Sam
"Bumbling Brother"

"Bumbling Brothers" To Be Together Again Soon

Bumbling Brother, "Sam"
(Pic in frame was drawn by Molly Barrett-Seeley, by hand)

The surviving Bumbling Brother, Sam was brought home today after a week long stay at the vet where he was treated for Kidney Failure.
The conclusion was reached today that Sam's condition was no longer treatable and the vet said since he is not in any pain, is still eating and would be more comfortable resting at home for what looks like will be his last hours or maybe, days with me.

In late 2006, I had lost my long-time golden retriever, Bo and I contacted the Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas. I was introduced to two goldens, Sam & Alex who were litter-mate brothers and both had recently been treated for heartworm. The rescue wanted to keep them together because of their close bond and I agreed to adopt them.

Soon after adopting them, their goofy and clumsy personalities made me call them the "Bumbling Idiots." A few family members thought that was too harsh for them and that is when they officially became known as "The Bumbling Brothers".
I have never seen or heard about two dogs who have gotten along with each other as well as they did. I don't recall a single time when either of them so much as growled at the other. Sam & Alex were best friends and they had been through a lot before the rescue got to them. They appeared to love their time they had with me after I adopted them and I always enjoyed seeing them happily "bumbling" about.

In July of 2010, Alex died. He had cancer and no one ever knew about it until the tumor ruptured and bled internally. Alex was cremated and his remains have been close by both me and his brother, Sam.
The past 5 and a half months have been difficult for Sam as it was obvious that he missed his brother. Even without his brother here, Sam continued to be the fun, loving friend, although I could see that Sam was slowing down and I assumed the loss of Alex was taking its toll on him.

When I look at Sam now, I see a very sick dog and I am guessing he has only hours or maybe a few short days to live. While I am feeling the impending loss more and more as the hours pass by, there is one thought that I keep telling myself that seems to help me with feeling better and accepting the loss that is closing in.
As soon as Sam takes his final breathe and leaves his tired body behind, I know that there will be two dogs who were life-long, happy brothers, separated for nearly 6 months when Alex died but, with Sam's passing I can only imagine how happy and thrilled Sam & Alex will be knowing they won't be alone ever again.

I am going to miss Sam a lot. I hold out hope that I will see him again after I die but, it won't just be Sam I will be eager to be with again. There, beside him will be his loyal brother, Alex waiting there to greet me.
Whenever that day comes, I am going to be among good company... I will be back with "The Bumbling Brothers."

No Good Deed Goes Un-Punished - Saving a Cat Really Bites!

This past week was a rough week overall for me, the Anti-Johnny. This post is a rare step away from the dealings and mis-dealings of Johnny Northside & Company in North Minneapolis.
About 1000 miles south of the corruption in NoMi, I decided to tell the story of the utter, emotional and physical roller coaster week I just endured.

Most people who have followed this blog or knows me personally know that one of my life-long interests has been my owning dogs. They are so much more reliable and trustworthy (and loyal) than any one person I have ever met. So, when something happens with one of my dogs, everything in my day to day life gets put on hold until the issue is tended to.
This past Tuesday, December 21, 2010, I decided it was time to take my golden retriever, Sam (he and his late brother Alex are referred to as the "Bumbling Brothers"), to the vet after he had gone several days without being able to keep anything he ate down.

I am telling people what happened with Sam this past week to lead into the main story.
The vet diagnosed Sam as being in kidney failure and needed to be left there if I chose to have them treat him versus putting him to sleep (which was suggested due to the advanced stage of the illness).
The vet sent me home after telling me to prepare for putting him to sleep when I come back the next day because, Sam's blood test revealed lethal levels of toxins in his blood stream and that he was stunned Sam was alive with such high levels of toxins present.

That was hard for me to face and I still have a hard time dealing with the loss of Sam's brother who passed away this past summer. I have had three dogs now for years and within a 6 month period, I was faced with having only one still with me.
I got a bit of a Christmas present this morning when I got a call from the vet who has been treating Sam all week (after I asked him to) and he told me that the blood test results he took this morning shows there has been little improvement but, he has continued to eat and he suggested I bring Sam home as he will be more comfortable with me and my other dog for the short amount of time he has left. As long as he is not in pain and is not suffering, I refuse to put him to sleep when I can spend that time with him and make his last days as nice as possible.

Before I got to today, I went to the vet's office on Thursday (23rd) to visit Sam and when I got out of my car, I saw three older people trying to get a kitten to come out from under a car. I offered to help and when I got down on the ground to reach for it.... The Cat took off!
The owner of the cat (looked to be in her mid-70's) watched frantic as it ran towards a 45 degree, concrete drainage wall that led to the creek about 15 feet down from where we were in the parking lot.

I was the only one there who was in shape enough to take off after the cat. It ran down the wall and jumped to the other side of the creek where it narrowed. This was about 9:30 in the morning and it had been in the lower 30's the night before and had not warmed up much at all. The creek water was freezing cold and I just hoped that the cat wouldn't fall in as it was running right at the edge of the water.

About 150 yards from where we started from, I saw some huge rocks ahead of us that the cat wouldn't be able to get past. Either I would catch it or it would have to jump over the water about 6-7 feet to the other side. As I got closer to it, the cat jumped toward the other side. It landed in the middle of the creek where the current swept it further away and pushed the cat under several fallen branches near the shore but, it was clearly trapped.

With the cat being about the size of an adult squirrel, I knew it would not take long for the cold water to render the cat unable to move and would die soon after. I jumped over the water but, landed about a foot from the shore (yes it was COLD) and reached for the kitten's tail. I pulled it out from under the branches and picked it up by the rough of its neck and out of the water.
The other people were walking along the top of the wall to get to where I was and I yelled for them to get the cat carrier and to throw it down to me. The wall had leaves all over it and with one hand holding the cat, there was no way I could climb up that wall.

A few seconds later the cat started to wriggle around trying to get away and it made me use my free hand to adjust the cat when.... The little kitten, with razor sharp claws and equally sharp baby fangs, BIT ME!
I jerked the cat and it let go but, it was only to get a better grip and I could only stand there (screaming from the pain as well) as I watched its fangs dig into my middle finger down to the bone!
To make the pain even worse... It didn't let go for more than 10 seconds. That pain was intense!
I wanted to slap the cat against the rocks I was standing on but, with the owner looking on in panic, I decided to not let go of the cat.

A minute later the carrier was tossed down to me, I got the cat in it and pushed it up the wall and carried it inside the vet's office. When I set the carrier down, several employee's came to me and took me to a sink to clean the bites and stop the bleeding. About 10 minutes after they had it cleaned and poured iodine on it (THAT hurt like hell also), I pulled out my phone and took a picture of my hand.

The old woman was overly thankful for me saving the cat and even told me that it was a very sweet, loving cat. Of course, I held up my hand to protest her opinion. The vet told me that cat bites can become infected easily and told me to go to a doctor as soon as I left. The owner offered me some money for the medical costs but, I refused it since, she never asked me to chase after her cat and it was my choice to go after it.
She thanked me and left. When I was leaving myself, the receptionist gave me a $100 bill and told me that the old woman had left it with her to give to me so, I would have to take it.

So far the bites have not become infected and the pain has mostly gone away but.... Being that I am a dog person and never cared for cats before... I don't think I will be so quick to take off chasing another cat that gets loose anytime soon.

I did wonder after all of this happened if Johnny Northside would ever even think of doing something like I did? My vote is that John would rather blog about a courageous cat that was lost after "getting away" from him and blah blah blah lol.
I made a fun-to-follow map (thank you Google earth) that shows the area the cat chase happened in.

Jeff Skrenes & Fraud: Where There's Smoke... There is Fire

Jeff Skrene's Pink Slip

Jeff Skrene's was officially given a "pink slip" by the Minneapolis City Council. I would love to see a copy of his resume when he starts looking for a new job (if he already hasn't) to see what he lists as job duties with being the Hawthorne Housing Director. It doesn't take a lot of talent to point to an old, run down house that is falling apart and say to his former employers, "That one! Run that one over with a bulldozer!"

Let's take a little look at the two jobs Jeff had before his stint as "Jeff Skywalker" in Hawthorne...

I find it typical that Jeff rants about fraud and points his finger at everyone else, accusing them of being fraudsters considering his last job was with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). ACORN is a huge special interest group that turned out to be guilty of voter registration fraud and

embezzlement. Clich here to see the Lou Dobbs video: ACORN voter fraud

Makes me wonder if Jedi Jeff will even list ACORN on his resume after working for those fraudsters.

 

Before ACORN, Jeff worked for US Bank as a mortgage originator. Investopedia defines that as: "An institution or individual that works with a borrower to complete a mortgage transaction."

Lenders! This country is in the biggest real estate crash in history mainly because, lenders issued bad loans. To put it another way, banks gave loans to people who had no business getting a mortgage, then they defaulted on the payments and the lender had to foreclose. The government keeps trying to bail the banks out of the mess they created and amazingly, the people who approved these bad loans are not in jail!

 

To Summarize Jeff's work history...

*Worked for the fraudsters ACORN

*Worked for US Bank who issued their share of bad loans

*Currently working for the Hawthorne Neighborhood & all the Johnny Northisde frauds that come with it

 

Impressive resume!

Minneapolis City Council Votes to Cut Hawthorne Neighborhood Funding & Jeff Skrenes

Jeff Skrenes aka Hawthorne Hawkman

Jeff Skrenes aka the Hawthorne Hawkman, is facing the unemployment line. The Minneapolis City Council voted this week to cut neighborhood funding and that includes the Hawthorne Housing Director… Jeff Skrenes.


The cuts included giving pink slips to fire fighters and police officers but, three council members voted against the cuts. Surely Barb Johnson and Don Samuels who represent North Minneapolis voted against the cuts… Right?

Nope.

Barb & Don ignored the pleas of Jeff Skywalker and voted to make neighborhood funding go away. Jeff has been one of Samuels’ biggest supporters during his tenure so, it will be entertaining to watch the public display of displeasure Jeff and his pal, Johnny Northside unleash onto Samuels and the rest of the council now that they have effectively shown Jeff how much they appreciate his efforts to collect phone books, call 911, call 311 and blog continuously (even on company time) about the shit-hole they live in.



Don Samuels

Ain’t politics great!

Barb Johnson

Northside and Skrenes will never get the big picture. Its politics and their role is to get their buddies re-elected and when push comes to shove… People like Jeff Skrenes are insignificant and this week the city council (Samuels and Johnson to be exact) proved it.



Evidence That Cities and Residents Should Have the Right To Protect Themselves Against John Hoff

Word on the street is that John Hoff aka Johnny Northside is now an enlisted man in the National Guard. One can argue that it is the closest thing he has had to a real job in years. The thought of John Hoff being in the military is a scary one. The National Guard is brought in to help restore public order.
Public order. John Hoff. Is it legal to say those two things in the same sentence? John Hoff, afterall is a public menace. John Hoff claims to be an activist working on turning North Minneapolis into an "Urban Utopia" but, Utopia is not what Hoff has made of things he has been involved with in his past.

Remember when John was elected to the Grand Forks city council? Remember when John was recalled within a few months because of his unruly behavior? Did John accept it and go away quietly? Nope. He complained above the council while saying that they held a meeting that was not legal. Here is the response he got...

On June 23, 2000, this office received a request for an opinion under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 from John Hoff asking whether the Grand Forks City Council violated N.D.C.C. §§ 44-04-19, 44-04-19.2, and 44-04-20 by holding an executive session which was not authorized by law or sufficiently identified in the notice of the meeting and by failing to sufficiently announce the topics and legal authority for holding the executive session.

John Hoff does things that get him in trouble. No matter how minor it is like, say a citation for SITTING ON A SIDEWALK! John took it to trial and lost. He appealed and then took it to the Washington State Court of Appeals before losing again. The actual document is pages and pages long so I have cut out the fat and copied the jist of it. You can click the link to read the entire document.

The CITY OF SEATTLE, Respondent, v. John HOFF, Appellant.
June 02, 1997

John Hoff, an advocate for Seattle's homeless, were cited under the “Seattle sitting ordinance,” SMC 15.48.040, for sitting on the sidewalk in the University District.   They challenge the ordinance on several state constitutional grounds.

Hoff argues that the officers violated Washington's ban on discrimination against persons with disabilities when they cited him.

Hoff was cited while sitting reading a book and leaning against a building with leaflets advertising a protest against the ordinance in his lap.   They had separate trials in municipal court.   The Hoff court heard testimony and allowed extensive argument on his constitutional claims, and the McConahy court accepted much of this record.   Both courts found that the defendants violated the ordinance and rejected their free expression and substantive due process claims.   The two cases were joined for appeal.


1) Hoff and McConahy first contend that the sitting ordinance violates their substantive due process rights under the Washington State Constitution.   They argue that it violates art.   I, § 1, because it is an unreasonable exercise of police power which infringes upon their individual liberties.


2) Hoff and McConahy contend that this section prohibits governments from enacting legislation which detracts from individual liberties.   They argue that this section embodies the fundamental predicate underlying the Washington Constitution protecting individual liberties, and the Seattle ordinance violates it.   But they cite no authority for the proposition that art.


3) They also argue that the ordinance violates their fundamental right to “move about or stand still.”


4) Appellants argue that because the Washington Constitution provides greater protection to individual rights than does the federal constitution, we should apply a correspondingly more protective analysis when considering legislation which impacts these liberties.


5) Hoff and McConahy argue that, despite the City's valid interests, their interest in being left alone while they are engaged in essentially innocent activity outweighs those the ordinance is designed to protect.


6) Hoff and McConahy argue that the ordinance does not appreciably further the City's interests because it could have relied upon the pedestrian interference ordinance 3 to address the problems associated with people sitting on the sidewalk


7) Hoff and McConahy next contend that the ordinance impermissibly burdens their right to free expression under art. I, § 5 of the Washington State Constitution


8) Hoff argues that he was engaged in expressive conduct because he was handing out leaflets announcing a protest against the ordinance.   The trial court found otherwise.   It acknowledged that he had leaflets in his lap but found that he was not trying to distribute them.   Rather, he was leaning against a building reading a book.


9) Hoff argues that sitting was essential to his protest against the sitting ordinance and that he could more effectively leaflet from a supplicant position.

10) Hoff and McConahy argue that the ordinance is  unconstitutionally overbroad because it restricts more expression than needed to achieve its legislative purpose

11) Hoff's and McConahy's next contention is that the ordinance disparately effects poor or homeless and violates the state Privileges and Immunities Clause.4  They argue that the ordinance disproportionately effects the homeless and poor because they cannot afford to patronize commercial establishments or have a home to go to and are therefore more likely to have to sit on the sidewalk


12) Hoff finally contends that the officers violated RCW 49.60.030, Washington's ban on discrimination against persons with disabilities, when they cited him for sitting.   He claims that he has a disability that requires him to sit and rest periodically and often must sit on the sidewalk where there is no bench or park.   SMC 15.48.040 exempts persons using wheelchairs or having a medical emergency.   Hoff counters that his disability is not so severe that he must use a wheelchair or that it qualifies as a medical emergency, but that it nonetheless requires him to sit.

While Hoff did testify that his injury requires him to sit and rest, several officers also testified that he walked to the store for a soda and that he was able to get up and approach the police officers numerous times.   Further, there is no evidence that the City ticketed him because he had a disability.   Rather, there is ample evidence that officers ticketed him because he persisted in sitting on the sidewalk after they warned him that he was violating the ordinance.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:gCfsPRa_OHUJ:caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-court-of-appeals/1468224.html+%22john+hoff%22+%22disability%22&cd=37&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
John likes to take things to court that suit him. Take a look at what he said online about how he thinks he can achieve his Urban Utopia... (you may need to click on the pic to see all of it)

Here is part of an article John posted online in 2006...

Military not “scraping bottom of the barrel”
http://www.bloggernews.net/1219
Posted on October 7th, 2006
by John Hoff in All News

I’m a disabled vet, rated at 30% for an injury I received while working as an Army medic. One of my legs is now half an inch shorter then the other, except when it pops, painfully, out of my hip. For this, I receive $364 a month, though something like $26 of that is because I have one dependent, my nine-year-old son.


I’d love to get back into the army, reserves, or national guard. To get back in, I’d need waivers because I’m not physically fit and, to some degree, not capable of becoming physically fit. There are some things that, due to my service-connected disability, I will never be able to do.


However, if I were to go back into the military, I’d have to give up my $364 a month.
_____________________________________
By John Hoff U.S. Army veteran

Tue, Nov. 11, 2003,

Grand Forks Herald

http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2003nn/0311nn/031111nn.htm
I left the military in the spring of 1994 with my left leg permanently and seriously injured restraining a violent patient who was probably loaded up on PCP. So I ran to enlist in the Army, but I limped out.

He limped out? He limped all the way to crawl up the Governments ass until they gave him some money. I assume it was to shut him up. AHAHAHAHA Right! Like that will ever happen!

Who Could Attack a Person Who Just Lost Three Relatives? Only Johnny Northside!

I admit that I have not bothered to read any of what JNS has been blogging about in the past few weeks. When I read things that he rants about, it usually annoys me enough to post something to voice my opinion but, I haven't lately.

Today I can't ignore what he actually said to a person who just lost three family members in a senseless car crash. Senseless. That is a perfect word to use to describe John Hoff's words he threw at the victim's relative who had submitted comments in response to the post John published on his blog. Here is the link to the posting on his site and be sure to read the comments that follow as John goes out of his way to defend himself for bashing the relative who commented.
Johnnynorthside blog

Oh... John did not publish the relatives comments because... He doesn't take someone serious when they have the words, "wooden slurpy" in their email address.
In my opinion, I can't take anything serious that has John Hoff, Johnny Northside or John Willard Hoff anywhere near what I am reading. If I was to write about an accident where someone died and someone claiming to be a relative submitted comments that had "Santa Claus" included in their email address.... Guess what??? I publish the comments and at the very least I would try to contact that person and try to make sure it wasn't a prank. The LAST thing I would do and I would think just about ANYONE who claims to be a journalist would NOT do, would be to openly bash the commenter and place the burden of proof on them!

John Hoff is simply a world-class jackass who never seems to learn that there are times when he should shut his pie hole of a mouth and give someone the benefit of the doubt and maybe he might start to be taken more seriously than the likes of Geraldo Rivera!

Here is what John said to the person who submitted the comments:
(NOTE:  I have not published the comments that were submitted to my site yet because, I sent an email to them last night to verify that they intended to have their comments posted on my blog along with John's ass hole response)

"I have your comment in a cue and can still publish it if I really believe you are not a troll just making stuff up. WOODEN SLURPY. Right.


When I taught journalism (and I did) we always told our students that if they want to be taken seriously
they should not use ridiculous email addresses. I'm sure the death of three people merits a more
serious email address than "wooden slurpy." "

Anyone who would like to offer their opinion on Hoff's cold words to the relative is encouraged to submit them on this blog and I can guarantee that I won't attack you or your credibility. I leave that to Hoff.