Daisy has a new boyfriend here in Nashville. He’s a staffie named Leo who lives in our building. He’s quite handsome.

Star Wars geekery + dog love.

Daisy and I were at the dog park yesterday when a mighty Tennessee thunderstorm tore the sky open upon us. I found it all exhilarating. The pup, not so much.

• Investigation into Scientology’s practice of forcing members to have abortions.
• Arizona to get even uglier.
• William Kristol on war with Iran: “Would it be so dangerous?” Well not for you, Bill. But probably for the young men we’ll have to draft to carry it out, thanks to your other failed war.
• Raft guide arrested for aiding stranded rafter.
• Here’s a New York Times piece from last month on Helen Ukpabio, the Nigerian Pentecostal minister responsible for the child witch travesties I wrote about over the weekend. Those of you who condemned all of Africa for its backwardness in the comments thread to that post might take note that the occasion for the article was Ukpabio being invited to speak at a Christian revival in Houston.
• Well I guess the guy had a plan.
• Sad dog blogging: New York City’s shelter dogs. Happy dog blogging: Dogs vs. hoses.
• The case for calling terrorists nitwits.
• The parable of prohibition.

New couch, new rug. Daisy seems fond of both. She’s now working on getting herself a record contract.

This article from the animal rights section of the Change.org ring of websites has been making the rounds on dog-related blogs and Twitter feeds. Arguing that many dogs are mistaken for pit bulls in jurisdictions that have banned the much-maligned “breed,” the author calls for state officials to DNA test dogs before euthanizing them.

The argument is that city officials shouldn’t be able to euthanize a dog simply because it “looks like a pit bull,” whatever that means. But the real aim is to undermine breed-specific legislation altogether by imposing what would sound to most like a common-sense requirement that most cities can’t afford to follow.

It’s a cute idea, and I support the ultimate goal, but the scheme requires too much concession to the misguided thinking behind put bull prohibitions. I’ve written about breed-specific bans before, so I’ll save some time with a cut-and-paste:

Bad owners create bad dogs, regardless of the dog’s lineage. Bans on pit bulls don’t prevent dog fighting, nor do they prevent people from raising vicious dogs. They just ensure that dogs fitting the pit bull description will be vicious, because the well-bred lines will be discontinued and good owners will stop raising them. Meanwhile, people who raise dogs for fighting will simply move on to another breed.

Moreover, the term pit bull isn’t really a breed at all. It’s a generic term that can and has been applied to just about any dog with bulldog and/or terrier traits (take the pit bull test here). The American Kennel Club-recognized breed that’s generally associated with the term is the American Staffordshire Terrier. And the vast, vast majority of staffies are harmless (they’re actually considered a child-friendly breed).

In fact, most fighting dogs commonly called pit bulls aren’t bloodlined staffies. Fighting dogs are bred for attributes conducive to fighting, not for pedigree.

Better to impose strict liability on dog owners for any damage their pets do to others or their property.

Hence, the light posting.

Last Christmas, my sister got me the Pet’s Eye View camera. It’s a digital camera you attach to your dog or cat’s collar. You then set the photo interval at 1, 5, or 15 minutes. The camera takes 40 digital photos. Daisy and I took it to the park today to try it out.

Click through to see the results.

(more…)

• To hell with your standard poodle. It’s all about the Brooklyn Mutt Show.
• Cop’s dash video differs from police report in alleged police brutality case. Naturally, they fought like hell from releasing the video to the guy filing the civil rights suit.
• More fun with Barack Obama’s Facebook feed.
• Omaha trial of CSI investigator accused of tampering with evidence begins.
• IRS sends agents to harass car wash owner over a four-cent tax bill.

• Crappiest Valentine idea ever.
• Ocean depth, to scale.
• Reason magazine: too hot for prison!
• Comic book collector gets six months in prison for importing manga.
• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) weeps as he sends his chief of staff off to make boatloads of money, likely by lobbying Sen. Mitch McConnell.
• Dogs howling at the intro to Law and Order.

• Beautiful collection of sled dog photos from the around the world.
• Just so we’re clear, minors who send explicit photos of themselves to other minors get hit with child porn charges. Cops who send explicit photos of themselves to minors get probation.
• Noel St. John’s “Snowlapse” video, first linked here, now has over 300,000 views! Nice job, Noel!
• It’s funny to see a PIRG organization complaining about corporations that take political positions without first consulting shareholders. Shareholders can sell. College students forced or tricked into donating to PIRG, on the other hand, don’t have that option.
• Obama administration wants the government to be able to track you via your cell phone without first obtaining a warrant.
• Forbes now has a blog dedicated to booze.
• Interesting article on Michigan Gov. Jennifer Graholm granting clemency to elderly prisoners.
• Striking new aerial photos of the World Trade Center collapse.

We’re getting another 10-20 inches of snow, starting tonight. This is getting a bit ridiculous. At least Fairbanks has the Northern Lights.

Part 1: Daisy loses the ball.

Part 2: Daisy forgets about the ball.

Part 3: Screw you. I finally found it, I’m not giving it back so you can just throw it again.

….has been a life dream of mine.

Although I don’t drink much beer these days. Maybe I could train Daisy to mix me a Woodford old fashioned instead.

More photos here.