Can you find the one pet?

Reader Jim from Seattle writes: Only one of these is a living, breathing critter – can you find her? Read More......

Carmela vs. my nephew Anthony

My nephew Anthony decided he was going to show me how much my sister's dog, Carmela, does NOT like to have air blown in her face. I'd never seen it before. It was hysterical, and adorable. Fortunately I grabbed it on my iPhone (and was rather surprised at the quality of the video, for a phone). It's only 46 seconds long, and I think will put a smile on your face.

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Driverless cabs coming to the UK

Whether this is the model of the future or not, something like this will definitely be gaining ground in the coming years. The heck with not tipping - that's not a problem - but chances are good that you won't be shafted so badly by taxi drivers in unfamiliar cities.

The Personal Rapid Transitt units called 'pods' will shuttle up to 4 passengers and their bags from specific spots in the airport's business car park to Terminal 5 in a matter of minutes, the British Airport Association said in a press release.

The service is due to be launched in the spring of 2010 and is being touted as a carbon neutral alternative to the taxi rank. The pods run purely on electricity, generate zero local emissions and are typically 70 percent more energy-efficient than traditional airport buses, the BAA said.

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A dog named Boo

Reader Scott writes:

This is our 12 year old Golden Retriever, Malibu - - but we called her Boo.

She came to us when she was 5 and filled our lives with joy.

Sadly, we had to put her down this past Tuesday. She had a very aggressive form of spleen cancer, and it did not seem fair to put her through surgery and chemo.

We'd appreciate it if you could post her photo - - she truly was a GREAT dog and family member.

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Report: Iran confiscated Nobel Peace Prize from activist

It's so wrong in so many ways. CNN:

Iranian authorities confiscated the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize given to human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Norway said Thursday.

"The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi's bank box, together with other personal items. Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a written statement.

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Gary and his pets

Reader Gary writes in about his pet farm:

Bill (on right) and I live in DC and rescued Franny from the DC shelter whenlived on Independence Ave. on the Hillfrom death row at the DC pound:



When we moved to Takoma DC and had a yard, we adopted Schubert (a schnoodle), who just before being put down was fostered by a DC shelter volunteer. Me, Schubert and Bill.



I found this guy when I was up in Pennsylvania when my dad had surgery. When I went back 2 weeks later, he was on sale and I had to have Rocky McDuff so he drove home with me, in a heavy rain storm.



This led us to terrier-mania (which merged with my political mania):
Worrying about the rightwing.

And leaning stongly to the left.



Wilkie was a rescue from a no-kill shelter (Hearts United for Animals) and is a mix of Scottie, Dachshund and who knows what else.



Norma (aka Bit because she was so small) was rescued from bushes along Military Road when Bill was out exercising.

And finally, during cold weather last year, Stray Puss started hanging around under our porch and Bill began feeding her while I built her a shelter (which she used to get on top to sun, but doesn't go in -- so a sheltered window well bed was made for her). She stayed through the summer and is still coming around for the catfood du jour.

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Obama admin reportedly blocks lesbian from getting health benefits after judge ordered it

The Obama administration's Office of Personnel Management, run by an openly gay man, no less, reportedly intervened to stop a lesbian government official from getting health insurance, after a court had already ordered it to happen. Obama's OPM told Blue Cross not to provide benefits to the woman just as it was about to happen.

This is why Joe and I are asking all fair-minded Democrats, straight and gay, to join us in taking a pledge not to donate to the DNC, Organizing for America, or the Obama re-election campaign until President Obama and the Democrats keeps their promises (and stop hurting our community). (More on the pledge here.) Read More......

A criminal conspiracy of pedophilia called "the Catholic Church"

It sickens me that these people have the nerve to tell anyone else how to live their lives, while they're busy raping children and covering it up. Had any other organization done what the Catholic Church has done, in aiding and abetting the systematic rape and abuse of children - for decades - they'd be shut down and thrown in jail. But in the case of the Catholic Church, we're all expected to genuflect - even those of us who aren't Catholic - and enshrine the supposed morality of the pedophile enablers into our laws.

I, for one, am sick and tired of having to listen to the moralizing of child rapists. This latest report is just as sick as all the rest. From the NYT:

The Roman Catholic Church and the police in Ireland systematically colluded in covering up decades of child sex abuse by priests in Dublin, according to a scathing report released Thursday.

The cover-ups spanned the tenures of four Dublin archbishops and continued through to the mid-1990s and beyond, even after the church was beginning to admit to its failings and had professed that it was confronting abuse by its priests.

But rather than helping the victims, the church was concerned only with “the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets,” said the 700-page report, prepared by a group appointed by the Irish government and called the Commission of Investigation Into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin....

It reserved particular criticism for the police and for four archbishops of Dublin: John Charles McQuaid, who died in 1973; Dermot Ryan, who died in 1984; Kevin McNamara, who died in 1987; and Cardinal Desmond Connell, who retired in 2004. The report said those four knew of the abuse, but did little about it....

The report details examples of priests who were blatant, notorious abusers, but who were allowed to continue without punishment or censure. One priest admitted to abusing more than 100 children. Another said he had abused, on average, a child every two weeks for 25 years.

I can't get married, but this church can systematically enable the rape of children in country after country, decade after decade, and continue to get away with it. Absolutely sickening. The Catholic Church should never, ever be permitted to weigh in on any moral issue ever again. And if they dare, we should all publicly raise the issue of their pedophilia problem, loudly, again and again, until they shut up and go away. Read More......

James writes that Sarah likes to talk on the phone

Reader James writes:

My cat Sarah (attached) actually talking on the phone. I would put the phone to her head and she would speak, I caught her on digital film just this once, though she was on several of my phone messages over the years.

She just did it the first time I offered her the opportunity, and would often say hello to my friends if she were laying near when I was yakking.

She is gone two years now, after having her for 16 years. Best cat-friend ever, along with her daughter Midnight who followed her a year later after 17 years. I miss them so much but know they're causing trouble somewhere else as needed, and I would have a problem caring for them now as I have to travel a lot taking care of my parents. Like two large old cats. traded...

In any case I can't access my full trove of catpictures while traveling, like now, but I will find a good one of Midnight and send as soon as possible. And only one each or you'd get hundreds, trust me.

I really really really enjoy all the pet pictures. Thanks.

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Is it time to abolish the filibuster?

A very well reasoned editorial from the Nation argues that the filibuster should be abolished.

This is not what democracy looks like. When Americans vote, by overwhelming majorities, to place control of the executive and legislative branches in the hands of a party that has promised fundamental change, they are supposed to get that change. They are not supposed to watch as a handful of self-interested and special-interested senators prevent progress by exploiting the arcane rules of the less representative of our two legislative chambers--rules requiring that not a majority but a supermajority be attained in order even to discuss necessary reforms, and that a similar supermajority be in place to thwart a filibuster.

Yet this is where America, a nation often inclined to tell other nations how to practice democracy, finds itself as the debate about healthcare reform reaches its critical stage. We have a president who is prepared to sign legislation to expand access to healthcare while establishing at least some controls against profiteering by insurers. We have a House of Representatives in which a majority has voted for imperfect but real reform. We have a Senate in which a majority is ready to vote for what could be even better reform. Unfortunately, that majority is sidelined as a few wavering senators game the system.

Unless Harry Reid and his colleagues implement majority rule--by abolishing rules that allow two-fifths of the chamber's members (as few as forty-one senators) to prevent passage of that legislation--the character and quality of any "reform" will be dictated by a tiny minority from some of the nation's least populous states.

I wasn't a big fan of the Republican proposal to do away with the filibuster a few years back, and I'm still a bit nervous about this one. Yes, the GOP is thwarting democracy by blocking something the overwhelming majority of the public wants. But the Democrats in Congress, and our president in the White House, are complicit. They refuse to lay down the law with errant Democrats, and they refuse to truly fight back against the Republicans. So while I worry that the filibuster is being abused, I remember what happened the last time someone promised me that one simple change in the Senate would solve all of our problems.

It was the folks who told me that all we needed was 60 votes, then my dreams would come true.

What do you think? Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Happy Birthday to me... you learn by a certain age that if you don't self-promote your own birthday, no one is going to do it for you :-) Otherwise, had a very nice Thanksgiving with the family in Chicago yesterday. We do a pretty traditional American Thanksgiving, nothing Greek about it. Christmas on the other hand, is lamb lamb lamb. Last night, however, was my other Chicago favorite, pizza.



Giordano's stuffed, to be exact. Half sausage (for me and the nephews), half spinach (for sis). It's like eating a half pound wedge of molten cheese. Yu-mmy.

Anyway, yesterday we devoted the day to fun holiday YouTube videos, which we like to do on the holidays, and I'm suspecting today will be a slow day, as holiday hangovers tend to be. So, I'll cover any news that's necessary, otherwise I'll be introducing you to a few more of the readers' pets throughout the day, it being Friday and all. Read More......

Amateur treasure hunter find valued at $5.5 million

Good for him and the land owner too. The museums have to be thrilled as well, not to mention the British people who now have an incredible glimpse into their rich history.

The largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, unearthed by a metal-detector enthusiast in a farmer's field, has been valued at 3.28 million pounds ($5.5 million) by a committee of experts.

The Staffordshire Hoard, found by Terry Herbert in central England in July, comprises over 1,500 mainly gold and silver items thought to date back to the 7th century.

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UK Iraq war inquiry: Blair decided on war one year before invasion

But remember, Blair was supposed to be the clever guy, educated at Oxford. Do they have pay-cash-will-enter programs like the Ivy League too or is he in fact, just a smart person who is a fool? Either way, it's another reminder as to why he was rejected as the first EU president. It's also even more obvious that Blair was one of the most gutless PMs in British history. Did he really think George Bush was on the right side of history? Really? The Guardian:

Tony Blair's government decided up to a year before the Iraq invasion that it was "a complete waste of time" to resist the US drive to oust Saddam Hussein, opting instead to offer advice on how it should be done, the former British ambassador to Washington said today.

Sir Christopher Meyer, testifying to the Chilcot inquiry into Britain's role in the war, made it clear that once the Bush administration decided to take military action, the Blair government never considered opting out or opposing it.

He said that the timing of the invasion was dictated by the "unforgiving nature" of the military build-up rather than the outcome of diplomacy or UN weapons inspections, which had not been given sufficient time. British officials were left "scrabbling for the smoking gun" – evidence for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction – as preparations continued.

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