Support Orphaned Animals Through Wildlife

Baby Shower

participants can choose to buy supplies from Amazon or Target, or simply make a donation. To learn more, visit sdhumane.org/babyshower.

The public is invited to help San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife prepare for busy spring baby season.

Baby squirrels, bunnies, raccoons, opossums, bobcats, hummingbirds and ducklings. Those are just a few of the species San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program will see an influx of in the coming weeks and months.

Every spring, Project Wildlife takes in thousands of injured and orphaned baby wildlife — and needs the community’s help to give them a second chance.

By donating a special gift from San Diego Humane Society’s baby registries, the public will help prepare for the arrival of a wide variety of wild species.

The 13th annual Wildlife Baby Shower is a virtual event, where

Every heating pad, bag of birdseed and can of baby food purchased through the registries will be sent directly to San Diego Humane Society. “Your support will make a big difference for our tiniest wildlife babies,” said San Diego Humane Society’s Senior Director of Project Wildlife Jon Enyart, DVM.

“Every single donation will ensure the smallest animals who need our help get the shelter, nourishment and medical care they need to thrive.”

San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program is the primary resource for wild animal rehabilitation and conservation education in San Diego County. Each year, SDHS gives more than 13,000 injured, orphaned and sick wild animals a second chance.

In 2020, SDHS announced the Ramona Wildlife Center, where they specialize in caring for native apex predators and birds of prey, including hawks, owls, eagles, coyotes, bears, bobcats and, under special pilot authorization, mountain lions.

Mark Twain from page 5

But, slowly, little by little, he saw his precious family begin to vanish.

One by one, he saw them all go.

Susy, the eldest daughter, died first.

She had become ill when Mark and wife, Livy, were abroad, on a worldwide lecture tour.

Daughter Clara went with them to Europe; Jean was too young and stayed home, with Susy.

Mark was in London when a cable reach his hand, announcing the death of his daughter Susy.

She had died of spinal meningitis. And he was not there for her.

Mark blamed himself again, for his wayward life and the curse he brought down upon his precious family, or so he thought.

He was devastated beyond words, and it is amazing he did not take his own life.

In his own words, he scarcely believed he was able to survive this ordeal, “It is one of the mysteries of nature,” he cried, “that a man, all unprepared, can receive a thunder stroke like that and live.”

For a long period, there was no laughter in the house, neither were there any birthdays, or any observance of Christmas. All such celebrations were halted. It ate at him, because he knew his precious daughter, Susy, had made such fun and laughter and celebration over these days, and he could no longer bear it without her presence.

Twain was so diminished by his daughter’s death that he never returned to live at the Hartford House, which is now a museum.

On 5 June 1904, the cruelest blow imaginable fell squarely upon Mark Twain’s already crippled existence.

His beloved wife, Livy, long ill, had quietly passed away.

She was the cornerstone of Mark Twain’s earthly existence. He felt no strength left. He wrote with soul in hand, after the death of his wife, a letter to his wife’s brother: “I am a man without a country. Wherever Livy was, that was my country.”

His daughter, Clara, had collapsed after her mother died. She had to be committed to a rest home for a period of time. And even though Clara continued to live long after, and eventually married, she was never, ever the same person she once was. Their mother-daughter bond was so great, that Clara had never fully recovered from her mother’s death. Also, his daughter Jean’s body -ravaged by seizures brought on by epilepsy -- also had to be committed to a rest home.

In 1909, Jean, his 19-year-old daughter, suffered her final seizure and drowned in her bathtub.

It seemed like Mark Twain’s agony and tragedy paralleled Job’s in the Olde Testament Bible, where God allows Satan to unleash unending,

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Moogee is pet of the week at your Rancho Coastal Humane Society. She’s a 1-1/4-year-old, 82-pound, female, Alaskan Malamute mix.

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The $145 adoption fee for Moogee includes medical exam, spay, up to date vaccinations, registered microchip, and a one-year license if her new home is in the jurisdiction of San Diego Humane Society’s Department of Animal Services. For information about adoption or to sponsor a pet visit merciless, evil upon his good servant Job, with God only watching and telling Satan “just do not damage Job, physically.” So Satan just kills, slaughters Job’s children, and Job’s servants, and even his livestock.

Rancho Coastal Humane Society at 389 Requeza Street in Encinitas, call 760-753-6413, or log on to www.SDpets.org.

Open 11-4, Friday-Monday, and by appointment Wednesday and Thursday.

How cruel, Twain thought, in reflecting upon all of this.

Mark Twain, wrote concise words that crystallised his inner-most thoughts: “The problem I’ve had with Christianity is that God’s defenders try to make him seem somehow the victim of man’s sin. If he really is all-knowing, then he knew, even before the beginning of time, that his human creations would disappoint him and thus ‘earn damnation.’ So why did he go ahead and make us anyway, if not for the sadistic pleasure of torturing us in hell by the billions?”

Soon after, Mark Twain’s best friend, American financier, Henry Rogers, who had once salvaged Mark Twain’s life from bankruptcy, died. Twain had once written a concise volley that summed up his heart and spirit, “If god does exist, he is a malign thug.”

All this had fallen upon him, America’s premier novelist and essayist. And all through these deadly and unforgiving trials and tribulations, Mark Twain turned to what he did best – writing.

He wrote books that brought us joy and fulfillment and wonder, and he authored anecdotes that tickled our every funny bone. It is the absolute zenith of irony, that this poor, tormented man, from the debris of his own existence, somehow created a beautiful, literary kingdom seldom seen on Earth.

Mark Twain’s resiliency is supreme and unmatched. “Will I ever be cheerful again, happy again? Yes. And soon,” he wrote in his diary. “For I know my temperament. And I know that the temperament is master of the man, and he is its fettered and helpless slave and must in all things do as it commands. A man’s temperament is born in him, and no circumstances can ever change it.”

On his 70th birthday he never lost his touch.

He stood and faced the huge gathering of friends, dignitaries, and loved ones before him and said, “I have achieved my seventy years in the usual way: by sticking strictly to a scheme of life which would kill anybody else.”

His books and all he authored, were his underpinnings. The man who stood before them on his 70 th birthday, was the Mark Twain the world seldom saw, or even knew. When he was asked if he feared death, he replied with a smile and a chuckle, “I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit.”

Though he never felt self-pity, that is not to say he never felt lonely at times, as all humans do.

And though he was resilient and strong in emotional constitution, he never recanted his views of how wicked life could become and summed this up by stating: “There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him – early.”

Pet of the Week

Ragnarok the rooster is refined, regal and ready to find a new roost to call his own! This handsome little rooster would make a fantastic addition to any flock, bringing along his brilliant plumage and bright personality! Roosters are entertaining critters, and you’ll love watching this fancy fowl hunt for tasty insects and weeds and find the perfect spot in the sun for his morning dust bath.

If this fantastic, feathered friend sounds like the perfect fit for your home, adopt Ragnarok at the Escondido Campus at 3500 Burnet Drive!

f you have questions about the adoption process, you can visit sdhumane.org/adopt.

Ragnarok’s online profile: https://www.sdhumane.org/adopt/availablepets/animal-single.html?petId=848079

“The Times They Are A-Changin” Part IV of V

Bob Dylan’s 1964 recording, “Times they are a - changing”, provides the theme for this five part series. Previously we chronicled the years from 1981 through the beginning of high speed internet (broadband) in 2000 to the present.

This series explores how 40 years of evolving computer and Internet technology have changed our lives and culture.

Through the 1980s and 90s PCs (Personal Computers) working as standalone workstations, automated many of our activities. PCs changed the way we did things and made us more efficient in performing our tasks, but they didn’t change us or what we did, only the way we did it.

Broadband (high speed) Internet and Smart Phones debuted together in 2000. In the beginning, Internet applications developers focused on automating our everyday activities.

Shopping, banking, and communicating were some early targets. High speed Internet quickly spread and developers raced to make every existing application from gaming to video editing available on the Internet’s powerful servers. By 2010 the “PC Age” was virtually over. PCs had become “Internet terminals” and further increases in CPU speed, RAM count and data storage size were simply not useful because applications ran, not on the PC hardware, but on high speed Internet servers. Cloud based storage was also cheap and unlimited.

For the vast majority of business and home users, virtually any PC made after 2009 is capable of using Internet or LAN based applications as well as executing normal standalone utilities (spread sheets, games, word processing).

To operate at maximum efficiency (like a brand new PC) a twelve year old PC needs only to have 8GB of RAM, a SSD (solid state drive) and the Windows 10 or 11 OS. The cost of upgrading a 12 year old Windows 7 or 8 PC typically runs between $150 and $250, far less than the cost of a new PC.

Today (2023), the average American between the age of 16 and 64 spends seven hours each day on the Internet.

Those hours are split evenly between Smart Phones and PCs. The preferred access device of the 16-34 age group is the Smart Phone, (55% phone45% PC). The older group, 43-64, prefers to access the Internet via the PC (38% phone – 62% PC). The number of hours spent on the Internet has resulted in a reduction of the hours spent on alternative activities. Internet users spend less time reading newspapers and books, watching television, shopping, going to movies, driving and suffering through commercials on TV.

For many Americans the Internet has become the primary source of news and information. We tend to select news sources that support our political and social biases. Those biases are further supported by AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms used by content creators to target us with propaganda that support our political or social inclinations.

The result is a polarization unlike anything seen in recent American history. The mindless adulation of political party icons is reminiscent of sports team loyalty and hero worship. It defies reason.

President Joe Biden, who obviously is experiencing serious signs of early onset dementia, has presided over the historic rise in national debt, inflation, crime, drug deaths, and an unprecedented border crisis. His activities involving Hunter as the family front man that have funneled millions to his family are unquestionably criminal. While his popularity is in decline, still nearly 40% of registered Democrats polled approve of “the way he is handling his job as president” Apparently his supporters are willing to overlook his failures as a president as long as “the home team” wins.

Donald Trump is a spoiled brat. He is arrogant, mean spirited, divisive, morally bankrupt and he enjoys a 70% approval rating among Republican voters. The performance of the American economy under the Trump presidency was excellent, inflation low, law and order maintained and the border was secure. Apparently his supporters are willing to overlook his negative personal attributes in order to enjoy prosperity and order.

The Internet has the potential to benefit humanity by providing access to all human knowledge and the means to improve our lives in many ways. But the Internet also has a darker side. It is a conduit for criminal activity aimed at fleecing vulnerable users. While the Internet offers access to the highest works of man, it also provides access to the deepest depravity of the human mind. Perhaps the Internet’s most ominous threat is its use as a tool by nefarious influencers to dispense targeted propaganda, information and misinformation aimed at fomenting hatred and division among us.

Next week’s “times they are achangin” topic will be the Internet’s affect on seniors (over 65)

John Van Zante’s Critter Corner

Two Dogs . . . or Not Two Dogs ~ Answering Your Questions

the new adolescent dog would be a playmate for his adult dog. The other hoped her new puppy would keep her senior dog active.

Here’s what I learned from trainers, family, and friends.

• Dogs are pack animals dog is two to three years old. Get a younger dog who can learn from your older dog. If you’re training a puppy, don’t ignore your older dog. It still needs you.

• Don’t get littermates are important. It can cut down on stress and struggles over leadership.

• Consider the long term cost

“We’re thinking about getting a second dog. Is that a good idea?”

Right after one of my friends asked that question, two others told me they had just added second dogs to their families. One hoped that

My daughter-in-law likes to have a “transition dog.” When they lose one dog, their transition dog will help them through the loss and fill the empty spots until their next dog finds them. There’s always a dog in their pack.

• Think about the dog’s age

Many experts say the best time to add a second dog is when your first

The backyard breeder or pet store want to make an easy sale, but most shelters, rescues, and pet experts agree that you should not get two dogs from the same litter. Their strongest bond could be with each other, leaving you out.

• Boy dogs versus Girl dogs

If you have a dog and you’re getting a second dog, get a dog of the opposite sex from the one you already have. Spaying and neutering

We all like to think that money is no object when it comes to pet care. But if you adopt two puppies at the same time, that’s two adoption fees followed by 10 to 15 years of parallel veterinary bills, food costs, toys, etc.

Check with your local shelters and rescues. Rancho Coastal Humane Society has programs that can help with expenses including Better with a Buddy, Two-Purr-One kittens, Senior-to-Senior pet adoptions, and Pets for Patriots.

Mark Twain from page 10

Twain’s early life shaped him. He was a product of Missouri, a slave state, and his father and uncle owned slaves and his young, impressionable eyes had him witness a slave owner brutally murder a slave for, as Twain wrote: “Merely doing something awkward.” In this scenario, the owner threw a rock at the slave with such force it killed him, outright.

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUCH EVIL: POIGNANT MEETING WITH HELEN KELLER.

A most touching moment occurred in 1895 when Mark Twain met with 14-year-old Helen Keller.

Pressing her fingers gently on Twain’s lips, he proceeded to tell her an amusing story.

All along the narrative, the young teenage Keller, both deaf and blind, broke out in laughter at all the right places, as Twain punctuated his story with humour.

Her tiny fingers ‘read’ his lips, and her dark world suddenly lit up with laughter, and sunshine, and all the things that make children happy.

Deeply touched at her childlike innocence, and in spite of her being cursed in eternal darkness, Twain saw something he had long overlooked.

For what little in life this small fragile child had, she was supremely confident.

She was supremely optimistic.

She was supremely happy!

He later wrote: “She is a fellow to Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, Homer, Shakespeare, and the rest of the immortals.” (“History, Letters, Literature,” by Mark Twain.)

Though she could not talk, and even though she was totally blind, the 14-year-old Helen Keller had taught Mark Twain much, in his twilight years.

All reminiscent of what Twain once learned: “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

BORN AND DIED WITH HALLEY’S COMET’S ARRIVAL. In 1909 he was fond of repeating, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment in my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.’”

In 1910, Halley’s Comet actually made its closest approach to Earth.

Almost as if it were pausing along the way to pick up a passenger.

As reported by the New York Times: “On April 21, 1910, Mark Twain died of a heart attack, just as the comet made its next pass within sight of Earth; one day after it appeared at its brightest.”

The very next day, a stunned world discovered the dead body of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.

His once-kinetic body, at age 74, was now motionless. His hand forever stilled.

His tongue now silenced.

The tending physicians determined that Mark Twain had heart failure, due to angina pectoris.

The comet that seemed to carry his spirit away would continue its elliptical orbit around the Sun.

By Thursday, 19 May 1910, Halley’s Comet would actually brush the Earth with its 24-million-milelong tail. For 6 full hours the Earth lingered in the wake of the great comet’s dazzling tail.

Lingering, as if saying a final farewell from its unique passenger which it, ostensibly, seemed to be carrying away.

We had Mark Twain for 74 years here on Earth, and that time now seems far too brief.

His life was like a comet, itself, shooting across the horizon, brilliant and dazzling along its path. Today, he remains among the most misunderstood, and misquoted authors in world history.

He was a chameleon, who seemed able to change colour, or shape, or so it seemed.

He was many different things to many different people who all thought they knew him well.

Mark Twain was a master storyteller, and words were his medium. But, in the final chapter of his life, his fondest and most eloquent words were plain and simple, as if they came from a small boy running barefoot along the mighty Mississippi.

He never recovered from the death of his wife, Livy.

As usual, he blamed himself and felt that the Almighty had punished him through her death.

Six years had passed and he still felt alone without her by his side.

Mark Twain continued on page 13

How to Survive a Long-Haul Flight in 2023

by Christopher Elliott

If you travel this year, you’ll probably spend time on a plane. A lot of time.

A recent study by MMGY Travel Intelligence suggests a full quarter of Americans who plan to take a trip in the next six months will travel internationally. That’s up from 19% last year, and the highest percentage in three years.

One of the top regions will be Asia-Pacific, which is ultra longhaul territory. New York to Tokyo is 14½ hours on a plane. Los Angeles to Sydney takes 15 hours.

Should you take a marathon flight this year?

Is an ultra long-haul flight survivable, or will you exit the aircraft looking like an extra in World War Z? To find out, I recently took three back-to-back long-haul flights and spoke with every expert I knew.

I’m here to tell you that you can make it through a marathon flight without losing your dignity and a day’s sleep. But it’s not easy. Nature, time zones and sitting in a pressurized aluminum tube conspire against you during your journey.

I traveled the equivalent of around the world within a few days, plus or minus a few thousand miles. My jetlag adventure took me from the southern tip of Argentina to Western Australia.

Long-haul flights make you feel like you pulled an all-nighter (or worse).

The first leg didn’t look that difficult: a 10½ -hour overnight flight from Buenos Aires to Houston. But looks can be deceiving. I started the day standing in a long line at a small airport in southern Argentina, followed by a turbulent three-hour domestic flight and a six-hour connection. Then I was banished to the last few rows of economy class -- all while recovering from a serious ski injury. And, as if that’s not enough, it was on United Airlines, which offers practically no legroom in economy class. Of course, I didn’t sleep.

With only a three-hour time difference, I landed in Houston feeling like I pulled an all-nighter in college, and that is not a good feeling. I slept for the next 20 hours at my uncle’s home in the suburbs.

The next day I returned to the air- port and caught a 14½ -hour flight from Houston to Doha, Qatar, and an 11-hour flight from Doha to Perth. This series of flights could have pushed me to the brink, except that the upgrade gods smiled upon me and I managed to get a seat in business class. It also helped that I was flying on Qatar Airways, where I would have been fine even in the last row of economy.

Did I sleep? A few hours, sure. I still felt a little wobbly after I landed in Perth more than 30 hours later, but remarkably, I got up the next day and started working again. I’ll tell you in a moment how I did it.

Expert tips for handling a long-haul flight

I interviewed dozens of frequent fliers to find out how they managed to get through long flights. Here’s what they told me.

Choose your airline carefully: If you’re flying long distances, don’t cut corners. On a previous flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires on a discount European airline that shall remain nameless, they tried to sell us bottled water and breakfast at the end of a 13-hour flight. I’m surprised the passengers didn’t mutiny.

Your best bet is a seat on one of the Gulf carriers (Emirates, Etihad or Qatar Airways) or an airline specializing in long-haul flights, like Air New Zealand or Qantas.

For example, Air New Zealand researched long-haul flying for five years, which led it to update its cabin with dynamic lighting to help reset your circadian rhythm. It also added a special cooling pillow for business class passengers developed by NASA.

The airport in Doha, Qatar, has shopping, restaurants and an indoor green space that’s in a class by itself. Ian Bradley, a spokesman for Qatar Airways, says even economy class is a premium product.

“For us, it comes down to common sense -- giving passengers enough legroom, in-flight entertainment and amenity kits,” he says.

Avoid all connections: That’s the advice of Scott Jordan, a frequent traveler who runs a clothing company in Sun Valley, Idaho. He had just one connection on his recent flight from Salt Lake City to Johannesburg.

Flight continued on page 14

This could have ended up so much worse. The shattered glass could have injured someone, potentially turning into an expensive lawsuit. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But being without an oven for two months is a major inconvenience.

I’ve seen more of these backorder delays recently. They are probably related to the supply chain issues some companies are having. The problem is, what do you do about it? Do you make your customers wait for weeks or months? Or do you get them a working appliance quickly?

The answer, of course, is you get them a replacement quickly. If you can’t nudge the company in the right direction, check out my free guide on replacing your appliance on my advocacy site, Elliott.org.

A brief, polite email to one of the company’s executives might have done the trick. I list the names, numbers and emails of the top executives at GE on my site. I would start by contacting one of the vice presidents and then work your way up the ladder.

I contacted GE on your behalf. A representative reached out to you and arranged to have a new range delivered. “Our customer service team spoke with Ms. Butcher this morning, and she is all set,” a GE representative told me. “This case is now closed.”

Maybe. But it would have been interesting to hear how GE is improving its inspections to avoid any more shattering ovens. And I suspect that after this is published, I’ll hear from a few more customers with broken ovens. We shall see.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@ elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.

© 2023 Christopher Elliott.

*walking paths with and much more...

Mark Twain from page 12

Yes, he could laugh again, but not in the same way as before.

He harboured an undying love for his wife, long after she departed and left him alone and feeling forlorn and abandoned.

He often repeated: “Oh, how I wish I were with Livy.”

Coincidence or not, or by the Hand of the Almighty, Halley’s Comet came on his birth year.

It borders the miraculous, that it seemingly came back for him on his last year on Earth.

Just as he said it would.

Seems he got his two wishes. He wanted to be with his beloved wife, Livy -- and his personal comet, like a chariot, took him home.