Though the Heavens Fall

Dr Martin Luther King Jr once observed that "the moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice". Or perhaps, he observed it more than once, and I wasn't paying attention. When I found this quote today, I was struck by an amazing image of a powerful, kinetic arm that can be flexed or extended to draw something right and fair into the realm of the normal and accepted.

In 1771, James Sommersett, a Boston slave escaped from his master, Charles Stewart, while the two were in England. Sommersett was captured and put aboard a ship bound for Jamaica. An application was made before the Court of King's Bench for a writ of Habeus Corpus, and the ship's captain was ordered to produce Sommesett before the court to determine whether or not his imprisonment was legal.

Chief Justice Lord Mansfield set a date for the hearing, and in February of 1772, Sommersett's Case was brought to trial. His Lordship was fully aware of the possible political, social and economic ramifications of his final decision, but determined not to let them influence him. Quoting the Roman statesman, Piso, Lord Mansfield declared: "Let Justice be done, though the Heavens may fall." The quote must have impressed him as much as it does me, since he used it again, years later, while trying another notorious case.

It is with this long, tortuous prologue that I bring us now to the subject of this post. It concerns the much smaller matter of a far lesser injustice. On Monday, August 10, our friend, Maria Soroski, telephoned to wish the Tall Lady a Happy Birthday. Of itself, this probably seems unremarkable, but most of our contact with her is made through our respective FaceBook accounts.

On Monday, Maria could not post a birthday greeting on Sheral's page. In fact, FaceBook has suspended Maria's posting privileges for fifteen days. VOKRA, the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association, will be holding its Second Annual Festival and Walk for Kitties on Sunday, August 21 at Jericho Beach, beginning at 10:00 am. Maria has been reminding her friends of this event at great length and with frequent repetition, as have I.

In her case, though, FaceBook has deemed that she is advertising the event, and has imposed the suspension as a cuff on her naughty little wrist. Because I believe the suspension is arbitrary and unfair, I have placed my tongue (kinda) firmly into my cheek and created a new FaceBook page, the stated intention of which is to Free Maria Soroski.

Maria doesn't much need my help here. She is free as a matter of course, and sometimes, she is even a bit of a loose cannon - as anyone who has gotten in her way can attest. It is a fact, though, that I am offended by this treatment of my respected and valued friend, and to that degree, my campaign is quite serious.

While I was playing around on Free Maria this morning, I discovered something very interesting. My good friends at FaceBook offered to advertise my new community page for me at the modest cost of fifty dollars a day. This has caused me to wonder if they expected Maria to pay the same to advertise the Kitty Walk on Sunday, but of course, I have a suspicious and cynical nature...

This then, is my call to arms, my cry for justice, petty and pitiful though the corporate offenders may be. Please visit my Free Maria Soroski page and click on the like button. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Let's bend an elbow together.

 Fiat justitia, ruat caelum

Lucius Calpernius Piso Caesoninus 

(circa 43 BC)

Let justice be done, though the heavens fall

William Murray, First Earl of Mansfield

(Sommersett's Case, 1772)

Nine Cats Behind

I Medici 

When I posted here last (a month and a half ago), our girl Lucy had just joined our family, and Malcolm and Dickens were scheduled to go to live in the big condo at PetSmart in North Van. All of our Ferocious Black Panthers have now been adopted, but I've realized, to my embarrassment, that I've fallen nine cats behind in telling this story.

Three little tabby boys and their beautiful, black sister were trapped around 33rd and Slocan about two months ago. When they came to live with us, the Tall Lady was reading a novel about the Medici Family, and as a result, they all got Italian names. It could have been worse - I was reading a book about Vlad the Impaler.

La Bella Bianca - what else would you call the little black cat? Bianca was a little hissing, spitting, snarling, savage dust bunny when we first met her, but she has since grown into a serene and beautiful young lady. No pampered princess, though, this little spitfire has managed to hold her own with three great buffoons of brothers all sitting on her head at the same time, while the two smirking big cats cheered them on from the sidelines. Bianca is the new Lady of the Ring.

The Mighty Cosimo is one of our best lap cats. He is so fond of treats (ours especially) that we've nicknamed him Mr Chips. Cosimo loves rasslin', toys, and tummy rubs, and he has a purr like a muscle car that lost its muffler somewhere on a stretch of corduroy road. It takes very little to get his motor running, and he gets surprisingly good mileage.

Cosimo is the biggest of the three boys, and he is the family enforcer, when Bianca lets him be.

Signore Piero is the little guy. He is small in everything but presence, and his markings and wide, green eyes make him appear terrified in all of his pictures. In truth, Piero fears nothing but the vacuum cleaner!

He loves his brothers, Bianca and the Flying Fellini Sisters, but he is sometimes a private and solitary kitten who will disappear for hours on end. I believe that he's been curling up behind the sofa with a flashlight and a good book.

Lastly, but not leastly, there is Lorenzo, il Magnifico, and he really, really is! Lorenzo is one of the prettiest kittens we've ever fostered, and we've had some cuties. He was the first on the lap, the first to trust us to rub his tummy, and usually, he's the first into whatever mischief is planned.

We suspect that Lorenzo has been reading The Prince.

Cosimo and Piero were adopted yesterday. Our new friend Mick and his youngest son came over to pick them up a few minutes ago. Bianca and Lorenzo will follow sometime soon, and it would be nice if they were adopted together, but I'm sure that they'll be fine with any family they happen into - they're just nice little cats.

Sumi and the Finger Puppets

As usually happens at this time of year, the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association has been nearly swamped with cats. When we collected i Medici, there were about 250 cats and kittens in VOKRA's care, and we were $30,000 in debt. In the last month, our fosters' numbers rose by a hundred, and the debt had increased by about twenty thousand dollars. Karen Duncan probably spends a lot of time these days curled into a tiny ball on the floor of her basement office, sucking her thumb and whimpering softly.

Quite naturally, when the call went out for foster parents to take someone else in, the Tall Lady remembered that we had a bare spot on the floor of our little bedroom...

Our new foster kid is a long, lovely, black cat who was left behind in an apartment on Cambridge Street when her owner moved. She is so friendly and tame that it's obvious she was somebody's baby, and it's also obvious that she'll be no trouble at all. We've named her Sumi. It's Japanese for "charcoal".

Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that. Sumi came with peripherals. A couple of days before we met her, she gave birth to four tiny, perfect, black kittens. There are three girls and a boy. We've never been dealt that hand before. They were two days old when we met them, and they looked like finger puppets.

They're four weeks old now, and are much bigger and more interesting than the photo indicates. They are learning to run, wrestle and explore. They like the bigger kittens (especially Cosimo), but they are suspicious of that new litter box thing that the Tall Lady has placed beside their sleeping area. The little boy, Chansu (Chance), is casting a curious eye to the top of our bed, trying to decide whether or not he can make the great leap. He has also started drinking from Mom's water dish.

One of the girls has been named Blossom, because of the small spot of white on her chest. Her Japanese name, which we never use is Sakura. Their sisters are Sachi and Shisan. "Sachi" translates as "happiness", and "Shisan" means "fortune". We think black cats are very good luck. We've certainly been blessed with them!

And nine foster cats are really no trouble - after all, Sumi takes care of four of them!

The Bearcubs with big brothers Cosimo and Piero

The Lucy Show

"I Love Lucy" - Dickens

Two weeks ago, we took the Ferocious Black Panthers to Tisol in Burnaby for an adoption event. In the kennel next to them was a pretty little two year-old black cat named Koko, whose kittens had all just been adopted. Everyone who saw them together asked us if Koko was our boys' mother, because her colouring and theirs was so similar.

Of course, it was just coincidence.

On Saturday, we went to visit our friend, Karen Duncan at VOKRA Command Central. Arrangements had been made to send our buddies Malcolm and Dickens to PetSmart in North Vancouver, and Karen was concerned that poor, little Reese (and we as well) would be lonely without his mushy big brothers. Karen had a ten week-old kitten named Lucy, who she thought we would like to foster. Lucy had been adopted once, but sometimes the adoption doesn't work out, and this was one of those times. Lucy is one of Koko's five kittens.

She is tiny, soft and she looks fragile - she is NOT! She was in the apartment for around ten minutes before she had climbed to the top of Pepper's little scratching post, and by the time half an hour had passed, she had commandeered every cat toy in the living room. When the boys or the Flying Fellini Sisters got too close to her, they would be warned off with a fierce, adult growl, quickly followed by a tiny, hard fist.

Somehow, the co-ordination of moving the two big boys to PetSmart has become tangled, and Dickens and Malcolm are still with us (oh, darn). Over the past forty-eight hours, Malcolm has come to like Lucy very much, and poor Dickens is hopelessly smitten. My buddy Reese is not quite so fond of her. He's had the cute, little kitten franchise sewn up for five months, after all, and now this hideous, little gargoyle has robbed him of it!

Cats will be what cats will be, and in addition to the hissing, spitting and growling, there has been a good deal of butt sniffing (Memo to Ferocious Black Panthers: the new kitten is not a wheelbarrow). When this is carried too far, the grumpy, little cat will enforce her territorial prerogatives (Memo to Little Miss Hiss: pick on somebody your own size).

We have no concerns about Lucy's safety. Frequently, we step over the bodies of our three fallen warriors, while our new little girl swaggers around the living room, dripping gore from the fresh Havana brown scalps fastened to her tiny lance-head.

The Flying Fellini Sisters, quite sensibly, have chosen to remain neutral. I suspect they are planning to pick off the survivors one by one. Again, I don't think we'll have these little beauties very long. The Boys are the nicest cats we have ever fostered, and Lucy is a perfect little doll.

We've had calls tonight from people who want to meet all of them tomorrow.

I'll miss them when they go, but I can't wait to see who's next!