration. The most effective peace keeper has been the wall that separates Israel from Palestine (although one might question on which side the West Bank settlements should be located).
So, why should the Israeli people feel confident that a Palestinian Arab peninsula jutting into their capitol city would not be used as a staging ground for another Intifada? I think the majority of Israelis might have agreed to the idea in the name of peace a decade or so ago when the confidence level between both peoples was at an all time high. But the events since then have made the Israeli people wary of any concession that is not made after tough negotiations, backed up by tangible safety concessions by the other side, and after a long period of normalcy has occurred.
Whichever country ultimately has sovereignty over the Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, the people living there should become citizens of the country in which they live. Perhaps the Palestinian capitol might some day be located in East Jerusalem, contiguous or not. But a real peace must come first.
Anyway, that’s what this dog thinks.
Chloe

Darwin and Little Dogs

Hi Humans,
Darwin talked about "survival of the fittest." So who is the fittest? It's not always the biggest or the physically strongest. Nowadays in urban America, there are many little dogs (like me). So why are we the fittest now? For one thing, we are cute. Our small size makes us easier to care for. We live in a time when technology has created alarm systems that make big guard dogs less necessary for many humans who might have needed them in an earlier time. Also, intelligence nowadays counts more than brute strength, and we poodles are known for our intelligence.
Chloe

Thoughts About Education

Hi Humans,
I understand that there has been much discussion among American humans concerning the problems of providing a good education for all of you. Of course as a dog I do not have the privilege of receiving the kind of formal education that is available to you humans, but I do have some thoughts on the matter.
First of all, you are too hung up on test scores. I realize there are limited ways of determining results, but when decisions on where the money is going and who gets to keep what job are determined completely on test scores, the result is a chain of pressure coming down from the highest levels of government down the hierarchy ending on the individual teachers to get better test scores, no matter what. The result is at best teaching to the test, and at worst fudging scores, not to mention making the teacher's work environment so unpleasant that the best teachers might be driven out to better paying and more appreciated occupations. Also, it results in more testing which takes time away from teaching. Actually it isn't tests that are the problem (as long as they are not given too frequently). Tests are necessary for helping to determine what is needed for the individual student. The problem is when tests become political, punitive (not just to the student), and financial. Another parameter other than test scores for judging schools might be progress in decreasing drop outs.
Second, although the schools should do as much as they can to offer every student an equal opportunity for education, that is not always completely possible. Much of what happens scholastically to the student is out of the hands of the school and teacher. Students arrive in school with different backgrounds in early child development and language experience. Pre-schools should be available to students who can't afford private early education. Students who grow up speaking a language other than English, should start their education with crash English courses for however long it takes before starting regular classes.
Finally, no matter what you want for the students, their goals will vary. Although all should be given the opportunity to progress as far as the individual student desires or is able, the results will not be equal for all. Some students have goals or abilities that do not include college no matter what you plan for them. Those goals and abilities might be inherent in the individual or environmental. Fair or not, some students will not go to college. There should be an emphasis on technical schools for those students to teach them the highest occupational skills which they can or want to achieve. That would results in less drop outs, a more skilled labor force, and a happier more productive community than a system which forces out less academically oriented students in the name of equality.
Anyway, that's what I think. But what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Correction on Health Care Reform

Hi Humans,
Correction. I thought the Health Reform bill did not address Tort Reform. Apparently it does address the issue. So the President is taking the Republican ideas that make sense and using them (although Tort Reform is not strictly a Republican idea, they just like to pretend it is). So, whether or not it convinces any Republicans in Congress to make reasonable compromises (which is how a republic works), it will serve the American people, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
So maybe you humans can get it together after all, sometimes.
Chloe

Gun Show

Hi Humans,
I saw something really scary today. I saw a car parked at the curb with a big sign on top advertising "GUN SHOW." Now isn't that really spooky!!! What kind of creatures are you humans? Next time do I expect to see a sign advertising "BOMB SHOW"? or "POISON SHOW"?or "MURDERERS CONVENTION?" or "TERRORISTS GATHERING"? And you humans are supposed to be so civilized? And you look down on us dogs?
Why did God give you all those brains? And let you squander them? He should have given them to us dogs. We would have made a better world. But there must be a reason. After all, what do I know? I'm just a dog.
Chloe

More on Health Care Reform

Hi Humans,
A human commentator (actually they are all humans because they won't hire any dogs) on television recently made a good point about the president's health care reform. He said that the Democrats and Republicans in Congress are so far apart philosophically that they will never come together on a compromise. So the Democrats will have to use their majority to ram a plan through Congress without Republican congressional support, but that should not free the Democrats to do whatever they want because the president will need more than Congress to make the plan work. To make it work, he will need as much support from the American people as possible. That includes Republicans and Independants in the general public.
I think the most striking example is Tort Reform. It apparently is not included in the present bill. The president had used it as a bargaining chip in trying to get the Republicans in Congress on board, but the Republicans did not buy it. They were also just using it as a pawn. But Tort Reform should not be just a pawn in the game. It is a real cost cutting tool. Medicine that is practiced with one eye on the potential malpractice attorney is more costly and less effective. Also, the physicians are key players in making the reform work. So, why do you want to exclude and antagonize them?
Well at least the bill is doing something to move toward containing costs and making health care available to all humans. As I said in a previous blog, don't expect perfection because you won't get it.
Chloe

The Public Option

Hi Humans,
I think that, all things being equal, the Public Option in Health Care Reform is a good thing because it would give the government something to do. Of course, there are problems that require government intervention, but if you don't keep them busy, they will start looking for things to do that are politically expedient but not really necessary. So, if you keep the government busy with its own health plan, it will be less inclined to meddle more than is necessary in all the others.
But, as usually is the case, all things are not equal. The Public Option has become a very divisive issue. The extreme Right hates it because they say it is an opening to a single payer system (or socialized medicine or whatever you want to call it). The extreme Left loves it for the same reason. The fact is, it is not necessarily an opening to anything. It would be just another health plan which might be better, worse, or the same as all the others, depending on how it is run and luck. Although I like it for the reasons I have stated above, it is really not a necessary ingredient in reaching the goals of Health Care Reform, namely cost control and making reasonably good health care available to all Americans.
That's what I think, but of course what do I know? I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Rachmaninov Piano Concertos

Hi Humans,
I love Rachmaninov's piano concertos. Don't you?
Chloe

Weight on Airlines

Hi Humans,
Did you see on the news today that an obese movie director made a fuss because an airline would not allow him to fly in one seat because of his weight? All I can say is that if I want to fly in the cabin, my carrier case and I together can not exceed 20 pounds. Now from his appearance on the television, my guess is that you could fly a dozen Chloes in his place and still have some pounds to spare.
Chloe

Jury Duty

Hi Humans,
I'm glad we dogs don't have to participate in jury duty, but if we did we would certainly organize it better than you guys do. You are so technically advanced. Why don't you use your technology? You disrupt a juror's work schedules by expecting him or her to hang around for a week waiting for your call. The juror then has to sit through the endless jury selection process. Then the juror might be chosen to be on a trial of any duration. It's as though the juror's time is of no value. No wonder people try to get out of it. Even we dogs consider our time of some value.
Let me make some suggestions even if it is presumptuous for a dog to do so.
1. Only the judge should be able to disqualify a juror and only for a good reason. This would result in a jury that actually represents a fair cross section of the population, not just those who were unable to get out of it. It would also eliminate jury selection gamesmanship by the lawyers.
2. The jurors should not be physically present at the trial. The trial should be recorded visually and auditorily. The jurors should brought to a session during which the judge would screen them to elminate any that the judge finds to be inappropriate. Then immediately after that, the 12 jurors would watch the video and then deliberate. The time in which the jurors are physically present should be no more than 2 days.
3. The result would be a more cost effective and timely trial system. This would also allow the juror to plan his or her time. By respecting the juror's time, you are more likely get a juror who is motivated to do a good job.
Anyway, that's what I think. but what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Advertising Prescription Drugs

Hi Humans,
Let me give you my opinion about one piece of the Health Care puzzle. I understand that one of the biggest costs ( maybe the biggest) in Health Care is prescription medication. One keeps seeing advertisements on television for prescription drugs.
First of all, the cost of advertising goes into the cost and therefore the price of the medication. And, of course, if one company advertises, their competitors need to do the same in retaliation in order to compete.
Secondly, these advertisements are intended to cause patients to pester their doctors to prescribe the drugs they see on television whether they are really indicated or not and whether they are the most cost effective or not (and they are often the least cost effective). This defeats the purpose of making certain drugs prescription only. The reason the government decided to make those drugs only by prescription is that it felt that those medicines are important enough that their management should be directed by a knowledgeable professional person (a physician). Of course the patient will make the ultimate decision about whether he or she will take the physician's advice. But it would be best if the drug company advertisers (who have the ulterior motive of pushing their products) were not part of that decision making process.
So, I would suggest that the law should not allow the advertising of prescription drugs (for humans or pets).
Chloe

Smoking

Hi Humans,
Some of you humans smoke cigarettes. We dogs do not smoke! And you think you are smarter than dogs?
Chloe

Tucson

Hi Humans,
Here we are in Tucson, Arizona. It was a long drive from L.A., but I love traveling and staying in a hotel. We have a free day today, so I will spend it with Mommy and Daddy. Whatever we do will be fun because we will be together. Mommy, the Beadshaper , will be selling her lampwork glass beads and wirewrap jewelry for 3 days at booth G170 in the Tucson Bead Show at the Doubletree Reid Hotel starting tomorrow, Saturday-Monday, February 6-8. I'll have to entertain myself here in the hotel room. I can't go to the show. After all, I'm a dog.

Health Care Reform

Hi Humans,
Let me elaborate more on Health Care Reform (even though it won't affect us dogs directly, I am concerned about you guys). You humans seem to agree that there are problems in the human health care system. It's the solution that you disagree on. The fact is, it is a complex problem for which none of you really know the answer. Also, you humans are very impatient and expect timely perfection (and you can't agree on what that perfection would be even if it were possible). The reality is that whatever course on which you will embark will result in failure if you define success as perfection as you see it. If you are as smart as us dogs, you will allow yourselves to fall on your face a few times until you arrive at some practical solution, and even then it will probably always be a work in progress as you try to keep pace with changing technical and social realities. That's just the way it probably will be. However, if you insist on some idealogical positions to the right or the left which prevent you from agreeing on anything, you will not even get started until reality pulls you by the ears and forces you into some less than ideal disaster averting semi-solution (as we saw with the financial system at the end of the Bush administration).
Chloe

State of the Union

Hi Humans,
I think President Obama made a great State of the Union address. I also think that the Republicans winning the Senate seat in Massachussetts was a good thing, a reality check for the President and the Democratic party. I think that in the relationship between President Obama and the Democratic Congress, it has become apparent that until now the tail has been wagging the dog (if I may use a canine analogy). I mean by that, the Democratic Party was acting as though the President needed them, but the reality was that the Democratic Party gained control of Congress on Obama's coat tails. Obama was elected president not because he is a Democrat but because his pragmatism and intelligence appealed to the great majority of American people who want results no matter where they come from. For example, in the matter of Health Care Reform, the President wants and has wanted all along to correct certain deficiencies in the present system, like having everyone or almost everyone covered, not being denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, and controlling the cost of health care, however those goals are accomplished. The Democratic idealogues insisted on the Public Option as an absolute necessity (some even threatening to vote against any legislation without it), and the Republican idealogues have been absolutely opposed to the Public Option and in fact seem to be more concerned with making Obama and the Democratic party fail than what is in the interest of the American public. So I think the Republican win in Massachussetts has freed the president from the grasp of his party, so he can do what he is best at, namely to negotiate a bipartisan healthcare law (including the few reasonable Republicans) that will truly represent something like what the American people want and can support. Of course whatever comes out will have flaws and will have to be adjusted and reworked. It's a complex problem, and no one knows the exactly best remedy. But if we keep working on it, it will ultimately be more or less successful, although it may always remain a work in progress. Anyway, that's what I think. But what do I know? I'm just a dog.
By the way, Mom has some great new beads and wire wrap jewelry in her gallery at http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery
Chloe

Israeli Field Hospital in Haiti

Hi Humans,
The earthquake in Haiti is a great tragedy which has brought out the best in human behavior from the brave people of Haiti and from people all over the world who want to help. As a Jewish doggie, I am particularly proud of my fellow Jews in Israel who very quickly, after the earthquake occurred, traveled across the world to dig people out of the rubble and establish the first advanced field hospital on the scene.
Chloe

Rainy Weather

Hi Humans,
We have had a lot of very rainy weather here in Southern California this past week or so. This poses a problem for us dogs. We are not supposed to relieve ourselves indoors since we are not anatomically built to use the toilet which you humans have designed for your anatomy. On the other hand, there is a rainstorm on the other side of the doggie door! Would you like to have a shower come down on you when you go to the bathroom? Oh well, the life of a dog isn't perfect, but whose life is?
By the way, Mommy will be presenting her handmade lampwork glass beads at the Tucson Bead show in Tucson, Arizona, at the Doubletree Reid Hotel, February 6, 7, and 8, Booth G170 (See http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery for details). And this time I am coming with on the trip because we will be staying at a pet friendly hotel. I won't be at the show itself. I'll stay in the room. Still, it will be fun. I always enjoy going on vacation.
Chloe

Redondo Beach

Hi Humans,
Let me tell you about my latest adventure. Mommy went to a seminar in Redondo Beach on some special flameworking technique to enhance and expand her repertoire in making glass beads to offer at www.beadshaper.com The ability to continue studying to build on your knowledge is one of the most important abilities that you humans have that puts you ahead of the rest of us creatures. Those of you who stick in the past and bask in the laurels of what you or your ancestors have already done are no smarter than the rest of us.
Anyway, enough preaching, let me tell you about my adventure. After Daddy and I dropped Mommy off, we had all day to hang together. We spent the morning strolling along the Esplanade, which is a long boulevard along the Ocean. Below the Esplanade is a long beach with volley ball players, surfers, sun bathers, etc., like a scene out of a Hollywood beach movie. It was a beautiful day, sunny, around 70 degrees Farenheit (in the winter!). Looking out at the ocean, one can see the surf, the endless expanse of water, and a panorama from the Palos Verdes hills in the south to the mountains above Malibu to the north. Makes one happy to be a California doggie. But most fascinating to me were the multitude of dogs walking along the Esplanade, big ones that tower over me and little ones my size and even smaller. Hairy ones and relatively hairless ones. Calm ones and frisky ones. A real rainbow of my species. And you should see them all strut like the world belongs to them, and I strutted too. I held up my head and strutted like the best of them. And I stopped to sniff at all the appropriate places, just like the rest of them.
After lunch, Daddy took me to a doggie groomer on Beryl Street. I can't say getting a hair cut and a bath is my favorite activity, but the people there were very nice and very competent. The result was worth the effort. They did my ears just right, and put 2 blue bows in them. And getting the hair off my face allowed me to show off my big sexy dark eyes.
Then we took another walk on the Esplanade. People remarked how cute I looked. I must admit, I love to bask in admiration. Then we picked up Mommy and went home. After all that activity, I slept like a log that night, dreaming of strutting down the Esplanade, with all my admirers praising my big sexy eyes, cute ears, and little blue bows.
Chloe

Airline Security

Hi Humans,
I hear humans complaining about the inconvenience of airport security. That's realy dumb. We dogs would never be so stupid. Humans! It's your lives that are at stake. If I were one of you guys, I would travel naked if that were necessary. We dogs are not so modest. Of course, I really don't expect that you would travel naked, but what about if everyone getting on a plane disrobed and put on pajamas supplied by the airline. That would be reasonable. But of course, you human's are so inflexible. It's impossible for you to vary your routine even if your life depended on it (as it does). This dog just can't understand you.
Chloe