Watch it all. It will brighten your day.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • Psychology • * General Interest • Animals

Here is the link, it is two parents with the young babies, and it is just fantastic.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Science & Technology • * General Interest • Animals

One of the most beautiful birds we have in South Carolina, this picture was taken by my friend Francis Allston.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Yale University is organizing a conference on “Personhood Beyond the Human” for December 6-8, 2013. It will feature, among other proponents of personhood rights for animals, notorious infanticide and bestiality-promoting ethicist Peter Singer.

The conference is co-sponsored by the animal rights group Nonhuman Rights Project and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, in collaboration with the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and the Yale Animal Ethics Group.

"The event will focus on personhood for nonhuman animals, including great apes, cetaceans, and elephants, and will explore the evolving notions of personhood by analyzing them through the frameworks of neuroscience, behavioral science, philosophy, ethics, and law,” reads a description of the conference on its website.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Life Ethics • Young Adults • * General Interest • Animals • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

"Saving abandoned animals, one ride at a time..."

Guaranteed to brighten your day--watch it all (Note: video is linked at the top, if no video capacity you can read the story. Make sure to check out the map of how long the ride is from Texas to Tok, Alaska where the dog was delivered).

Also, please note that the website for Operation Roger Operation Roger (a ministry which, as the video notes, was begin through a prayer) is there.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Travel • * General Interest • Animals • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Music • Science & Technology • * General Interest • Animals

Of all of the creepy and crawly things that you can think of, tarantulas probably are near the top of the list when it comes to scariness. Well, get ready to add another terrifying arachnid to your list, because a new type of tarantula has been discovered in northern Sri Lanka.

Ranil Nanayakkara, a local researcher, and his team found the tiger spider and named it Poecilotheria rajaei, after a local police investigator, Michael Rajakumar Purajah. Purajah helped the team of scientists navigate the remote area where the spider was found.

Read it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Courtesy of the really cool Slothville website:

BUCKET OF SLOTHS from Lucy Cooke on Vimeo.

Oh so cute--watch it all; KSH.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Look at all all of them (Hat tip: Selimah Harmon).

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

I caught this by accident recently and was hypnotized by its beauty. It is simply splendid--on central park, on the seasons, on the birders, and, oh my--on the birds.

You can read more about it here and if you are up for it there is a spectacular bird show there to whet your appetite.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Movies & Television • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

But you don’t believe the dear Lord created it anyway, do you? Hasn’t that got you into trouble with the people who don’t believe in evolution? Not in this country. You get letters but it’s a very easy thing to answer. Someone says: ‘I believe a God of infinite mercy created every single species and the Lord looks after us and all the animals.’ Well, what about that little African boy, five years old, sitting on the banks of a river, and he’s got a worm in his eye that’s going to turn him blind in three years? Did this God that you talk about actually design this worm and say: ‘I’ll put it in this boy’s eye?’ To suggest that God specifically created a worm to torture small African children is blasphemy as far as I can see. The Archbishop of Canterbury doesn’t believe that.

He’s supposed to believe it, though, isn’t he? Absolutely not! If you said to the Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Are you really telling me that God got some mud, blew in it and made a man and when that man said: “I haven’t got a friend”, he took out one of his ribs, rubbed it in his hands and went “boom, boom”?’ [Rowan] Williams [the last Archbishop of Canterbury] is a highly civilised, educated man. He wouldn’t for a microsecond be so silly as to believe that. But it does put him in an intolerable position.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • --Rowan Williams • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

Watch it all--such fun.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Would you like to make some extra money, and at the same time run the risk of being eaten by a carnivorous reptile the size of a war canoe? If your answer is “yes,” I have an exciting opportunity for you. It’s called the Python Challenge, and I am not making it up. It’s a real event that was dreamed up by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which apparently was concerned that Florida does not seem insane enough to people in normal states.

The Python Challenge is a month-long contest; its purpose, according to the official website (pythonchallenge.org) is “to raise public awareness about Burmese pythons.” Q. What do they mean by “raise public awareness about?” A. They mean “kill.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

Gear up the handkerchiefs and watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • * General Interest • Animals

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Rural/Town Life • Violence • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * General Interest • Animals

One of nature’s tiniest creatures has brought havoc to one of Charleston’s oldest churches.

Termites have attacked the wood and skeletal support system at Citadel Square Baptist Church, the yellow stucco landmark adjacent to Marion Square.

The damage is so severe that the sanctuary has been closed for the last two years, forcing the tiny congregation to meet in an adjoining 1950s-era chapel.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • * Culture-Watch • Architecture • * General Interest • Animals • * South Carolina

Blue whales can grow to 90 feet -- that's longer than a tennis court. Getting that big requires a lot of fuel, says Jeremy Goldbogen, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cascadia Research Collective. That's why Goldbogen studies the whales' dining habits. They feed on krill, slurping in millions of the mini crustaceans along with hundreds of thousands of pounds of water in a single gulp. With the help of data tags and a National Geographic Crittercam, Goldbogen and colleagues found that blue whales do underwater acrobatics while they eat -- specifically a move they coined "the blue whale barrel roll."

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Science & Technology • * General Interest • Animals

Americans have a long tradition of pampering and memorializing their pets. Now, technology lets precious friends become precious gems.

The idea of turning the carbon in ashes into man-made diamonds emerged a decade ago as a way to memorialize humans. Today, departed pets are fueling the industry's growth, with a handful of companies selling diamonds, gemstones and other jewelry out of pet remains, including hair and feathers.

Some gems start at about $250, while pet diamonds cost at least $1,400, with prices based on color and size. The diamonds have the same physical properties as mined diamonds, purveyors say.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * General Interest • Animals • * South Carolina

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • History • Marriage & Family • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * General Interest • Animals • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

He is just so adorable--check it out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

"There is no way this is just some sort of accidental thing, that the elephant was making normal elephant sounds and somehow got rewarded for doing it and then people started saying, 'Oh, he's a talking elephant,' " says [Tecumseh] Fitch. "That's what I think makes it really convincing that this is speech mimicry."

What's more, the researchers asked native Korean speakers to listen to the sounds made by Koshik and transcribe what they heard. While most listeners agreed on the vowel sounds, there was some disagreement on what consonants he was saying. "His consonants are kind of blurry in the same way that mine might be if I'd had a half a bottle of Jack Daniel's or something," says Fitch.

What most struck the researchers is that Koshik was apparently so driven to imitate sounds that he invented the method of putting his trunk in his mouth and moving it around. They believe that he may have done this to bond with his trainers, as he was deprived of elephant companionship during a critical period of his childhood and spent years with humans as his only social contact.

Read or listen to it all and do not miss the video.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Science & Technology • * General Interest • Animals

You know I am a mush for these kinds of things but please go and look for yourself.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

Watch it all. Not a dry eye in the house here after this one--KSH.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • War in Afghanistan • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

Watch and listen to it all and you can read a bit more over there.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

This has to be listened to--catch it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

Emma Thompson isn't just an Oscar-winning actress; she's also an Oscar-winning writer. Thompson authored the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, and now she's taken on another period project — reviving the classic children's book character Peter Rabbit.

Beatrix Potter first brought the mischievous bunny to life in 1902 with tales of stealing lettuce and making trouble. Now, Thompson's version takes Peter Rabbit across the Scottish countryside. Not surprisingly, it opens with Peter Rabbit contemplating an adventure in which he's sure to break a lot of rules.

"Peter is sort of anarchistic, which I love," Thompson tells NPR's Renee Montagne....

Listen to it all at the link provided here (a little under 8 minutes).

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Books • Children • History • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

These are just so much fun.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

The black mamba has a fearful reputation, and it’s easy to see why. It can move at around 12.5 miles (20 kilometres) per hour, making it one of the world’s fastest snakes, if not the fastest. Its body can reach 4.5 metres in length, and it can lift a third of that off the ground. That would give you an almost eye-level view of the disturbingly black mouth from which it gets its name. And inside that mouth, two short fangs deliver one of the most potent and fast-acting venoms of any land snake.

Combined with its reputation for aggression (at least when cornered) and you’ve got a big, intimidating, deadly, ornery serpent that can probably outrun you. It’s not the most obvious place to go looking for painkillers.

But among the cocktail of chemicals in the black mamba’s venom, Sylvie Diochot and Anne Baron from the CNRS have found a new class of molecules that can relieve pain as effectively as morphine, and without any toxic side effects. They’ve named them mambalgins.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Science & Technology • * General Interest • Animals

Africa is in the midst of an epic elephant slaughter. Conservation groups say poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year, more than at any time in the previous two decades, with the underground ivory trade becoming increasingly militarized.

Like blood diamonds from Sierra Leone or plundered minerals from Congo, ivory, it seems, is the latest conflict resource in Africa, dragged out of remote battle zones, easily converted into cash and now fueling conflicts across the continent.

Some of Africa’s most notorious armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Shabab and Darfur’s janjaweed, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons and sustain their mayhem. Organized crime syndicates are linking up with them to move the ivory around the world, exploiting turbulent states, porous borders and corrupt officials from sub-Saharan Africa to China, law enforcement officials say.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Republic of Congo • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

We celebrate our workers in this country today. Maybe we should also take a moment to remember those who work for us in uniform in other parts of the world.

Not too long ago, one of those people was Cliff Hartley. He joined the Air Force at the age of 19, and one year ago today, he spent Labor Day walking a dusty road in Afghanistan with his dog, Cir, looking for bombs. They were attached to a SEAL team and their primary duties were to sniff out trouble.

Cir retired from duty last October and now lives with Hartley, who has 10 years in the Air Force and plans to do 10 more. Right now, he’s stateside. His retired military working dog now sleeps at his feet in their North Charleston house, just like he once did in a tent in Afghanistan. There’s one big difference. They both sleep much better now.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • War in Afghanistan • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • * South Carolina

I really enjoyed this--watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • Australia / NZ

This is just remarkable--watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • * Theology • Anthropology

Check it out--wow.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

There are eleven pictures and eleven quotes--read them all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all--great stuff from ABC's Nightline

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * By Kendall • Harmon Family • * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * By Kendall • Harmon Family • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Energy, Natural Resources • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all--hilarious (note the "skip the ad" option at the beginning).

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Sports • * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * By Kendall • Harmon Family • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all--wonderful, joyful stuff.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Movies & Television • * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

Watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

How could the death of a canine possibly hurt as much as that of a family member? As the sadness lingers, part of my grieving process has been to try to understand the differences.

Researchers have long known that the animal-human bond is strong: A 1988 study in the Journal of Mental Health Counseling asked a group of dog owners to place symbols for their family members and pets in a circle representing each dog owner’s life. (The distance between the subject and the other symbols corresponds to the relative, real-life closeness of those relationships.) The subjects tended to put the dog closer than the average family member, and about as close as the closest family member; in 38 percent of the cases, the dog was closest of all.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

There is no way I can do justice to how I truly feel about losing our cat of eighteen years and a bunch of months and going on nineteen years. When we moved back to Summerville, South Carolina, in 1993 from Oxford, England, we got her from the SPCA.

She was there through it all--three places to live, the children going from 4, 2 and not yet 1 to where they are now, my living through three rectors in three years in one parish (and living to talk about it), Elizabeth going back to graduate school at MUSC, her graduation, all three secondary school graduations, and all the current twists, turns and travails of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion, and the diocese of South Carolina.

So many things changed, but except for our faith and our family, she was the only constant, friendly, joyful, content, present, glad to be alive and part of it all. The world is a sadder place because she is gone, but we are all the better from having been given God's gift of Sprightly--KSH.

Filed under: * By Kendall • Harmon Family • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Check out all 30 and tell us which one you like best.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • Military / Armed Forces • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all (Hat tip: Selimah Harmon)

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Music • * General Interest • Animals

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * By Kendall • Harmon Family • * General Interest • Animals

(Please note the content of this piece may not be appropriate for some blog readers--KSH).

The shift in the gay movement away from demanding equal rights and towards calling for recognition of the idea that gayness is "natural" occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Feeling under attack from a conservative backlash, gay-rights activists in the West started to argue, very defensively, that being gay was a simple biological trait and therefore it should not be criticised....

The aim of those who bang on endlessly about how beetles and penguins are just as likely as humans to be gay is to avoid testy moral debate about homosexuality in favour of effectively presenting gayness almost as an animalistic instinct, which therefore cannot be helped or "corrected" and which should not be criticised.

Homosexuality is not "natural". It is not a mere biological instinct. Rather, like all human relations and interactions, it is a complex mix of desire and choice and love and lust. The campaigners who hold up the grunting antics of penguins and dogs as evidence that being gay is okay imagine that they are doing gay people a favour....

Read it all.

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to at KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Psychology • Science & Technology • Sexuality • * General Interest • Animals • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Filed under: * By Kendall • Harmon Family • * General Interest • Animals

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Simply stunning--watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

You just have to love it, watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Military / Armed Forces • * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Flying Starlings from www.carlpendle.com on Vimeo.

Great music, great photography, and oh those birds! Watch it all--KSH.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Vultures Chose Me from Green Renaissance on Vimeo.

Watch it all, yet another reminder as to why Vimeo is one of the best sites on the web--KSH.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

My point here is that, in matters of the heart, males have the brains of a walnut. No, wait! That is not my point. My point is that perhaps you women could cut us males a little bit of slack in the move-making process, because we are under a lot of stress. I vividly remember when I was in 10th grade, and I wanted to call a girl named Patty and ask her to a dance, and before I picked up the phone, I spent maybe 28 hours rehearsing exactly what I was going to say. So when I actually made the call, I was pretty smooth.

"Hello, Dance?" I said. "This is Patty. Do you want to go to the Dave with me?"

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Men • Psychology • Women • * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

Check it out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

As a boy in San Antonio, Paul Flotron helped his family raise miniature schnauzers. He was there for the dogs’ births, and his family showed the dogs at competitions all over Texas. When he was 10, his family moved to St. Louis, where he accumulated “the Flotron Miniature Zoo,” including “dwarf crocodiles, African pancake tortoises, birds, boa constrictors, hermit crabs, fish, and always dogs.”

Today, Mr. Flotron runs Creature Comforts Great and Small, a St. Louis pet-care business, and leads Noah’s Ark, a pet ministry of Grace Church, a large nondenominational Protestant congregation. Noah’s Ark runs a pet-food drive, supports a no-kill rescue, brings pets to visit the sick and infirm, and hosts a grief group for those who have lost a pet.

“We actually have Bible study and discuss passages that are animal related,” Mr. Flotron said. “We make that our foundation.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all and do not miss the comments about dogs vis a vis girlfriends(!).

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Frank Shane, a professional dog therapist and CEO of the K-9 Disaster Relief Foundation, had to improvise when he brought his golden retriever, Nikie, down to Ground Zero. There was no protocol for anything—from the kind of footwear Nikie should wear to how Frank should deal with the unfathomable grief of 9/11. Yet from the moment Frank and his dog stepped onto the site, they both knew they had a job to do. As it turned out, a pair of soft ears and a wagging tail offered one of the best ways to connect to the people on the ground....

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Pastoral Care • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * General Interest • Animals

A seemingly intoxicated moose has been discovered entangled in an apple tree by a stunned Swede.

Per Johansson, 45, says he heard a roar from his vacationing neighbour's garden in southwestern Sweden late Tuesday and went to have a look. There, he found a female moose kicking about in the tree. The animal was likely drunk from eating fermented apples.

Read it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • * International News & Commentary • Europe • Sweden

"Photographs by Charlotte Dumas of privately owned dogs who were mobilized, with their owners, to search for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They are now retired."

Enjoy them all. Some of you know we have three dogs. I have been saving this until today since this week begins the anticipation of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Like a lot of dog lovers I teared up at these pictures--KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • History • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * General Interest • Animals

Check it out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

They say that a dog is a man's best friend, and for Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, 35, and his beloved and loyal dog Hawkeye, not even death could break this powerful bond.

At Tumilson's funeral in Rockford on Aug. 19, his beloved canine lay at the foot of the casket throughout the ceremony. Tumilson's cousin Lisa Pembleton took the heart-wrenching photo of the devoted dog, known to Tumilson's family and friends as his "son."

"I took this picture and that was my view throughout the entire funeral. I couldn't NOT take a picture," Pembleton said. "It took several attempts since every time I wasn't crying and could focus on taking it, there was a SEAL at the microphone and I didn't want to take a picture with them for security and respect reasons. Our family is devastated to say the least."

Read it all and do not miss that picture.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • War in Afghanistan • * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all (Hat tip: Selimah Harmon)

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

Watch it all (Hat tip:Selimah Harmon).

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Music • * General Interest • Animals

This made BBC World News this morning where I caught it--watch it all--KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Travel • * General Interest • Animals

Read it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Here's a feel-good story.

"Two seriously injured bald eagles, found two months apart and more than a mile away from each other near the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge," in Western New York State, "were rescued and reunited in a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Medina last week," the Buffalo News reports.

And on...[Monday's] All Things Considered, raptor rehabilitator Wendi Pencille tells host Michele Norris the remarkable story of what it was like when the two lovebirds were reunited.

Read or listen to it all (and you have to love the picture).

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Should cats be treated like dogs, when it comes to licensing and immunization requirements?

The San Diego city auditor's office recommends doing just that -- for the sake of health, safety and "cost recovery" for taxpayers.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • City Government • * General Interest • Animals

Check it out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

Is there any better way to start the day?

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Check them out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Check them out--31 in all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they're a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan -- as of early 2010 the U.S. Army had 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world). And these numbers will continue to grow as these dogs become an ever-more-vital military asset.

So it should come as no surprise that among the 79 commandos involved in Operation Neptune Spear that resulted in Osama bin Laden's killing, there was one dog -- the elite of the four-legged variety. And though the dog in question remains an enigma -- another mysterious detail of the still-unfolding narrative of that historic mission -- there should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved: Man's best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior.

Simply amazing stuff from Foreign Policy Magazine and yes, read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Military / Armed Forces • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • * General Interest • Animals

This is just wonderful--check it out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals • Humor / Trivia

An early morning stroll saved a 12th century Dorset church from destruction last week, when a dog-walker saw smoke rising from St Mary’s Church in Maiden Newton and called for help.

While out walking his spaniel, Alex Adair-Charlton (39) of Maiden Newton saw a cloud of smoke or mist hovering above the village’s medieval church. His curiosity turned to alarm, however, when he saw flames rising from the church’s roof, and he telephoned the fire services from his mobile phone.

A team from the village fire service arrived within four minutes of the 6:20 am alarm, and by the end of the day approximately 30 firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. An aerial platform was brought in to fight the blaze, so as not to damage the church’s wooden doors, believed to be among the oldest in England.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * General Interest • Animals

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all--this one made me cry.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • History • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * General Interest • Animals

Simply fantastic--watch it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

What a super effort this is--watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Media • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Energy, Natural Resources • * General Interest • Animals

Check it out--wonderful to see (Hat tip: BRLM).

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

I am undone by it all--ugh; KSH.

Filed under: * By Kendall • * General Interest • Animals

What a shot--check it out.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

(Charleston, South Carolina) He was a 10-year veteran of the Charleston Police Department, specializing in patrolling this city’s palmetto-lined streets, improving community relations and keeping big crowds in check — until his unit was disbanded, a victim of budget cuts.

So this month he was put out to pasture, quite literally.

Napoleon lost his policing job, along with the other five police horses here, as Charleston joined the growing number of cities that have retired their horses and closed their stables to save money. The Great Recession is proving to be the greatest threat to police mounted units since departments embraced the horseless carriage.

Read it all from the front page of yesterday's paper.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • City Government • * General Interest • Animals • * South Carolina

As with any theft, the worst part is the blow it deals to one’s faith in humanity. The chickens were in danger of being demoted from goodwill ambassadors to harbingers of doom, canaries in the neighborhood coal mine.

The sidewalk confabs reached a fever pitch. People were devastated.

A man with a neck tattoo shook his head and tut-tutted, “What kind of person would do something like this?” A woman in a church hat encouraged us to turn to God. Neighbors posted another sign: “439 Franklin misses Gertrude!” People scribbled commiseration. (“My son is sad! Find Gertrude!”) The crime was taken as proof of the decline and fall of civilization, and we found ourselves assuming the role of the comforter far more than the comforted.

Again, this is Bed-Stuy. Not Mayberry. Yet the response was more suited to a town with less in the way of a police blotter. Such dramatic emotional outpourings for a lost chicken seemed frankly disproportionate, since you can hardly walk a block in this town without being offered some tantalizing version of dead chicken....

Read it all.

Filed under: * General Interest • Animals

Chaser, a border collie who lives in Spartanburg, S.C., has the largest vocabulary of any known dog. She knows 1,022 nouns, a record that displays unexpected depths of the canine mind and may help explain how children acquire language.

Chaser belongs to John W. Pilley, a psychologist who taught for 30 years at Wofford College, a liberal arts institution in Spartanburg. In 2004, after he had retired, he read a report in Science about Rico, a border collie whose German owners had taught him to recognize 200 items, mostly toys and balls. Dr. Pilley decided to repeat the experiment using a technique he had developed for teaching dogs, and he describes his findings in the current issue of the journal Behavioural Processes.

He bought Chaser as a puppy in 2004 from a local breeder and started to train her for four to five hours a day. He would show her an object, say its name up to 40 times, then hide it and ask her to find it, while repeating the name all the time. She was taught one or two new names a day, with monthly revisions and reinforcement for any names she had forgotten.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Psychology • Science & Technology • * General Interest • Animals • * South Carolina