This and that

***An East Boston cat has been called for jury duty, according to a story on the WHDH web site. Sal Esposito is expected to report to Suffolk Superior Court on March 23. I wouldn't expect Sal to get on a case, however, as he has exhibited bigotry toward mice. (Photo of Sal the cat from WHDH.com.)

***Nail salons in Boston will now be inspected by the city, mostly to protect the young women who often work there from the dangerous chemicals on hand.

***There will be a meeting next Wednesday on the impending redesign of Eastie's Central Square. The meeting runs from 6 to 8 p.m. and will be at the East Boston Social Center.

Eastie wrap

***In an update on the city's dealings with the H1N1 virus, Boston.com reports on a Boston Public Health Commission analysis that shows that East Boston was hit with a higher than average rate of flu cases back in the spring, but a much lower rate during the second wave of cases in the fall.

***Globe columnist Kevin Cullen had a nice story last week on the re-dedication of the local ice rink to Lou Porrazzo, a local son who was killed in action in Vietnam on Sept. 27, 1967.

***A guy who robbed an Eastie convenience store yesterday is wanted by the Boston Police for a string of robberies. There's a photo of him here on the web site of the Dorchester Reporter.

***The story of Sal, the East Boston cat summoned to jury duty, is being widely reported. I even found a link to it at the bottom of a Wall Street Journal summary of "The Best of the Web" under the heading, "Everything is Seemingly Spinning Out of Control."

Local coyote dies

A coyote was killed today after it was spotted on the runways at Logan Airport. According to reports, the animal was hit by a truck as Massport workers attempted to corral it.

The coyote could be the same one that local photographer George Cumming posted on his blog about a week ago -- see image at right -- and that he has been seeing locally for at least a year. A local coyote expert told George that this looks like a lactating female, which means that there may be some hungry kits out there tonight.

Local calendar available

George Cumming, who runs the wonderful OrientSee blog, has created a 2009 calendar using some of the photos he's taken at Belle Isle Marsh. (That great blue heron landing at the marsh is a sample of his work.)

It is always surprising and awe inspiring to see the birds and other animals that live and frolic in our neighborhood and within Boston's city limits at the marsh. Take a look here at the calendar and consider ordering one.

Quality pet products

Dog and cat owners might want to check out Lucky Dog Organics, a locally-owned Internet business that sells quality pet foods, toys and other items. My favorite toy on the site? The big, spooky eye -- stuffed with catnip!

Dog days

It's mid-August, which should mean we're in the dog days of summer -- slow, languid afternoons and muggy nights -- but we've had a rather mild July and August. Today is actually the warmest it's been in a while, with the National Weather Service recording a high of 87 and the EBSB bank clock at Orient Heights reading 89 when I drove past about an hour ago. It's supposed to be in the 80s and sunny the rest of the week, but this may be the high point for heat.

My favorite summer insect, because I'm sure you're dying to know, is the dog-day cicada. First off, I like the name, and it's appropriate because the dog-day is only heard calling during the period of time it's named after and only then when the temperature reaches the 80s.

The other point of intrigue for me is that I've associated its call with the summer for years, but I never knew what exactly was making that sound. I tried describing the call to people (it builds up for a couple seconds, then holds and fades quickly, and it sounds like some type of electrical wire), but they looked at me strangely and had no idea what I was talking about. One day a couple years ago I decided to see what I could find out about it on the Internet and I found images (like the one above) and sound files of the call.

Now, on days like this, I listen for dog-days -- there is one that's been outside my window all day today -- and I know what I am hearing.

Missing dog returned

The Boston Herald was all over the story of a pug dognapped from an East Boston home and reunited with its owner yesterday.

Bennington Street resident Debbie Fitzgerald came home from work Thursday to find her TV, laptop and dog missing. She went to the Herald and offered $1,000 for the return of the missing canine, named Frankie.

The tabloid jumped on the case and Revere resident Lisa Goodman saw the story and realized that the dog she'd purchased from a pair of strangers at Maverick Station on Friday -- she handed over $100 because the men were mistreating the pooch -- was indeed Frankie.

Pug and owner were reunited yesterday, while Goodman -- showing that she is, in fact, a good woman -- declined to accept the reward.

Hunting in Eastie?

The Globe reports that a Colonial-era law allows people to hunt ducks at the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, which borders East Boston, Revere and Winthrop. After Eastie resident and bird watcher George Cumming saw a hunting blind and a guy decked out in camouflage, he contacted local authorities, who told him that the practice is legal under an existing state law that allows the public to hunt and fish in tidal areas.

Officials at Logan Airport are apparently not concerned, saying that the idea that hunting could be a threat to airplanes is "silly," which sounds a bit too dismissive, especially in light of concerns over a recent incident that involved a bottle rocket shooting off near a plane landing at Logan.

Cumming, who has a blog called OrientSee where he displays his birding photos, said that he is "flabbergasted," adding: "It goes against common sense that you would allow that sort of thing to go on in a place that's so very close to people, activity, and especially the airport."

Horrific cruelty

A disgusting case of animal cruelty took place in East Boston this morning. Someone set a cat on fire and tried to toss it through the window of an Eagle Hill three-decker. The cat died, but apparently no one was in the targeted apartment. Police are investigating the incident, which reports say happened about 7:15 a.m. outside 207 Princeton Street.

At the zoo

OK, here's a rule of thumb for anyone who may be, literally, on the fence in this matter: It is NEVER a good idea to climb into a cage at the zoo. Whether the animal being visited is a gorilla or leopard or -- in the most recent instance -- a giraffe.

A few Lithuanian college students found that out Monday when Solut, a nine-year-old male giraffe, broke one of the trespassers' collar bones. If you occasionally read the news, you'll see that this seems like a pretty popular activity to attempt -- generally after a long night of boozing. The next time that you are drunk and halfway up a cage at the zoo, remember my advice and get down.

T-minus four years

CCD used to be those dreadful Saturday-morning religion classes I had to attend at the local church because my parents wanted me to receive communion, confession, confirmation, etc. The letters stood, then, for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Now, however, there is a different -- and almost as insidious -- CCD infecting the world: Colony Collapse Disorder.

Honeybee colonies across the planet are dying off at ever-growing rates and CCD has been coined to describe the phenomena. Apparently some research indicates that cell phones and other types of radiation are the cause of the bees' demise. There are also a number of other explanations.

I've been railing against technology -- on my computer, of course -- for some time now, so this comes as no surprise to me. Human "progress" is impacting the world in ways we don't understand. We push forward without ethical discussions of the ramifications of our actions. And, as a result, the world is polluted, the fabric of society is shredded, vast numbers of animals are destroyed, people are divorced from the food cycle, and -- quite possibly -- the insects that are responsible for pollination are being eradicated.

I've read that Einstein said that if bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left." Start the clock.

Russian hospitality

In Vietnam, an American soldier commented famously that the US forces were burning a village in order to save it. Well, in that spirit, Russian authorities are lifting a half-century old ban on killing polar bears in order to preserve the species.

The largest living land carnivores are already battling to survive as the polar ice cap shrinks earlier each year. The result is that they are going to turn up on land masses on the edge of the Arctic, like northern Russia. Nice to see that the government there will have a welcoming committee in place to greet them.

Bees or not bees? A serious question

No one is sure why, but honeybees in America are dying according to a story on Boston.com and that is terrible news. Of course, I will be quite angry when the price of honey skyrockets as a result, but there are other consequences if the little social buzzers meet their demise: Many plants -- including those that produce fruit and drugs -- need to be pollinated.

Maybe it's some side effect of global climate change or industrial pollution, or maybe it's a non-native mite or disease, but whatever the cause let's hope it doesn't wipe out all of the honeybees in the US. Not only will a catastrophe such as that cause a number of problems, but it could be a canary in our collective coal mine.

The most obsolete show on earth

"This is all about how the circus is an anachronism in the modern world," Bob MacKay said in a story on Boston.com today. MacKay -- a South Shore pipefitter -- approached his state senator, Robert L. Hedlund, regarding the treatment of elephants in circuses in Massachusetts and the Republican from Weymouth is holding a hearing tomorrow on rules governing pachyderm treatment.

I've never liked circuses, and I agree that their day has come and gone -- especially any "act" that includes animals. The photo above is of a bullhook, which is typically used by circus trainers to control elephants. Ouch.