Revisiting my question about write-in and no votes

Readers of this blog may remember a post before Tuesday’s Chicago mayoral election in which I wondered whether a write-in ballot or no vote was ever a responsible choice.

Declawing cats is a more nuanced issue than I’d thought

Fanny, my cat, is perfect. That she scratches the furniture doesn’t take away from her perfection. Scratching is just being true to her feline nature.

It would be dishonest to claim, however, that her scratching has not bothered me or been destructive. For evidence, there are the new living room chairs that are shredded at the edges.

I would never have Fanny declawed, however, because I’m persuaded that declawing, which amputates the last bone of each toe, can cause lasting harm to cats. That message has been out for some time, so I was surprised that some animal advocates are not in favor of a bill in the Illinois legislature to ban the declawing of cats.