Mayor of Alaska village walks on four paws by Niki2

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Mayor of Alaska village walks on four paws

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Thursday, July 19, 2012 08:12
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VIEWED: 1850
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 8:17 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Maybe they're onto something there...

Quote:
Not many mayors in the United States enjoy belly rubs from their constituents. Then again, most mayors don't prance around town naked and curl up for naps in front of local businesses.

For 15 years, Stubbs the cat has held the top office in Talkeetna, Alaska. And his approval ratings have never been higher.

"He doesn't raise our taxes -- we have no sales tax. He doesn't interfere with business. He's honest," said Lauri Stec, manager of Nagley's General Store, which doubles as the mayor's office.

Stubbs may be the only mayor in the country who rose to office as an infant.

"He was in a box full of kittens in the front of the store, and (the owners) were giving them away," Stec said. She picked "Stubbs" because he had no tail.

Soon afterward, residents weren't happy with any of the human candidates in the upcoming mayoral election and voted for Stubbs as a write-in candidate. The kitten won.

Because Talkeetna is a "historical district," the mayoral post is more symbolic than functional, said Andi Manning, president of the Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce. So most residents are fine with a four-legged feline running the show.

But the power, apparently, has gotten to Stubbs' furry head.

"All throughout the day I have to take care of the mayor. He's very demanding," said Skye Farrar, a clerk at Nagley's. "He meowed and meowed and meowed and demanded to be picked up and put on the counter. And he demanded to be taken away from the tourists. Then he had his long, afternoon nap."

In addition, the mayor will only drink water from a wine glass that has catnip in it, Stec added.

Even though dogs run loose and outnumber people in Talkeetna, he said, the canines seem to respect Stubbs' authority.

"I've never seen a dog mess with him," Basilone said. http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/us/alaska-cat-mayor/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Maybe we should try that everywhere...it couldn't be much worse!

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 8:24 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

Not sure that would work everywhere. Probably too much of a pussy to get the conservative vote.

--Anthony

Note to Self:
Raptor - woman testifying about birth control is a slut (the term fits.)
Six - Wow, isn't Niki quite the CUNT? And, yes, I spell that in all caps....
Wulf - Niki is a stupid fucking bitch who should hurry up and die.

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” -Thomas Szasz

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 8:35 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Oh, well DONE Anthony! And prize for first giggle of the day, as well. Many thanx.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 11:20 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Had I said that, y'all would have called me a misogynist, and wondered aloud why I hate women.

But seriously, a putty cat ? In Alaska ? Upon seeing the headline, and who posted it, I was SOOOO hoping to see a cute Husky, Malamute or Wolf mix.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 12:32 PM

BIGDAMNNOBODY

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Had I said that, y'all would have called me a misogynist, and wondered aloud why I hate women.

No doubt.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 12:39 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Had I said that, y'all would have called me a misogynist, and wondered aloud why I hate women.

Had you said that, you'd have called the cat a slut or a prostitute, and then claimed that it's an apt title.

Want people to stop calling you a misogynist? Quit being a misogynist. It's really that simple.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 12:44 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Had I said that, y'all would have called me a misogynist, and wondered aloud why I hate women.

Had you said that, you'd have called the cat a slut or a prostitute, and then claimed that it's an apt title.

Had the cat gone to congress, and demanded others pay for its birth control, damn straight I would have. If it paid for its own damn birth control, I'd not have cared, 1 damn bit.

One must first BE a misogynist so that they can then quite being a misogynist. Since I am not, nor ever was... your comments are moot.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 1:38 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Had I said that, y'all would have called me a misogynist, and wondered aloud why I hate women.

Had you said that, you'd have called the cat a slut or a prostitute, and then claimed that it's an apt title.

Want people to stop calling you a misogynist? Quit being a misogynist. It's really that simple.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

Hello Mike,

I fear you are speaking to a wall.

Mr. Raptor has never been able to illustrate how the desire to obtain birth control makes anyone a 'slut,' nor why 'sluttiness' varies depending on how the birth control is acquired.

Mr. Raptor has never been able to understand the problem with such an attitude or stance, or how it shows disdain for women.

Asking such a man for reflection or understanding is like trying to see your image in a lump of coal.

The only thing such a man is suitable for is igniting animosity and burning away patience.

--Anthony

Note to Self:
Raptor - woman testifying about birth control is a slut (the term fits.)
Six - Wow, isn't Niki quite the CUNT? And, yes, I spell that in all caps....
Wulf - Niki is a stupid fucking bitch who should hurry up and die.

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” -Thomas Szasz

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 3:47 PM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Had I said that, y'all would have called me a misogynist, and wondered aloud why I hate women.

Had you said that, you'd have called the cat a slut or a prostitute, and then claimed that it's an apt title.

Had the cat gone to congress, and demanded others pay for its birth control, damn straight I would have. If it paid for its own damn birth control, I'd not have cared, 1 damn bit.

Except nobody ever "demanded others pay" for their birth control. The issue was whether insurance WHICH YOU PAY FOR should cover birth control, as it covers other "medical" treatments, like Viagra for men.

One wonders if you're legitimately this stupid, or if you're being purposefully obtuse.

Oh, wait - nobody wonders that at all!

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 7:00 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
The issue was whether insurance WHICH YOU PAY FOR should cover birth control, as it covers other "medical" treatments, like Viagra for men.

Whether insurance SHOULD cover... Who MAKES insurance cover such things ? Where was Sandra Fluke speaking, when she offered up her little sob story ? Was it to the insurance companies ? No, she was talking to GOVT, in the hopes it would FORCE insurance companies cover such things, which really aren't anything but ordinary, routine, and expected expenditures.

The govt has no business forcing that either Viagra or birth control should be covered by insurance companies. ( That sure does throw a wrench in your whole 'Raptor is a misogynist ' meme, huh? )

And if the 'mayor' of said Alaska village is really a cat, then that village needs no mayor.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 8:43 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
Asking such a man for reflection or understanding is like trying to see your image in a lump of coal.

The only thing such a man is suitable for is igniting animosity and burning away patience.

That says it all, in a nutshell, Anthony. As usual, you distill the essence of something and nail it concisely and with wonderful humor. Thank you. It also made me giggle, so you get the first prize of the day for that.

I do, however, agree that if Raptor had written the crack, people would have gone after him. In that respect he is accurate, in my opinion, tho' pretty much everything else others said after that is also true.

As to birth control and insurance paying for it, he has no argument given that insurance ALSO pays for viagra and things like it. If one is not valid, neither is the other, with the caveat that birth control is FAR more important and vital than guys having meds to get it up...also on the dime of everyone who pays health care premiums. There's, as always, no valid argument on his side on that matter or any other, so, also as usual, I'll not remark on it further.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 9:07 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!

I thought this was another thread about Sarah Palin.

Finally I've had my faith restored in politicians, except for the killing and cannibalizing raw flesh in public part.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 10:34 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

However, given his remark, here is a photo of Andree Schrieber, one of the women I know in BAM (Bay Area Mushers) who I occasionally sulky my huskies with:

They own, believe it or not, three huskies, a malamute, and a husky-wolf cross (the latter of which has a real hatred for my little Kochak, so we have to be sure to keep them apart!). I think they may have gained one more husky recently, too. In a SMALL house in Fairfax with a postage-stamp, steeply-inclined back yard!

I don't know how they do it, neither Jim nor I can conceive of that many even with our much bigger (and only mildly inclined) back yard!

They mush in Winter, which is why the big pack of dogs

but the rest of the year (and most of this past Winter, since there was little snow), they "scooter" around the Bay Area. They ride what are called "Digglers", special scooters for dog scootering, which has become popular, just as bikejorring, another dog sport but with bicycles. Most of BAM do dog sledding, then off-season either bikejorring, scootering, or get their dogs to pull ATV-type things. This is what it looks and sounds like when we all get together:

This is her husband Ed; when BAM goes out, they split the dogs between the two of them, since five dogs on a Diggler would be pretty insane!

Here's Ed with four of their guys hooked up to his and Andree's Digglers, at the beginning of the trail at what we call the Ponds. It's actually Las Gallinas Sanitation District's reclamation ponds; I sulky them with my guys a couple of times a week out there. There are three ponds and trails that run around and between them, so I can get a good 45-minute run out of the huskies out there.

There WAS a video on BAM's website of Ed with the fast guys, he runs the fastest of their dogs and leaves Andree far behind! It's a great video, but has disappeared...I'll see if I can find it again. You'll be amazed how fast they go, it's kinda scary; but luckily for me, I'm sitting in a sulky so am a lot more stable than Ed and Andree and the others on their digglers. I've NEVER fallen, while they've skidded off on wet trails and other stuff. Lucky me...except I can't go out on some of the trails they can cuz my wheel base is bigger.

What we do is called "urban mushing", and it's become really popular in CA. There's rollerjorring (with rollerblades), bikejorring, dog scootering and of course, for me, dog sulkying. I don't know if there's a special name for doing it with an ATV, but a lot of people are doing that now, too. They all come under the category of urban mushing, and it's great fun! All kinds of breeds participate, tho mostly huskies, it's true--but in BAM, we have a women who is pulled by two FRENCH BULLDOGS! Huskies love it most, tho', I think...huskies were built to run, and there's nothing quite like the honest-to-gawd SMILE of a running husky! And they do "rev up", just like they say in the video...it's actually hard--no, IMPOSSIBLE--to keep them STILL once they know what's coming!

So there...everything you didn't want in a dog-centered post! ;o)

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 11:03 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Awww... thanks bunches for posting the puppies, Niki.

Q - Why is it that some dogs dislike certain other dogs, as you mentioned about that one wolf mix and your Kochak ? Is it simply one is smaller, and the bigger one can 'get away' with being a bully? Or is it 'personality' ?

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 12:27 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

It's something they sense, something that we probably can't pick up. Because it happens all the time. In Goose's case, she was fine with Kochak until I offered Koch a treat immediately after I gave one to Goose. I ended up in the ER with a badly swollen infected knuckle (which is still bigger than the other one!) from separating them, and Goose has never forgotten that she hates Kochak. Kochak, on the other hand, pays no attention while Goose is straining to get to her, or turning around while we're mushing to get to her, or (when we tried my guys running ahead) increases her pace to try and catch up to her. So in that case, it's ALL on Goose's side.

It could be body language (which is REAL big to dogs and other animals; if you ever watch Dog Whisperer, you can actually see it when Cesar points it out), smell, dominance, or something else. Kochak has gone after two dogs at the dog park for no discernable reason, and some have gone after her. Tashi has never gone after any other dog. So I assume personality comes into it as well.

I met a couple at our local pet warehouse a few days ago. They were elderly husky lovers, always had huskies, and had just gotten a young rescue after their dog of 17 years died. They were very excited about her, and took me over to their car to meet her. She's absolutely adorable, and a real cuddly lover. So the woman wanted to bring her over to meet my pair, hanging out of the window of course. Their girl and Kochak took one look at each other and it was "to the death!"...Tashi observed the whole thing without anything other than wagging his tail. They had to pull their girl back and I rolled the car window up a bit so Koch couldn't jump out. Those two really wanted to go at it!

Maybe female huskies are more aggressive when it comes to other female huskies or something. Huskies generally are among the LEAST aggressive of breeds (despite people being scared of them so they end up on the list of "top ten most aggressive dogs" totally unfairly). But I know of at least one other dog at the dog park who regularly goes after Koch...Koch is a brat and can outrun her, so now she either takes a wide loop around her or actually TEASES Missy.

They have preferences to people, too, YOU know that. Missy's walker, who spends a LOT of time at that park, adores Kochak...the minute Koch recognizes her across the field she takes off like shot out of a canon, belly on the ground (sign of submissive recognition of a dominant), tail wagging like it was going to wag off, and when Diana scrunches down, Kochak almost kills her, kissing, snuggling, wrapping herself around Diana. There's a young man she is only slightly less enthusiastic about, but nobody else. Now, both those people ADORE Kochak, so maybe that's got something to do with it. I mean, when we go to leave, Ryan(the young man) will actually run all the way across the field to say goodbye to the dogs.

But Tashi? Not interested. Ryan fusses over him too and Tash will give a couple of licks in passing, but Ryan always wants the dog to sit next to him on the ground, and Tashi isn't into sitting with people except Jim and I. I'm real popular with a few dogs at the park, but that's because I always carry treats in my pouch and give them out liberally. I'm the only person Shadow--this GIGANTIC malamute--recognizes and runs to, but it's food more than anything in my case, I believe.

Even snakes have personal preferences among humans, I found that out to my surprise when I had all my snakes. Something makes them react differently to other animals and people. Surely you've heard someone say "My dog is always afraid of German Shephards" or something? In some cases it's 'cuz they were attacked by one or something, but my last dog wouldn't get near Akitas and didn't like Shephards (even tho' she was half shephard herself!), but would go absolutely ape shit over Grey Ghosts--er, Weimerauners. Go figger...

I assume one of the mysteries of the animal world that us humans aren't sensitive enough to discern. Lord knows we've lost the intensity of most of our senses, if we ever had it--look at how much better apes can smell and how much more they're aware of body language.

Just to say, it's nice we have SOMETHING in common. Whatever my opinion of you may be, I've always had respect for you when I think you're making sense, and never had complete disrespect for you as I do Kane, Whatzit and Sux. Just in case you might care.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 12:47 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Their girl and Kochak took one look at each other and it was "to the death!"...Tashi observed the whole thing without anything other than wagging his tail...

That made me lol. Girls going at one another, and the boy seemingly oblivious, wagging his tail, probably thinking 'Hey, what's up w/ those two ? '

THAT was fun to read.

Thanks.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 2:17 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Also, just wanna see if this posts...

Seeing as how it fits, with the cat / dog theme of the thread.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 4:01 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Yup, that one's right on. I heard a similar one once:

"When you call your dog, he will race over and give you many licks.
When you call your cat, he will take a message and get back to you."

Unfortunately, that doesn't hold true for huskies, who are more like cats. They MAY come, if you have the right kid of food or they feel like it, but they might just as easily cock only ONE ear back and continue walking away, or look back with what you'd SWEAR was a third-finger expresion, then trot happily away. The main reason all the books on huskies say to never let them off leash. Ours are pretty good, and have trained us to expect any of the above; the longest they've kept me sitting around waiting for them is an hour and a half...so far.

Here's a giggle for you--dunno if I wrote it before. We could afford to go to Europe three times, three separate years, for two weeks each when we worked for those attorneys in the City. At the time we had six or seven cats and three dogs. Upon our return, we could hardly get in the front door for all three dogs trying to get to us at once. The cats? This is absolutely true--they all sauntered in and sat down in various places in the living room, WITH THEIR BACKS TO US, cleaning paws, looking out the window, and would not look at us! Honest to gawd...the first time it freaked me out; after that I got used to it. It's their way of saying "you went away and left us, you assholes, so WE'll show YOU how much we missed you (NOT)!" Cats are weird; I'd never had any before that, and after the last one passed, Jim swore we'd never have another, so it was about a ten-year learning experience, to say the least!

(Of course, once we put everything away and settled down to relax, we had at least four of the cats trying to get on our laps, with the rest on the back of the sofa over our heads...they just had to make that statement first.)

My opinion? A dog is an absolute necessity; a cat is a lovely addition.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 4:33 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Speaking to Huskies being like cats, Max would , on occasion, literally roll his eyes at us and go back to staring out the window if we called to him. It was freakin' hi-larious. It was as if he was saying " Yeah, what-ever " , like some moody teenager.

I think there were times when he wanted to hear us ask one of 3 things, and if we didn't say the magic words - " walk ? ", "ride? " , or " piece of cheese ? " , he didn't want to be bothered.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Thursday, July 19, 2012 8:12 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Sounds like a typical husky to me! ;o) One of the reasons I love them so is they're so close to wolves...their behaviors come right back to wolf behaviors so often, so I guess more like wolves than cats in that respect.

Here's one for you: When we sulky out at the reclamation ponds, twice now we've startled a coyote--the dogs have gone nuts, of course, so I stop them to watch, because the coyote just runs a ways away then stands and watches us for a while before he takes off. Sometimes he will have been there recently and they take off like nobody's business until they get to where he was, then go nuts sniffing around excitedly.

Having seen/smelled him several times, we've come to believe he lives out there somewhere, so now we look for him, since now we get out there JUST as it's light enough to see. So yesterday, while wandering around looking for that damned video of Ed Schreiber scootering the ponds (which is really cool, I WILL find it somehow!), I came across this:

That's him; it was taken out at the Ponds, and it's neat to have photos of him; especially since this woman is a WHIZ photog, as you can see! In virtually every picture, the pose is EXACTLY like that of my guys. Especially the pouncing. They love to pounce! Tashi is HELL on voles, if he gets one he tosses it in the air, catches it, one bite and it's all over with. He seems to find them tasty. I guess that's what the coyote lives on out there, along with field mice, rats, and whatever slow water birds he can catch or whatever. Thought you might appreciate it.

Handsome fella, innee?

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