Grand-St-Bernard; Le Tunnel.

It was on this date, 49 years ago, that the Great St. Bernard Tunnel was bore through the Alps. That was back in the days when the St. Bernard was a working breed.

Every day for years, the Swiss Saints and the Italian Saints punched the time clock and went digging. The young, rascally pups would dig with all their might, while the more mature dogs would hang around by the water cooler and, well frankly, drool, occasionally taking a swipe at the dirt.

I tried to tell Ralph and Trixie the story: the threatened to call the ASPCA and PETA if I made any move to get them involved, in a positive way, in landscaping.

Seems the “good ol’ days” of dogs helping around the house are gone.

The photo is lifted from Flickr.

Call Me A Duck

Maybe only Trudy can enjoy this.

PROUD TO BE A DUCK!!!

And for any of you who may have missed it.

This is a letter from Senator Patty Murray of Washington to Steve Newman from May 10, 2010.

"Mr. Newman:

The events surrounding the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon have become a major concern for myself, Washingtonians and the American public. While I am extremely concerned by the environmental and economic impact of the ongoing uncapped oil spill, the treatment and safety of your workers has also been called into question.

I have become aware that Transocean may have coerced several survivors of the Deepwater Horizon to sign legal documents to effectively waive their rights to future medical care and reimbursement. More specifically, several news outlets have reported that members of the surviving crew of the Deepwater Horizon were not allowed to contact or rejoin their families and loved ones until they signed documents waiving some of their legal recourses against Transocean.

I am concerned that these documents were acquired while the surviving crew was under duress. I have also contacted the Department of Justice to determine whether any of the aforementioned actions are in violation of any criminal or civil statutes.

I am formally requesting a copy of the legal documents that the surviving crew members of the Deepwater Horizon signed, as well as a full list of your employees forced into signing such documents. Furthermore, I am requesting a full account from the crewmembers who signed these legal documents. The allegations concerning Transocean are extremely troublesome and are cause for deep concern - America's workers deserve better.

It is bad enough that too many of our workers have become subject to unsafe work environments; it is unacceptable that Transocean has allegedly taken advantage of these same workers. I expect that your company has significant and substantive plans to increase worker safety and to fully respect worker rights in the wake of these disturbing allegations. In the meantime, I appreciate your cooperation with my request and I look forward to reviewing the requested documents.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray

United States Senator"

Ripped from the headlines, again.

Transocean Ltd. gave its top executives bonuses for achieving the "best year in safety performance in our company's history".

Am I the only person in America that remembers the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: the one that killed 11 people and cost thousands of others their livelihood? And this is their best safety year in history? Wow, only 11 people dead in 2010, sure the hell beats their record of 215 in 2009, 25 in 2008, 110 in 2007… ad naseum. (I am making the numbers up… I have no idea how many people they have killed in previous years.)

The safety bonus for their CEO, Steve Newman was $374,062.00. Gee, that is only $34,005.62 per dead person. I am stunned. I would have thought he would get way more per corpse than that paltry sum.

The total value of Newman’s compensation was listed as $8,500,000.00. It you aren’t offended, you aren’t paying attention to real life. Teacher’s wages are being cut and services to the poor and needy are being cut; people on the Gulf Coast’s livelihood has been damaged, if not destroyed. And one of the main assholes responsible for one of the most tragic incidences in American history is getting over 8 million dollars in compensation, even thought he oversaw the company that caused the horrific damage. And he is getting a tax break; thanks to congress extending the Bush tax laws.

Standing on the soapbox.

20 people are dead in Afghanistan.

Fueled by the burning of the Quran by a small, fundamentalist church in Gainesville, Florida, Afghani citizens have attacked outposts of the United Nations and others in Afghanistan. Without question, the deaths are the responsibility of the attackers. I do not doubt that.

But why are Christians in America not protesting the Dove Outreach Center and its pastor, Terry Jones? Why are there not one million Christian Americans standing outside their tiny church protesting the burning of the Quran? Why is Reverend Jones allowed to teach his bigotry? Why is the church not listed as an organization of hate?

Never mind. I know. Gays, Muslims, Atheists: they must be snuffed out. It is the American way.

Okay, the question is begging to be asked.

So I will take the leap and put it into words.

“If it is April and it is snowing, can you write it off as a bad dream and ignore it, or do you still have to go out into the blizzard and shovel the crap?”

Inquiring minds want to know.

Striving for mediocrity

I can do it, yes I can!