Happy Bodhi Day for those who celebrate. Gemini says the following about this holiday:
Bodhi Day commemorates the day Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, or the Awakened One. The name Bodhi comes from the Sanskrit word for enlightenment and the species of tree under which the Buddha meditated.
Nonviolence, or ahimsa, is a core principle of Buddhism and is central to Bodhi Day celebrations … Some Buddhists observe vegetarianism on Bodhi Day to practice non-violence and compassion.
“Woman killed by her own pit bull in Roxbury was “heart and soul” of family” (CBS, last month) is a story about a Maskachusetts woman who won’t be celebrating Bodhi Day:
Brady-McGinnis was mauled by her pit bull Buddha outside their home on Dennison Street in Roxbury around 4:30 p.m., according to McGuire. … Investigators said the dog also attacked Brady-McGinnis’s husband as he tried to save her and two Boston police officers. All four were rushed to the hospital. Brady-McGinnis died in surgery, according to McGuire.
ChatGPT failed to generate an image of a Buddhist pit bull named Buddha, but Grok obliged:
Related:
- “Pit bull that fatally mauled 4-year-old girl in San Joaquin Valley was her ‘playful’ family dog” (Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2024): Zoey Hawkins loved to sing and dance, especially in her Cinderella dress, and she loved to play with the family dog. Since Zoey, 4, was adopted two years ago, she and the pit bull were constantly together. … An investigation found no evidence of neglect or criminal wrongdoing, and the dog had no history of violence or aggression, said Elizabeth Jones, the department’s public information officer. … “She and the dog were inseparable,” Vargas said. “They played with each other, they were around each other and the dog was always super playful. We have literally no clue why the dog did this, or turned on her in this way.”
From the $2 trillion/year federal Department of Health and Human Services today:
“‘She got attacked some way and they ripped her arm,’ McGuire told reporters.”
Pronouns are now a source of confusion when discussing a dog? Has anyone investigated whether the cause of the attack might have been an enraging mis-gendering?
Must learn a skill that pays enough to move away from the kind of people that keep pit bulls for pets. Years ago, I once forfeited a $1000 apartment deposit after I learned a new neighbor kept a pit bull.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Google advises that the Roxbury section of Boston, MA is approximately 6% White.
Draw a golden retriever with a pure soul and a Christ-like heart!
https://fridaystuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/God-And-Golden-Retriever-Jesus-Dog-Lover.jpg
Hahahaha! That’s very clever, sir!
“Happy Bodhi Day to [..]” to “Woman killed by her own pitbull […]”, is a very funny transition. It’s tragically sad but the juxtaposition makes it very funny. And someone had named it “Buddha”, as if it was some kind of a joke. Maybe naming it Buddha is what made them ignore its violent streaks.
Anyway, your juxtaposition reminded me of a quote by Michel Houellebecq: “Anything can happen in life, especially nothing.”
From Wikipedia- Around 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year, resulting in some 800,000 seeking treatment from a doctor.[3][4] Dogs not only cause morbidity and mortality as a result of bites, but they may also transmit zoonotic infections, which may also result in illness or death.[5] It is estimated that 15% to 20% of dog bite wounds become infected, with occasional cases of meningitis and endocarditis leading to death.[5][6] – pit bulls are the number one offender of bites and fatalities.
Many more then 4.5 million are bitten by dogs. All dog owners, for sure. Dogs communicate with their jaws until they are trained in human ways.
perplexed: I still have PTSD from Mindy the Crippler’s puppy teeth! Nothing is more satisfying to a young golden retriever than the taste of human flesh.
Philip: Golden Retriever is the breed with most bites. But golden were bred to be poor finishers, to retrieve birds intact.
perplexed: What’s your source for Mindy the Crippler’s brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters being #1 for bites? Goldens don’t show up in https://www.mkplawgroup.com/dog-bite-statistics/ for example. (Homeowner’s insurance policies don’t exclude goldens as you might expect if the breed were #1 for non-puppy bites.)
Philip, I have read that GR were top biters a decade ago or so, after it was reported that French labrador retriever chew up wife’s face after it was separated from his owner in a French couple’s divorce. It was a while ago.
Golden retriever forum too thinks that the breed is dangerous. https://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/threads/goldens-named-no-3-biter-on-animal-planet-program.77890/
It has not been my experience: my neighborhood has a couple of large attack GRs, who bark and run to me and getting scared at the last moment, flap ears and run away when I am trying to pet them.
Daniel Penny acquitted!
He can be sued into poverty, though, via the civil courts. See https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx8wd1340ro and https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/24/nyregion/bronx-jury-orders-goetz-to-pay-man-he-paralyzed-43-million.html (Bernhard H. Goetz acquitted in the criminal courts but lost $43 million in pre-Biden money in the civil court; it’s the NYT so of course the criminal record of the noble young man who was shot is not mentioned)
As someone whose income has dropped dramatically (think “adjunct professor sleeps in car”), the idea of valuing a life based on earnings is sensitive to me, but I assumed that in wrongful death suits the deceased’s projected future earnings are part of the calculation.
If the deceased is unemployable, on benefits, and a disproportionate consumer of medical, hospital, and psychiatric services, as in this case, could the award go negative? I.e., Mr. Penny gets a rebate, preferably paid by one of those giant ceremonial checks?
FB: The old idea of starting from earning potential seems to have been tossed out in the current U.S. justice system. An Austrian company just lost $310 million regarding the death of a 14-year-old whose chance of ever earning $310 million in net present value was very low. https://nypost.com/2024/12/06/us-news/missouri-teen-tyre-sampson-family-awarded-310-million-from-austria-funtime-handels-over-florida-icon-park-death/
(I don’t understand how the ride designer could be liable. The Austrians who built it told the Americans running the ride not to load on anyone weighing more than 287 lbs. The Austrians had no control over how the ride was used or who was hired to do customer screening and loading.)