Cult of personality: Jeff Gahan's face appears on doggie calendars and in newspaper inserts. It's blatant electioneering at the taxpayer's expense.

When the face of Dear Leader is larger than the content his image purports to endorse, then it's no longer about the content. It's about Dear Leader. If you were to ask Jeff Gahan how many mistakes he has made since becoming mayor, he'd pause only briefly before answering: none.

Think about this for just a moment. He's a human, and humans are fallible. Do we need a mayor whose primary interest is self-deification, or do we need a mayor whose policies make a difference for ordinary citizens, like me and you?

And all that money from the same special interests, constantly flowing into Gahan's campaign account. How much money is enough for the mayor and his clique?

Wikipedia on the cult of personality.

The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (auctoritas) of the Roman State.[1] Throughout history, monarchs and other heads of state were often held in enormous reverence and imputed super-human qualities. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, in medieval Europe for example, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. Ancient Egypt, Imperial Japan, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet, Siam (now Thailand), and the Roman Empire are especially noted for redefining monarchs as "god-kings".

The spread of democratic and secular ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura. However, the subsequent development of mass media, such as radio, enabled political leaders to project a positive image of themselves onto the masses as never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the most notorious personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of political religion.

The term "cult of personality" probably appeared in English around 1800–1850, along with the French and German use.

"Lithuania's barking-mad Soviet-era theme park has barking dogs and barking ex-KGB," but ironically, no place to walk your dog.

Tanned, rested and ready, my masterpiece development plan is ready to be TIFFed: The Open Air Museum of Ignorance, Superstition and Backwardness.

LITHUANIA’S BARKING-MAD SOVIET-ERA THEME PARK HAS BARKING DOGS AND BARKING EX-KGB, by Colton (Ripley's)

If you’ve ever wanted to trudge around in the cold while being shouted at in Russian, the could be the perfect vacation spot.

Set in a Soviet-era bunker, 1984: Survival Experience visitors are treated as though they were Lithuanian citizens under the control of the communist Russian military. The dramatization starts with putting on heavy, damp jackets. A German shepherd and ex-KGB officer bark orders as you enter your new Soviet paradise. Yes, ex-KGB. Believe it or not, all of the attractions actors were in the Soviet army. Some even interrogators trained in psychological tactics.

It gets real ...

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Dogs caused the farmers market to jump the shark, according to germophobic jazz icon.

The Tom May Content Multiplier's "letters to the editor" section has become a shadow of its former entertaining self, and it's not entirely the fault of our chain newspaper's enduring absentee ownership.

These days, people barely capable of communicating in writing still manage to inflict their views on the general populace via various social media platforms, accompanied by memes someone else conjured. A reincarnated H.L. Mencken doubtless would observe that American civilization is regressing quite markedly toward reclaiming grunts and groans from its simian forebearers.

Like Greg Phipps, we've met the enemy, and he is us.

Speaking of animals, it seems the presence of dogs at New Albany's farmers market has single-handedly rejuvenated the newspaper's letters section.

Aug 5, 2018

New Albany Farmers Market 'gone to the dogs'

I love going to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and was there the morning of July 28. However, this morning was not a pleasant visit as there were more dogs than humans. In fact, you could barely walk through because of so many dogs and I almost tripped over a small dog. Who would be liable for an accident? I like dogs in their place and this is not their place. This is a food market not a dog market.

Carolyn Carter, New Albany

No one goes to the farmers market any more -- far too many people are there -- and it would seem that the balance of vendors long since has tilted to merchandise, arts and crafts rather than food, but I digress.

A similar canine complaint followed only three days later.

August 8

Farmers market is no place for animals

Last week at the Farmers Market I had just entered the food area off Market Street, which was very crowded. The next thing I know a dog licked my right hand and I didn’t even SEE the animal. My first thought was: They should not allow animals at this public place! I’m leery of dogs and this scared me. And now I see this article which has prompted me to write.

Also, animals around food that humans will be purchasing and eating does not sound healthy to me.

I think it would be much cleaner with just humans at the Farmers Market.

No animals.

— Jamey Aebersold

"Syncopated Germophobe" sounds like the name of a rock band, not jazz.

germ·o·phobe
ˈjərməˌfōb
noun
A person with an extreme fear of germs and an obsession with cleanliness.

Let's have a closer look at the saxophonist's link. I'm reminded of Frank Zappa's immortal album, Weasels Ripped My Flesh.

Doctors have been forced to amputate a man's legs and parts of his hands after he suffered sepsis believed to be caused by being licked by a dog ...

... A representative for the New York Animal Hospital told The Independent that it’s "extremely rare" for humans to become ill after contact with Capnocytophaga canimorsus, which was found in Mr Manteufel’s blood. In rare instances, the bacteria — which can be found in dog and cat saliva — may cause infections when it comes in contact with an open wound or burn, while the majority of Capnocytophaga canimorsus-related illnesses occur through dog bites.

In fact, there have only reportedly been 500 cases of sepsis caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus without a dog bite being found in the US and Canada since 1976.

Obviously it's no laughing matter to contract sepsis from a dog's lick, but on the other hand, probably more than 500 pianos have landed on American sidewalk strollers since 1976.

No smoking, no animals; Aebersold's "anti-" range pleasingly grows. My own pet peeve is Puritanism, which I think should be banned from all public gatherings like the farmers market, city council meetings and DNA-sponsored events.

Mencken's definition remains the standard in the English language.

“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

However, lest the jazzman has forgotten, at times the shoe occupies the other foot, assuming it hasn't been amputated.

During the Cold War, jazz was still banned in some Eastern European countries for being subversive and decadent. Well into the 1980s, the underground clubs where it was performed in these countries provided meeting places for political dissidents.

What if no anchor-bedecked city officials were allowed at the farmers market? Then we'd be getting somewhere. Keep the dogs -- just remove the bottom-feeders.

Canine capers: And we have a winner for Caption Contest #56.

Future site of the visitor's center.

"Dogs Allowed Only at

Native American Burial Sites."

Thanks to B for the caption.

Evidently there were too few children for his K-9 drug dog to sniff. A real shame, that.

My neighborhood recently awoke to a vastly reduced tackiness quotient, as The Last Chance K-9 Services moved. Or went out of business. Whatever.

Can drug sniffing dogs be repurposed?

Good riddance.

If these crime dogs can "smell through the BS,” shouldn't they be at the Redevelopment Commission? (January 14, 2016)

Just out of curiosity: This business is located on the 1400 block of East Spring Street. Is this area zoned for kennels? Seems like the sort of thing that would interest a councilman, if ... if ...

Caption contest: The nose knows.

Photo cribbed somewhere and contributed by a reader. Comment here or at Facebook. If I bother selecting a winner, I'll post it randomly. Or not. Is it autumn yet?

There's been a fire. Consider the Katherine Fraze Fire Fund at Go Fund Me.

Some folks hereabouts think Katherine Fraze is crazy. Most of them work for various branches of local government, and this fact alone always has been recommendation enough for me. You go, girl.

Sadly, a Fb friend messaged me about a fire, of which I previously was unaware.

I don't know if you are aware, but Kathy Fraze has had a tragic fire at her place, where she lost her home, everything she owns, her birds, her beloved raven; they have taken her dogs, and refuse to give them back. There is a Go Fund Me page set up for her. Watch for coverage on TV. There are pictures of the devastation on her websites: The Dog Lady and Save That Dog Sanctuary. The Go Fund Me is listed as Katherine Fraze Fire Fund.

Following is the message at the Katherine Fraze Fire Fund.

This is my friend who has the Save that Dog Sanctuary. Last night she lost everything in a fire. All her belongings, 6K in cash, her home, and most of her rescue dogs had to go into animal control.

Katherine has devoted her life to saving animals. She has lived in a camper (with no running water) for as long as I have known her to run her rescue. She is a person who doesn't want much just her animals and her land. You can visit her rescue website.

She is sleeping in her vehicle on her property at the moment to tend to the animals not taken by animal control. She had a small amount of insurance, which won't be enough. She needs our help and every penny helps! Thank you.

I've donated. Please consider doing so. Thanks.

If these crime dogs can "smell through the BS,” shouldn't they be at the Redevelopment Commission?

When this post originally was published on January 14, 2016, there was a photo in this space depicting a dog and its handler. On January 25, I received this advisory from Blogger.com:

"We have received a DMCA complaint for your blog, NA Confidential. An e-mail with the details of the complaint was sent to you on Jan 25, 2016, and we reset the post status to "Draft"; you can edit it here. You may republish the post with the offending content and/or link(s) removed. If you believe you have the rights to post this content, you can file a counter-claim with us. For more on our DMCA policy, please click here. Thank you for your prompt attention."

I tried to ask exactly what offended, and received nothing in return written in plain English. Having returned to the article linked below, and found that the photo was gone there, it now is my assumption that the photo is the issue. It has been removed.

And now, the original post, censored.

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"A unique kind of business has set up shop in New Albany." Of course it has. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

Just out of curiosity: This business is located on the 1400 block of East Spring Street. Is this area zoned for kennels? Seems like the sort of thing that would interest a councilman, if ... if ...

Bombs, guns and drugs: Private K-9 unit looks to protect kids from all three, by Caitlin Bowling (Insider Louisville)

TLC K-9, or The Last Chance K-9 Services, is a private security firm. Its goal is to protect children using specially trained German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, according to owner Michael Davis. The dogs, which are trained for 18 months, can sniff out drugs, bombs and guns.

The company’s services include protection services at schools, threat detection at schools and businesses, two types of active shooter training, and drug detection at private residences.

The company started in 2014, but Davis just opened a storefront in the past few months. TLC K-9’s offices serve as the dog’s training ground, and come Feb. 1, the dogs will be housed in a kennel on the property as well.

We've located the Gahan Sweater Dogs.

Photo essay: The anti-social nature of dog poop in the grassy verge.

We don't own dogs. We own cats, and they poop in boxes. It is my view, one reinforced recently by yard signs in the neighborhood, that letting your dog defoul the urban landscape in the height of numbskullery. For instance, there's the pockmarked Cesar's Folly.

Let me tell you, the dog pictured above apparently consumed White Castles by the sack the evening prior to being photographed. The young lady girl stared at her phone throughout, then finally corralled the surely 5-lbs-lighter canine and started walking up the street, eastbound -- roughly 20 yards, before swinging left and entering a house within urinating distance of her pooch's reeking pile.

Downwind.

I like dogs just fine.

It's people I detest.

The best fate ever for Bob Caesar's crown jewel.

As it has been explained to me by a city official, the verdant green mounds scattered through Bicentennial Park are what happens when a nearby resident walks his dogs and refrains from scooping his poop.

For once, these letters are utterly appropriate: LOL.

My kingdom for a horse (sausage), part two ... the backlash bits.

Part one here.

Andrew Higgins ends his New York Times piece about food as a barometer of the European Union's enduring cultural divisions with this observation:

Some French fans of horse meat are hoping that the fuss could add a frisson of excitement to eating horses and help lift the stigma from a fare that, even in France and Belgium, is generally viewed as old-fashioned and uncool. Several popular Paris restaurants are reported to be interested in adding horse to their menus.

Make it organic and locate a euphemism, and we may have a deal.

Ever since the European "horse meat in my Whopper" scandal broke, I've been thinking back to a couple of magazine pieces written by John Ed Pearce in the late 1980's in the CJ's old Sunday magazine, in which the perennial curmudgeon sought to offend every dog lover in the metro area by professing the culinary potential (and cultural relativity) of Bowser Burgoo and other canine dishes. Folks were plenty steamed, but really, aren't parts just parts once you've resolved to eat meat?

In an era of foodie-ism, the literal hot dog is an idea whose time finally may have come, although some eaters are ready for a systemic counter-revolution, as considered in this Guardian essay from the fall of 2012. The excerpt below makes reference to The Trip, which the Confidential household viewed last year. Poole's essay is lengthy, but well worth the time, so put some civet coffee in the Ikea press pot, and enjoy a good read.

Let's start the foodie backlash, by Steven Poole (Guardian)

Food is the new sex, drugs and religion. Cookery dominates the bestseller lists and TV schedules. Celebrity chefs have become lifestyle gurus and cooking is referred to as a high art. Steven Poole has had his fill of foodism.

 ... One thing I do know is that "brawn" is pâté made from a pig's head: the name is an obvious example of menu euphemism. Verbs tend to ascribe benign agency to the parts of a dead animal, as with the announcement by the waiter at L'Enclume who, in Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's TV series The Trip, introduces a dish thus: "You've got some little manx queenies which are baby queen scallops. They're resting on grilled baby gem and parsley coulis as well as a light creamy horseradish sauce." When the waiter leaves, Brydon comments: "Rather optimistic to say they're 'resting'. Their days of resting have been and gone. They are dead."

Equal time for dogs ... of a sort.

The New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter's "Dog Days at the Drive In!" on Saturday, May 30.

Submitted.

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Dog Days at the Drive In!

The New Albany Floyd County Animal Shelter is thrilled to announce another dog friendly event happening in our community. On May 30th, the Georgetown Twin Drive In Theater is opening its gates to four legged family members, allowing dogs on leash to attend for a $2.00 admission fee. All dog admission fees collected will be donated to the NAFC Animal Shelter.

The Drive In will be premiering the Pixar movie Up, followed by Hannah Montana. Screen 2 will be playing Night at the Museum and X-Men Wolverine. Besides these great movies, several exciting child and dog friendly events are planned. There are plans to have an inflatable slide and bounce house available for the children’s pleasure, while dogs can try their paws at a dog agility obstacle course, watch the agility demonstration, or kick back and relax with a pet massage!

Booths will be set up by area dog related businesses and adoptable animals from area rescues along with a visit by the New Albany Floyd County Animal Shelter’s Wags ‘N Whiskers Wagon. Special concessions will even be sold just for the dogs to enjoy on their day out!

Don’t miss this fun filled family event! Gates open at 5pm. Further details and rules for bringing your pet will be available at the Drive-In website.

Over three thousand animals a year come through the doors to the New Albany Floyd County Animal Shelter seeking homes. Hundreds of pet owners have been assisted in spaying and neutering of their animal by the Floyd County Humane Society and the Floyd County Animal Rescue League. Together, we can make a difference.

Shelter Adoption Hours: Mon through Fri: 12-4 p.m. Sat: 11-2 p.m.

GreenTree Mall Adoption Hours: Tues-Sunday 12-7pm (closed 3pm-4pm/lunch)

Cats also at SuperPetz and New Albany Feeders Supply Pet Stores

Adoption fees Cats: $50 cats, under 4lbs. are $60 Dogs: $70