Hemingway’s Cats

It’s interesting to me that USA Today has this story about “Hemingway’s cats” in Key West as I just read a book called “Hemingway’s Cats” two days ago. 

The book is a fascinating read and likely the best angle from which to approach Hemingway’s own back story as his cats were so much a part of his existence, to the extent that his life mirrored that of some of his favorite “brothers” all the way to the end where he put himself down so to speak.

So then I read the USA Today article. Our federal government in the guise of the USDA is wasting who knows how many of our tax dollars to settle a petty squable about the free roaming feral cats between the Hemingway Home museum and a former museum docent/current cat lady who was asked to leave the museum.

The cats there are believed to be the descendents of one of Hemingway’s cats, Snowflake. They roam free as they did in Hemingway’s time, all part of the gimmick to keep a steady flow of visitors coming through the front gate. And by sterilizing them, the cat lady is killing off the bloodline. Enter USDA officials who obviously have nothing better to do with their time:

Long negotiations and multiple inspections ensued. The USDA suggested several methods for containing the cats, including hiring a night watchman, adding an electrified wire to the top of the property’s 6-foot stone wall, or adding to the stone wall, which Hemingway had built in 1937.

 

The museum countered that a wire could shock tourists as well as cats, and that altering the wall would put at risk the house’s designation by the Interior Department as a National Historic Place.

 

At the height of the USDA’s investigation of the museum, the agency rented a room in a guesthouse near the Hemingway property in order to videotape the cats.

 

In a report of one inspection, on Dec. 1, 2004, the USDA noted that “during the inspection, a cat was seen scaling the fence and leaving the property.” Another report cited the death of a cat named Toby, which had been fatally struck by a car after leaving the property.

Now being an amateur expert on Hemingway and his cats, I can tell you two things: 1) Hemingway owned no cats while living in Key West – the famous six-toes belonged to a neighbor, though they spent much of their time with “Papa”, and 2) if there was a cat named Snowflake living at Whitehead while Papa was there, it wasn’t a very important cat to him as there is no mention of such cat in the book (and the book refers to A LOT of cats – think crazy spinster living with 35 cats).

By the way, the photo USA Today labeled as “Ernest Hemingway at the stone mansion of Whitehead Street with one of his cats” is actually a photo of him in the dining room of his Cuba residence with his beloved brother Boise

Divorce, Saudi Arabian Style

Jay Tea at Wizbang pointed out this disturbing article at Arab News.  He summarizes it quite well:

A certain woman’s family changed their minds about approving of her marriage, so they got a judge to divorce the couple. Not only was neither husband or wife present, they were not even notified of the procedings.
 

When the couple was informed that they were no longer married, they were also told that they were no longer allowed to communicate freely, as a single man is forbidden to have unsupervised contact with an unmarried woman who is not his relative. They now see each other once a week, for 15 minutes, under strict supervision, so the children can see both parents.
 

The woman was informed that since she was no longer the legal ward of her husband, she had to return to the guardianship of her own family, as single women have no legal, independent standing.
 
 
Since she did not wish to return to the family that had dissolved her marriage without her knowledge, she was placed in prison.
 

Initially, her two children were locked up with her, but prison officials forced her now ex-husband to take custody of the elder.
 

Keep this story in mind the next time you hear about the “moderating influence” of the Saudis, or why we should allow Muslims living in the West to settle matters according to “their own customs and traditions.”

Seasons Greetings from Ayman al-Zawahiri

Through the good graces of Scrappleface

Taken-out-of-context-quote of the day

Senator Hillary Clinton appeared on The View to once again pretend she isn’t sure if she’ll run for president. And thus came this gem:

“You’d be surprised how crafty she is,” host Rosie O’Donnell cracked.

Oh, I don’t think so, Rosie.

“Laura Bush cites Roe v. Wade in cancer cover up”

Scrappleface has an “exclusive”.

“It was a parasitic bundle of cells,” said Mrs. Bush, “and allowing it to continue to grow would have interfered with my lifestyle.”

Female beaten for not moving to back of bus

Reading this excerpt, you may find yourself thinking this incident occurred on a grade school bus in middle America, drawing from the behaviour involved, but no, these are adults described in this story, on a bus in Jerusalem.

…..a man got onto the bus and demanded her seat – even though there were a number of other seats available in the front of the bus.
 

“I said, I’m not moving and he said, ‘I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.’ Then he spat in my face and at that point, I was in high adrenaline mode and called him a son-of-a-bitch, which I am not proud of. Then I spat back. At that point, he pushed me down and people on the bus were screaming that I was crazy. Four men surrounded me and slapped my face, punched me in the chest, pulled at my clothes, beat me, kicked me. My snood [hair covering] came off. I was fighting back and kicked one of the men in his privates. I will never forget the look on his face.”
 

Shear says that when she bent down in the aisle to retrieve her hair covering, “one of the men kicked me in the face. Thank God he missed my eye. I got up and punched him. I said, ‘I want my hair covering back’ but he wouldn’t give it to me, so I took his black hat and threw it in the aisle.”

50 year old Miriam Shear, an American-Israeli, was riding the Egged No. 2 bus to go pray at the Western Wall when she was attacked by haredi men intent on enforcing mehadrin strictures.

Throughout the encounter, Shear says the bus driver “did nothing.” The other passengers, she says, blamed her for not moving to the back of the bus and called her a “stupid American with no sechel [common sense.] People blamed me for not knowing my place and not going to the back of the bus where I belong.”

Right, the American is the stupid one.

Word of Shear’s story traveled quickly after she forwarded an e-mail detailing her experience. She has been contacted by a number of groups, including Shatil, the New Israel Fund’s Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change; Kolech, a religious women’s forum; the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the legal advocacy arm of the local Reform movement; and the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA).
 

In the coming month, IRAC will be submitting a petition to the High Court of Justice against the Transportation Ministry over the issue of segregated Egged buses. IRAC attorney Orly Erez-Likhovski is in touch with Shear and is considering including her in the petition.
 

Although the No. 2 Jerusalem bus where the incident occurred is not actually defined as a mehadrin line, Erez-Likhovski says that Shear’s story is further proof that the issue requires legal clarification. About 30 Egged buses are designated as mehadrin, mostly on inter-city lines, but they are not marked to indicate this. “There’s no way to identify a mehadrin bus, which in itself is a problem,” she said.

So, organzations are taking up her case and they may petition the Israeli High Court to address the legality of segregated buses, but that only means that up to now, this is accepted conduct. I would expect this to occur in Tehran. But Jerusalem? Brand me anti-semetic if you want, but this is what goes on in the lone civilized democracy in the Middle East?

hat tip to drudge.

Update:

Another interesting article about the segregated buses. This one about two who were caught unaware as well by the mehadrin rules:

“At first we ignored them,” she said. “But additional men boarded who were more insistent. The driver said that he did not want to get involved and Dalia got up and walked to the back. I did not want to fight all those men alone, so I went to the back too. I felt threatened.”

…..
Mehadrin is a term used for strict observance of Jewish legal strictures. In the context of public transportation, mehadrin means that the laws of sexual modesty are observed more stringently. Men and women do not come into physical contact and they try not to even see one another.

…..
(An Egged spokesman said that because a bus was often used for both mehadrin and regular lines it was logistically impossible to mark them.) Rather, regular passengers know which buses are mehadrin and sit accordingly. Passengers like Maya and Dalia who do not know are notified by veteran passengers, who see themselves as responsible for enforcing the segregation.

…..

The separation is part of a larger haredi trend of encouraging more modest behavior in the public sphere. Other examples include a recent rally attended by leading Lithuanian yeshiva heads protesting “immodest” female fashion trends in the haredi world and the initiation of El Al flights that provide “kosher” movies produced and directed by Moshe Levi, a Gerrer Hassid, and same-sex seating. Haredi spiritual leaders believe the immodest influences of secular society cause calamities in the haredi world, including sickness, poverty and godlessness.

I can respect another’s religious beliefs and I’ve witnessed mehadrin practiced in temples, a place where I can understand it’s intent even if I think it’s silly. But outside the temple, this is just blatant discrimination and should not be tolerated in a democratic society. One’s freedom of religious expression does not excuse the violation of another’s civil rights.

David Zucker’s Ads

Iraq Study Group ad. Right on.

And here’s the Taxman ad. Yes, Republicans have spent us into oblivion, but their tax cuts are increasing revenue and contrary to what others say, they are pretty across the board. This is a great ad.

Where’s that Global Warming Al Gore promised?

If it’s 76 degrees in Washington D.C., 71 degrees in Delaware, El Nino is wreaking havoc on our winter bringing unseasonably warm temperatures with it’s winds, why on earth is it a freezing 57 degrees in Santa Monica, CA?

Update: 

I’ve added an additional tag to better convey the facetiousness of the post.  Thanks!

So much for illegals doing jobs Americans won’t

Hopeful applicants look to find open jobs at Swift & Co. Hundreds of people waited in line last week at Employment Services of Weld County to apply for jobs recently vacated by arrested illegal aliens/identity thieves:

A steady line of job seekers at times backed up to the entrance doors. There was a steady flow of vehicles coming and going from the parking lot.
 

Dora Lara, client data systems coordinator for the Employment Services of Weld County, said overall, about 200 – 230 applications were taken on Wednesday, with 157 applications just for Swift & Co.

Hat tip to John and Ken.

The joys of late night radio

You get to hear things you won’t hear any other time. Over heard on George Noory’s Coast to Coast seconds ago:

CALLER: “Can I tell you about the time that I saw God?”

NOORY: “Well, I have to take another call, we’re really short on time.”