Bobservations

This Tale of Tuxedo is from June 2009 and entitled The Tuesday Tuxedo:

I loves me some Tuxedo.

We rescued him from life as a blood donor in an animal hospital in Miami. They said he was mean; unadoptable....is that a word? Nothing but trouble. And he was, for the first few days.

Now, four years later he's a loving cat who follows you around the house, sits in the kitchen when you cook, and plays catch the reflection in the bathroom before we go to bed.

He's my boy. I call him 'My boy' just to irk Carlos, and it does.

But anyway, enough of the love story between me and el gato. What I wanted to point out was how he sits at the top of the chair in our home office; his hind claws dug in for support and his front legs dangling down either side.

Cute. Right?

Not so much. He sits like that because he was declawed by a veterinarian who thought it might make him a better candidate for adoption. You know, less mean and aggressive. So they cut off his fingers; cat's claws are not like our fingernails, they are like our fingers. Cats use them to scratch and groom themselves, to pick up things, to play with things, and for protection. Cutting off his fingers wasn't a good idea. It didn't make him less aggressive, it made him more aggressive because now he has only his back feet and claws to use as a defense.

So, if you have a cat or want a cat, don't, don't, let anyone talk you into cutting off their fingers. If you want to declaw a cat because you have a leather sofa, or pretty velvet drapes, then either get rid of the cat or get rid of the couch and drapes. Or do like Carlos and I have done, train your cats not to claw the furniture. Because even though they don't show it, they are listening.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

When bullets fly where old powerful white men gather, suddenly a ballroom is a necessary solution but when school kids are targeted those same old powerful white men are speechless. 

Ernie Dosio, a millionaire big game hunter was out shooting yellow-backed duiker, a species of antelope, in Gabon when he and his guide surprised five female elephants with a calf in the Lope-Okanda rainforest.

He was trampled to death by that herd of elephants; the guide was left severely injured in the attack.

Sorry, not sorry.

Instead of going after Comey for a photo of seashells, they should be investigating the current President for threatening to kill an entire civilization.

PS 86 is a restaurant term for being out of something—86 soup means you’re out of soup—it has never meant kill.

Former Friends star Lisa Kudrow has revealed what kind of residuals the stars are earning now, twenty years after the show ended its run.

Sidenote: the cast renegotiated their contracts after the first year as a team so they would all be paid the same amount of money and each received $1 million an episode.

Now, as the show thrives in reruns each Friend still collects a whopping $20 million a year in residuals.

I knew I should have gotten the part on that show when I auditioned, but they went with Aniston instead!

Bobby Kennedy shared a screenshot of his father, RFK Jr.’s message after the “shooting” over the weekend; Bobby wrote:

"Pops you OK"

RFK Jr.'s current wife, actor Cheryl Hines, responded:

"Yes! Was crazy! Bobby’s security team came in so fast & took us out of the building. They were lifting me over chairs!"

When RFK Jr. finally responded, he gave his status:

"im really hungry"

Doesn’t sound so dangerous after all.

Luc Defont-Saviard is a prominent French fashion model recognized for his work with top luxury brands and international fashion houses and who lives in Nice, France; Nice is nice so Would You Hit It?

The Funny Papers

Bill Day, Drew Sheneman, Steve Benson, Kevin Kallaugher, RJ Matson, Jim Morin, Steve Sack, Kevin Siers, Clay Bennett, David Fitzsimmons

Where's The Outrage? #BlackLivesMatter

So, Walter Palmer, the American dentist charged in the killing of Cecil, Africa's "most famous lion" has reportedly gone into hiding.

Good. Stay there.

Now, I am not a gun person, y’all know that, and I am not a fan of hunting, and killing, for sport, though I understand some folks like to hunt for their food. Me? I hunt for food at my local Publix, but, again, that’s just me.

And I am outraged at what this so-called human being did, luring the animal out of his [protected area, using a tranquilizing dart t numb the animal so he could hunt it and kill it, and then take a selfie smiling over a dead animal.

And them realizing he was bused, and about to have the wrath of the world on his head when he learned Cecil was microchipped, the dentist cut off the lion’s head to save his own hide.

I’m sickened but … I am also sickened by the rash of Facebook posts and memes and shares and likes about the dentist and what an awful human being he is and what a horrible thing he did to that animal.

Where is the outrage for Sandra Bland, a black woman,  who spent three days in jail — before she killed herself — for a traffic stop?

Where was the outrage for Trayvon Martin,  a young black teenager murdered by a white man because of a hoodie?

Where was the outrage for Michael Brown, a black man, shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri?

Dontre Hamilton, a black man, shot 14 times by a police officer in Milwaukee after a call that Hamilton, a paranoid schizophrenic, was disturbing the peace

John Crawford, a black man, shot and killed by a police officer in an Ohio Wal-Mart while carrying a toy BB gun

Ezell Ford, an unarmed mentally ill black man, shot three times, including once in the back, by a white police officer

Tanisha Anderson, a black woman, who died after officers in Cleveland slammed her head into the pavement while taking her into custody

Akai Gurley, a black man, unarmed, but shot and killed by a police officer while climbing a stairwell with his girlfriend

Tamir Rice, a black boy, shot and killed by Cleveland police after they mistook his toy gun for a real weapon — he was twelve years old

Rumain Brisbon, a black man,  shot and killed by a Phoenix police officer who mistook a pill bottle for a weapon

Tony Robinson, a black man, unarmed, but shot and killed by a Madison police officer responding to reports of someone disrupting traffic

Eric Harris, a black man, shot and killed by a reserve deputy officer who mistook his own gun for a Taser

Walter Scott, a black man, shot and killed by a police officer while running away from a traffic stop for a broken taillight

Freddie Gray, a black man, who died of a spinal cord injury a week after he was arrested by Baltimore police

Sam DuBose, a black man, unarmed, but shot and killed by University of Cincinnati police officer during a traffic stop

Eric Garner, a black man, strangled to death for selling loose cigarettes on the street.

Where’s that outrage? The Facebook petitions, the memes, the protests, the questions?

Like I said, that dentist killing that lion was disgusting, and sick and twisted, but where the outrage for the human lives taken on our own streets every single day, many times with no apparent reason or cause.

I need some outrage. I am outraged that Walter Palmer murdered that lion for sport, but I am even more outraged that Black Americans are being murdered on our streets and we don't seem to be bothered.

I need some outrage.

Oh Wisconsin

Apparently the powers that be up Wisconsin way have a very important issue on their hands.

Not marriage equality.

Not an economic crisis.

Not pollution or rampant crime.

Silly me. Wisconsin is afraid that not as many people are hunting these days. Yes. Hunting.

What to do. What to do.

Lightbulb!

The legislature has passed, and the governor is expected to sign, a bill making it easier for children to hunt, by lowering the legal age from 12 to 10 and by removing safety-training requirements.

Arm the children and give them no safety instruction or requirements. Used to be the kid had to be twelve and they had to be safety requirements. Now it's okie-dokie to give a child two years younger a gun and waive the safety requirements!

But it gets better.

The little kiddies get reduced license fees.

Arm 'em. Don't train 'em. And make it easy to pay with your allowance.