The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Going to the dogs Where did the old saying "Going to the dogs." Come from? It is probably from the Middle Ages where writers such as Dante (Dante's Inferno) wrote of the vicious "Hounds of Hell". In any case it is part of the language and I suppose means "things are on a downward slope and doing poorly". This is unfair as dogs are firmly entrenched as "Man's best friend." And organizations such as the SPCA do their best to help and protect the animals. This is not to say they are always treated well, with greyhound racing owners often accused of over-breeding the animals, then putting them down if they can't win the races. A number of famous and some not-so-famous have made several enlightened comments about dogs, even in comparison to their human owners. Here are a few 'furry words of wisdom': "The reason a dog has so many friends, is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue" Ñ Anonymous. "Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful" Ñ Ann Landers. "If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went" Ñ Will Rogers. "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself" Ñ Josh Billings. "We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare, and love we can spare, and in return dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made" Ñ M. Acklam. "Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate" ÑSigmund Freud. "The average dog is a nicer person than the average person" ÑAndy Rooney. "If I have beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I know will go to heaven,and very,very few persons" Ñ James Thurber. "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" Ñ Roger Caras. "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you, that is the principle difference between a dog and a man" ÑMark Twain. There are lots of reported cases of dogs saving the lives of their owners, and protecting its family. One of the best recent stories came out of one of the Indian Ocean countries, ravaged by the tidal wave on December 26. A mother with three young children could only get two of them to higher ground. The third, a five year-old was saved by the family mongrel, who pulled the child from the hut, then nipped and pushed the child to higher ground, saving its life Ñ an amazing tale but true! Wouldn't it be just as amazing if Debbie Hiebert and the local SPCA could get enough resources to build and staff their proposed animal shelter. Let's hope they do. Speaking of "Going to the dogs", is Canada heading that way with "Dithering Paul Martin" as leader? Paul, like Chretien, spends considerable time out of the country on aimless trips, visiting Canada's "friends" in Libya, some of the tidal wave ravaged nations and China. Canada was criticized as being slow off the mark with aid, especially the 9-day delay in sending the D.A.R.T. crew Ñ a Disaster Assistance Response Team with 200 persons, and a full hospital and water purification plant. The team was ready but Paul wasn't, and he and his cabinet are accused of "Dithering," arguing among themselves if it was needed, giving Canada a black eye in the aid response world. Our aid for the damaged countries started at one million dollars, went to $46 million, then $88 million, and at last count was $345 million ($215 million now and $130 million over five years). For a government that played hardball with the provinces over health-care dollars, one could ask: "Where did all that money come from?" They must have a lot of surplus dollars, as there certainly hasn't been a tax break for the overburdened working families. The U.S. contribution from both government, business and other groups, swelled to over $100,000 per hour. Even so an ungrateful Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, made it difficult for American troops and aid workers, restricting their travel and demanding the U.S. troops get out of the country by March. Such misplaced sovereignty, is a slap in the face to the world's most generous people. George Bush played it cool, but others may have pulled their troops and money out of the country. Compare the American aid with the paltry sums that the wealthy oil countries gave. On another track, some public health people, while applauding aid from the U.S. and other Western countries, claim that there is one thing that would cost nothing and save hundreds of thousands of lives. This is to allow D.D.T. to be used against malaria in poor countries. They point out that malaria is on the rise and mosquitoes each year kill 20 times more people than the tidal wave did. Fifty years ago, D.D.T. almost wiped out the disease until it was banned in most countries. They claim that humans are much better off being exposed to D.D.T. than malaria, as the alternatives are not working. The claim is 2-3 million people die each year from the mosquito disease, and even Greenpeace is in favor of the chemical's return, as there is nothing else that works as well. An attack on the environment? Perhaps, but is saving lives more important?
