On horses

We've been hearing scuttlebutt about some horses that may not be well maintained - possibly inadequate shelter, poor nutrition (visible ribs), etc. So here, links to the basics on what you're lookin' at and who to call to make a complaint.

The horse's body condition is scored on a scale developed by Dr. Don Henneke, called, unsurprisingly, the Henneke Scale. This is an MS Word doc that will download and open, so you can easily save it for future reference or printing. If that bugs ya, google the phrase "Henneke Scale" for a different format.

Here are some photos of horses, rated by the author of the page. Not for the faint of heart. In a nutshell, you shouldn't be seein' ribs, overgrown hooves, wounds attracting flies, or too much fat.

Who to call? We've heard that humane enforcement by Bogalusa Police Department and the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office is spotty and inconsistent.

We recommend phoning Humane Society of Louisiana, 1.888.6 HUMANE, or fill out their online form, which can be done anonymously. They were prompt and effective at getting care for the animals at Cassidy Park.

You can also contact the Louisiana Livestock Brand Commission Crimestoppers at 1.800.558.9741.

Yon on Beauchamp

Required reading:

Some months ago, a soldier in Baghdad wrote a piece on the way war can degrade the morals and affect the judgment of combat soldiers. His story was published at face-value in The New Republic magazine. In it the soldier wrote terrible things about his unit, making the article sensational.

I was in Iraq when it first hit the stands and someone asked me about the plausibility of the events described in the article. I skimmed the story but it did not even pass a simple sniff-test. With a shooting war going on, there is no time for trivial pursuits, so my only comment was something like, “It sounds like a bunch of garbage.” Turned out it was.

The soldier’s name was Beauchamp. He’d tried to hide his identity, but poor Beauchamp had no idea that the blog world would get on his trail and tree him like a coon. Beauchamp crawled up to the top of that tree, looked down into the snarling spotlight, and suddenly knew he was caught.

Also Michelle Malkin: The New Republic Comes Out From Under Its Desk.

Oriana Fallaci, 1929-2006

Who was she? Via Wikipedia:

A former partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career.

She has interviewed many internationally known leaders and celebrities such as the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger, the Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, Willy Brandt, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Walter Cronkite, Omar Khadafi, Federico Fellini, Sammy Davis Jr, Nguyen Cao Ky, Yasir Arafat, Indira Gandhi, Alexandros Panagoulis, Archbishop Makarios III, Golda Meir, Nguyen Van Thieu, Haile Selassie and Sean Connery.

After retirement, she returned to the spotlight after writing a series of articles and books critical of Islam and Arabs that aroused substantial support, controversy and accusations of racism and Islamophobia.

Probably 10 percent of my readers have heard of her. And here I am trying to entice y'all to purchase one of her books via Amazon.

Michelle Malkin has an article:

She refused to candycoat her criticisms of Islam. She refused to submit to jihadi thugs. Her books, her life, her rage and her reason serve as fiery inspirations in an era of flinching dhimmitude.*

Buy her books if you haven’t yet to see why the jihadists wanted her put in jail for “insulting Islam:”

More.
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*dhimmitude: see here.

Regarding Sicko

Michael Moore's made another crockumentary, this one trying to convince us that the U.S. healthcare system is broken and we should emulate Cuba's. Free healthcare for the masses, better than in the U.S., Moore says.

There are two, possibly three, healthcare systems in Castro's communist sh*thole:

One for the citizens.
One for Castro's favored elite (although even he flew doctors in when he needed surgery).
And one for foreign visitors.

The care that the vast majority of Cuban citizens receive is inadequate and appalling [caution - kinda gross pictures].

Michael Moore is a liar.

Need help!

We need to network with other parents who have kids at Bogalusa Middle School and are unhappy with the way a particular course was taught in the spring '07 semester.

Please leave a comment or send an email.

This is important stuff, folks. Let's get together and help each other out, and make a positive change.