Bear the History Hound is sick Week ending September 19, 2025
Table of Contents
Introduction
So, I'll start with Bear.
He has had a cough for maybe two weeks. He's not crazy about vets and his current vet has changed ownership and while it is much prettier for humans inside the building, everything else about it is more stressful– from parking, to waiting for treatment, etc. But at least they send 1-3 emails a day advertising services, a new thing for since the new owner.
Anyway, I finally took him in to a new vet yesterday and they think he has an infection. Ok. But then I took him back for an x-ray and– they saw something they can't explain. Easiest explanation is a tumor that is a cancer that has migrated from another organ.
They are sending it to a radiologist to see what the expert x-ray picture people think.
So.
Do you pray?
If so, please pray for our dog. He's been the only unmitigated, undeniable, unblemished good thing about my life in the last five years and he's only six.
Anyway, a lot of people have had worse weeks than me, no doubt. And, maybe the radiologists will see it as something else.
So, let's get on with Florida shall we?
Finite
Disappointment
For the seventh week in a row over 100 people gathered near mile marker 48, across from the entrance to the South Florida Detention Center better known by its abomination of a racist name, to pray for the people detained in the facility, the people working for the facility, for the land, and for the people near the facility impacted by it.
Philip Cardella
I wrote about the area around AA, why its important and some context about where it is. Please check it out.
It is a wonderful thing that people from all over the country (there were people from San Francisco there this week) are gathering in solidarity for the people in the facility. If you think, 'well, maybe they shouldn't have broken laws,' just remember a) many have not broken any laws whatsoever b) many immigration violations are a misdemeanor (being in the United States is often not really a crime according to the Supreme Court) and not usually something people spend weeks in jails for, much less months c) several people have died in places like this this year and d) apparently they've misplaced hundreds of detainees from this site alone. It's been open for two months and they've misplaced 800 detainees.
Even if you think this 800 of the 'worst of the worst' wouldn't you like to know if where they are? Maybe they're roaming the streets. Maybe they're in a watery grave. Maybe they're being sent on a secret mission to Mars against their wills. Shouldn't we know?
Anyway, here's a very short video (like 2 minutes) from Sunday's prayer vigil.
Facebook Gonna Facebook– and that's a very bad thing
This Week in Florida started using Facebook this year, after Philip deleted his account in 2020, simply because a lot of people still use it and to grow the brand. But there were many reasons I quit it in 2020 and I never missed it. The thing is, when Zuckerberg allegedly stole the idea for Facebook and then definitely mocked the people who used it for being "dumb f***s" for trusting him with their data, he set a tone for the business that has never changed. The story below is worse than you'll think from the headline. You need to read it.
Robert Booth
Florida
Gonna Florida
I could have featured a story about Miami being the most expensive city in America for dining out, or the story about FIU's "Phantom Pisser" being stalked by FIU's Pisser Hunter, or Florida's obsession with throuples and the like (if you don't know, you probably don't want to know) but I decided to go with the rabid raccoons because, I mean, it pretty much sums everything up right now, doesn't it?
It is a bit of a PSA so I'll quote at length from the Miami New Times article on it.
The DOH alert lasts through November 16 and includes the following Broward County boundaries:
Northern boundary: I-595
Southern boundary: SW 26th St.
Eastern boundary: SW 112th Ave.
Western boundary: SW 148th Ave.
The health department offers the following tips for avoiding rabies exposure:
Immunize all pets and livestock based on their veterinarian’s recommended schedule.
When outside the house, keep pets under direct supervision and leashed or in a stroller. If a wild animal bites your pet or livestock, immediately seek a veterinarian for the animal and contact Animal Control Services for your area.
Avoid physical contact with wild or stray animals, which includes direct feeding or unintentionally attracting them with outdoor pet food, open garbage cans, or other sources of food. If a wild animal scratches or bites someone, immediately seek medical attention and report the injury to the health department by calling 954-467-4700.
Never adopt wild animals or bring them into your home; instead, contact a licensed wildlife handler.
For issues with wild or stray animals in your neighborhood, rather than channeling your inner Steve Irwin, call animal services.
Never allow wildlife to enter living spaces in homes, schools, or other locations where they might come in contact with people and pets.
In fairness, my favorite ice cream shop in Florida made national news, so Florida has got that going for it.
Nicole Lopez-Alvar
Historic
Interlude
On September 19, 1964 the show Flipper aired for the first time. Miamians know that Flipper was partially filmed at the iconic and now well documented disaster that is known as Seaquarium. As you may recall, one of the dolphin trainers that worked on Flipper, Richard O'barry, believes that Cathy, one of the dolphins that portrayed the eponymous bottlenose dolphin, committed suicide at Seaquarium, coincidentally on the first Earth Day in 1970.
It's been a hell of a week so let's just send you over to the Miami New Times who did a good story on the place yesterday. Note the title. Spoiler alert, it doesn't even mention Flipper.
Naomi Feinstein
Infinite
Hope
Sometimes, you just need baby pictures and I got to capture some beautiful babies at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park. True, they are scaly babies, but look at how cute! Yep, that eggshell in the photo above just might be from the critter in the image below.
In an often very contentious meeting, the Miami-Dade Commission did approve a budget that doesn't increase the cost of most public transit and does include funding for Miami's nascent Eviction Diversion Program at $2 million dollars. If $2 million seems like a lot in these crunched times, do understand the proper funding level for the program (a program several cities, including New York City have fully funded) would be $12 million for this county.
This is, sadly, not an infinite win, though it belongs in the infinite hope section. The mayor's initial budget proposal was brutal for the arts, for human services and for transportation. But through a lot of hard work, her office pulled from a lot of cookie jars to find money to keep these things at current levels.
Perhaps it is time for the county to increase its tax rate (millage) from the 43 year low it presently sits at.
If you didn't know, momma gators are very protective of their young for about three years. By that time, the little critters have gone from things that fit in large chicken eggs to three foot long lizard cousins. At about five feet they stop growing at an inch per month, diverting resources to, well, the throuple story, is fitting. See how I brought that back? That's called a "call back."
Anyway, here's Momma Gator, a few feet from her babies, "gaping," because she touched that sidewalk and immediately overheated. Gaping is how she cools down.
Bear
The History Hound Finds
Lindsay M. Chervinsky
Heather Cox Richardson
On the Four Little Girls killed in an Alabama church on September 15, 1963.
Julianne McShane
Paul Krugman