Whomp Power

Some jackass drug (dragged??) his two dogs behind his car, saying he was "exercising" them. Anyway, they are at the Oregon Humane Society, and according to the news tonight, nobody has expressed interest in adopting them. They are considered "special needs", so they can't be adopted out to just anyone.

Read here to find out about the dickhead owner.

Read here to find out about adopting the dogs. Their names are Kuma and Smokey.

If you know ANYONE that might be interested, please pass on the info! These dogs deserve a good life.

Was reading a discussion of this article called Republicans, searching for votes, look to Amish for support. Interesting that they (the Amish) might begin voting. Someone in the discussion recently vacationed in Amish Country, and asked some if they vote. They said they never did before, but planned on voting for Bush because they fear the Democratic agenda. Hmm.

Anyway, the best line from the article is this: "If I know Republicans and their grass-roots operations, they'll spend most of their time trying to phone bank the Amish," said Kerry spokesman Mark Nevins.

Lisa Whelchel (Blair from The Facts of Life) wrote a book called Creative Correction: Extraordinary Ideas for Everyday Discipline. As a homeschooling Christian mother, she has loads of great parenting tips, including: putting hot sauce on your kid's tongue to correct "bad" behavior, spraying a toddler in the face with water when they have a temper tantrum, witholding meals if a kid fails to do a chore, and holding a child's hair if they refuse to hold your hand while crossing a street.

What an idiot.

Mom's who agree feel that a child needs to respect/fear/obey their parents in order to have a similar relationship with god. What about showing some respect to your child? Spraying them in the face like a dog? "Holding" (I'd call it pulling) them by their hair if they refuse to hold hands while crossing the street? We told Owen if he didn't hold our hand we would carry him across. Pretty painless (except to our arms! Heavy kid!) - and now he says "time to hold hands!" and crosses the streets with us like a pro. Wow, that was tough.
The Amazon reviews were entertaining... I like this quote: "I can't wait to read the Tell All Lisa's children will write about her. This should make interesting reading, "How a mother twisted her sadistic impulses to fit into the frame work of Christian parenting"." And this one: "Unfortunately, many atrocities have been committed in the name of Christianity, and this book, in it's uniformed cruelty towards children, is just another." Amen.

Steer clear of another set of Christian parenting books - On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo. TOTAL. FUCKING. PSYCHOPATH. Let's just say, children have died when parents follow his guidance.

If you need to have Christian guidelines to help you parent, try books by Dr. William Sears, including The Christian Parenting Book.

For another perspective on discipline, check out How To Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber.

If you don't risk your health and eat this, you are going to hell!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5762478/?GT1=4529

Take the Geography Quiz - if you are a know-it-all-nerd like me, you'll love it.

Speaking of geography - ever heard of Calayan Island? It is in the north part of the Phillipines, and a new species of bird was discovered - the Calayan Rail. How cool is that?

Speaking of rare species, I read (or rather flipped through) a new book called A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Species. Here is a blurb: "This work offers a tantalizing glimpse into the lives of 103 mammals, reptiles, and birds that have become extinct since 1492. For each animal, Flannery (The Eternal Frontier) describes what is known of its habitat, behavior, and probable cause of extinction. These accounts are beautifully written, often anecdotal, and almost always poignant. Whitney Award-winning wildlife painter Schouten produced the accompanying illustrations, which are stunning, full-color, and sometimes spread across two pages. In some cases, these illustrations may be the most accurate renderings anyone has ever produced of these creatures. " It is kind of depressing, but pretty neat to see what these two guys discovered.

Had the pleasure of meeting Wil Wheaton at Powell's Technical this weekend. He did a reading from, and was signing copies of, his new book, Just A Geek. We have both read the book, and found it funny and engaging and entertaining. Also have another book of his, Dancing Barefoot. We've been a big fan of his blog, and he has guest hosted The Screen Savers a couple times. Good stuff.




The reading was packed, and he was funny and answered a few questions from the audience. His wife was there somewhere, and someone asked if he would introduce her since she guest blogs on his site... she indicated "no" to him, so he didn't introduce her, but did launch into a 5 minute speech about how great she is and how much he loves her. It was very sweet.




He signed Owen's WWDN shirt, and seemed like a genuinely cool person. That is Owen's second brush with fame, having met the members of Guster last summer...