You're kidding, right?

This kind of shit makes my blood boil.

Does this freakshow (aka Lady Gaga) really think that she's qualified to comment on the policies of our military?

The fact that she stands up there, telling her dimwitted fans to call their congressmen and pressure them to vote for a repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' just irritates me to no end. What right is it of hers to attempt to influence military policy? If you're not a member of the military, past or present, STFU. Simple as that.

My own, personal opinion on the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy is beside the point. It's not my place to have an opinion on the matter. That should be left to those who are actually affected by it.

http://http//www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/20/gaga.gays.military/index.html

The Life of Riley

It's official -- I want to be my dog.
While I spend my morning running around, cleaning, doing laundry, ironing and all that other fun stuff, he spends his morning doing this:


Good thing I didn't want to vacuum the couch. God forbid I would ask The Prince to move!

The rest of my day will be spent trying to figure out how to program our DVR. And yes, that probably will take the rest of my day! I am not tech-savvy. We've never had a DVR before. Probably wouldn't have one now, except that it came with our cable when we signed up. Think the cable company could provide, I don't know, an instruction manual? No, of course not. I'll have to go to their website and see if I can download something that resembles instructions.
If I don't completely lose my patience and end up with this thing in tiny little pieces, it will be a miracle.

I'm not in the best mood today, to begin with. We had a mild thunderstorm this morning and thunderstorms are rough for me, since losing Gunner. I was so used to having this big ol' Shepherd in my lap, or glued to my side, at the slightest little rumble. He was terrified of thunder and now every time we get a little storm, his absence is felt.
Play hard, GunMan. I hope that wherever you are, there's no thunder.

It really doesn't get any easier

How often have you had a chance to have a 20 pound bag of dog food donated to a shelter simply for writing a blog post? It’s really that easy. Pedigree has upped the ante big time. And please spread this message: The food drive is not limited to pet blogs. Imagine if we could spread this message beyond our circles and see how far it goes? The numbers could be substantial. Here is the full scoop:

•Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.

•This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

•Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive through September 19th, PEDIGREE® will donate a bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It’s simple: Write a post, help a dog.

•Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop, to help raise awareness for the “Write a post, help a dog” effort.
It is so easy to make a big difference. Please set aside a few moments to write a post. Include the bullet points above. Copy the pics if you’d like. Add whatever you’d like in addition to help get the message out. Because this is not limited to pet bloggers, there is tremendous potential. Know bloggers in other categories that might be interested? Please share this post with them, write one of your own, and be here Thursday to leave a link to your post. Let’s make this huge. It would just feel great.

Don't forget to visit http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2010/09/write-a-post-help-a-dog/

Link your entry so it can be counted. Shelters across the country are overwhelmed and in such need of financial support. Every bag, every donation no matter how small, is greatly needed and greatly appreciated.

9/11/2001

It's hard to believe that it's been nine years.
Nine years and, more often than not, it seems like nothing has changed. It seems like none of us have learned anything. I have a hard time sorting out my own opinions and feelings about this, so I guess it's no surprise that the country, in general, seems to be in the same place.

We have one wingnut pastor in Florida who has managed to enrage the entire world with his ignorant attempt to gain his own fifteen minutes of fame. I certainly don't condone what he had planned, and may still, do. I feel that burning the Koran is offensive, regardless of what religion (if any) you subscribe to. But on the other hand, would Christians riot and threaten every kind of violence if a cleric in the Middle East planned to burn Bibles? Probably not. We should be calling for a stop to this stunt because it's the right thing to do. Not because we have to fear the backlash.

And then there's this planned Mosque near Ground Zero that seems to be moving ahead despite overwhelming opposition to its being built at that location. The Imam says that it's all about "mutual respect" and "building bridges." His refusal to even consider other locations tells me that it's about anything but respect. He says that it could anger the Muslim world if they cave to American pressure, so to speak, and agree to build the mosque elsewhere. He has a point there and I'm sure he's right - the backlash could be bad. But again, the line seems to blur. Is it a matter of doing the right thing, or tiptoeing around Muslims?
Sometimes it's hard to tell.

The Colbert Report

Best episode, ever!
He may use humor to get his point across, but as usual, Stephen Colbert was spot on. So many of his remarks in this episode needed to be made.

It was also nice to see that at least our Vice President has enough class to give credit where credit is due.

http://http//www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/wed-september-8-2010-joe-biden

Animal Instinct

Every now and then, it can still surprise me.
Riley is, without a doubt, my "main man". He's my heart; my partner. This is the normal state of being for us. So much so, that I'm not always conscious of it. Then he does something that snaps me out of my complacency and reminds me that we truly are partners and just as he trusts me, I need to trust him.

Riley isn't a terribly 'social' dog. He's usually aloof with new people. He normally won't go out of his way to meet someone and tends to be shy and a little timid if someone new approaches him. On rare occasion, he'll encounter someone who, for whatever reason, sends the right signals, gives off the right vibes or whatever, and he'll march right up to them.

Rarer still, are the occasions when he reacts very strongly and very negatively to someone. This happened yesterday. Maintenance came around with an outside contractor to clean our chimney and get our fireplace ready for Fall. Riley went right up to the woman who was doing the chimney-cleaning, which was surprising not only because he normally doesn't approach new people so readily, but because she was carrying all kinds of gear with her and things like that normally scare him. Apparently he wasn't going to let the big, scary brush and the big, scary dropcloth stand in his way. He liked her and wanted to check her out.

Then he took one step toward the maintenance man, quickly backed up again and growled at him. It was a very deep, very serious growl. I was more than a little surprised, as he's reacted this way to someone only one other time in his life. That was to my mom's older sister (who, in my opinion is either clinically insane or damned close to it.) I was not surprised that he reacted that way toward her. I was surprised that he reacted that way towards this guy. He's an older man and always seems so very pleasant. He's quick with a smile, a wave and a 'good morning' or a 'hello.' He's the head of our maintenance crew and has been here for years, so obviously no one has ever had a problem with him. He just seems like a very nice man - certainly not one that I would normally be on-guard around.
Riley, apparently, feels differently. Who knows why, but whatever the reason, he obviously has his own thoughts and opinions. And when he shows them so strongly, and so rarely, I think I'd do well to trust him.

"Drill baby, drill."

Remember that obnoxious republican campaign mantra? I wonder if they can feel it biting them in the ass yet?

Watching the coverage of this is making me sick. It's just horrific to think of the destruction this spill is going to bring to the gulf coast and its wildlife.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/30/louisiana.oil.spill/index.html?hpt=T1

At least President Obama has put on hold any plans to open up more offshore drilling. I have to give him credit for that, even though the decision was probably the biggest no-brainer of all time. I didn't agree with his decision to open up more drilling in the first place, so maybe this will show him that doing so would be heading in the wrong direction and he'll put it on hold, indefinitely.

I admit, I may lean toward the conservative side of the aisle when it comes to certain aspects of the economy and national security, but never where the environment is concerned. I may not be convinced that all the global warming hysteria is founded, but this environmental disaster is happening right here, right now and it's because of our dependence on oil. If this, and the recent mining tragedies, aren't an argument for investing in alternative energy, particularly wind and solar, I don't know what is.