These Complicated Times

 "Not all old men you should take advice from, fools get old to." "The road of I-don't-care often leads  to the house of Had-I-known." Ubuntu African Proverbs  "I am born this way. God (Allah) makes no mistake." Lady Gaga        In ancient /Pharaoh Egypt cats and dogs were highly valued. One of their gods was illustrated with the head of a dog and Egyptians believed dogs will accompany the souls of the deceased. What made in "modern times" many Moslems believe that dogs are dirty, dangerous, the Quran allowing the killing of them? As a matter of fact dogs save human life following  many different kinds of accidents: fire, drowning, avarlanche, earthquake, crashed buildings, they guide blind people, help to discover drugs, trace corpses, protect folks and property, chase criminals. They are very loyal, often the only friend for elderly, sick and/ or lonely folks, help to teach children empathy, but the don't give us milk or eggs and they bark - a reason to hate them? I was shocked to see a woman who goes to the Mosque every day, throwing a stone at a barking dog in the neighborhood. I shouted at her: "There is no need for this. The dog is gentle unlike the kids around here. It is this stone throwing that makes (some, not even all) dogs aggressive." The dog was sitting in front of a house of a family that several weeks ago kicked out 2 gentle dogs, a black and a sand coloured one, in spite of the risk that these may get shoot as so-called strays. Did Allah give that family a chance to correct their cruel deed? Not sure whether one of their previous pets was barking there. The dog disappeared again, which can mean anything. Whenever I hear a barking, maybe homeless dog here, I worry for his life. So depressing. Nowadays folks quickly reach their low level of tolerance, in particular when it comes to animals. I don't understand, though, how citizens that are daily subjected to kids yelling as if bitten by a tarantula, cannot bear a bit of barking. Anyhow, in Argentina opened a restaurant advising guests that stray cats and dogs are also welcomed and meals are cooked for them too. Thus guests are expected to tolerate their presence, I would like to stress that Argentina is a poor country. ( Poverty is no reason not to feed hungry animals. The old argument, support the poor, not animals.) In Nigeria a woman has a sanatury for strays, 3oo of them are living there. - Pavements appear to be mainly regarded as welcomed parking space. Pedestrians are frequently forced to leave the pavement and therefore walk on the road instead. Various house owners who don't want their pavement blocked by vehicles installed different kinds of barrier constructions made of cement or brick. How long this lasts depends on the respective neighborhood. Little chance here with all those footballs plus careless and/or unexperienced drivers. - In Rades, a big port near Tunis, 137 camaras badly needed to help fight corruption, bribes, theft were recently installed. A privat firm holds the monpol for the works of Rades port. In a documentary on France 24 it was stated that Rades is the slowest port in the world. As a result of this various much needed imports, including medications, also for animals, are not available for some time. Hopefully this will eventually change. - One of those bright street lights here stopped functioning. We enjoyed much better sleep without it shining into our bedroom (inspite of curtains), there remained still enough light outside, but it became less inviting for kids roaming the streets. In view of the risen electricity bills folks are wondering whether so many street lamps are really necessary, after all it is not for free and a lower electricity consumption is better for the environment. To our regret STEG now got the light working again.