Jury Duty...Meow!

Today's posts have been a little heavy. So, it is time to lighten the mood somewhat.

Here is bureaucracy in action.

Sal, the pet cat, has been summonsed for pussy jury duty. It would seem that in spite of Sal's limited language and comprehension skills, and the fact that he is a cat, he is still required for jury duty at the Suffolk Superior Crown Court in Boston.

Sal's owner, Anna Esposito told the powers that be that Sal was a cat. She even went to the trouble of getting Sal's vet to confirm that Sal was not fit for jury duty. It would certainly liven up proceedings to see a cat occupying Chair No. 12. It would be even more fun if young Sal was elected forepussy  foreperson of the jury. But, when push comes to shove, it will not take the court long to realise that Sal is disqualified from sitting on the jury because he does not speak English.

On a serious note though. This case should highlight how badly bureaucracy can get things wrong. Perhaps it is something one needs to remember when dealing with a bureaucracy, as frustrating as they can be. The cat for jury duty arose because the last US census asked for people to note down family pets. It seems Sal graduated from family pet to family member, and then qualified for jury duty.

I have to say, this story certainly allowed me a giggle. After all, could you imagine Sal sitting on the jury in a case of a dog doing the doo on the pavement? The dog is a goner, electric chair all the way!

MUI, Fatwas, and Kopi Luwak...

Each passing day further highlights the fact that the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has way too much time on its hands. Unfortunately, rather than doing something useful like marshalling their considerable resources and self-confessed moral authority to rid Indonesia of poverty, they instead focus their considerable energies on really useful world-changing matters such as the prohibition of drinking kopi luwak.

Kopi luwak is the world's most expensive coffee. What makes this coffee so unique, and apparently worth up to USD 600 a kilo is that the coffee beans are eaten by the civet and then passed through their intestinal tract and excreted in their feces. Then the feces are collected, the beans washed, and the coffee ground. All pretty simple really.

It is likely that there are many people who would turn up their nose at the prospect of paying top dollar for a recycled coffee bean, particularly so for a coffee bean recycled in this way. Yet, there are those who believe that kopi luwak is one of the world's great coffees, exquisite, and so worthy of the high price tag. Then there are others, probably not to be classed as connoisseurs of the little black beans, who think it to be just another cup of coffee, no better or no worse than you might get from a McDonalds McCafe.

Funnily enough, the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) decided that it was exquisite enough to give a bag to Kevin Rudd (former Australian Prime Minister) when Rudd visited Indonesia. That led to the inevitable, and somewhat lame jokes, of "crappacino" and "dung diplomacy".

However, when one thinks about it, it was pretty prophetic of the Indonesian president because it was not all that far into the future after that the then Australian PM found himself in a world of crap and was deposed as PM by his deputy.

The interest from the MUI (and according to the MUI, the NU) stems from concerns that kopi luwak is najis. Najis means ritually unclean, and unclean foods are forbidden in Islam. There is no doubting that najis exists in Islam and there are very specific provisions in place relating to things that are najis. It remains to be seen as to whether kopi luwak is one of those things.

However, no matter what the outcome, it remains a truism that there are so many far more important and pressing matters facing Indonesia and Indonesians that the MUI would be better served thinking about those and directing their collective energies to the successful resolution of those problems first before worrying about the najis or lack of najis-ness of kopi luwak.

Ho hum...

Missing Pets...

For your viewing pleasure (sourced from here)

Child Pornography -- The Cat Did It!

This certainly puts a new twist on the old claim that the dog ate my homework.

A Florida man accused of downloading child pornography is blaming his cat. If one was talking about a single image, or perhaps even two or three, then you might be tempted to think that it is possible, unlikely, but possible.

However, the man, Kevin Griffin, is accused of downloading more than 1000 images onto his home computer. The idea that the cat sat around for most of the night downloading kiddie porn just does not seem possible.

Griffin's excuse is that he was downloading music at the time. He left the room, and when he came back the cat had managed to download all these strange images onto his computer. It sounds sort of like, "Officer, I am not as think you drunk I am!" Worth a shot, but just not convincing.

Sounds like Mr. Griffin could be in a spot of bother.

(Image courtesy of Greg Newington)

Smudges and Alby

This is a photo of the (in)famous Smudges. When Smudges returned, he returned with another cat in tow. The other cat, now named Alby, is an even smaller kitten than Smudges, and he probably needs a bath as well.

Smudges is the cat in the front and Alby is the little bugger at the back who looks like he is dead, but really is fast asleep.

Smudges the Cat -- Returns

It seems that my nightly jaunts around the complex looking for Smudges can end. The only reason for nightly strolls around the complex now would be for purely health and fitness reasons.

We had been hearing Smudges for a few days and the Wife and the Maid had said they had caught fleeting glimpses of the little fella bounding across the roof. However, today, he decided to make his appearance known at much closer range. I guess the hunger got the better of him and he always gets fed well when he is here.

He looks a little worse for wear. This I think can be rectified with a bath and some good food. There seems to be a recently healed wound on his right front leg which would fit into the scenario of having been shot.

Anyway, as it turns out the little fella has returned with company and it seems that we are to be adopting another little one as well.

There has been no further action on the part of the RT and the coordinator of complex security in terms of having this face-to-face sit down with the shooter. I am guessing that they believe if they ignore it then it will go away. However, I do plan on dropping by the RT's place and letting him know that Smudges is back. I would also like to get some guarantee that the cat killer that lives next door will not be shooting my cat again. By my reckoning the best guarantee of him not shooting my cat or anyone else's cat is for him not to have a gun.

I will keep you posted on how this turns out.

A Happy Cat Story...

This story is the reason that I walk back to our old house every night of the week.

This is a story about Dixie. Dixie is a cat who went missing in 1999. Her devoted owners, the Delaney family (I am guessing that the photo is of Dixie and Mrs. Delaney) thought that their beloved pet had been killed, most probably run over.

However, to there great surprise Dixie has returned some nine years later. She is no longer the sprightly 6-year-old that she was when she disappeared. But, by all accounts apart from being a little skinny and disheveled Dixie is doing OK.

Dixie had a microchip inserted so it was as simple as scanning the chip to recover all the necessary information need to track down the owners. The wife and I were planning to get both of our dogs, Chockie and Unyil, microchipped unfortunately they were poisoned before we got the chance to do that. And little Smudges would have had to be microchipped in order to get into Australia.

Strangely enough, Dixie was found only a couple of kilometers from where she disappeared.

If only cats could talk in a language that we can understand. The story would most likely be a best seller.

Twisted & Bitter

I am an unhappy trooper today! I am pretty busy but felt like I should write this particular post as an animal lover and a pet owner!

This follows on from the moving house piece. After my two dogs were poisoned the better half and I seemed to be adopted by a cat. It kept coming around and we kept feeding it and as cats are prone to do it kept coming back. So, we named it and thought the right thing to do would be to bring it with us to our new place.

The cat (aka Smudges) was a little bit confused in his new surroundings and meowed a lot at the top of his little lungs. The little fella is as gentle as can be and wouldn't harm a fly. It is not interested in anything remotely violent. He is but a kitten and spends his time amusing himself playing with string and other little trinkety, shiny objects.

As I was leaving this morning for work Smudges was sitting on the fence having a little bit of a wail to himself when my new next door neighbour brought out his air rifle and shot poor little Smudges off the fence. I was heading over to the fence to lift the little fella down so I am not too happy that my cat was shot and I am not happy that if I had been a little quicker I might have copped a little pellet as well. The puss scampered off, I could tell that it was hit but I do not know how bad as I have not been able to locate him.

I am going to photograph my next door neighbours house and my neighbour and then post his picture and address. The neighbour is an Indonesian of Chinese ancestry, I am not sure that this makes any difference to what transpired but he did suggest that he was operating under a different set of rules. I am sure this is a breach of Internet etiquette and myriad of other etiquettes, but whatever, an abuser of animals is an abuser of animals and deserves to be outed!

This bloke has a really big house and is obviously loaded. He has no birds or anything else that apparently need protecting from a little cat. His reason when I confronted him was that he hates cats and he has permission from some bloke to shoot and kill cats. A little bit of research uncovered that the name he gave for the permission giver is a resident, but one who is neither the RT, RW, or the coordinator for security. I am not sure whether it is worth following up and lodging an official complaint, but I did nearly jump the fence and tear the bastard a new arsehole.

I have absolutely no respect for wankers who kill family pets for fun. Smudges is but a poor defenseless little cat up against a grown man with a rifle. The outcome should probably never have been in doubt.

Vocal Cats

Another little factoid for the file.

Did you know that cats have over one hundred vocal sounds?

Well, now you do!

Once again I do not know who sat down to measure this and why. I also do not know why anyone might want to fund such research. Perhaps it is a study of animal language or something.

Enjoy your Thursday!

The Problem With Bureaucracy + Law

This is out of the UK, specifically the Greater Manchester area. The story involves a lost cat, a woman trying to help, and an ordinance on posters.

A little cat had lost its way and ended up in the garden of Joy Tracey whimpering and obviously lost. Now, Joy, perhaps living up to her name wanted nothing more than to give the little moggy some joy and reunite it with its owners, who were probably as distraught as the cat was and wondering where their little feline family member had disappeared to.

So, Joy tried all of the things she could think of in this personal quest to reunite the cat with its family including trips to the RSPCA, animal shelters, pet shops, and advertisements in the local paper. For me this sounds like the woman was really going above and beyond in trying to get the cat back to its owners. Most people would have either booted the cat to the next yard or taken it to the pound and dumped it there.

However, in a last ditch desperate effort, Joy decided she would print up some posters and hang them on local lamp posts in the belief that maybe someone will either recognize the cat or know a family who has lost a cat. It is worth noting that there were just 12 posters involved; a very targeted campaign indeed.

This is where the bureaucracy become bureaucrazy and the law an ass! The ordinance is one designed to stop what some consider an eyesore, namely: the unfettered postering of walls and lamp posts with advertisements and other things. Now it seems that the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992, Clauses A, B and F prohibits posters from being postered on lamp posts and the council was determined that the ordinance must be enforced to the letter of the law. Postering apparently attracts a heavy fine.

Lucky for the council, the posters included Joy's phone number so they were able to call her and tell her to remove the posters or risk the fine.

The question here is the ordinance intended for this purpose. The poster was in essence a public service announcement. The council's over-bureaucratic approach suggests that they were not necessarily acting in accordance with the spirit or intent of the law but rather with the mentality of; poster, prohibited, fine!

For as long as I can remember lost pets were almost universally photographed and made into posters and hung on light posts, telegraph poles, and anything else in the public domain by either the person who lost the pet or by those who had found it.

The cat was eventually reunited with its loving family.