On the beaten path

By GERIANNE WRIGHT
Staff Writer

Say it ain’t so, Paul, say it ain’t so.

After a career that spans five decades, includes more than 50 films, nine Oscar nominations and one win for “The Color of Money” and some damn-good salad dressing, you tell us you’re walking out, you’re calling it quits, you’re closing those blue eyes and saying good night.

What we seem to have here, Paul, is a failure to communicate. You said you’re not able to work anymore … “at a level that (you) would want to.”

Well, what about what we want, Paul? What about what we want? We want one more teaming up with Robert, one more chalk of the cue with Fast Eddie, one more spat with Maggie the Cat, one more verdict with Frank Galvin, one more waltz with Joanne.

Give us one more chance to curse the Academy for robbing you of your Oscars, as surely as they robbed you of the gold man for “Cool Hand Luke,” “Hud,” “Absence of Malice” and “Road to Perdition,” among the other nominations. Give us another chance to cheer another Emmy-winning turn like that in “Empire Falls.”

You claim you’re no longer able to perform to the best of your ability. You’ve got more character on your unlined face at 82 than a dozen actors out there today do at 32. You’re one of “‘People’s’ 50 Most Beautiful People.”

Very few have floated as gracefully from leading man to character or cameo parts as you and yet still command the screen whenever they appear. You made Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Tom Hanks and Ed Harris turn in better performances simply by being in the same room with them. And that’s saying something about Tom Hanks, arguably one of our greatest living actors.

If you can’t give us your baby blues in person, continue to give us your dulcet tones as you did for a whole new generation as Doc Hudson in “Cars.”

Who best to voice the vintage roadster but the vintage racer and enthusiast himself?

You’re worried about losing your memory, losing your confidence, your invention. Hell, the fall will probably kill you so grab the Kid’s hand and jump.
Don’t leave us, Paul. Let’s not say goodbye. Let’s just say au revoir. It’s been a grand ride.

Posted by Lois Clermont at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG
Staff Writer

Imagine someone intentionally pouring bleach down your throat or putting cigarette butts out on your body.

Imagine a sharpened blade slicing through your flesh over and over again, tearing through your sensitive skin and muscle.

Imagine being chained and bound in the thick summer heat, with only three feet of room to pace in your own filth as you bake in the scorching sunlight without a drop of water to calm your thirst.

Recent cases floating through the local justice system were ripe with that type of horrendous, inexcusable and heart-breaking abuse. Except these particular cases didn’t involve human victims but rather an array of helpless four-legged pets.

But what surprised me more than the horrific acts of torture and abuse is what ultimately happened to the cases.

Far too often, the deranged perpetrators were excused from any real justice by paying a small fine and having their animals taken away. No jail time or even restitution. No court order banning them from owning future animals.

If the almost unimaginable abuse had been inflicted on, let’s say, a child or an adult, would these individuals still be walking out of court with a fine? A slap on the hand and a scolding by the judge?

I think not. I would imagine there would be widespread public outrage, followed by a maximum sentence of years in prison, costly restitution payments and possibly, hopefully, counseling.

Many readers, at this point, may be upset by the comparison and rationalizing the differences, saying, “They’re just animals.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the obvious differences betweeen the two, but I also recognize the obvious similarities.

And do critics honestly believe that the animals cannot feel a knife slicing through their flesh and chipping their bones, as a human would?

Do they not feel when their stomachs ache and cramp for days at a time when there’s not a scrap of food in sight, as a human would?

Do they not feel the penetrating pain of repeated and open burns, as a human would?

Violence and abuse are criminal acts, regardless of who is victimized.

Though I can understand the legal differences between human and animal abuse cases, I seriously question whether the current laws and punishments are really curbing this alarming local problem.

Honestly, can a “firm warning” or a $200 fine really discourage a repeat offender?

In one Plattsburgh City Court case, a dog was taken away from his local owner, who had repeatedly stabbed it in the head, trying to kill it.

The local animal-abuse officer who rescued the poor, skittish thing shelled out a couple thousand dollars of privately donated shelter money so the dog's gaping head wounds could be adequately treated.

The man never paid any “restitution” to cover the expenses he ultimately inflicted on a private organization that is already overburdened with a constant flow of animals and low finances.

There was no mention of never owning pets again (and he has since gotten new dogs).

There was no mention of a need for mental counseling (though, may I point out, research consistently supports the idea that animal abuse is often an early sign of escalating violence and criminal tendencies.)

Far too often, there’s no mention of community service, though one of the most logical punishments would be to volunteer for the very agencies that are assisting the many mangled and dispirited local pets.

So after only a few months of observing the continued injustices, I’m convinced that not only do the animal-abuse laws need to change, but the current local punishments certainly and desperately do.

Judges and prosecutors need to impose the harshest possible sentence in each and every possible case to discourage the distinct possibility of future abuse.

Disheartened pet owners and local residents, like myself, need to urge our elected officials to find justice for not only the human victims of violent crimes but for the many neglected and forgotten four-legged victims that constantly float through the system.

How many more helpless animals have to suffer the wrath of abuse at the hands of not only their owners but of the criminal justice system, as well?

Posted by Lois Clermont at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

By STEPHEN BARTLETT
Staff Writer

PLATTSBURGH — Hypocrisy sang April 19 when an almost 80-year-old government spook/terrorist mastermind posted $350,000 bond to be released on immigration-fraud charges.

Yup, former CIA operative Luis Posada — who had a hand in the Bay of Pigs in 1961, is linked to the horrific bombing of a Cuban airliner that claimed 73 lives and likely tried to snuff out Castro in Panama in 2000 — is free in Miami.

Before his release, there was standing-room only at the circus sideshow starring the Justice Department, shockingly failing to prevent his release. It should be pointed out that the feds were thoughtful enough to slap a bracelet on Posada’s ankle and restrict him to his house.

But isn’t this the same escape artist who made it out of a Venezuelan prison in 1985 in borrowed clericals? I would think our government would be worried about another getaway, unless it knows something it’s not telling us about Posada’s skills at vanishing?!?!

Anyway, Cuban and Venezuelan officials have tried in vain for years to have Posada tried for terrorist acts, and they blame the United States for setting its comrade free. They seem to think America has adopted a “Do as I say, not as I do” attitude.

What? Not the land of the free, home of the brave!?!?

Well, Cuba and Venezuela actually know a little something about the country that in 1954 trained mercenaries to boot a legally elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz, who dared expropriate United Fruit’s land to help his already impoverished people.

Castro is all too familiar with a corporate-run government that, within months after he overthrew Batista, started reviewing regime-change options and by the end of the year supported bombing by Cuban exiles like Posada.

And look at it another way. Wouldn’t the United States throw a temper tantrum if Cuba supported a terrorist who killed or tried to kill innocent Americans? Of course, all the government has to do is hire Blackwater or send in the Delta Force and eliminate or extract who they want.

No, this country clearly knows nothing of “Do as I say, not as I do.”

A corporate-run government would never use propaganda and false intelligence to justify a war already planned by the elite to fill the pockets of the energy hogs killing the planet. That type of government would not create and maintain a culture of fear for people already forced to feed the beast raping them, too overworked, underpaid and gripped with worries of food, shelter and health insurance to see through the illusion.

I love the thought of what my country should be.

E-mail Stephen Bartlett at:
sbartlett@pressrepublican.com

Posted by Lois Clermont at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

By DENISE A. RAYMO
Staff Writer

April 27th marked the start of my 20th year as a reporter.

I’ve covered every type of story in all kinds of weather under all sorts of hazardous conditions to get what I need.

My job is to focus on the facts, absorb as much information as I can, then write the story that involves or moves the reader.

I am not supposed to be emotional.

I have rarely been close to tears on the job, not even when I’ve stood near still-bleeding bodies of murder-suicide victims, as I spoke to witnesses or viewed countless crime scenes and autopsy photos to better convey to readers the actions and possible motives of a killer.

But I am human.

Just three times in 20 years — moments after the last note was written and the final photo taken — have I climbed into my vehicle and burst into tears.

All three occasions involved the same subject: animal shelters.

Last week, I went to the North Country Animal Shelter in Malone for a story about an upcoming fundraiser.

I tried to talk myself out of the need for photographs, but I knew it would be too difficult to describe in a few paragraphs just how badly repairs and renovations are needed there.

A chorus of happy barks from dozens of dogs of all ages, breeds and sizes greeted me.

All of them were so sad and lonely and in such need of love that I wanted to let all of them loose, put them all in my vehicle and get out of there.

But I couldn’t.

I just took the pictures, found out what I needed to know and left empty-handed.

I got into my truck, started the engine and cried.

My husband and I care for 15 stray cats to go along with our one indoor cat, Sam, because the people living across the street didn’t bother to get their two female cats spayed.

Nor did they leave food out for the pregnant cats when they took off for several days last fall.

We ended up with them because we couldn’t let them starve to death, and we could not get an animal shelter to take them.

Jim and I spend an average of $25 a week just on food, and I can’t tell you how much we’ve paid for litter, toys and treats and for veterinarian bills for neutering, spaying, shots and other assorted ailments.

We’ve come to love all of them, but I can’t help but be angry because all of this could’ve been avoided if those neighbors would have taken responsibility for their pets.

The problem of homeless and unwanted animals is universal in the North Country, yet no elected official has ever really tried to find a solution.

Feral cats and stray dogs are a drain on every community, yet no one is working to strengthening of existing laws either on the state or the local level to hand out tough penalties to those who abandon or mistreat animals or neglect their care and treatment.

There is also no effort to penalize the people who fail to get their pets spayed or neutered or who abandon animals when they are no longer in the cute and cuddly stage of life.

There are countless county-owned properties up for public auction every year, and any one of them could be awarded free to the volunteer agencies that needs shelter space.

And counties and municipalities could band together and dedicate a few hundred or a few thousand dollars each a year to pay for the lights and heat in these buildings so these loving pets could have some semblance of a happy life.

Someone must care for and feed these pets, and that care and concern should start with the people who are entrusted with the duty to care for a community and its members, even if some of those community members have four legs.

Posted by Lois Clermont at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)