Amo, amas. amat

With the newspaper's publication of "Hamett's back" (below), I am reminded of how often I have recently thought of the importance of love. I suspect it is because there is so much hatred out there these days. There are people in government who are trying to label what their legitimate political opponents say as "hate speech," and want to punish the actions of those who urge others to join them as "hate crimes." For instance, contrary to the First Amendment, there are those who would punish people whose religious convictions include a disapproval of homosexual behavior. And, much like Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, some in our government want to silence the radio voices of those who criticize the President and his minions.

Still more hate emanates from two huge programs, health care and economic reform, each over 2,000 pages full of rules and regulations buttressed by fines and imprisonment. Even I, a relatively innocuous member of the public, was recently threatened by The Census with a fine for withholding information of a personal nature which should be protected by law.

Yesterday, I sought out some love by going to a nearby medium-sized town for dinner with a family member whose birthday is imminent. It was a pleasant interlude, although today she is going to mediation to answer to the charges of a hate-filled animal control officer who was having a bad day. We hope the officer either has another bad day today, or decides to stay home, and the judge shows some love.

UPDATE: The "arbitrator" (not a judge, as I had surmised) was true to his title and cut the $200 penalty in half. The dog will not have it taken out of his allowance.