Icarus’s Flight Blog

It’s been a while since I last posted but with the holiday season, I was one busy kitty. Last week we celebrated my birthday so Isis and Daddy made sure I’d have a good one. They presented me with a special cake and a new toy and also did a special broadcast on the radio station for me. It’s kind of neat having a birthday during the holidays because I get an extra gift and treats.  Because Chanukah fell during the same week as Christmas our Daddy gave us a few more toys and we got some cat treats besides the goodies I got on my birthday.

We’ve taken a little break from the radio station but with the New Year only a day away, we’re going to be back in action. Daddy has been pretty busy with the computer business and right now is taking care of the last few customers to close out 2008. It looks like 2009 will also start out very well for all of us.

Nonetheless, I and the rest of the Cat Galaxy crew would like to wish all of our listeners a Happy and safe New Year. We got a lot accomplished this year and can’t wait to get started with a new one. The sad part is that my sister Jade won’t be with us. On January 2nd it’ll mark the one year anniversary of her passing. This is something that is very sad to mention but I know she’s been paying a visit to us from time to time. Her leaving for the other side is still going to be one of our station’s lowest points.of 2008 but we’ve managed to move on and kept the station running.

We thank all of the listeners who supported us in 2008 and we hope you’ll keep listening and visiting the web site in 2009. We’re sure to have a few surprises in store so stay tuned. Meow!

Lately, every time Daddy turns on the TV we get the media telling us how bad things are with the economy.  Now the humans think we cats don’t understand the economy, but we know that when the humans fail to spend money that things tend to get a bit depressing. Don’t the humans know that they’re causing the economy to stay down by not spending money?

Daddy has been staying pretty positive and telling a lot of humans to get out and spend their money on the things they need. If you need computer work done then hire him to do it, not just because he’s in the business but because like all humans, when he has money he spends it.  Our Dad is also telling humans to stay positive and not let the mainstream media win. They’re pretty much driving the paranoia of the economy being in such dispair.  When you give into fear you let it win. We cats have already shown that we can stand our ground when we have to but when it comes to fear, most of us don’t let it affect our lives.

Another thing our Daddy pointed out is that if the other humans hold back money, they help destroy the very businesses and establishments they enjoy hanging out in or get service from.  If you don’t spend money to keep them afloat, how will you feel when they have to close their doors leaving you without a computer tech, veterinarian, or other business owner that you can trust? If you find a business that’s given you great service, keep supporting them. If you fail to spend your money with them, then they end up sometimes making the tough decision to close for good. That leaves many humans out in the cold when their computer needs repair or even us cats from getting help from that kind veterinarian we’ve gone to all these years. Sure, some of us cats don’t like going to the vet but when you find one that does a good job, then you need to support them whether the economy is good or bad.

The humans could learn a lot from us cats.  We tend to ignore the economic woes and the negative news the media puts out. Sure, some of us cats have also become victims of this economy. We don’t want to ever be left behind in these foreclosed homes and we often wonder why a human would do that. Yes, as a cat I’m upset to hear when a human does that, but part of it is because the humans are finding it easier to hold back money than to help get this economy going again.  Yes, some of them have lost their jobs because the big corporations they worked for got greedy, gave their executives large retirement benefits and simply found it easier to send jobs overseas, but if you noticed we cats are often very happy and content when our humans are there for us. We don’t let money issues affect our entire lives.

So, my advice for all you scared humans is this, don’t let the economy get you down. Go out and spend money. Forget the doom and gloom. Don’t let the media dictate what you should be doing or tell you to be afraid. We cats never let a human dictate what we should doing. Of course we have sharp claws and teeth.  Get out and enjoy life, because the happier our humans are, the better it is for us.

Tomorrow is election day which still gives every candidate the opportunity to sway the voters to their side.  We hope many of the humans will give up on voting for Senators Obama and McCain and decide that my sister Isis is the best choice in leading our country.  Right now, we’re the only cats in the race but we have a plan to turn this country around.

This election has proved interesting and as my Daddy has said many times before both Obama and McCain just don’t get it and they’ve turned this election into a circus. He’s right about that. On one side you have Obama who has avoided giving straight answers to the media and to the people about the associations he has had with other humans like the Reverand Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Lous Farrakhan, Rashid Khalidi, and a host of other characters.  If you ask me, that’s enough to scare any human away from voting for him. However, his followers have ignored the red flags and are now deciding to vote for him anyway.

Obama also doesn’t seem to like cats very much because he’s said that if he becomes elected he’s getting his kids a dog. Just how many Presidents do we need that go that route? McCain only has one cat but at least that’s saying something.  I’m not sure that we cats will enjoy living under a Socialist system if Obama gets elected. Yes Senator, we cats do know and are aware about the many economic and governmental systems out there.  I do like the Capitalist system because at least my Dad can earn a living and I’m not cool with the idea of eating potatoes like they did when Russia was the USSR.

McCain is also going to be bad for our country.  Yes, he served it well as a member of the military but he’s shown that as a member of the Washington establishment that he can’t relate with the people.  On election night, he like Obama is actually charging the media to attend their election day events. You might say that despite the millions their campaigns have, Obama and McCain are proving that this Presidential race is about the money.  If the media were to cover our run they’d have more access Also, let’s not forget that McCain has 7 homes which the average person could never afford. That proves just how out of touch with the people he really is. He loves bringing up “Joe The Plumber” but he also has no idea just how many humans who own small businesses are struggling. Of course McCain like Obama voted to give $700 billion dollars to large corporations to bail them out. The same greed McCain says he’s trying to get rid of he’s helping to fund with the taxpayer’s dollars. Obama also voted for the plan to bail them out as well.

Isis’s plan would’ve been simple. Give the taxpayers the money so they can buy the things they need and make this economy stronger again. That’s a simple plan and those who pay taxes would get the money instead of those who don’t. Isis also would’ve helped small businesses prosper by attempting to convince the larger companies to hire them to fulfill some of their needs instead of sending jobs overseas.  She also would penalize the large corporations who send jobs overseas. We shouldn’t be boosting another country’s economy when we need to fix our own.

Simply put, the humans have screwed up this country enough and it’s time for us cats to set things right.  Isis has some pretty simple plans to help turn this country around. Because we cats are born royals we already have management experience  and certainly know how to get things done.  When you humans go to the polls tomorrow, cast your vote for Isis and myself.  Some of you humans have said you want a third choice and we’re very much that.  For those media members who were reluctant to cover our campaign, it’s ok.  If we win we’ll try to show you that we cats do understand what’s going on in this country and are well equipped to lead this nation. Don’t let the fact that we have four legs and tail fool you. We know of the bias out there against us of humans who think it’s funny that we cats would run for office, but if elected to the White House we will do our best to turn this country around.

So, get out and vote tomorrow. If you vote for Isis and myself you’ll be doing this country a great service because you’d finally have solid representatives in Washington that actually care about the issues. If you vote for Obama and McCain don’t blame us for it if things fall apart. You can only blame yourself if that happens. Your vote is a valuable one and if you vote for a human then it’ll be too late to vote for us cats at least until the next election.

Also tomorrow both human candidates will hold election night events in their home states.  The funny thing is, they’re charging members of the media for access to the events.  I can understand that they charge for internet access, the electrical power it takes to run their cameras, and the table space needed for laptops and such but what about those reporters who don’t need any of that? We certainly don’t need it since we’re located about 15-20 minutes away from the Arizona Biltmore via the freeway. Traditionally, reporters were never charged to attend so this seems very strange to me and to us here at Cat Galaxy especially since we’re seen as a small local outfit.  Haven’t Obama and McCain made enough money off the people already? If the media wanted to cover our campaign we certainly wouldn’t charge them. After all, it’s free publicity isn’t it? By charging them to cover your event you ensure that they’re less likely to cover your event next time.

Tomorrow, Isis and I will wake up ready to go on Election Day. We hope many of our listeners and supporters will cast their ballots.  By choosing the cats over the humans you will be sending a message loud and clear that from now it’ll be more than just a two party system. It will also be historic because you’d be choosing the first cat as our country’s next leader. That’s just purrfectly ok with us and we’ll do our best to serve. But don’t expect any dogs to live with us at the White House.

Well, it’s another beautiful day here in Phoenix and Daddy just got done doing the morning show. It’s Halloween and I wish my fellow cats and their humans a happy and safe one.  Daddy made a quick announcement to keep us cats indoors because it can be a frightening day for us with all the people wearing costumes and such. He also warned to keep us away from the candy which can possibly make us sick and also to put us in a safe room listening to Cat Galaxy if our humans decide to throw a party.

Daddy may be staying home with us tonight as he’ll be getting up early tomorrow to do the Isis For President broadcast which is just 4 days before the General Election. We’re hoping that we can get a lot of humans to vote for me and Isis on Tuesday and finally show that we cats can run this country better than any human.  We began airing a new audio ad that gives just a few reasons why we cats should be in the White House.  Senators Barack Obama and McCain were invited to come on Cat Galaxy to be interviewed but never responded. Perhaps Daddy was right and they fear small media asking them the tough questions, either that or they really do fear us cats being in the Presidential race.

I guess it might be intimidating for Obama and McCain to face us. After all, we cats are royals and have more experience to run this country than the humans do.  Humans were also born to serve us.  Still, we would’ve loved to debate them on the air. They want to be President and yet avoid us when we request an interview. It doesn’t matter to me, I’d rather talk with Sarah Palin anyway.

We hope all of you will tune into the broadcast tomorrow. You’ll get to hear all about me and Isis and also be able to listen to our favorite tunes. The broadcast begins at 8am and should be enjoyable to listen to. Perhaps McCain and Obama will also learn a thing or two about how this country should be run. We know McCain has a cat named Oreo so perhaps he’ll be tuning in and convince his human to as well.  Now I’m off to prepare for the broadcast tomorrow so maybe you’ll hear one of my great cat speeches.

While the humans in Congress pass a $700 billion to bailout big and greedy corporations as my Daddy puts it, Isis had a more simple solution. Give the money to every United States citizen. Her belief is that if they had the money they’d spend it eventually and then the economy could be strengthened. It’s a sound idea instead of helping the big companies who have sent jobs overseas causing American citizens to lose their jobs. In a way, the bailout plan the humans have come up with does nothing more than give free money to the corporate bigwigs to retire on while the average worker either has to work harder for their paycheck or deal with losing their job and having to struggle.

Isis’s economic plan benefits us all and would be simple to implement if the humans in Congress are willing to pass it. Economics shouldn’t be that complicated and neither should helping others. Heck, even we cats would benefit because the humans would be willing to spend the money on us. $700 billion could certainly feed a lot of cats and even pay for many spay/neuter surgeries.

Tomorrow is National Feral Cat Day and we’re going to have a representitive from Alleycat Allies on the line with us during the morning show to talk about the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method for helping feral cats.  It’s the most humane way of dealing with them according to the humans, because if feral cats are brought into a shelter they’re often euthanized unless of course, they’re no-kill. The humans need to remember that even though they call some of us domesticated cats, we’re all still pretty much wild and have those instincts. The only difference is we require human servants to cater to our every need.

Besides Cat Galaxy doing its part to educate about feral cats tomorrow, our Daddy is also going to try to his. As many of you already know by now, he works as a computer technician and owns a company called Panther TEK. He says that for every computer he fixes for a paying customer $10 will be donated to a local cat rescue to help get a cat spayed or neutered. It’s a very nice thing to do so I hope the humans in the Phoenix metro area will help him with this goal. Our Daddy works pretty hard to help the other humans with their computer problems so hopefully tomorrow he’ll have plenty to do.

Meanwhile, I’m going to relax and reflect on today’s events. I joined Daddy on Morning Meows and it was pretty routine. Isis and I both took turns overseeing the broadcast so it went pretty smoothly. We also got some extra food for breakfast, so the day started off very well. Now, I’m going to head off and take a nap in one of my favorite spots. It’s a nice day for that.

Yesterday, we cats learned that some of the humans can be a bit prejudiced against us. Daddy went down to the Artizona State Capital to turn in the forms for our Presidential & Vice Presidential Write-in candidacy, but a representative at the Secretary of State’s office said we couldn’t run in the General Election because we were cats. It felt bad being discriminated against because we weren’t human which is considered a real insult to us cats, but there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Even though they tried to make the claim that we weren’t old enough and said we couldn’t run because of our species, Daddy discovered there is nothing in the Arizona Revised Statutes or the United States Constitution that specifically states that a cat can’t run for office. In fact both of them govern humans not cats. So therefore, our candidacy is legitimate. In fact, we probably didn’t need to fill out any forms in the first place. However, Daddy filled out our Nomination forms anyway and typed up a nice letter to go with them to remind these humans at the State Capital that the rules were written for humans not cats. He also sent out word to the news media to let them know that Isis and I are continuing our quest to claim the White House and change this country for the better.

We want every vote for us to count and we rightfully deserve it because the voters deserve the right to have their voices heard. Isis meowed sadly when she first heard the news that we’d be disqualified from the elections simply because we were cats, but after Daddy stayed up for a few hours last night going over the A.R.S. and discovered that it was a set of rules that governed humans running in the election and not cats, we felt we needed to remind the Elections Department about it.

So now, our campaign continues and we couldn’t be happier. No matter what the humans say, the cats will continue to have a voice in this campaign. We’ve heard from plenty of humans who said they’d vote for us in November by writing our names on the ballot.  The cat lovers apparently will be turning out to voice their support as they cast their ballots.

When Daddy came back yesterday, he told Isis and I that the rep at the SOS’s Office also asked what makes us qualified to be President and Vice President. Daddy told them we were royals and we also run a radio station for cats. You’d think that’d be enough for some humans so maybe this person was a dog lover and didn’t want a cat in the race for President.  Of course, this human who questioned our qualification might feel right at home in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky where a dog ran and won a mayoral race in that town. If a dog can run for office then so can a cat, but we’ll always be better at running things.

If we win this election, expect that cats will be running the country the way it should be run, efficiently and effectively.  We cats have great management skills and when we’re in the White House you can expect that things will be different and every American citizen will have a job. You can also expect that cats will indeed have a voice and some neat federal programs will get established so that humans who serve cats well will be able to prosper. The humans have ruined this country enough so it’s time for the cats to show them how to get the economy back on track and put an end to the government bailing out big business as well as stop even more jobs from being sent overseas.

Isis and I’ve got a lot plans for this country. It’s hard to go into detail about all the ones we have, but every cat lover knows that we do have an idea on how to run things. Just vote for us on November 4th and you’ll see what a little cat power can do.

Today was a little uncomfortable for us when the power suddenly went out. Daddy called APS and a truck was out here about 30 minutes later. Daddy left and got us some food and the power came back on but I don’t like it when things get hot and neither does Isis. Even with it being 103 degrees out there and having plenty of shade it stil makes me hiss a little.

The power also knocked out the radio station so I’m sure plenty of cats who were listening were wondering what happened. Daddy was quick to notify the local media as we do have listeners in Phoenix who probably thought we had some kind of technical failure. Those at least we can fix quickly.

The computer that runs pretty much everything here is working perfectly and luckily suffered no ill-effects. We tested it out and got back on the air. Now I can relax again and go about my duties as Assistant Manager. Hopefully, we won’t have any more power outages anytime soon because we’ve lost a little work over this. We’re now back on track but this just adds to the list, the crazy things that have happened here lately.

We’ve had another day of news for the station. Yesterday, Daddy went to the camerafraud.com demonstration in Scottsdale and witnessed the arrest of an activist who has been video taping photo radar vans and even got arrested back on August 27th by the Scottsdale Police Department after being accused of blocking the camera with a sign and for refusing to give his name to police.

Daddy was busy writing the article and managed to get it posted to the web site this morning after receiving and update on the situation from the SPD. They were very helpful in filling in the holes and it turns out this human defrauded another human from Canada out of $12,300 which is why he was arrested this time. After writing the story for the Cat Galaxy web site, Daddy also sent it out to a few newspapers and local TV stations as is a courtesy with our station. We believe in sharing the news. Hopefully, when an important cat story comes up they’ll email us and let us know.

I’m always amazed how humans can be so dishonest to other humans. We cats will usually just lay everything out on the table as the humans would say, and make good on our meows. Nonetheless, another productive day at the station. We seem to be writing more stuff lately but now we can relax with this being the weekend. Monday morning we’ll be back at it again for the morning show.

Another thing we’ve been talking about on the radio shows is just how many cats are being affected by the economy and that many rescues are possibly having to shut down, especially because of the current housing crisis. A lot of cat rescues are taking in cats because their human’s homes have been foreclosed on and suffering moneywise. This usually means that even cats who once had a home and were dumped into a shelter may lose their temporary refuge.

I, like Isis were one of the lucky ones. When Daddy rescued us, he vowed to care for us for the rest of our lives and he’s kept that promise. Every day we remind him just how much we appreciate that and he’s turned into a great servant.

Another sad situation is all the cats that were affected by Hurricane Ike. It seems plenty of my fellow cats found themselves displaced due to the flooding and destruction in Galveston, TX.  Daddy has been attempting to get members of the Houston SPCA and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary to give us an update on the latest happenings in that area. At last check the Houston SPCA is still rescuing plenty of cats and some native wildlife as well.  Of course, we cats are a bit wild ourselves but never counted as such by everyday humans.

On Monday morning we hope to have an update about the latest animal rescue efforts as a result of Ike. The photo radar arrest story may be exciting because we beat the other media members to the punch but the cat rescue stories are even more important because so many were affected by it. The good news is that this time, many cats were saved because there were humans who learned from the disasters 3 years ago when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. In those disasters many people left their cats behind. Even dogs which are considered to be our enemy were also left to fend for themselves. Now, we are considered part of the evacuation plan.

I guess the weekend awaits so I’m going to relax and be back to help Daddy with the show on Monday morning. It should be interesting but I hope we all get rest. We certainly earned it.

It looks like Hurricane Ike is causing a heavy day for us here at Cat Galaxy. While I rest and relax, Daddy has been live on the air with the Houston SPCA getting the latest news on animal rescue efforts in Texas.  Yesterday he interviewed them and a member from the Gulf Coast Humane Society about their preperations to help all the cats out there that might need to be rescued.

It’s been a very busy news week for us but we cats do like to keep on top everything. We’ve gotten some great interviews. Besides the phone interview with the animal rescue people, we also had Representative John Kavanagh from the Arizona State Legislature on our morning show and he talked about his re-election campaign and all the bills they’ve worked on. He talked about his cat named Watson and about all the issues they’ll be facing down at the state capital. It’s cool to know we cats have a paw in the laws that get passed.

Daddy has been working hard getting the latest interviews up on the web site regarding this Hurricane Ike stuff. He’s really working hard and it looks like it’ll be a busy weekend for us as we try to get all the latest information on this very dangerous storm. We’re all thinking about those cats that might have been left behind in the areas that have been evacuated. Me and Isis consider ourselves lucky to be living in Phoenix where we’re safe but it’s pretty rough for those other cats out there that have to deal with the hurricane season.

We hope humans will learn that taking us cats with them when they have to evacuate from an area due to an emergency is the best thing they can do. We cats don’t want to be left behind in a scary situation because our humans are more interested in saving themselves. Isis and I are lucky that our daddy has a disaster plan and that includes taking us with him. It’s also a good idea to take an emergency kit for us like food, water, bowls, towels, etc.

I’m off to take care of the rest of the day’s business so stay safe out there and if you can help a cat in need, please do so.