The Los Angeles Times update on this wonderful story.
The Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who rescued a panicked dog from the brown, rushing waters of the Los Angeles River this afternoon said that unless firefighters acted, someone else was likely to have ventured into the concrete wash and wound up a casualty.
Joe St. Georges, 50, the firefighter who captivated much of Los Angeles as he was lowered by a tether into the churning waters to rescue the hound, told reporters late Friday that he suffered a bite to his thumb but was otherwise OK.
“I didn’t have time to establish a rapport with the dog,” St. Georges said, in a classic understatement, as he held his heavily bandaged hand in the air. “He did what dogs do.”
Joe St. Georges and 'Vernon' the dog!
The dog was taken by [human] ambulance to a Downey shelter run by the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, which serves 14 cities, including Vernon.
Animal Control Officer Justin Guzman said the 6-year-old German shepherd mix was cold and wet, but otherwise unhurt. He showed no further aggression, and shelter staff named him Vernon.
“He’s really lovable,” Guzman said. “He’s appreciating all the attention he’s getting here.“
Guzman said there were a “million” ways and reasons Vernon could have gotten into the river channel.
“Whether he got scared by the thunderstorm and jumped the fence, we don’t know,” he said.
The dog was never really swept away, but managed for the most part to maintain his footing on a slender ledge in the middle of the river, the officer said.
The dog will be quarantined and watched for signs of rabies.
Marcia Mayeda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, said the disease is extremely rare in domestic animals. Untagged and loose, the dog was technically in violation of city codes, but the owners will face no repercussions if they step forward and take him home, Guzman said.
If they don’t, the shelter by early evening already had a list of 20 people who want to adopt Vernon.
Mayeda said she was very impressed by St. Georges’ actions.
Fire-fighters rescue dog from flooded Los Angeles river.
Tomorrow on Learning from Dogs there is part one of a six-part Post about The Secret Life of the Dog. It includes the amazing proposition that our relationship with dogs was instrumental in early man becoming civilised. (Assuming, of course, that you believe mankind is civilised!)
Thus it is with great pride that today’s Post presents the courageous and successful efforts of LA Fire Fighters rescuing a German Shepherd dog, scared out of its wits, from drowning in a river.
Here’s an extract from the Los Angeles Times:
We don’t know about you, but we were glued to our TV screen earlier this afternoon as the effort to rescue a large dog trapped in the flooded Los Angeles River was broadcast live. The rainstorms that have been pummeling L.A. over the past few days have caused the river to swell. It’s unclear who, if anyone, owns the dog, or how it managed to fall into the fast-moving river in Vernon.
The full article and a video of the rescue may be seen here. The article goes on to say:
Firefighters first attempted to rescue it by dangling flotation devices from a bridge overhead, to no avail. The dog then evaded firefighters who tried to approach it, sloshing further down the river. Around 12:30 p.m., it managed to reach the edge of the river and attempted to climb up a steep concrete wall to safety, but several times fell back into the river.
Finally, a firefighter dangling beneath a helicopter managed to grab hold of the terrified dog, who responded (rather predictably) by biting its rescuer and thrashing about. Despite the inherent difficulty of rescuing an animal that doesn’t want to be rescued, the firefighter managed to lift the dog to safety; both were deposited on a nearby bridge. The dog was transferred to an ambulance for veterinary care and its rescuer was taken to a hospital for treatment of bite wounds, KTLA reported.
Here is a wonderful story of craftsmanship in the modern age and its interaction with business expectations. There is a very small, but reportedly excellent, pizza place in Chicago called “Great Lake”; and I learnt about it when a friend referred me to an article about its culture, its success and the consequences published by the New York Times.
The effect of extremely good reviews has been that they have been overwhelmed by demand and some customers have reacted unfavourably as a result. I think that they should stick to their guns and not compromise their principles and standards. However, this does not mean that they could not be doing some other things too!
Only the most discerning of news-followers will have picked up the fact that the British government has recently abandoned a long-held position on Tibet and now fully recognizes China’s direct rule over the country.
Map of Tibet
A recent article in the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, explains all this far better than I could, but what intrigues me is WHY this has been done now and WHAT concessions have been made by China.
In truth, the Chinese Communist Party is not renowned for making concessions, so one suspects that the Tibetans have simply been sold down the river to gain general political kudos with the Chinese government, even though the former have an extremely good case in their claim for autonomy within China (independence having been abandoned in the cause of realism). Of course, Britain, France, the US and other western states are the world champions of freedom, democracy and the right to self-determination, aren’t they? Well, perhaps not …..
As far as Learning from Dogs is concerned, the main question is that of integrity. Should we simply change our political policies for convenience? Labour government ministers and indeed even Chris Patten, former Conservative Governor of Hong Kong, have referred to the previous view on Tibetan independence as “a quaint eccentricity”. However, I very much doubt whether the Tibetans – who after all live there and form the majority (or at least DID until they were ethnically-swamped by the Han Chinese) – would consider as an eccentricity the overnight and unheralded abandonment of yet one more hope in their fight for justice.
If the previous position was right for nearly 100 years then why is it suddenly wrong? What happened? Were we wrong all that time and have suddenly seen the light? That couldn’t be for reasons of expediency, could it?
Tibetan girl
And what HAVE the British gained? Apparently, there was no attempt to gain anything, since “The Chinese were not pushing for this.” Well, if they weren’t, then why give it? As it happens, the rather pathetic Dalai Lama is engaged in yet more “negotiations” with the CPP. I can just imagine the smirks on the Chinese side. The Tibetans didn’t have many cards to start with; now their only Ace has been well and truly trumped.
Most mornings I surface between 6 and 7 am and like to take the dogs out for an early walk. I cut across the green and into the forest, following a short route which takes me back round past the cricket pitch, which at this time of the year has some protective poles round the wicket area.
Every day is different and the colour in the trees that fringe the common is always changing. Each tree is a different type and it is the shape on the horizon that I like to watch, picked out in silhouette form as the sun comes up from behind.
As I walk round at this quiet time my mind seems to have a clarity which enables me to focus on what I should be doing during the day.
Occasionally there will be a squirrel or bird high in the tress.
Common English buzzard
But for the last five years I have normally seen a buzzard, England’s largest bird. The colour of this bird make it hard to pick out against the background but it seems that his habit at this time of the day is to fly from post to post round the cricket pitch, and when I finally come near he will fly off into the trees.
Perhaps illogically but I have been somewhat concerned that this bird should always be on its own. Recently, though, I have heard it calling, a noise I never heard before. So you can imagine how pleased I was yesterday actually to see two birds. My buzzard has finally found a mate.
Then for me it is back home, shower, make a tray of tea for the family who are now with Mum in bed for ten minutes before they too get dressed and get ready for school.
This Blog came about because of a conversation with fellow Blog founder, Jon Lavin. Jon was talking about integrity and how it applies to us in the sense of Truth and Falsehood: that leading truthful and integrous lives is much more than the rather warm and patronising way that the phrase might come over.
Pharaoh
Indeed, understanding the power that comes from leading truthful lives and how an individual’s power and level of consciousness can be enhanced through greater integrity, understanding, and compassion could be the most remarkable discovery that any one person could make. Dr David Hawkins, who has written extensively on this subject, has said;
A science of consciousness developed which revealed that degrees of truth reflect concordant calibratable levels of consciousness on a scale of 1 to 1,000. When this verifiable test of truth was applied to multiple aspects of society (movies, art, politics, music, sociology, religion, scientific theories, spirituality, philosophy, everyday Americana, and all the countries of the world), the results were startling.
Returning to that conversation with Jon, it was pointed out that dogs have been calibrated as having a level of consciousness of 210. As a score of 200 is the boundary between truth and falsehood, according to Hawkins, this made dogs integrous, hence the inspiration for starting this Blog. My German Shepherd, Pharaoh, sleeping on the floor close to Jon and me, made the point. Despite being a difficult dog at times, he had always demonstrated a consistency of integrity that was impressive.
Anyway, to the point of this Post – a dog called Faith.
First, here’s the story that has been fairly widely reported. While I am quoting from a BBC News website, the story has appeared in other journals.
NY cab
A Bangladeshi taxi driver in New York City has gone out of his way to track down the person who left thousands of dollars in cash in the back of his cab.
Mukul Asadujjaman, a medical student, drove nearly 80kms (50 miles) to an address he found with the money.
He left his phone number when he found no one at home. The money belonged to an Italian grandmother visiting the US.
Mr Asadujjaman was offered a reward, but he turned it down saying that as a devout Muslim he could not accept it.
Felicia Lettieri, of Pompeii, Italy, and six relatives had taken two cabs on Christmas Eve, Newsday newspaper reported.
Mrs Lettieri, 72, left her purse behind, with more than $21,000 of the group’s travelling money, jewellery worth thousands more, and some of their passports.
Her sister, Francesca Lettieri, 79, of Long Island, said the honest driver had saved her family’s vacation.
“We really love what he did,” she said.
‘Be honest’
A gracious Asadujjaman was quoted by the newspaper as saying that he may be broke, but he was also honest.
“My mother is my inspiration. She always said to be honest and work hard.”
Mr Asadujjaman called a friend with a car and drove some 80km to a Long Island address in the purse.
No one was at home, so he left his phone number and a note, the report said.
His phone rang a short time later and he drove back to return the bag.
“They were so, so, so happy,” Mr Asadujjaman told the paper.
Asked if he was tempted to keep the cash, Mr Asadujjaman said the money would have allowed him more time to study, “but my heart said this is not good”.
He also turned down a reward, saying he could not accept it as a devout Muslim, Newsday reported.
“I’m needy, but I’m not greedy,” he said. “It’s better to be honest.”
Mr Asadujjaman is not the first honest American-Bangladeshi cabbie to hit the headlines for noble behaviour.
In 2007, driver Osman Chowdhury returned a lost bag containing diamond rings worth $500,000 to the rightful owner.
This is not the correct way to defend a great Nation in a fair and just manner.
In an earlier post, my colleague Paul Handover left us with an important question: Does the public’s lack of clarity about the “underwear bomber’s” status as an enemy combatant or a criminal undermine the appearance of impartiality of the U.S. judicial system?
US Attorney General Eric Holder
Paul reviewed the legal development of the “enemy combatant” designation, ending with a March 2009 pronouncement from Eric Holder, the current U.S. Attorney General, that the U.S. had abandoned the Bush administration’s use of the term. Mr. Holder continued, “As we work toward developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values, and is governed by law.”
A new policy that “strengthens national security?” I think it is blatantly clear that an intense and timely interrogation of the bomber does more to protect our national security than lawyering him up and giving him the right to not speak. As you read this, Michael Marinaccio, an attorney for Zarein Ahmedzay, who is suspected of plotting a terror attack on NYC, is seeking to have all the information gathered by officials after his client was represented by counsel thrown out as illegal, under the civil and criminal law of the U.S. We can likely expect the same in the underwear bomber case.
A new policy that is “consistent with our values?” Treating terrorists as terrorists is perfectly consistent with my values. I am not sure what he is trying to say here. Then again, maybe I do know what he is trying to say: that it is “wrong” to treat a terrorist as an enemy combatant, and “right” to give that person all the rights of a U.S. citizen, including the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent? Those may be Mr. Holder’s values, but they aren’t mine and, as you’ll see below, they are not those of the former U.S. Attorney General either.
A new, as yet undetermined, policy that is “governed by law?” This coming from the same legal mind that decided to try the five 9/11 terrorists in New York City federal court? A decision based on what legal precedent? There is no legal precedence. On what existing, well-formulated policy? There is no such policy.
Mukasey, US Attorney General 2007-2009
But on the legal subtleties surrounding this issue, I defer to Mr. Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge who oversaw cases relating to the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. Mr. Mukasey was the U.S. Attorney General from 2007 to 2009 before retiring and being replaced by Eric Holder. His analysis is as follows:
Had Abdulmutallab [the alleged underwear bomber. Ed.] been turned over immediately to interrogators intent on gathering intelligence, valuable facts could have been gathered and perhaps acted upon. Indeed, a White House spokesman has confirmed that Abdulmutallab did disclose some actionable intelligence before he fell silent on advice of counsel. Nor is it any comfort to be told, as we were, by the senior intelligence adviser …that we can learn facts from Abdulmutallab as part of a plea bargaining process in connection with his prosecution…Holding Abdulmutallab for a time in military custody, regardless of where he is ultimately to be charged, would have been entirely lawful—even in the view of the current administration, which has taken the position that it needs no further legislative authority to hold dangerous detainees even for a lengthy period in the United States … What the gaffes, the almost comically strained avoidance of such direct terms as “war” and “Islamist terrorism,” and the failure to think of Abdulmutallab as a potential source of intelligence rather than simply as a criminal defendant seem to reflect is that some in the executive branch are focused more on not sounding like their predecessors than they are on finding and neutralizing people who believe it is their religious duty to kill us. That’s too bad, because the Constitution vests “the executive power”—not some of it, all of it—in the president. He, and those acting at his direction, are responsible for protecting us.
“…Skiing is the best way in the world to waste time.” ~ Glen Plake
Against my better judgement, my wife talked me into going skiing in the French Alps just before Christmas. It was a good opportunity to take our 3 teenage sons on holiday because they wouldn’t have come otherwise! They put some of their money in as well so it felt like a good call.
My wife and I have done a lot of cross-country skiing in Finland where I used to live, so we planned to do the same in France, while our boys went off down-hill skiing.
Unfortunately, the resort we picked didn’t cater for cross-country skiing so we ended up learning down-hill skiing. After a lot of falling over, laughter and tips from our sons, we started to get the hang of it and decided to sign-up for a half-day skiing lesson the next day.
After some initial runs on the nursery slopes, we agreed to have a go on a Green run. Although we part fell down the
"Feel the fear"
steep bits and included me nearly falling off of the ski lift as we left the station, it was an amazing experience.
What struck me was that it was a mixture of fear and exhilaration. I realised that the secret was leaning in the opposite direction to your natural instinct and trusting that that would work.
The skiing instructor was a student at a local business school and we got talking about trusting and having faith in things turning out well. Also, that in order to progress, it is usually necessary to take a risk or two and feel uncomfortable.
I realise that I have a tendency to play it safe and pull back from the new or unpredictable. In order to progress, it is necessary to do things that push back our comfort zones and put ourselves into situations which are not always pleasant. “Do something every-day that scares you.”
This guest post is contributed by someone very different to the profile of the rest of the LfD authors. AJ is a young American girl. It’s a pleasure to publish her Post. I am told that almost every little girl goes through the ‘horse phase,’ but very few actually take it to the next level. The few who do generally end up competing, but for many different reasons. Most kids are doing it for the title. But then there is a small group of them who compete for the love of the sport and the relationship you form with your horse.
AJ (age 13) jumping Penny 3 ft 6
My name is AJ Easton and I have been riding since I was five, in other words for eight years now. I have been around some pretty incredible horses, one of whom became my best friend. Her name is Heads Up Penny (more fondly known as Penny) and she is my life. She is a 14.2 hand (a hand is four inches, so she is 4’10” tall), red dun Grade Pony. My father purchased her for me in 2005, just before I turned nine. She cost only $2,650, but to us, her disposition alone is worth millions.
AJ (age 6 ) riding Chip
My first horse, Chocolate Chip, died a year before we bought Penny. Chip and Penny taught me almost everything I know about horses, but that isn’t all I have learned from them. Chip taught me about letting go, and how important it is to show the special people and pets in your life how much you love them. Penny has taught me how to be responsible, patient, understanding, and so much more. She has also given me endless amounts of love; she always has a look on her face that can melt your heart. Penny always tries her hardest to please and has gone way beyond our highest expectations.
We bought her to help me perfect the basics of riding to see where I might want to go with my riding career, but she has turned out to be one of the most incredible pony jumpers I have ever seen. I still remember being excited about jumping 2’6” in my first year of showing, but now we are sailing over 4′ fences together. Remember, she is only 4’ 10” tall! We have so many new goals for her this year, now that she is going consistently over 3’3”, which is what she needs to be able to do to compete successfully in the top Pony Jumper shows.
This year we are trying to qualify for the 2011 USEF [United States Equestrian Foundation. Ed.] National Pony Jumper Finals, the show where all of the top jumpers come together and compete to be the best. We don’t expect to win, or even place, but being able to show in it would be one of the greatest honors ever, especially if I was able to do it with my best friend, Heads Up Penny!
Learning from Dogs 