Deez Pawz Tastee

(from CuteOverload)
Cause it's still my blog and I know haters hate these. Plus it's genuinely too cute to resist.

When Sick People Receive Agression Training

This is what happens: a fun-time video shoot that captures a marine throwing a puppy from a cliff. Youtube took it down, but the video is out there. That link contains information about the soldier alleged to have done the throwing. Here's another non-US based link to the video. Be warned, those links contain one of the sickest things I've seen recently.

Sadly, this isn't the first video of its kind. Another staggeringly disturbing video is here.

It's not clear whether the puppy in the first video is dead or alive before it's thrown from the cliff. The yelping noise could be from someone off camera, or possibly it was dubbed in.

I'm holding out hope, for the sake of a dog's life and not out of any belief that men are incapable of such horrors - they are - that the video was faked using a puppy dead of natural causes.

If it is fake:

1) Haha, that's real effin hilarious. Let's lower military standards (or here) even more so that we can have more of this please.

2) These guys deserve every bit of scrutiny they receive due to their oh so funny video.

3) Cue Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck to defend these creeps (well, that will happen whether the video is real or faked).

If it's not fake, I just don't know what to write.

One thing I'll add is that, of course, not all military personnel are like this. Who said they were? Search the web; there are plenty of links to news stories that show good soldiers caring for their dogs. Some of the stories you'll find are truly touching. But should being a soldier mean automatic protection from light shining on misdeeds you've committed? Some would argue that it means you should face more scrutiny than the rest of us.

PostBlog (06/12/08): The Marines are taking disciplinary action against some of the people from the video. The story at that link treats the video as legit and I'm guessing that the Marines don't discharge people for making fake videos. It still makes me sick to my stomach.

Lady's Sunday Walk

We took a nice walk in the wind this morning.

Here's Lady waiting for the light to change:

And here's my sophisticated Manhattanite strolling down the lane:


Here she is begging for a treat (This is the only way I have now to keep her from hiding her face when she sees the camera.):


Here she's really asking for the treat :)

Friday Roundup

Some things I read this morning:

- Very stupid people in Texas are playing tug of war with lions and tigers in a zoo-sponsored event that places people on one end of a rope and raw meat for the giant cats on the other end. Video is here.

- The law student who filed a federal lawsuit against the MA Board of Bar Examiners over a gay marriage question on the bar exam (and eventually withdrew the suit) has issued an apology to the LGBT community. Good for him if it's earnest, but I wouldn't recommend going to him for advice on matters LGBT (once he passes the bar exam). He did call marriage for us, "patently offensive and morally repugnant."

- The Gay City News warns that we should fear the distinct possibility of a Huckabee presidency. I wouldn't dispute that Huckabee and that prospect are frightening. However, given that some pillars of the fundamentalist community aren't exactly with him and that the GOP beltway crowd sees him as a member of base that they want votes from but not in their country clubs, he has a real fight ahead if he's going to mobilize the base responsible for putting Bush in the White House.

- The National Academy of Sciences has released an 88-page booklet (under the 'read the book' link, or directly here) explaining why evolution is science and creationism isn't. Yes!

- And finally, it seems that gay people are just fine with the military when bodies are needed for war.

Beautiful Coyote

I've been reading through a site called "The Daily Coyote." It's about a rescued coyote who's become a dear friend of the author. It's very cool stuff and the author reads like a genuinely good human being. How someone could leave hateful comments at the site, or even dislike the site, is beyond me.

Smart Dog

This is one smart dog:


I'm really busy for the next few days. Not sure how much blogging I'll be doing.

Mountain Lions

Two takes on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion:

(from Flikr: click for larger version)


(from Father Dan)

Bonobos Chase Ghosts And Play The Xylophone!

Yesterday, I found, and was captivated by, this pop-science talk and video presented by Susan Savage-Rumbaugh. It's 17-minutes, but oh so worth watching. Once the stars of the video, the bonobos, take the screen, it's hard not to watch.


It's always comforting to realize that humans might not be as special as our intensely self-centered mythologies state. Oh, and on the title of this post, you'll need to watch the video.

More Coconut Crabs

Believe it or not, I am still fascinated with coconut crabs. This previous post and its predecessor didn't get the coco-craziness out of my system. Here's a pic I stumbled across the other day:

Deer, Dogs, And Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'm not cooking this year; we're going out to dinner. It will be a nice change and, as much as I love cooking, less stressful (I haven't shopped for food) and less wasteful (there are only two of us). I'll probably make something Thanksgiving'y this weekend though.

Aside from wanting to cook, Thanksgiving also makes me want to be in the woods, surrounded by yellow and orange leaves and wearing a big, warm coat. I miss that feature of my area of origin, upstate NY. I used to see loads of deer around this time of year. To celebrate those remembrances, I'm posting some deer videos. They're playing with dogs. I picked them because I like deer and I like dogs. I've thrown in a puppy pic for good measure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hugs

Hugs

What To Say? Throwing Animals From Bridges

I wish that title were a metaphor. It's not though. In Puerto Rice there are reports that several animals were taken from homes and thrown off a nearby bridge:

JUAN, Puerto Rico - Animal control workers seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects in the town of Barceloneta and hurled them from a bridge to their deaths, authorities and witnesses said Friday. Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez blamed a contractor hired to take the animals to a shelter.

"This is an irresponsible, inhumane and shameful act," he told The Associated Press.

Fontanez said the city hired Animal Control Solution to clear three housing projects of pets after warning residents about a no-pet policy. He said the city paid $60 for every animal recovered and another $100 for each trip to a shelter in the San Juan suburb of Carolina.

Raids were conducted on Monday and Wednesday, and residents told TV reporters they saw the animal control workers inject the animals. When they asked what they were giving them, they said they were told it was a sedative for the drive to the shelter.

"They came as if it were a drug raid," said Alma Febus, an animal welfare activist. "They took away dogs, cats and whatever animal they could find. Some pets were taken away in front of children."

But instead of being taken to a shelter, the pets and strays were thrown 50 feet from a bridge in the neighboring town of Vega Baja, according to Fontanez, witnesses and activists, apparently before dawn Tuesday.

"Many were already dead when they threw them, but others were alive," said Jose Manuel Rivera, who lives next to the bridge. "Some of the animals managed to climb to the highway even though they were all battered, but about 50 animals remained there, dead."

Rivera said he alerted officials, who spread lime over the animals' corpses to control the stench.

What kind of scum would do something like this?

PostBlog: I see CNN.com has front-paged this story. Good. The more people that know about this the better. Maybe the conditions can start to improve.

Dog Therapy For A Slow Comic Day

It's comic Wednesday. I don't see anything too exciting that's out in the mainstream books this week. I'm not going to buy that wretched Frontline. I don't care if it's well drawn and World War Hulk related. It's unreadable.

To keep me from being grouchy over the lack of exciting new comics this week, I'll do two things. First, I'll look for some cool indy titles tonight. Second, I'll post some more links to pictures of cute dogs (with some other animals thrown in for good measure). Link 1. Link 2.

More Dog Therapy

Things have been heavy around the progressive blogosphere over the past week, so here's another cute dog series. This dog and kid will probably be the best of friends for years. I'll always be thankful for experiencing that with my dog, Alice.

Another Coconut Crab Pic

Sorry, but my last post on coconut crabs, aka robber crabs, wasn't enough to satisfy my curiosity about these amazing animals. This one is from Christmas Island via the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services:

Liking Dogs

Don't like dogs? Look at these photos. Still don't like dogs? Hm, I guess you have problems that my blog can't fix (What's wrong with you? How can you not like dogs? Go see someone already.). :)

Smart Dog

This is one clever dog!

(via funspace)

I Wanna Hold Yur Hand

A very cute video:

But, I recommend viewing it with your sound off.

Animal Friday

A site with random photos of animals.

What is a Rhodesian Ridgeback?

Forget coffee, take a puppy break.

Good lord, he has an empire!

A page devoted to animal friends. If it doesn't warm your heart, you surely lack one.

You looking at me punk?

The cute project. There seems to be an abundance of these sites, but that doesn't stop me from liking them.

All of that blogged, the WWF is an organization working to protect endangered species.

Coconut Crabs

These are coconut crabs, the largest terrestrial arthropods (click for larger):

(ugly overload)
(General Manager's Blog)

Can these pictures be real? Wow. Imagine taking a vacation in an exotic location (they live in areas throughout the Indian and western Pacific Oceans) and waking up to one of these in your room!

They can grow to up to 9lbs and 3 feet long. Their olfactory organs are similar to those of insects and are examples of convergent evolution.

PostBlog: I have another cool picture of these amazing animals at a new post.