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As catty as they get

Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods. — Christopher Hitchens

My friend Kabsat Kandu is not impressed with Hitchens’ insight. He cites a pithier one by Winston Churchill: “Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”

“That’s why,” Kandu says, “I’d rather take care of my pigs, which bring me extra income, rather than cats, which steal food from my kitchen.”

Feral cat
A feral cat roaming the slopes below a Baguio ridge. I tried to tame it with food bait for several months, without success. But that's ok. Cats have the right to self-determination too.

Continue reading “As catty as they get”

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Community of bitches

Nocturnal trysts
It doesn't take much for dogs, if given enough freedom, to go feral and back to their undomesticated ways. Is that good or bad?

No. The title of this piece is not what you might think it is, you dirty-minded reader, you.

“What’s wrong with that?” Kabsat Kandu asks. “Bitch, witch, itch, glitch—they’re just words to describe something. The dirt is in the extra thoughts you put into them.”

But really, we’re talking clean unadulterated fun here, I assure my feisty neighbor. Continue reading “Community of bitches”

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Indigenous spirits revisited

Consider the choice: either spend a weekend in glitzy Las Vegas, or a full week in an Indian village in upstate New York with only minimal amenities. Which one to choose?

A typical Native American sweat lodge. Photo courtesy of Abram’s Creek Lodge (abramscreek.com)

If you choose Las Vegas, here’s ten bucks, good luck with the slot machines. If you choose upstate New York, this column is for you.

I was with the Cordillera People’s Alliance when we were invited by American indigenous activists to attend the Land Is Life founding conference. It was decided that I go to represent the CPA . The conference, to be attended by IP representatives and rights advocates from the various continents, was to be held in Fonda in upstate New York. Continue reading “Indigenous spirits revisited”