# Cat Whisperer: you wanted the big fella to, so here it is **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452 "2010-01-18T18:44:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/41 "2010-01-18T21:16:40Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > That statement is racist against stupid people. :mad: Mea culpa. (Muffin hangs his head in shame.) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/42 "2010-01-18T21:18:22Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Cat Whisperer is AGIST not Racist. ;p If true, then, in fact, she is [ageist](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ageist) (unless she’s pasturing livestock). ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/43 "2010-01-18T21:22:21Z")
> [@BMada](#): > > basically I was fucking told “go ahead asshole try and rip me a new asshole”. Oh, I get it now. This thread is your effort at riping yourself a new asshole. ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/44 "2010-01-18T21:22:43Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > So wait. Why did you feel the need for the time stamps? The way you said “please note the time stamps” made me think the timing of the posts were more important to you than the content. But now I see that you’ve misread some of it. > > So what were you hoping to show via the timings of the Posts- Not the content, but the TIMINGS? Why was I supposed to note them vs. just a simple “She stated, I stated, she replied, I retorted”. > > Did I really need the Mafia style CSI chronological time stamps to know the times of days that you guys were posting? one use of the time stamps was to show that it wasn’t instant messaging. where you shoot the shit like you’re speaking and something comes out. It was TYPED and thought out, it wasn’t just shooting from the lip. It was a thought that I say “jokingly” to pad her post count. Why in the hell would you type that racist shit out? How dumb are you to hit submit on something that is racist? It wasn’t fast typing, missing the 5minute window. I just continued the time stamping thing to somewhat have some sort of flowing form. But obviously that backfired and now i have people getting all up in my shit about it. The reason the time stamp was added to show you this isn’t an instant messaging type thing, we’re not conversing fastly and forgetting to think before we type. There is time to somewhat gather your thoughts and type. I got online today seeing the goad ignoring the correction because it was out of emotional reaction that I typed this shit up so I can shove it back into Cat Whisperer’s ass. Seems like I’m the ass, the racist and the one without a point. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/45 "2010-01-18T21:22:57Z")
> [@BMada](#): > > sadly people in the real world don’t mind read. You have something to say, say it to the person you want the message to be heard. And use simple declarative sentences. Whatever you are typing clearly isn’t working. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/46 "2010-01-18T21:23:44Z")
Not going after all the threads of this tree, but from the descriptions of Canadian friends and acquaintances who have lived near these native housing sites it appears to them that many natives live in the equivalent of trash strewn, self created shit holes. Regardless of whether you think this is their “fault” or not, is that observation and opinion racist? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/47 "2010-01-18T21:24:56Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > If true, then, in fact, she is [ageist](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ageist) (unless she’s pasturing livestock). Well she is from Alberta, and _we_ all know that _they_ all smell like livestock. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/48 "2010-01-18T21:27:01Z")
The OP is a hilarious mess. That said, Cat’s original statement sounded wrong, and her clarification, for me, was a hilarious mess. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/49 "2010-01-18T21:32:33Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > The OP is a hilarious mess. That said, Cat’s original statement sounded wrong, and her clarification, for me, was a hilarious mess. I like the image that the OP really REALLY wanted to pit somebody, but it turns out he is just pretty crap at it. My advice? Be Madda. ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/50 "2010-01-18T21:37:07Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I like the image that the OP really REALLY wanted to pit somebody, but it turns out he is just pretty crap at it. > > My advice? Be Madda. I didn’t really REALLY want to pit anything until the line “go for it, big fella”. I was gonna try and get Cat Whisperer to retract the statement and pretty much apologize to the Native Canadians about the negative stereotype we perpetuate. If I really did have some sort of vendetta I’d be linking this post to the Healthcare thread and that other thread that’s in MPSIMS titled **Prejudices, stereotypes, and dreams – a far-too-serious MMP** ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/51 "2010-01-18T21:58:38Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Not going after all the threads of this tree, but from the descriptions of Canadian friends and acquaintances who have lived near these native housing sites it appears to them that many natives live in the equivalent of trash strewn, self created shit holes. > > Regardless of whether you think this is their “fault” or not, is that observation and opinion racist? To be serious for a moment, no, I do not think that such an observation is racist, however, the “self-created” phrase is one-sided, for although the squalor is directly created by some people in those communities, it begs the question of what external causes set the stage in the first place. It is a very complex problem, with more than enough blame to be passed about, which in my opinion needs to be examined from multiple perspectives with sensitivity but also with clear analysis, and without one side or the other crying “racist” too quickly, for that just obsfucates the matter. Here are a couple of quotes from an earler SDMB Pit discussion on sentencing circles that might shed a bit of light on the problem: > [@Drunk man negligent to his children, they freeze to death and he gets off easy \[RO\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-man-negligent-to-his-children-they-freeze-to-death-and-he-gets-off-easy-ro/480310/19): > > . . . . Constant drunken violence is common on many of Canada’s northern reserves. > > I don’t have any general stats handy, but even if we just look at spousal killings in aboriginal communities, the rates are astounding when compared to the general population of all Canadians. Although aboriginals form only approximately 4% of Canada’s population, aboriginal spousal killings of females by males constitutes 14% of all spousal killings in Canada committed against women by men, and whopping 22% of all spousal killings in Canada committed against men by women. [http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collectio...5-224-XIE.html](http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collectio...5-224-XIE.html) > > The prime factors leading to aboriginal communities being violent places include economic and social deprivation, alcohol and substance abuse, and an inter-generational cycle of violence. Again, I don’t have any stats handy, but the conviction rate for aboriginals is off the edge of the graph when compared to the general Canadian population. > > . . . . > > As far as the proposition that the alcohol problem is a result of racism goes, it does not wash. On northern reserves, whites are few and far between – often just a nurse, a teacher or two, and a police officer (if the reserve does not have its own aboriginal police officer). It would be ludicrous to suggest that such a small number of people could drive an entire community to severe alcoholism by virtue of their racism, if indeed they were racists, which is unlikely given the locations they chose to work in. > > Governmental paternalism based on race, however, has had hugely detrimental effects on aboriginal communities. The single greatest example of this is the residential school issue. For several generations, aboriginals from northern reserves were taken from their parents and placed in boarding schools, where they were then raised to live as if they were white men. The result was that the parents, stripped of their children, often fell heavily on the bottle. The children, upon finishing school and returning to their reserves, often had little memory of their families, no understanding of their own culture, and most disturbingly, absolutely no comprehension of normal family life. They too, often fell on the bottle. That paternalism based on race, however well intentioned it may have been, resulted in severely dysfunctional communities. > > . . . . > [@Drunk man negligent to his children, they freeze to death and he gets off easy \[RO\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-man-negligent-to-his-children-they-freeze-to-death-and-he-gets-off-easy-ro/480310/26): > > To my mind (just thinking out loud here) the problem is this: > > 1. The traditional Native Canadian life-ways gave the people their meaning and dignity. > > 2. The traditional Native Canadian way of life is not really compatible with modern society. > > 3. Modern society is not going away any time soon. > > 4. In the past, the “solution” was forced assimilation - as in the Residence Schools. This was not good. > > 5. Now, we as a society have adopted the position that natives are to be supported in their traditional ways on their traditional lands: see point 1. > > 6. But this doesn’t work either (see points 2 and 3). What we get is not Native Canadians living a traditional life, but rather a bunch of very isolated slums with the inhabitants on welfare. > > 7. These people behave much like people stripped of feelings of self-worth and dignity, living in slums and on welfare always behave - badly. Drinking, drugging, crime and abuse are rampant. > > 8. Various programs such as “sentencing circles” and the like are designed to ameliorate the harshness of the results. Ditto with increased welfare and spending on cultural pursuits. > > 9. However, letting abusive alcoholoics out of jail and paying people to do their ethnic dance or whatever do nothing to resolve the root of the problem - the collective loss of self-worth and dignity that go with the loss of a whole way of life. > > Myself, I do not know what solution for this problem can be found; all I can say is that the well-meaning attempts to keep these people in stasis are not having a good effect. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/52 "2010-01-18T22:27:36Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > That would be “ragist”. Yeah, and she hates this guy who’s old, black, and a tool-and-die maker, so she’s ragist against the machinist. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/53 "2010-01-18T22:54:46Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Although aboriginals form only approximately 4% of Canada’s population, aboriginal spousal killings of females by males constitutes 14% of all spousal killings in Canada committed against women by men, and whopping 22% of all spousal killings in Canada committed against men by women. I am not disagreeing with your data or your point, but those type of figures can be quite misleading. Specifically, they imply spousal murder rates among Aboriginals somewhere between 3.5 and 5.5 times the rate for non-Aboriginals. But that does _not_ mean that such murders need be frequent among Aboriginals or that most Aboriginals will have been affected by those crimes. For example (and I am making up the following figures), if the spousal murder rate among non-Aboriginals\* is 1/100000 per annum, the corresponding rate in Aboriginals would “only” be around 1/20000 pa, hardly common. One gets a very different sense when the data is presented in the latter fashion. \*this guess derives from the observation that in Toronto with a population of some 3,000,000 there are about 100 murders per year, i.e. 1/30000 pa. If around 1/3 of those are spousal, then the spousal rate would be around1/100000. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/54 "2010-01-18T23:17:59Z")
Woohoo! My first Pitting! I’ll be back to read it all shortly - got some babies to kick first. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/55 "2010-01-18T23:22:42Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Woohoo! My first Pitting! I’ll be back to read it all shortly - got some babies to kick first. Take some aspirin before you do. The OP is headache inducing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/56 "2010-01-18T23:28:21Z")
I don’t understand what the fuck is happening here. I suspect I am not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/57 "2010-01-18T23:42:37Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > I disagree with racism. Hurray! I’m for the other team! NOT! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/58 "2010-01-18T23:53:43Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > If true, then, in fact, she is [ageist](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ageist) (unless she’s pasturing livestock). Well in that case then, she’s both. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/59 "2010-01-18T23:54:58Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > **Take some aspirin before you do.** The OP is headache inducing. I thought you were going to say because it hurts the toes. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452/60 "2010-01-18T23:57:04Z")
No, spousal murder is not common for either aboriginal or non-aboriginal populations. It is the difference between the rates, rather than the absolute numbers, that is of concern to me. (Note that the stats were dealing with spousal murders only, not all murders, so the overall murder rate in The Big Smoke really isn’t relevant.) BTW, the link is buggered. It was to one of the Family Violence annuals published by Statistics Canada: [85-224-XIE - Family violence in Canada: a statistical profile](http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/4064472-eng.htm) . I can’t remember offhand which year it was, but the gist of the difference in domestic violence rates between aborignal and non-aboriginal populations can be found at page 20 in the 2005 issue: [http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2005000-eng.pdf](http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2005000-eng.pdf) . Why focus on domestic violence? I think most people do the best they can for themselves and their families. When a particular population has a greatly higher domestic violence rate when compared with the general population, I think it indicates problems that are being faced by that particular population – in this case the aboriginal population – that are so severe that a lot more individuals are taking it out on their loved ones than in the general population. This sort of violence cannot be explained away as ethnic or youth gangs, or low level theft or vandalism, or pot smoking. It’s serioius stuff, in which families are ruined, and children are raised in condtions that make it difficult for them to develop as fully functional people. In short, I think it indicates that something is severely broken. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-whisperer-you-wanted-the-big-fella-to-so-here-it-is/525452.md?page=4)