6.29.2011

Bill W's Story

Click on this link and see a video rendition of Bill W.'s story as told in the book Alcoholics Anonymous.

The actor is David Dieudonne, a Washington DC-based actor. The camera work was done by Selena Shea.

6.13.2011

Deer Attacks Dog in Middle of City

In Winnipeg, Canada, a deer charged a woman and her dog. The woman had to run around stopped cars in the road to avoid the attack. She eventually got some relief from a motorist with an offer of refuge in a car. The deer still glared at the motorist through the windshield.

The woman was walking her border collie to Starbucks.

Click on the title to this post for the full story.

6.09.2011

Suge Knight Joins with PETA to Fight Dog Chaining

Former Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight is speaking out against chaining dogs in conjunction with PETA.

"Dogs deserve our love and attention not a life of ‘solitary confinement’ at the end of a chain,” Knight said via a statement. “Dogs depend on us to take care of them, to keep them safe and healthy. Chaining a dog is one of the cruelest things you can to do them – they are social animals.”

Soho Tea and Coffee, 22nd and P NW

Soho Tea and Coffee is an office away from an office. Love it. It's in Washington, DC at 22nd & P Streets, NW. They have a game night and used to have stand-up comedy night, too. I actually performed at one of them, and brought some friends along to laugh at my jokes.

Great classical music in the mornings. Nice a quiet then, too.

Dog Helps Vet with PTSD Symptoms


Good Morning America had a great story about a young German Shepard dog helping a Vietnam Vet with PTSD with his symptoms. What I love about German Shepards in particular is how smart they are.

My husband has promised that I can pick our next dog and I want a German Shepard from Germany. The American German Shepard is bred for looks. The German German Shepard is bred for intelligence. Our dog right now is Amber, and she is brilliant - half German Shepard and half pit bull. Pit bulls are generally not known for their brains. My little princess is smart, however. She loves chewing gum, and you always have to watch your packs of gum with her around.

I like seeing that dogs are being given useful tasks in our society. They have attributes that we lack, like keen sense of smell and sharp eyes. I have even heard of dogs being able to smell cancer from lab specimens.

Maybe so many animals wouldn't be killed in shelters every year if there were useful jobs for them to do.

6.07.2011

Eighty Cats Scheduled to be Killed in Calvert County

reprint from DCGuide.com

June 3, 2011

** Eighty Cats Being Killed on Monday Due to Foreclosure Fraud **

On Monday morning, eighty cats housed in a cat sanctuary will be hunted down and killed because of robo-signing fraud perpetrated by the law firm Shapiro and Burson, JPMorgan Chase, MERS (a mortgage note holding company) and the illegal practices of local judges in Calvert County.

Forged affidavits were submitted to the court in Calvert County and were used as a basis to foreclose on the waterfront property of Jean Michaud. (Documents verifying all allegations are available upon request, and will be hand-delivered directly to you.)

"These are people who, for 40, 50 and 60 years, have paid their taxes in Maryland, sent their children to schools in Maryland, and volunteered in Maryland. We insist that forged documents are not used to take away their homes," said Ms. Michaud’s attorney in her Federal case, Christine Axsmith.

The foreclosure sale was finalized by a judge. The judge was required by court order to not hear any cases related to Paul Monger. He did it anyway, and Mr. Monger got a million dollar waterfront property for $400,000.

The judge who ratified the foreclosure sale was ordered recused from all cases related to the purchaser of Jean Michaud's property at the foreclosure sale.

The advertisement for the foreclosure sale didn't mention that it was prime waterfront property zoned for mixed commercial and residential use. Only one person came to bid, Paul Monger. The same Paul Monger who plays golf with the judges in Calvert County. The same Paul Monger that all of the judges in Calvert County were ordered not to hear cases about.

Judges have a code of conduct. They aren't supposed to decide cases for people who are related to them, or for close personal friends. They also aren't supposed to talk one person in a case and advise them on how best to proceed. Again, in this case, that's exactly what happened. When the settlement attorney didn’t want to close on the sale because of a clouded title, the settlement attorney phoned the judge, who told him that there wasn’t any problem, go ahead and close. On every level, doing that was a violation of basic judicial ethics.

"Can you imagine a SWAT team descending on your grandmother, cuffing her and putting her in the back of a squad car, telling her that the government will kill her cats if she doesn't give up her house? That's what happened to Jean Michaud. A lesser woman would have given up her waterfront property by now,” said her attorney Christine Axsmith.

6.04.2011

Eighty Cats Will Be Killed By Calvert County Sheriffs on Monday - put off for another thirty days

June 3, 2011

UPDATE

There is a bankruptcy stay in place so there is another thirty days to get resolution on this travesty.


**   Eighty Cats Being Killed on Monday Due to Foreclosure Fraud   **

On Monday morning, eighty cats housed in a cat sanctuary will be hunted down and killed because of robo-signing fraud perpetrated by the law firm Shapiro and Burson, JPMorgan Chase, MERS (a mortgage note holding company).  

Forged affidavits were submitted to the court in Calvert County and were used as a basis to foreclose on the waterfront property of Jean Michaud.  (Documents verifying all allegations are available upon request, and will be hand-delivered directly to you.)

"These are people who, for 40, 50 and 60 years, have paid their taxes in Maryland, sent their children to schools in Maryland, and volunteered in Maryland.  We insist that forged documents are not used to take away their homes," said Ms. Michaud’s attorney in her Federal case, Christine Axsmith.

The foreclosure sale was finalized by a judge. The judge was required by court order to not hear any cases related to Paul Monger. He did it anyway, and Mr. Monger got a million dollar waterfront property for $400,000.

The judge who ratified the foreclosure sale was ordered recused from all cases related to the purchaser of Jean Michaud's property at the foreclosure sale.

The advertisement for the foreclosure sale didn't mention that it was prime waterfront property zoned for mixed commercial and residential use.  Only one person came to bid, Paul Monger.  The same Paul Monger who plays golf with the judges in Calvert County.  The same Paul Monger that all of the judges in Calvert County were ordered not to hear cases about.  

Judges have a code of conduct.  They aren't supposed to decide cases for people who are related to them, or for close personal friends.  They also aren't supposed to talk one person in a case and advise them on how best to proceed.  Again, in this case, that's exactly what happened.  When the settlement attorney didn’t want to close on the sale because of a clouded title, the settlement attorney phoned the judge, who told him that there wasn’t any problem, go ahead and close. On every level, doing that was a violation of basic judicial ethics.

"Can you imagine a SWAT team descending on your grandmother, cuffing her and putting her in the back of a squad car, telling her that the government will kill her cats if she doesn't give up her house?  That's what happened to Jean Michaud.  A lesser woman would have given up her waterfront property by now,” said her attorney Christine Axsmith.