EppsNet

Authorities say a motorist has driven off a cliff, plunging about 200 feet down a steep canyon near Calabasas, after swerving to avoid an animal on the road.

— Driver Avoids Animal, Careens Off Calabasas Cliff – cbs2.com

Ouch — was he a PETA member?

I like animals. I ran over a squirrel once and I felt terrible about it but it did run right out in front of my car.

However — in the event of having to make a split-second decision between clobbering an animal and driving off a cliff, well, the animal is going to get it.

On a side note, kudos to the headline writer for the alliteration: “Careens Off Calabasas Cliff.” Who says a liberal arts education isn’t good for anything?

Hi Everybody! It’s me, Lightning! I wanted to tell you that my new favorite writer is named Camille Paglia!

A lot of people say that dogs and other animals can’t think because thought requires language and animals don’t know any language.

Well, here is what Camille Paglia says about that:

I disagree that language is or should be our primary medium for understanding the world. . . .

Words are very important in human development, but they can never adequately explain the awesome mysteries of the universe. Dante dramatized this when Virgil, the Roman poet who is his guide through hell and purgatory, cannot accompany him to paradise. Virgil stands for reason and language, but sacred vision requires a leap into another dimension. . . .

Exactly! I wish she said what kind of dog Dante is — maybe a pug!

Expanded perception is closer to how animals are instinctively attuned to their environment. Words can record our observations, but they are merely a tool, subordinate to nature’s stubborn physicality.

I know some words like “sit” and “walk” but I don’t know “stubborn physicality.” My owner says I have it though — especially the stubborn part!

— Lightning