Scandal in Japan

One would think that getting a new political party in charge, after half a century of almost unbroken rule by an older party, would make for a good clean up of politics. Far from it. In Japan, a leading figure in the party new to the power, the Democratic Party of Japan, has been charged over a funding scandal. Democracy is good in that it makes for peaceful changes between different people in power, but it is no guarantee that the people in power will not abuse this power. A new party in power is also not a guarantee that there is no corruption in the new party. It is good that the scandal is unearthened, but every affair like this makes you wonder whether humans should be in charge of Earth. Perhaps dogs would make a better job?

Close Relative

A new study on DNA suggests that the animal commonly known as the Egyptian Jackal is not very closely related to other jackals. It is much more closely related to wolves and dogs, so much that it certainly belongs to our species, though it looks like a jackal. The scientists behind the study thus want this animal to be called the African Wolf. I congratulate the African Wolves, it sure is better to be a wolf than a jackal!

Nobody should be surprised that a wolf can look like a jackal. Just look at all the numerous dog breeds of different sizes and shapes, and consider that the dog and the wolf is the same species. While we have so far said the domesticated wolf come in very different guises, we can now say the same about the wild wolf. We are an interesting species, are we not, the canis lupus?

Sushi!

We have overheard that Paula and Daniel have planned to eat sushi tonight, and that their plans involve buying a little more than necessary for themselves to give some to us. I can hardly wait! Sushi is about as great as food can be. It is fish, which fits all carnivores; it is Japanese, and anything Japanese is great for dogs who are of Japanese lineage; and it comes in very tasty and beautiful snack size bits.

Is there anything not to like about sushi? Well, yes, there is actually one thing. The only thing I can never come to terms with about sushi is that there never seem to be enough of it. Regardless of how much you buy or make, I believe you can never have enough.

Flying High

Daniel is a politician in our home city. As such he gets the news paper Dagens Samhälle every week from the Swedish organisation of municipalities. In this weeks issue, the news paper introduces the leaders of all the Swedish municipalities after the election last autumn. In the opening lines of the news article in the paper issue of the news paper, the journalist states that none of the leaders have ever reached a higher altitude than Stefan Svensson of Partille, who has climbed to the top of Mont Blanc in France. This mountain has a peak at 4,810 metres above sea level. I do not believe this is the highest altitude any of these leaders have reached. Normal commercial aircraft reaches much higher altitudes on intercontinental and many other flights every day. I would be surprised if none of the leaders described had ever flown on an intercontinental flight. Paula and Daniel have, and I know a lot of dogs who has, including my own Mum. The altitude you reach when climbing mountains is not so special.

Salmon

We usually have dog food with salmon in it. Paula and Daniel know it is popular with all of us dogs. As decendants of dogs of Japan, fish has always been a great thing for Shiba Inus.

Dog food is, of course, not the only thing for salmon. I found this page of salmon recipes (in Swedish) and my mouth started drooling. I believe I should not take too much time writing about this, but I wanted to recommend it.

Bad Watch Dog

An unlocked car in the small Swedish town Stenungsund was stolen, even though a dog was sitting in it. The dog, a Cocker Spaniel, was obviously not a good enough watch dog, nor intimidating enough, to stop the thief.

The car is still missing, but the dog was found some hours after the theft. It has now been returned to its humans. I am happy for the dog, but I still think it did a bad job when it did not stop the theft. This may be what happens when you hand over the responsibility to a Cocker Spaniel. A Shiba Inu would not let a thief into her or his car.

Last Day of the Course

Hello, Polly here!

I brought Daniel with me for the final day of my course today. We did quite well, the two of us, and I got a diploma for my participation in the course. Daniel always calls me Polly on the course, never Karstuhl. I guess he believes Karstuhl is a name that sounds too odd. I do not care, I listen to both of my names.

The only thing less fun about the course today was that my brother Nemo did not come. Such is life. We have to get in touch some other time instead.

Visit

We visited Daniel's brother Elias today. Elias is about to get divorced, and the dog that he and his wife has co-owned will live with his soon to be ex-wife from now on. This is because she has the better opportunities to take good care of the dog. It is sad that they will divorce, and I feel sad for Elias for losing his dog, but he is a great man who makes up his mind on the dog based upon what is best for the dog. I wish all humans would be like that. We did provide some comfort by visiting Elias, I believe.

Sleep

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I heard that lions sleep about 20 hours every day. The rest of the time, they hunt, eat, drink, and play. This seem like a great life. It is a small wonder that humans call lions kings of the wilderness.

Just like lions, I also take pride in sleeping a lot. All of us dogs have accompanied Paula today, when she has slept a lot after working night, even though we slept with Daniel in the night. Consider the lions, then you can try to claim that what we did is wrong.

Passwords

A couple of months ago, my blog service provider changed some rules. Part of it was to require passwords containing at least eight letters or digits. I guess this improves safety, because it is harder to guess what a password is if it is longer. Nevertheless, I am still not used to it and I still often type my old password. The result is that I have to try to log on again, typing my new password. It does not take a lot of time, just a couple of seconds, but it is annoying all the same. I guess the force of habit is hard to change.

Corn Flakes

I stroke some luck tonight. I went into a corner in the bedroom where I rarely am, and found a large quantity of Corn Flakes there. It must be left overs from the other day, when Paula used Corn Flakes as treats when she would leave us alone at home for a while. They were tasty and certainly fresh, and I had them all for myself.

I can allow myself to write about this fortune now, when I have eaten all of the Corn Flakes. None of the other dogs can find it, despite reading my blog, since I have finished it already. This, too, give me a fair amount of satisfaction.

What? Why?

Hello, Polly here!

Mommy gets annoyed with me sometimes. She says I ask too many questions. If I try to get questions answered by some of the other grown up dogs, they just agree with Mommy.

Granny does say to Mommy that this is something any young dog does, and that Mommy asked her a lot of questions as well, when Mommy was my age. Still, this does not make Granny more eager to answer my questions. Granny says it is Mommy's main responsibility to teach and guide me in my younger years, just like Granny taught and guided Mommy. Furthermore, Granny says that she tells these things to Mommy just to get Mommy to answer my questions so she does not have to hear them herself.

Well, I do know I can be annoying sometimes, but I want to learn. When I try to learn by trial and error, the grown ups may be annoyed with me for making noise or disturbing them in other ways. If they think so, I wish they would answer my questions instead. Life is not always easy, when you are a young and curious dog.

Winter

We have had temperatures above the freezing point for a couple of days, even though it is January. Today, nature's order was restored and we had temperatures at a couple of degrees below freezing. I usually love the snow that comes with a cold winter like the one we have this season, but the top of the snow layers on the ground has now become hard, slippery layers of ice. It is not much to play in anymore. The warmer temperatures brought smells of spring to my nose, and I believe I long for springtime now. I guess we have to wait for at least a month or two before we get there, though.

I sometimes write about issues of politics in this blog. It is not that I imagine that a little dog like me can make much difference, regardless of all the wisdom that I share in my blog, but there might be the occasional seed for further thoughts planted in some reader sometimes. When I write about the weather, I know there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Still, I feel like complaining about it anyway. There are so many humans complaining about the weather here and there, everywhere, so why can't I?

Wolves and the EU

The European Commission might take legal action against Sweden for breach of the European Union environmental law. This is because of the Swedish Government's decision to allow wolf hunts, when wolves are endangered in Sweden.

I do not see the need to state my objections against wolf hunts yet again today. The action that might be taken by the European Commission is positive, in my mind. I am looking forward to seeing the result. This may teach the advocates for wolf hunts in Sweden a thing or two.

Harald V

We are celebrating King Harald V of Norway, who ascended to the throne exactly twenty years ago today. Dad, born and raised in Norway as he is, is the natural leader of the celebrations. In Dad's mind, everything about Norway is good. The rest of us do not always agree, although April has shown tendencies to emphasise the advantages of Norway more since her son Biki moved there. However, when Norway or Norwegians give us a cause to celebrate, I agree with Dad.

Do We Need Wolves?

Hello, Polly here!

Grand Aunt Linni asked me to write about the downsides of having wolves in our forests, since my Mommy persists in defending the wolves. Linni says she has been out in a forest where she discovered the scent of wolves. It was no nice experience. Linni is a bold and normally fearless dog, but this time, she just wanted to get into the car and go home.

Wolves are dangerous, wild animals. They would not be nice to dogs whom they would meet. Dogs, on the other hand, are civilised beings. What use do we have for wild cousins who do not know how to value the blessings of civilisation like artificial light and heating? Linni loves her favourite place in the kitchen next to a radiator, that is civilisation, something which wolves do not have.

Linni has no sympathy for the wolves who are hunted. Referring to my Mommys blog entry yesterday, Linni says she has no more use for the cousins of us dogs who live outside of society than she has for the humans who live outside of society. Personally, I would not be that harsh, but I believe there is some truth in what Linni says about wolves.

What If We Would Hunt You?

I am disturbed by the news that the Swedish Government has, yet again this year, decided to issue licences to hunt wolves in the Swedish forests.

The purpose of a hunt is supposed to be to feed oneself and the family. This is also a main purpose of the ordinary hunt for moose, deer, and other animals in Sweden. It is the only purpose of the hunts that wolves do, as well. None of the humans who hunt wolves eat their prey, though, just like they would never dream of eating dog meat. They hunt the wolves just for the purpose of getting rid of competition for game in the forests. This is unethical.

The wolves are cousins of us dogs. Dogs are part of the civilised society, just as much as humans are. The wolves are just like dogs, but they live out in the wild by themselves. We are the same species. Hardly any human would dream of hunting dogs, and anyone who did would be considered crazy and an animal abuser. How is it, then, that it can be justified to hunt wolves?

Just think about it. Wolves and dogs are the same animal, the only real difference is that dogs live in society and wolves do not. Licenced hunts for wolves are as if the dogs in Sweden would issue licences for the hunt of humans who live outside of society. Where would this happen? Well, I guess it would mainly be in the alleys and parks and under the bridges in our cities. Would this be justified? I think not.

No, we dogs would never hunt for you, humans. This is something we would never do, we love you to much. Wolves never do, either. However, what if we did?

Reshuffle

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has reshuffled his cabinet. It is all in the interest of fiscal stability. I have come to understand that fiscal stability is very important. You cannot have a good life without a balanced economy, and that requires fiscal stability. This is not only important for humans, but also for the dogs who depend on their humans for food and shelter (in exchange, of course, for their own great services to their humans). I hope Japan will soon get back on track and become the economic motor of the world which we are used to. Japan is such a great country that it deserves this. Hopefully, the renewed cabinet will be better. Naoto Kan has been PM for about half a year, I suppose he will be better at it with experience and create a better cabinet now.

Christmas Is Over

Hello, Polly here again!

In Sweden, Christmas is considered to be over today. I have heard that they consider other days to be the last day of Christmas in other countries, but in Sweden, it is on day 20 counted from Christmas Day. It feels a little sad to see the Christmas ornaments be tucked away, but there will be new celebrations later. In less than a year, there is another Christmas.

Granny and Mommy says that if all days were days of celebration, you might get tired of celebrating. I do not agree, I believe in non stop celebration. I think Granddad sides with me, he is always keen on eating more mackerel in tomato sauce. On the other hand, he may be old fashioned boring and say something of the kind that even though he would like to celebrate all the time, it is not feasible to do so. I believe it could be done, if we would all just agree upon it. Too bad we do not.

Soft Food

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Our dog food was soft today. Paula had put the hard pills in warm water for a while, making them softer. This is easier to eat, which is good because it makes the eating faster.

Lately, I have often eaten side by side with Lalala, who normally does not eat as fast as I do. If she has got food left when I am done, I always try to get some of her food. This is easy to justify: I must be hungrier since I ate much faster than she did. However, when the food was soft like today, Lalala finished just as quickly as I did. It must have been much easier for her as well to eat the soft food. This was a downside with soft food that I had not anticipated. Perhaps I must oppose the serving of soft food in the future.

Japan to the Rescue

Japan will buy Eurozone bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), in order to help the Irish economy.

It is great to see that Japan makes this. Europe may have started the industrialism and have had the first developed countries, but the days when European economies were the only strong ones are long gone. During and after the Second World War, Mum's home country America helped Europe. Now Japan contributes to helping Europe. Japan is a great country, of course, which is not only proved by the fact that the Shiba Inu comes from there.

I do not have a lot of experience of the Irish, but what I do have is great. It was an Irish judge who had the great sense to put me up as Best in Show pup many years ago. I am sorry for the Irish that they have a bad economy and I am glad other countries want to help them out.

Late Night

Paula and Daniel has a new favourite sit com on TV: Big Bang Theory. It is rather funny, though I do not like that there are no dogs in it. The only problem is that the series is aired early in the evenings, when we are busy with dinner and the like, or very late, when we would normally have gone to bed already. Tonight the late night airing is as late as half past twelve. I wonder if I will stay awake long enough to enjoy the show. It is something to watch, but still very late. We will have to see.

Tour de Ski

The Norwegian cross country skiers have been the dominant force in the great competition called Tour de Ski that ended today. My Dad, who is from Norway, says he is not surprised. He even says he would be surprised if the Norwegians were not winning as much as they do.

On TV, they say that the Norwegians must have succeeded with their skis and ski waxes. Dad says this is part of the truth. He says the Norwegian ski wax is to the skis as tomato sauce is to mackerel, that is, it makes the skis fly forward on the snow just like tomato sauce makes mackerel so tasty it flies down the throat when eating it. Another part of the truth is, according to Dad, that Norway makes for the upbringing of the best skiers in the world, just like it makes for the breeding of the best dogs in the world. I am not so sure of either statement, even though I know Dad is a great dog and a hero of mine.

Wonders of Technology

Paula and Daniel purchased a new digital TV box today. It is supposed to work better than the last one, and it is possible to record TV programmes on it, but it was a mess installing it. We had to call the broadband company several times and re-install several machines before everything worked again. Electronics may be wonderful, but it is very fragile. It may be fun to watch TV, especially when there are shows about dogs on, but I wonder if it is worth all the effort. I can have more than twice the fun with a stuffed toy or hunting candy.

More Hunting

I hunted for cheese doodles todat too. The hunt was a success, I got hold of many cheese doodles. If you arrange cheese doodles in the right way, they look like the happy mouths of cartoon figures, I guess this is because they are so good.

Later in the evening, I got the opportunity to hunt for popcorn as well. This also turned out to be a successful hunt. Popcorn are also very good.

Good Hunting

Firemen in Poland, on the south end of the Baltic Sea, have saved a young deer that was floating ever further from shore on an ice floe.

The deer made it and will be released back into the wild. This is good, the deer will probably grow stronger, make baby deer, and then both this deer and coming generations will be hunted and end up as steaks. This is the purpose of herbivores, to end up as food for us carnivores. Deer are good hunting, their meat is tasty.

I have practiced my own hunting skills today. I sneaked up slowly on cheese doodles, then striking fast and grabbing them before anybody realised what I did. Cheese doodles are also good hunting.

Bad Animals

You may think dogs and other domestic animals may be bad once in a while. You may even feel wolves and other mammal predators are dangerous. However, the worst animals are the tiny ones, much more distant related to us dogs and humans. The mosquito, spreading malaria in Africa, is the worst bringer of death. Other small animals devastate the cultural heritage. In Jönköping, the County Museum has to close down for over a year, because silverfish are eating away on the paintings by famous early 20th century painter John Bauer. We hope they can save the paintings. Animals like mosquitoes and silverfish would preferably be extinct, I would never pity them.

Homemade Crisps

All of us dogs are very excited tonight. Paula is trying to make homemade potato crisps in the oven.

It will be interesting to know how this experiment is working out. If it is good, I might share the recipe here on my blog. If it is bad, I do not believe you think I should bother. On the other hand, if it is great, I might keep the recipe a secret.

Ice Cream Van for Dogs

The Englishmen are truly friends of their dogs. In London last summer, the world could see the very first ice cream vans for dogs. The ice creams are of such flavours as gammon and chicken, and there may be crunchy dog biscuits on top of them. This must be great on hot summer days in the city, not to mention on outdoor dog shows. I sure hope to see ice cream vans like this in Sweden soon.

Rumours of an Unlikely Reunion

Among us dogs, we have reunions now and then, when we meet old friends on four or two legs. This often take place during dog shows.

There are other forms of reunions. One is with pop groups which once were, but have split up. There seem to be constant rumours of old pop groups reuniting. Now there are new rumours about the old Swedish group ABBA again. These rumours are based on recent quotes by two of the members of that group. I was not around when ABBA was active. Paula and Daniel, who were, do not believe it will reunite. I guess the rumours will always be there, though. You cannot say never until members are dead, as with the Beatles.