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Link: openid.server Monday, December 29, 2008 Big Dogs, leadership in Canadian politics Man can now fly in the air like a bird, swim under the ocean like a fish, he can burrow in the ground like a mole. Now if only he could walk the earth like a man, this would be paradise. - Tommy Douglas [IMG] [Robert Bateman book bag: source] This post is not about dog behavior. It's about people behaving like dogs, in politics, in Canadian politics more particularly. First off, a little background about dominance, in animals. According to the American Dog Trainers Network, there's a difference between dominance and aggression, though the two traits can overlap. "While a dominant dog likes to control their pack, the aggressive dog takes it one step further, using threats and/or actual aggression to gain and keep control." Here in Canada, Mr. Harper is not merely dominant but has shown tendencies towards aggression, in particular his random cuts to the arts only weeks before the election and more recently his attempt to cut funding to political parties, a step that would have virtually destroyed the opposition for the foreseeable future. In both cases, small amounts of public money were at stake, indicating the cuts were symbolic, threats intended to assert Mr. Harper's status as the Big Dog. Dominance, unlike aggression, is an ever nuanced thing, particularly as you go up the evolutionary ladder, to the primates. How familiar does this sound? "In a deeply political species like the chimpanzee, the similarities to social behaviors of the rich become even more pronounced. Chimpanzees are masters of social networking, with a Machiavellian knack for developing friendships and building political alliances. Prominent individuals practice a kind of noblesse oblige; they seem to understand that sharing food and other resources is a way to accumulate prestige and the support of lower-ranking individuals. "Like the rich, chimpanzees also know the value of putting on the right face. In his book Chimpanzee Politics, Frans de Waal recounts the spectacle of a dominant male named Luit being challenged from behind by a rival. Before turning to meet his challenger, Luit paused, like a CEO about to enter a roomful of dissident stockholders, and actually reached up with his fingers to press his lips together and wipe away his nervous grin. Then he faced down his rival with the serene image of unshakable power." - The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide, by Richard Conniff While Stephen Harper is clearly the alpha Big Dog in Canadian politics at the moment, it's also clear that he is struggling on the evolutionary ladder; he's uncertain about what noblesse oblige is or what use it might be, and struggles to wipe the conceited grin off his face before television interviews. One can imagine how maddening this must be for the other Big Dogs on the scene, his political rivals, who are expecting a more sophisticated kind of alpha behavior. If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch." -Romney adviser Warren Tompkins to ABC's Jake Tapper The problem for the other pack leaders is you can't stay on the porch. Thus, we had Jack Layton's campaign strategy putting him forward as a pack leader, then after the post-election fiasco in which the Big Dog threatened to cut the pack off from their food bowls, Stephan Dion, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe formed a coalition of packs; now we have a new BD on the scene: Michael Ignatieff sniffing Stephen Harper's butt. The thing about Big Dogs is they can act as conciliatory as they want. Like Luit, Stephen Harper can appear magnanimous, granting audiences to just about anyone who asks, but at the end of the day, he will do as he decides, not because he is right, but because he is the Big Dog. People recognize a BD when they see one; emotionally they rank the BD within his or her own pack and then rank the pack among other packs, and then even rank themselves, choosing pack and leader, or more likely, leader and pack. That would seem to be how the last two elections have played out. Frankly, given that two minority governments have resulted, Canadians seem to be either not in the mood for a Big Dog or are having trouble figuring out what to do with the BD that has strayed into the dog park. In any event, it looks like there's going to be a lot more butt-sniffing and teeth-baring and hair-raising before we're done. Whether we see any of the BDs standing up and walking on two legs remains to be seen. In the meantime, this butt-sniffing advice from venture capitalist Mike Lyons might serve everyone best: "Get undressed quickly." - Mike Lyons, Venture Capitalist And finally, a great description of successful leadership: "A leader is best when people barely know he exists. Less good when they obey and acclaim him. Worse when they fear and despise him. Fail to honor people and they fail to honor you. But of a good leader, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: 'We did this ourselves.' " - Former U.S. Senator Alan Cranston [source] Labels: dog behavior, dogs and politics, dogs in art, dominance, Robert Bateman posted by howboy > link to this post 0 comments [IMG][IMG] Tuesday, December 16, 2008 The je n'est sais quoi of dogs [IMG] Photo: Geoffrey James, Trinity Bellwoods Park, 2006 It's wonderful how the off leash area sort of levels the playing field, with all types of people coming together over their common love of dogs. It's how I've been fortunate to get to know photographer Geoffrey James, who revealed recently and somewhat shyly that he has been taking photos of dogs and their owners for some time now. Above is an example of his fine black and white photographs. That shirt reminds me of something... so French. More works by Geoffrey James on Cybermuse. Meet the artist on Cybermuse. Books by Geoffrey from Douglas & McIntyre. Previous posts that have mentioned art and dogs: Williams Wegman and Eggleston, Seth Scriver and anonymous Jennifer Delos Reyes Jana Sterbak William Wegman clone Labels: dogs in art, trinity bellwoods park posted by howboy > link to this post 0 comments [IMG][IMG] Monday, February 18, 2008 Breeding, no, "editioning" my dog [IMG] It is of course ridiculous to say that I consider my dog an artwork. (btw did you know that "ridiculous" now means cool; somebody told me that yesterday in the dog park. Sick! :) Okay, so language is pretty f'd up (but in a good way). But serially, from the beginning I thought this 'dog thing' I seemed determined to do (for reasons I have never clearly understood and have therefor to be taken to be a kind of artistic inspiration) must be some sort of art thing. So now I'm thinking maybe it's time to create some 'real art', not just 'owning a dog as art'... one idea would be to breed a litter as an artist's multiple. Like prints, only 3D... and alive. Ridiculous or what?!? Perhaps you have heard of the artist Eduardo Kak and his Green Florescent (GFP) Protein Bunny? I think Mr. Kak is a great artist, partly because the glow in the dark bunny is so interesting, and partly because between having the idea and marshaling the resources to pull it off there is a lot of work, planning, collaboration, intelligence involved. I think Eduardo Kak is a much better artist than Picasso, tho' Picasso gets some points for owning a Dachshund, especially one named Lump. If you are really interested in "dog art", Moira McLaughlin's blog would be the place for you. Labels: dogs in art posted by howboy > link to this post 1 comments [IMG][IMG] Thursday, March 15, 2007 Dogs in art - Jen Delos Reyes [IMG] Lost Dogs The Kitchen, NY 2006 by Jen Delos Reyes The "Lost Dog" posters were about a friend who had to evacuate from Lebanon but couldn't find an embassy that would allow her to take her dog. Posters were posted around the Chelsea neighborhood in NY that would be read by dog lovers/owners who then would be informed about an aspect of the current situation in Lebanon that they could relate to personally, emotionally. Labels: dogs and politics, dogs in art posted by howboy > link to this post 0 comments [IMG][IMG] Home Previous Posts * Free to a Good Home * Bark bark barking * BoneVoyage - doggie daycare with a difference * About dogs on CBC Radio 1 * Keenser in Star Trek (2009) movie * K'NAAN or K-9 ? * Dogs in Cold Weather * Big Dogs, leadership in Canadian politics * The je n'est sais quoi of dogs * Coping in a "ruff" economy S U B S C R I B E Enter your email address: _____________________ [ Subscribe ] Delivered by FeedBurner F A V O R I T E B O O K S * The new work of dogs * Stanley Coren * Jeffrey Masson * Vicki Hearne * * Email group that discusses a new dog book every few weeks * email groups that discuss dogs About the S H I H T Z U * at AKC.org * at CanisMajor.com * at CKC.ca Google _____________________ [ go ] [ ] www [ ] greatcitydogs.com B L O G R O L L L I N K S [IMG] [IMG] Add to Technorati Favorites Pet | Dogs & Cat Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory Site Meter About this site * Great cities, great dogs. * Dedicated to Oreo, born May 20, 2005 * Dogs in today's news * Designed and powered by klooj.net * Contact Archives * August 2005 * October 2005 * November 2005 * December 2005 * January 2006 * February 2006 * March 2006 * April 2006 * July 2006 * August 2006 * October 2006 * November 2006 * December 2006 * January 2007 * February 2007 * March 2007 * April 2007 * June 2007 * July 2007 * August 2007 * September 2007 * January 2008 * February 2008 * September 2008 * October 2008 * November 2008 * December 2008 * January 2009 * March 2009 * May 2009 * October 2009 * November 2009 * February 2010 Powered by Blogger --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------