David Harcombe, Age 90, Goes to Ground

JUST HEARD DAVID HARCOMBE has died at age 90.  He was the creator and editor of Earth Dog - Running Dog magazine, as well as the author of several books on terrier work.

David owned terriers his entire life, preferring Patterdales for the last few decades, but owning and working Jack Russells, and a few Borders before that.

David wrote (the punctuation is his):  “In the early days. In the old days. Often looked back on and esteemed as if it were a Golden Age of dog owners but it’s easy to be misled by mythical tales and mythical figures from the past. For in my experience that’s what many of them were. Myths. Their reputations cemented and distorted by writers who placed legend above a search for the truth and who accepted it all when they were told what they wanted to hear.”

Bingo.  

David started off life with very modest means.  

He writes: 

“I count myself a lucky man.  I was born and raised in the industrial Rhondda Valley when coal was still the king and the river ran black from the colliery filth and pollution which poured into it. I lived there for most of my life and enjoyed it but finally moved out and now, when I open my door in the morning and go out to the yard to my dogs I have a view over small fields, hedges and trees and hills, and I hear the sounds of the countryside…. 

“I count myself as very fortunate to have come to this place from the Rhondda, where I started out.  Nothing against the old Rhondda, born there me, a Valley Boy, eventually it wasn’t for me and as soon as I came to my present home, I felt at home.  It just felt right for me, from day one, almost as if it had been there, waiting for me. It felt like putting on a favorite old hunting coat, it felt comfortable. And all of this in spite of being, to put it mildly, ‘hard up’ for many years. Financially, it could’ve been the lowest point in my life and believe me, there have been some very low points. Being rich never seemed to be my destiny but even though the new life was very much ‘hand to mouth’ it was still acceptable because it was what I wanted to be doing what I wanted to do. Difficult years but they were the start of what were to become the best years of my life.”

And, of course, those “best years” involved digging on the dogs.

David and I had our differences of opinion, but they were not ones we talked about, whether political or canine.  Instead I read what he published, occasionally highlighting what I thought was particularly interesting or correct.

Back before David got his own web site in 2010, I created and hosted a page on the Terrierman web site, through which people could order the magazine, whether overseas or in the UK.  David was a bit amazed that a few lines of code made it possible for EDRD subscriptions to be gathered from anywhere in the world with instant currency conversion and direct deposit into his bank account. For my part, I was glad to be of minor service.

Sadly, Earth Dog - Running Dog  magazine is no more, and now neither is David. 

Truly, it’s an end of an era.

God Rest Ye Merry Billionaires

Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan

It doesn't get much better.

Edie Brickell :: What I Am

New Water Pump

The well pump died this morning, so I called our plumber who came out before noon. 

Three hours later, he and his two co-workers had diagnosed the problem and pulled 560 feet of water pipe out of the well casing in order to replace the 27-year old old pump at the bottom of the well.

Water is now back on, just in time for the arrival of four house guests for the Christmas holidays. Hallelujah!

Hopefully this pump will last another 27 years.

Studying Lizard Spit Yields Big Results

It’s fashionable to pluck some odd study out of a budget request, and then make fun of it.  

Rarely noted is how often pure science — seemingly without clear purpose — yields spectacular results.

For instance, a study of lizard saliva turned into a peptide medication, which was turned into a diabetes medication, which was turned into a GLP1 weight loss drug (Ozempic), that just became the first therapy every approved for sleep apnea (Zepbound).

Real Selection for Improvement

Genetic improvement in farm stock and produce is not hard to find or see, even if it’s nearly invisible in the world of pedigree books.

When I was a kid, green peppers were green and rarely any other color, and were considerably smaller than these massive, multi-colored and quite sweet “green” peppers.

Escapees

A flock of turkeys escaped their pen and clustered on the side of the two-lane road near the house. When I stopped to take a picture, they all waddled over, no doubt looking for the food that generally accompanied the arrival of a human. Sorry birds; my corn is around the corner and up the hill. Coming back, the turkeys were gone and there was no evidence of vehicle impact, so hopefully all were collected without incident.

The Opinions of Billionaires

Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness

Today was 60 degrees, and this Bald Eagle was taking advantage to do a full grooming.

Red-tail Huddled Against the Cold

Local Doe Making Doe Eyes

Half Rack Buck

This fellow was with two does that he clearly had worked hard to hold onto; half his rack was gone.

First Snow of Winter 2024

Harnesses Are for Plow Horses

Dogs generally pull about 60 per cent harder on a leash when wearing a padded harness compared with a collar, even when the equipment is marketed as “anti pull” – putting the people walking them at risk of injury. Source.

The Great Solomon Burke

Sly And the Family Stone

Sly and the Family Stone were first in funk, and were way ahead of their time.

They were pure positive, racially integrated, gender mixed, and with a horn section. Amazing.

A Bit of Excitement

We had a Big Brown Bat in the house, flying around our living room, dining room, and kitchen. 

I opened up three doors to the outside, and I *think* he flew out the door to the outside deck.  He was a big fellow!

Bats are always a *serious* caution around here, due to rabies.  

This fellow appeared to be very healthy, but *any* bite from a bat is *mandatory* rabies protocol, which is a fortune if insurance doesn’t pick it up.  

See >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-bite-at-hospital-will-kill-you.html. 

And will insurance pick it up?  Who knows?!

It seems we may have to shoot a few more insurance company executives to get a clear answer on that.

Big Brown Bats can over winter in homes, and I think this is the species that crawls up into the space between the outside brick and the shutters.  The painters — nerves of steel — said they found bats behind nearly every shutter.

Bats, of course, are a great boon in terms of insect control, so I’m happy they’re about.  I just need them on the other side of the walls.

The Count In Your Family

What was global population when your grandparent were born?

Your parents?

You?

What is it now? 

What will it be when your kids are 60?

This is story of population growth within the lives of people you know. It’s not ancient history, rumor, or speculative fiction.

▪️My grandfather was born in 1900, when world population was 1.6 billion.

▪️My father was born in 1938, when world population was 2 billion.

▪️I was born in 1959, when world population was 3 billion.

▪️My daughter was born in 1987, when world population was 5 billion.

▪️My grandson was born in 2022, when world population was 8 billion.

▪️When my daughter is 60, world population will be 9.7 billion

Twelve

Diversity at Costco

At Costco, they had whole Halal Lamb (imported from New Zealand) as well as goat, next to the plant-based "Beyond Burger".

Mom’s Bohemian Rhapsody

Red-tailed Hawk

Spotted him on this perch on the way back from the doctor’s, and he was still there when I returned the same way to the grocery store.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Watching the road near the Monocacy River.

I Was a Wizard at Three

Show Me

Talk is cheap, war is expensive.

Do not tell me how you pray, tell me how much you will pay.

Do not tell me your values. Show me what you will pay for and how, and I will show you your values.

Remembering John Lennon

John Lennon was murdered 44 years ago today.

Since then, over 1.5 million people in America have been shot and killed -- and many, many more have been wounded.

Mother Nature Doesn’t Have a Logo

How Many Bullets?

How many .227 bullets can you buy with the average monthly Social Security check?

Asking for a friend.

Winter Is Here

Patches of icey-snow on the ground, with wind that sounds like a train shoving 90-foot tree crowns 12-feet in every direction.

A Warning Shot

Brian Thompson, who had led the UnitedHealthcare insurance company, was shot to death at point-blank range early Wednesday morning on the sidewalk outside the New York Hilton Midtown ahead of his company's investors' day conference.

Read that again.

An investor's conference.

This is where the CEO brags about how many scores of billions of dollars a year he rakes in based on selling insurance to people when they don’t need it, and denying claims as soon as they do. 

The words "deny," "defend" and "depose" were discovered on the shell casings found at the scene where this  CEO was gunned down. The masked gunman remains on the loose.

If the shooter is ever caught, no jury on earth will convict him.

Let this be a warning -- a shot across the bow -- to the politicians who think they can cancel ObamaCare, and privatize Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans health care.

In the era of "stand your ground" gun laws, the folks who jeopardize our health and welfare should have a lot to fear.

Or, as one friend put it, "If we kill and eat one billionaire and one CEO and one politician a year, I'm pretty sure the others will get the idea."

How the Pug Got Its Name

For humor to work, the audience has to recognize the situation and have a shared set of values.

Humor is how you deflate the pretentious, and show the emperor naked in his “new clothes”.

Damn Socialists

Bald Eagle on Watch

BALD EAGLE shot taken on the way to coffee.  Bald Eagle pairs typically raise one chick a year, though they can raise a pair.  One nest I watched hatched three eggs, but the “extra” chick was forked out of the nest after a few weeks, by either a sibling or his/her parent.

I have never seen a Bald Eagle nest that was *not* in a sycamore tree near water.  Sycamores are big trees, and their branches are strong enough — and far enough apart from each other — that they can support a 6-10 foot wide Eagle nest *and* allow the Eagles to take off and land without branches interfering.

Bald Eagles will feed on carrion, such as dead deer, but they are primarily fish eaters.  I have seen a few feeding on cats, but I suspect the cats were most likely  roadkill. As a general rule, most predators feed farther down the food chain than most imagine, as even the most minor injury to foot, claw, canine, or tendon is potentially fatal.

Bring Out Your Dead!

BLACK VULTURES on a deer carcass.  I took this this morning on the way to coffee.  This deer was a lost cripple after being shot — no way he could have jumped the double fences on this horse property after a car impact.

Black Vultures mostly use sight to find carcasses, often following Turkey Vultures which can smell the dead from a remarkable distance.

For years, it was believed that all vultures were raptors, members of the order Falconiformes.

In 1994, however, it was discovered that vultures on this side of the Atlantic actually share a common ancestor with storks and ibises. Now, New World vultures are recognized as Ciconiiformes, in the family Cathartidae, while European, African, and Asian vultures are recognized as Old World vultures (family Accipitridae, subfamily Aegypiinae). There are 15 species of Old World Vultures and 7 Species of New World Vultures.

What is a buzzard? 

In the U.S. vultures are often called "buzzards," but in actually a Buzzard is a European member of the hawk family. The European buzzard, Buteo buteo, is closely related to the American Red Tailed Hawk.

Most of the vultures you see in the U.S. are Turkey Vultures. Black Vultures also exist in the South, moving North, but they do not have the graceful flight of the Turkey Vulture and are not as common. 

California Condors (a type of vulture) have been retintroduced in California and Arizona, but are so rare you are unlikely to see one in your entire life unless you make a special trip to the remote areas where they have been released.

We Are Stardust

The iron in our blood was formed in stars, billions of years ago, and trillions of miles away.

No wonder we're all so tired.

When Pedophiles Write In

Some years back I wrote a piece for a British dog magazine entitled Sick Puppies and Broken Dogs in which I compared the institutionalized sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church to the institutionalized abuse of dogs by the Kennel Club. 

This morning’s headlines (see above) reminded me of that post, and the pro-Catholic Church and pro-pedophilia correspondence that followed.

——————

ME: The Catholic Church has a pernicious pedophilia problem related to sexism and the rules governing priest recruitment. Pedophilia in the priesthood is due to a defective theology that is very resistant to change, and the hierarchy protects both the theory and the practice. It’s a broken culture that ignores this stuff.

INTERNET: I’m Catholic, and I am offended. You are a horrible person. What religion are you?

INTERNET: Are you calling me a pedophile?

INTERNET: Are you calling all Catholics pedophiles?

INTERNET: I’m a pedophile, but I’m not a priest. Your argument fails.

INTERNET: Why are you sex-shaming pedophiles? They are who they are; they didn’t ask to be pedophiles. It’s either a genetic thing, or else it’s childhood stuff. Either way, they can’t help it.

INTERNET: Why are you attacking priests? I’m a priest and I’m not a pedophile.

INTERNET: Let he who has not done something perverted cast the first stone.

INTERNET: Do you even go to church? If you did you would know most priests aren’t pedophiles.

INTERNET: I don’t see how this has anything to do with the church or how they select priests.

INTERNET: Imagine that you get called by God and take a vow of poverty to become a priest, and then someone suggests that the priesthood has a pedophilia problem. It’s outrageous.

INTERNET: When I was a choir boy I was never diddled by a priest. I think this whole thing is made up by people looking for attention and money.

INTERNET: It’s not the Vatican’s fault. The local churches have to patrol themselves. I blame the congregations and the parents for not doing their job.

INTERNET: I’ve read the Bible, and there’s nothing in there that requires pedophilia, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

INTERNET: So what if a priest does have sex with kids? At least the kids are getting attention. Get over it.

INTERNET: Pedophiles can’t help it; they’re born that way. You are engaged in pedophile-shaming and I hope you get hit by a truck driven by a pedophile.

INTERNET: Not all pedophiles are fucking little boys.

INTERNET: It’s not always rape. Don’t confuse rape and having sex with children.

INTERNET: You’re a bigot. In other cultures and eras this is all normal. You’re very narrow minded. I no longer like you.

INTERNET: The Church is looking into this pedophilia stuff. Give it time. It’s complicated. We wouldn’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water.

INTERNET: What about nuns hitting kids? That’s way worse, and way more common.

INTERNET: I’m a priest and do more than fuck children; I also do woodwork. Don’t pigeonhole all priests. You suck.

INTERNET: What about the nun-raping? Are you saying that’s OK?

INTERNET: Why are you opposed to gays? Are you homophobic? You are heterosexual scum.

INTERNET: Why are you opposed to sex?

INTERNET: This an American problem.

INTERNET: This also happens in Ireland, Canada, France, Australia, England, Mexico.... so why focus on Philadelphia?

INTERNET: I blame the Victorians.

INTERNET: Why are you obsessed with pedophiles? Are you a pedophile?

INTERNET: It’s not really sex the way we do it in our club which has standards set out by the priests. It’s OK the way we do it.

INTERNET: Pedophilia has a long history and the following great people in history were pedophiles. Do you even know history?

INTERNET: It’s only pedophilia when the child is under 12. From 12-18 it’s “youth courting.”

INTERNET: You don’t know anything about youth courting. How many teenagers have you fucked?

INTERNET: You don’t understand; these older men are helping gay youth explore their sexuality. That’s a good thing.

INTERNET: People are born pedophiles, and God doesn’t make junk. We need to accept pedophilia as part of the great wobble of what people can be. No shame and no blame. You are very backward in your thinking.

INTERNET: Why listen to some cisgender blogger who is hating on Catholics?

INTERNET: Love is love, and haters gonna hate.

INTERNET: These priests are old. What else do you expect them to do?

INTERNET: Most pedophiles aren’t Catholics or priests. Your argument is nonsense.

INTERNET: If a 7-year old can pay taxes, and 12-year old can shoot a shotgun, and 14-year old can work, and a 15-year old can drive, then they can all consent to have sex.

INTERNET: You need a little pedophilia to maintain the priesthood. How else are we going to get priests?

INTERNET: It’s not just the Catholics; the Muslims are worse. And the Evangelicals.

INTERNET: Catholic priests are no more likely to be pedophiles than anyone else. Stop Catholic bashing.

INTERNET: How come you’re not focusing on all the good work done by priests who aren’t pedophiles? Let’s lift them up.

INTERNET: How come a 70-year old man can marry a 35-year old woman and that’s OK, but it’s not OK for that same man to have sex with her when he’s 47 and she’s 12? This stuff seems completely arbitrary.

INTERNET: I’m from Pakistan where child brides are part of our heritage. Your concerns are a paternalistic kind of imperialism. Child marriage has been going on for a thousand years in my country, and it hasn’t hurt us.

INTERNET: Jeffrey Epstein was a massive pedophile and he was Jewish. So your argument fails.

INTERNET:  What does this have to do with dogs?

TUCKER CARLSON: Tucker Carlson concedes child rape is "unpopular" in passionate defense of child rape.

ME: This thread has been closed for review by a moderator.

Happiness Is Right There

In my experience, happiness is simply living close to your moral code. 

If you are having a hard time figuring out what your moral code is, go out and help the less fortunate.

If you cannot find the less fortunate, go outside and pick up trash.

Morning Has Broken

View out my bedroom window and off the bedroom deck every morning.

If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Were Alive Today

The Heart, Small and Hard

“We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers.

"All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity. And they will say that this structure was held together politically, which it was, and they will say also that our politics was no more than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of the heart, and that the heart, in those days, was small, and hard, and full of meanness.” 

-- "Of the Empire" by Mary Oliver