Carole Baskins Diary

Judge in Murder for Hire Case has a Sense of Humor

On Jan 3 the Judge Scott L. Palk ruled against Joe Schreibvogel’s motion to dismiss counts 3-11 of his tiger trafficking charges stating that he owned the tigers before the rule went into effect to restricted the interstate commerce in tigers.  That rule was the Generic Tiger Loophole that we successfully closed on 4/5/2016.  The judge ruled that possession of the tigers, or anything he did with them, prior to that date wasn’t at issue as these were all current allegations.

 

Yesterday the judge ruled against Joe’s motion to dismiss counts 1 or 2 regarding hiring a hitman to kill me.  

 

The court summarized:

 

The Court's references to these counts as “murder-for-hire counts" herein instead of the wordier "use of interstate commerce facilities for purposes of murder-for-hire counts” is not meant to diminish the Government's requirement of proving the use of an interstate commerce facility in relation to the alleged offenses, as well as each count's other elements. care, exhibition, and breeding of tigers and lions that, in February 2013, resulted in a civil judgment against Defendant of more than $1 million. C.B. and related business entities have attempted to collect the judgment from Defendant and his related business entities ever since.

 

In the first murder-for-hire count, the Government alleges that Defendant inquired of Individual 1 in November 2017 whether Individual 1 would travel to Florida to murder C.B. for a sum of money and that Defendant mailed a cell phone to another State to conceal Individual 1’s involvement in their plot. The Government also alleges that Defendant gave $3,000 to Individual 1 in November 2017 in exchange for his agreement to travel to Florida and kill C.B.

 

In the second murder-for-hire count, the Government alleges that from July 2016 to March 2018, Defendant asked Individual 2 if he could locate somebody to kill C.B. for payment. The Government further alleges that, in December 2017, Individual 2 offered to introduce, and then introduced Defendant, to an undercover FBI agent (posing as a “hitman”) who discussed with Defendant the murder of C.B. for payment. 

 

The Superseding Indictment continues: from December 2017 to March 2018, Defendant allegedly spoke with Individual 2 by cellular phone regarding the murder of C.B. But the Government does not allege that Defendant interacted with the undercover FBI agent directly after a single face-to-face meeting in December 2017 (which was recorded by the Government); all of Defendant's remaining interactions are alleged to have been with Individual 2. Nor did Defendant supply money or anything of pecuniary value to the undercover FBI agent.  

 

The judge then had to chuckle to himself as he wrote this in response to Joe’s attorney’s best efforts:

 

Further, Defendant's proposed interpretation of § 1958(a) necessarily fails when the statute's text is evaluated in toto. The “another” referenced in relation to the use of an interstate commerce facility can be per the statute—the intended victim. Applying Defendant's approach to a situation where the “another” is the intended victim, a person could only be guilty of violating § 1958(a) if he or she caused an intended victim to use a facility of interstate commerce with the intent of murdering himself or herself in exchange for payment to the same intended victim. Such a fact pattern is nonsensical. Unless the Court deletes “(including the intended victim)” from the statute—which the Court will not do—Defendant's interpretation cannot prevail without creating an absurdity within the statute.

 

The judge also referenced this testimony:  The transcript of a discussion between Defendant and the undercover FBI agent excerpted in the Government's response (to which Defendant raises no objection) creates at least a dispute about whether this evidence (and any other evidence presented at trial) will show a violation of § 1958(a) as alleged in Cou

Praise of Big Cat Rescue from Joyce Fitch

Carole and Howard,

 

I can’t thank you enough for letting me join the BCR family for a few weeks.  It was such a treat for me!  I learned a lot and had such a great experience being able to spend  so much time with the cats.  Everyone was so nice to me and so many people had fun stories to share.  Thanks to Chelsea, I was able to do every tour and was with lots of difference keepers.  I talked Ted’s ear off every night, but he seemed to enjoy my adventures.  I had to miss the night tour because my family seems to think they come first 😃 and they surprised us.

 

Aleesa let me help out in the gift shop and I did some parking lot work and  a bit of cleaning so I felt at home.  Absolutely a wonderful experience!

 

Both Ted and I speak often about how remarkable BCR is.  You have created such an exemplary organization;  everyone appears to know exactly what to do and they go about their tasks professionally and happily.  No one breaks the rules - not even bending them.  How commendable is that?  Very!

 

We went on a private tour on Friday with Barb and she was great.  I wanted to see the cats I couldn’t when backing up tours and we got to see Purrfection, Pharaoh, Sapphire, Duchess, Des, Loki and then the rest of the crew.

 

I would love to come back when you get the new tigers so please keep me in the loop about their arrival.

 

I will re-read the beginning of Zoo College and figure out how to write a plea to be able to quicken my pace to Internship etc.  We will be planning more visits when we get ourselves organized and look at obligations, but we are sure we will return next year for longer but at the same time of year so I hope I can help out again.  I talked to Aleesa and offered to help with inventory next year if she is interested.  Both she and Chelsea are great!

 

Again - Thank you!

 

Ted is a retired vet from IL and Joyce has her masters degree in science and has been a teacher and consultant to organizations including Apple and Google.  

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

Florida Bar Animal Law Section Agrees with Howie

Today the FL Bar ran Howie’s article (See Dec. 20, 2018) and it’s all over the Internet now.  Game ON, FWC!

 

https://www.flabaranimals.org/single-post/2019/01/03/IT-IS-TIME-TO-END-THE-EXPLOITATION-AND-MISTREATMENT-OF-BIG-CATS-IN-FLORIDA?fbclid=IwAR0nHtRkqz6n-NkznJB2tjXM-f2SoEvl04Fj4bNgDDUKjrOYSqhCfuTGan8

 

Howie has been putting out some feelers, primarily with HSUS to see if they have an appetite for going after the FWC this year legislatively.  Dana Young, a Republican who had been animal friendly lost to Democrat, Janet Cruz, so we don’t have a champion for animals in the Republican held FL Congress.  

 

On the federal front, I sent the following to Kim and Lisa at Directive Group who manages our Google ad grant for us for free.  I had asked her to see if we could use our grant for running the ads against cub petting and gave her the following background:

 

Just as a little background on PPK.  Back in 2003 they donated time to help us change our name and logo when they were with a different firm that is now defunct.  In 2011 we hired one of the team as our PR director ([email protected]).  Michael Schillig has become close friends and a tennis mate with my husband.  PPK donates their art and copy to us every year and they win all kinds of awards with the stuff they have made and donated to us to end the practice of keeping big cats in captivity.

 

We did a $50k campaign with them last summer as our hail Mary to try and get the Big Cat Public Safety Act passed.  The money all went to ad buy, not to them.  They created this video below and then targeted ad spend to just people in a narrow area around DC, to try and reach the aids in Congress, to see it.  The video performed magnificently, with something like 70% or more watching it all the way through.  We never heard about an aid seeing it though.

https://youtu.be/-8Iy3pI9qI8

One of our board members works for Cox media and he's had the audio from that played on the radio on 6 stations for quite a while, but mostly in late night slots that aren't sold.

 

Since the DC thing didn't work, what we thought we'd try next is to target people who are either in the areas where big cub petting operations exist, like Myrtle Beach, SC., Wynnewood, OK, Thackerville, etc., and target people searching for things to do in those areas, who are also searching cubs, zoos, etc. and show them this video and one that we are having done.  The one we are having done is a longer and better 2.5 minute remake of this one:

https://youtu.be/1ewz7AjUz6M

If we can reach people before they pay to pet or see a cub, then maybe we can just kill the industry.  We are reintroducing our federal bill and have both an R and D Sponsor in the House.  We think we can pass it there very quickly as the head of the committee was a co sponsor last year, but getting it through the Senate will still be a challenge.  We have a lobbyist working half time for us on it and his goal is an R sponsor in the Senate by the end of February.  Our bill had close to 150 cosponsors last time around and would have passed in the House, if we had been able to get a hearing, but Chairman Bishop had blocked us.

 

So, to sum it up, PPK is doing all of this for us for free, but we will have to spend money on the actual ads.  I'm trying to figure out ways to leverage their efforts at a reduced ad spend cost.  Anything you know about the non profit Google grants would be a huge help.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out

an intern from S. Africa asked if there is any undercover work she could do for free while here.  I sent the following:

 

I've been trying to get someone inside Sue Pearce’s place:  http://911animalabuse.com/sue-pearce-animal-adventures/

 

There is a man, who seems to be sort of related to the place, offers tours to people to come hand feed the cats, but they have to meet him at a place in town first and then he takes them there and back to town.  Kind of creepy.  He says it is because there is no cell signal at the place in case you get lost, but my guess is that they are trying to control access.  At this point he's allowing photos and videos, so we would need to send someone with you to be the "feeders" and you could film them.

 

I have a couple in mind.  He's a big guy who is proficient in marshal arts and she's an activist, but isn't known by her face or name to the bad guys.  You could drive down together.

 

None of the other bad guys will allow photos or videos.  Some reporters we are working with got some undercover footage at http://911animalabuse.com/mario-tabruae-zoological-wildlife-foundation-fka-zoological-imports/ last week, but that Mario Tabraue was a convicted felon and if they made him nervous with their questions he may be on high alert for a while.

 

I'd love to get footage of this guy Vernon Yates:  http://911animalabuse.com/wildlife-rescue-and-rehab/ and you can see a corner of his property from the road, but he's physically attacked me twice and never lets people on his property.  That's why the photos on my page above are the only ones that exist.  He stopped letting the press in a long time ago because of the photos getting out.  He only uses family members to keep his alleged practice of bringing home rescued wildlife to feed to his cats.  The last outsider who was there told me he rescued a bobcat who was injured and fed it, alive, to the tigers.

 

Another place I am curious about, and no one has ever gotten a photo, to my knowledge is another Sue;  Sue Arnold also in Okeechobee.  https://bigcatrescue.org/sue-arnold/ 14895 NW 30th Ter, Okeechobee, FL 34972-0941 Almost every time we ever rescued a jungle cat and a lot of servals, it was from people who bought from Sue Arnold.  Her website is down now, and all I could find is a Trip Advisor post to get the address.  One person tried for visit, under the auspices of going to ask about volunteering, and she said you could smell the urine from the curb, but Sue wouldn't let her in.

 

I'll see if I can get the couple to go with you to Sue Pearce's place in Okeechobee if you want. Maybe on the way you could swing by Sue Arnold's to see if you can tell if she's still breeding and selling servals and jungle cats.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

Climate Change 1980-2018

 

Two tigers talking and one is saying, "You can tell humans apart by their fingerprints.  They are as unique as our stripes."  I’ve been cleaning up and organizing all of my folders and over the year have saved some screenshots that I label “Ideas”.  They are mostly quotes to overlay on beautiful cat images for social sites, so I’ve created a few, but today had that bizarre stripe / finger print idea come out of nowhere.  I sent it to LaWanna to see if Cindy Arthur, or one of our artists could illustrate that.

 

Howie is feeling better and decided he’s now ready to remake the cartoon I had done to promote our federal bill to ban cub petting.  His edits are great, but now it means pretty much starting from scratch with the cartoonist.  I’m going to give it another day or so, because he will want to change things a few times and no sense paying for work that is just going to have to be redone.  Jamie and Victor went fossilizing for something new yesterday.  It’s an old mine where they hit a pocket of fossilized clams.  Jamie says the animal part of the clams turns to crystals and that’s what she’s digging.  I have crystals in my pockets and on my desks as a reminder that we are all made of light.

 

I’m continuing to read the NYT piece on climate change.  I found this interesting and wondered if Jamie hopped back onto the planet in 1980 to be a part of the change that was needed to save the earth?  

 

On April 3, 1980, Senator Paul Tsongas, a Massachusetts Democrat, held the first congressional hearing on carbon-dioxide buildup in the atmosphere. Gordon MacDonald testified that the United States should “take the initiative” and develop, through the United Nations, a way to coordinate every nation’s energy policies to address the problem. That June, Jimmy Carter signed the Energy Security Act of 1980, which directed the National Academy of Sciences to start a multiyear, comprehensive study, to be called “Changing Climate,” that would analyze social and economic effects of climate change. More urgent, the National Commission on Air Quality, at the request of Congress, invited two dozen experts, including Henry Shaw himself, to a meeting in Florida to propose climate policy.

 

 

Two days before Halloween in 1980 Rafe Pomerance traveled to a cotton-candy castle on the Gulf of Mexico, near St. Petersburg, Fla, that locals called the Pink Palace. The Don CeSar hotel was a child’s daydream with cantilevered planes of bubble-gum stucco and vanilla-white cupolas that appeared to melt in the sunshine like scoops of ice cream. The hotel stood amid blooms of poisonwood and gumbo limbo on a narrow spit of porous limestone that rose no higher than five feet above the sea. In its carnival of historical amnesia and childlike faith in the power of fantasy, the Pink Palace was a fine setting for the first rehearsal of a conversation that would be earnestly restaged, with little variation and increasing desperation, for the next 40 years.

 

2015-2018:  The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, starting in the year 2020. The agreement's language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of November 2018, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 184 have become party to it. The Paris Agreement's long-term goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.

 

Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. No mechanism forces a country to set a speci

Jamie Says Divorce Was Final in October 2018

 

I think it is Victor’s signature and Carolyn Thompson’s as witnesses on the marriage certificate.  Jamie’s two closest friends.

 

I went online to see when, but all I find is their marriage certificate.  Since it was amicable, maybe that doesn’t result in a filing.  They have certainly both stayed quiet about it and it’s been so awkward when I go LIVE because our fans all love the fairy tale marriage between Big Cat Rescue’s President and Vet and if Jamie’s not talking about it, I can’t talk about it.  She says Justin is living with Dr. Green, a vet from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, but neither of them post about it on social sites.  For the first time, I saw Victor say something romantic about Jamie.  Something like, “Hiking with this beautiful girl...”  Jamie says he’s the only one who tells her she’s pretty.  Maybe he’s the only one who realized just how special she truly is.   I don’t tell her she’s pretty because I hate it when people tell me that.  I don’t see physical appearance as something important.  I tell her she’s smart, talented, creative and so does everyone else.  I guess we long for what we think is missing or not seen. 

 

I’ve been trying to move wealth to Jamie over the years and have made sure not to create a taxable event for her by transferring her home over multiple years through percentages of the trust document.  Now I am moving cash to her.  She probably won’t invest it as wisely as I would, but it’s past time to let her see what she can do.  I had already cut her a check for 5k earlier in the year and she used that to make her PAC donation to support our federal bill.  Yesterday I cut her a check for another 10k but told her I still want to fund her African trip on my credit card that we share.  

 

Howie has been sick but today felt good enough to gather palm fronds in the yard.  I wish he’d just let me pay someone to do that, but he seems to get a lot of satisfaction out of it.  Yesterday Mom said she couldn’t “see any folders on her computer any more.”  I couldn’t suss out if she was blind or had somehow hidden something from view.  

 

I struggle with PCs since I use Macs but told her I’d come fix it and help her put all her Christian music on a disc drive so she could play it without a laptop.  That led to ripping 9 CDs last night, but now she can enjoy her 151 songs wherever she is.  I’m going to help put them on her iPhone X today too.  I had offered to do that back before Dad died but she said she preferred silence.  Maybe because Dad talked so much.  

 

Howie, Jamie and I all went over the year end raises and then told everyone on our list, each to who we deal with the most, what their increases would be next year.  I’m grateful that we are doing well enough financially to make their lives a bit easier.

20 Year Plan 2005-2025

 

It is a working document that was last updated in 2013 so it’s time to re evaluate where we are and how to get where we are going.  I inaccurately predicted that by 2014 we would have passed the Big Cat Act.  I originally thought we would have it introduced by 2010, but it was 5/21/2013 before we managed to get in introduced and my new prediction is that it will pass in the 2019-2020 session.

 

Turns out I was way too optimistic about having Florida, the worst state in the union when it comes to big cat ownership, pass a law to ban private possession by 2009.   The next worst state, Ohio, did pass such a law in 2012 and the third worst state, Texas, finally did require that owners register and be overseen by local authorities, but no one really does that.  Howie has had the facts, for many years, to prove that legislators CAN pass a bill to ban private possession in Florida (despite the Florida Wildlife Commission’s claim to the contrary) but we put it on a back burner because the federal ban will make that point moot.  Recently Howie has been working more on the Florida constitution issue by engaging the Florida Bar Animal Section.   My new prediction is that Florida will pass such a ban after the federal bill passes in the upcoming session, just to save face.

 

I had predicted that the circus would meet with its demise in 2011, so I was off by 7 years if you consider Ringling’s closure this year to be the death nell in the U.S.  For the past several years similar bans have been passing in 40 other countries.  I think by 2020 it will be gone everywhere.

 

I thought we could end fur farming and trapping by 2007 with our campaign that focused on “Fur makes you smell bad and look fat.”  The photo is me in 2005 protesting in front of Westshore Mall on Fur Free Friday (an annual November event).  2018 turned out to be the year that fashion turned its back on the barbaric use of fur and it became a shameful act of selfishness to wear fur.

 

 

 

In some ways, I’m glad to have been wrong in my prophecies, because in 2005 I thought that by 2012 all wild cat species would be in such peril that they would all be on the IUCN Red List.  I thought that the resultant protections for wild counterparts would result in such intensive inbreeding in zoos that they would not be able to breed and exhibit big cats by 2013 or any species of exotic cat by 2015.   Where I was sadly wrong is that I thought people would be so much better educated by then that they wouldn’t patronize zoos.  

 

Zoos have been around for 190 years under the auspices of furthering our education and concern for preserving habitat starting with London's Regent's Park in 1828. Zoo attendance had started to decline but lately is increasing.  I’m not too concerned though because I think it’s more a matter of zoos changing their business model from jail cells full of languishing wildlife to theme parks with roller coasters and rides to be playgrounds for children to run wild.  I think zoos are uniquely positioned to make the most of 360, immersive, virtual reality and will transition from prisons to edu-tainment meccas.  For big cats; I am going to predict that none will be displayed in zoos by 2023 and smaller cat species will no longer be held captive in zoos by 2025.

 

Given my overly optimistic projections in 2005, where I thought exotic cats would no longer be held in private possession, zoos or circuses by 2015, I had reasoned that all of them in cages would have died out by 2025.  Now I have to push that back a bit so here is my updated timeline:

 

2020 - Ban on private ownership results in most captive cats going into sanctuaries where they will die out by 2028.  Fur farming and fur trapping will end because 2018 saw massive adoption of a NO FUR policy across most popular designers and brands, with some cities even passing bans. 

 

2023 - Zoos ditch the last of their big cats to make space for more lucrative experiences on that valuabl

Christmas Bobcat Curse

 

Photo is Jamie and Victor hiking on Christmas Day 2018

What is it about Christmas and Bobcats?

First thing this morning Gale texts me to say there is a dead bobcat in the middle of the road at Gunn Highway and Sheldon.  I texted Kathryn to ask if she can have someone closer run out to make sure the cat isn’t suffering and by the time Gale texts back that there is no doubt the cat is dead, Kathryn has already heard from Rebecca that she stopped to pull the cat out of the road but had no way to bring him to the sanctuary.  Kathryn sends Megan to retrieve the body and we will compare him to our photos of previously released rehab bobcats before having him cremated.  He will have dignity in death.

 

We are all upset at the thought of losing yet one more precious bobcat and it comes the day after hearing about a bobcat who was hit by a car at an airport in Sanford.  The bobcat reportedly had a broken leg and was holed up in the grille of a car for three days before being removed by an animal trapper.  The news reports say that authorities sent the cat to a rehab center, but no one is saying where.  We know there is no place other than Big Cat Rescue that is properly equipped for bobcat rehab so as soon as the place who has him has exhausted their ability to fundraise off him, they will probably call us to take the cat for the hard rehab work, if they care at all about getting the cat back out to the wild.  So many places just love to get “failed” rehab animals to fill their cages of their pathetic back yard zoos.  The whole thing makes me sad.

 

While I’m wallowing in pity for the cats who have lost their freedom and lives, I start wondering what it is about Christmas and bobcats?  Is there some ancient curse on their clan?  I pull out the sheet used for tracking bobcat calls we get and the earliest entry is 12/25/94 and a cat we named Goetz.  I’d done a lot of bobcat rehab and release since I was 17 but didn’t have digital records prior to when I was 31 years old in 1994.

 

My brother was a deputy with the Sheriff’s department and called me in the middle of the night on Christmas saying a bobcat had been hit by a car at Sheldon Road near Meadowview Circle.  When we arrived on the scene there were half a dozen patrol cars, lights flashing, and all of the officers were in a wide circle around the bobcat with flashlights on her.  We crept up on either side of her with nets, using a tactic that cats often use when they hunt together.  One is the “danger” who comes toward the face, while the other is actually the one to do the capturing.  The one from behind has to be so stealthy that the animal being caught never knows what got them.

 

The bobcat was sitting up, as best she could; pulled up to her highest on her front legs.  She was trying to keep this circle of cops at bay with her low, snarling threats.  If you’ve never heard a mad bobcat, I really can’t explain just how terrifying that sound is.  As I moved into position to take her full attention, I didn’t know the extent of her injuries.  If she was able, she’d launch herself to my throat and take out my trachea, to save herself.  She sprang with what she had and let out a blood curdling scream of obscenities at me.  I would have laughed at all those big guys, with guns drawn, running out into the night, screaming in fear, if not for the mission at hand, which was to get a net down over her without causing her further injury.

 

Her pelvis turned out to have been crushed, so her spring wasn’t much and both nets came down over her in an instant. We called for the pet carrier to be brought over and one of the police officers had the courage to bring it close enough that we were able to get her in it.  I’d like to think that was my brother, but really don’t recall.  I remember early days of rehab with Goetz, where we would take the top off the carrier and feed her strips of meat from long tongs.  The entire time she’d be hurling threats at us and

I Feel Babylon Touching My Face

 

From time to time I find myself coming back from what seems to be a deep trance, right in the middle of doing something.  I’ll be working on a web page and before I know it, my fingers are touching lightly around my nose, and eyes and I realize I’m getting in the way of being able to see and it feels like Babylon doing it.  I felt the same way after my father died.  And after my grandmother died.  And after my grandfather died.  What IS this?

 

It feels like love.  It feels like reassurance.  But when I awake to doing it, I have to admit, it feels weird.

 

Today is Christmas and I was so happy to see so many volunteers show up to feed, clean and enrich the cats.  Some even showed up to make sure others got their “big cat fix” today.  The new Vuze XR 3D camera arrived yesterday so I’m going to go play in the yard.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

I Always Run Out Of Time

I am almost never on time because I always think I can cram just one more thing into whatever I’m doing before I have to go and then I’m down a rabbit hole and miss appointments, deadlines, and of course holidays.  I’ve always despised Christmas.  Weirdly, as a kid, I felt bad that my parents would give me stuff because I didn’t need or want for anything material.  As an adult I despise the commercialization and the expectation of gifts to the point where you have to buy stuff and give it to people even though you have no idea if they are even going to like it or have any use for it.   Maybe I’m just not terribly thoughtful and that’s why I can’t come up with time determined gift ideas.  I prefer to give gifts as I see something and think, “they are going to love this!” 

 

I offered to give Jamie a $17,000 trip to study snow leopards in the wild with the Snow Leopard Trust and she says she’s considering it.  I don’t know if her reason for not jumping at the idea was because of the cost (so she said) or if she thinks that’s a lot to spend to freeze your extremities off and never actually see a cat.  I bought a paper wallet for Howie a long while back, thinking, “he’s going to love this!” and I don’t think he’s even opened it yet.  I was so sure it was going to be one of those technological break throughs in men’s wear, that I bought a much fancier one to give him for Christmas...which is going to be a pretty stupid gift now, so I’ll probably hang onto it.

 

I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time editing this diary and exporting copies for security reasons.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk