Changing Places

Army of Dude returns to the States, glad to be alive, and what does he find today?

The Senate cares more about a newspaper ad than the lives of these brave men and women.

That is the sad state of America today.

To all those serving, thank you. To all those grieving, we’re grieving with you. To all those who think politics is more important than getting our troops home and giving them as much time with their families as they’ve spent in our service, screw you.

Army of Dude

From boots to Pumas, to sweat soaked and shit smelling trousers to Guess jeans, we’re trying to rejoin society the best we can. But not everyone who left in June of 2006 was able to make that transition. These are the names of the fallen of Task Force 5/20:

Cpl. Casey Mellen – Headquarters
Huachua City, AZ
KIA Mosul, September 25, 2006

Cpl. Billy Farris – Headquarters
Bapchule, AZ
KIA Anbar, December 3, 2006

Cpl. Brian Chevalier – Bravo
Athens, GA
KIA Baqubah, March 14, 2007

SSG. Jesse Williams – Bravo
Santa Rosa, CA
KIA Baqubah, April 8, 2007

SSG. Vincenzo Romeo – Alpha
Lodi, NJ
KIA Baqubah, May 6, 2007

Sgt. Jason Harkins – Alpha
Clarkesville, GA
KIA Baqubah, May 6, 2007

Sgt. Joel Lewis – Alpha
Sandia Park, NM
KIA Baqubah, May 6, 2007

Cpl. Matthew Alexander – Alpha
Gretna, NE
KIA Baqubah, May 6, 2007

Cpl. Anthony Bradshaw – Alpha
San Antonio, TX
KIA Baqubah, May 6, 2007

Cpl. Michael Pursel – Alpha
Clinton, UT
KIA Baqubah, May 6, 2007

Sgt. Daniel Nguyen – B 1/12 (Cav)
Sugarland, TX
KIA Baqubah, May 8, 2007

Sgt. Jason Vaughn – Alpha
Iuica, MS
KIA Baqubah, May 9, 2007

Sgt. Anselmo Martinez – B 1/12 (Cav)
Robstown, TX
KIA Baqubah, May 18, 2007

Spc. Joshua Romero – B 1/12 (Cav)
Crowley, TX
KIA Baqubah, May 18, 2007

Spc. Casey Nash – B 1/12 (Cav)
Baltimore, MD
KIA Baqubah, May 18, 2007

Sgt. Iosiwo Uruo – B 1/14
Agana Heights, Guam
KIA Baqubah, May 24, 2007

Spc. Francis Tressel – B 1/12 (Cav)
KIA Baqubah, May 26, 2007

Sgt. Andrew Higgins – Alpha
Hayward, CA
KIA Baqubah, June 5, 2007

PV2 Scott Miller – Headquarters
Casper, WY
KIA Baqubah, June 9, 2007

Cpl. Darryll Linder – A 1/12 (Cav)
Hickory, NC
KIA Baqubah, June 19, 2007

Cpt. Drew Jensen – Headquarters
Clackamas, OR
Died in Seattle on September 7, 2007 from wounds suffered May 7, 2007

You can sign on here:

The U.S. Senate just told you to sit down and be quiet when they passed a Republican amendment condemning MoveOn.1

Every day, our brave men and women are dying in a bloody civil war this Senate has done nothing to stop. Yesterday, they couldn’t even pass a bill to give soldiers adequate leave with their families before redeploying.2 But they’re spending time cracking down on a newspaper ad?

So, we’re making clear where America stands. We’re releasing a statement from MoveOn members—and anyone else who feels the same way—saying, “We will not be quiet, we will fight back. We will keep speaking out until Congress forces an exit plan for this awful war.”

Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/pac/fightback/

Maybe you liked our General Petraeus ad.3 Maybe you thought the language went too far. But make no mistake: this is much bigger than one ad.

It’s part of a larger campaign by Fox, the right-wing echo chamber, and Republicans like John McCain (who said we should be “thrown out of the country”).4

They’re doing it because they’re hurting: Polls show last week’s Bush Administration PR blitz increased the number of Americans favoring withdrawal5 and vulnerable Republicans are sinking lower and lower in the polls (or announcing their retirement).

And it has one purpose: to intimidate all of us. To send a message that anyone who speaks unpleasant truths about this war will pay. To make everyone—especially politicians—think twice before they accuse the administration of lying.

If it looks like we’re on the run, people will think twice before they speak out. Will you send a message today to Dick Cheney, Fox, Bill O’Reilly, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Karl Rove—and the Democrats without the guts to vote against this—that it’s not working?

We’ve changed our home page to just run the names of people who sign on. We’ll report the totals to the media all day. And if we can find an electronic billboard in Washington, D.C., we’ll run the names there, too.

This morning, the Senate didn’t pass an exit strategy for Iraq. They didn’t pass a bill to cover millions of uninsured Americans or combat the climate crisis. Nope—they condemned 3.4 million Americans for speaking out against the war.

Let them know them it’s not going to work.

Thank you for all you do, every day, to get the truth out.

The Austrian Economists: People should not fear their government, their government should fear the people

“People should not fear their government, their government should fear the people.”

I want to nominate those words from V for Vendetta as the best movie line since Anthony Hopkins said “Screw the government” in defiance of prohibition in Legends of the Fall.

There were many platitudes in V for Vendetta concerning the power of ideas and the relationship between citizens and the state. But I would nominate a second candidate for best movie line: “Artist use lies to reveal the truth, politicians use lies to conceal the truth.”

I no longer consider Feinstein my Senator after her vote for this atrocity. Ms. Boxer, you are my only representative in the Senate now that Diane Feinstein has let me know she no longer supports her oath to support the constitution.

I suggest you let your own Senators know how you feel.

America slipped away a bit more today. Shame on the Senate. Shame on them for this.

U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress – 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (Cornyn Amdt. No. 2934 )
Vote Number: 344 Vote Date: September 20, 2007, 12:36 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 2934 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008)
Statement of Purpose: To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.
Vote Counts: YEAs 72
NAYs 25

WOW. I am impressed.

Bravo, Mayor Sanders!

Wockner: Republican San Diego mayor embraces same-sex marriage, says daughter is a lesbian

Mayor Sanders: “With me this afternoon is my wife, Rana.

“I am here this afternoon to announce that I will sign the resolution that the City Council passed yesterday directing the City Attorney to file a brief in support of gay marriage [with the California Supreme Court].

“My plan, as has been reported publicly, was to veto that resolution, so I feel like I owe all San Diegans an explanation for this change of heart.

“During the campaign two years ago, I announced that I did not support gay marriage and instead supported civil unions and domestic partnerships.

“I have personally wrestled with that position ever since. My opinion on this issue has evolved significantly — as I think have the opinions of millions of Americans from all walks of life.

“In order to be consistent with the position I took during the mayoral election, I intended to veto the Council resolution. As late as yesterday afternoon, that was my position.

“The arrival of the resolution — to sign or veto — in my office late last night forced me to reflect and search my soul for the right thing to do.

“I have decided to lead with my heart — to do what I think is right — and to take a stand on behalf of equality and social justice. The right thing for me to do is to sign this resolution.

“For three decades, I have worked to bring enlightenment, justice and equality to all parts of our community.

“As I reflected on the choices that I had before me last night, I just could not bring myself to tell an entire group of people in our community that they were less important, less worthy and less deserving of the rights and responsibilities of marriage — than anyone else — simply because of their sexual orientation.

“A decision to veto this resolution would have been inconsistent with the values I have embraced over the past 30 years.

“I do believe that times have changed. And with changing time, and new life experiences, come different opinions. I think that’s natural, and certainly it is true in my case.

“Two years ago, I believed that civil unions were a fair alternative. Those beliefs, in my case, have since changed.

“The concept of a ‘separate but equal’ institution is not something that I can support.

” I acknowledge that not all members of our community will agree or perhaps even understand my decision today.

“All I can offer them is that I am trying to do what I believe is right.

“I have close family members and friends who are members of the gay and lesbian community. These folks include my daughter Lisa and her partner, as well as members of my personal staff.

“I want for them the same thing that we all want for our loved ones — for each of them to find a mate whom they love deeply and who loves them back; someone with whom they can grow old together and share life’s wondrous adventures.

“And I want their relationships to be protected equally under the law. In the end, I could not look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships — their very lives — were any less meaningful than the marriage that I share with my wife Rana.

etc, etc….

Oh, and if you know of a copy editor or graphic artist job in L.A., John is available. Thanks to Greenspan and Bernanke and their wonderful care of the economy…..

Good grief. I really wonder about the sanity of the rich. A lot.

OK, first off, anyone can set up a social network. It’s called a mailing list or a private blog. You can have total control over who is on it or not. I have a few of them myself.

Second, WHY WOULD YOU PAY FOR THIS THING? It’s stupid – you can do it for free lots of places on the Internet.

Third, the rich are rich because they have more money – that’s all. There’s nothing about them that makes them smarter, more interesting, or more fun to talk to. In fact most of the ones I know are pretty damn boring people.

Why you would want to be part of this thing is just beyond me. I suppose I simply will never have that kind of ego.

But then, people not wanting to talk to me is probably the one thing that most pisses me off in the entire world. I know how horrible it feels when someone cuts you off and won’t talk to you. Believe me. I can’t imagine that I would ever cut off someone I know. Abusive lurkers on the blog who won’t tell me their real names, and spamming morons, sure – but I wouldn’t cut off someone simply for not having money.

Ever.

The Gated Social Network – Bits – Technology – New York Times Blog

“I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member,” Groucho Marx famously said. He would have loved the Web’s newest social networks.

Sites like MySpace and Facebook are designed to attract a broad base of users. A newer breed, like ModelsHotel.com and the forthcoming Diamond Lounge, are building business plans based on exclusivity and the age-old custom of keeping out the riff-raff.

Diamond Lounge is in beta testing now and will launch more broadly in October, aimed at celebrities and the affluent. An independent committee that approves members has accepted only 5 percent of about 5000 applicants, Mr. Marafie said. The company will ultimately charge members around $60 a month (can’t they afford more?) and forgo advertising.

At the end of our conversation, I tremulously asked Mr. Marafie if I would qualify for his exclusive new online club. After reviewing my qualifications, he generously said that I probably would, depending on what I could bring to the community. When I told him I would most likely bring nothing to the community, he changed his mind and said that I would be excluded.

“We are trying not to be elitist but we recognize the way things are on the Net, there’s a need to have an element of a gated system in place,” Mr. Marafie said in conclusion. “Once you have the wrong people on these social networks, the whole thing is over.”

Heh. When he’s on, he’s on. ;^)

The whole article is well worth a read.

Hi. Can We Talk Greenspanism? | The Agonist

It was Greenspan who advised taking Social Security off of its then break even system, and start accumulating a “trust fund.” This was really a trojan horse for a regressive tax. Cut taxes on upper income, raise taxes on lower income. The trust fund was then spent like all the other money in the treasury. This is a lesson I am going to return to with Uncle Alan: the last 30 years has been the story of Reactionary Zealot Assholes fucking up liberal institutions as Greedy GI and Boomer Consumers stood on and watched, and then blamed Liberals for Not Stopping Them.

This broke the link between capital expenditure and liabilities. The implicit cash basis accounting, which had sort of worked despite the defect, suddenly stopped working. Instead of spending money on real infrastructure, real education, real technology, we started spending on billionaires and the pork barrel projects that keep corrupt cronies happy. There had always been some of that, but now, with the foxes guarding the hen house, it was all waste, all the time.

You know the money to convert American to a non-Carbon economy? You gave it to Bill Gates and Steve Chase and a bunch of Saudi Princes. They are very appreciative. Thank you.

Over in the corner of this page there is an ad for “The Big Con” by Jonathan Chait. It is a pretty good book. It’s also not exactly correct. Sure, the crackpots were allowed into the room for the part of the meeting with sandwiches. But the real damage was done by people who were nominally sane, like Greenspan, but who breathed the air of crackpottery and thought they really could overthrow the evil Lincoln-Wilson-FDR empire by, well, subverting it. On the other side, they are shocked that it didn’t work out that way. Memo to Randroids, Ayn Rand said that everything would be fine if the assholes ran the world. The gag is, they already do. And always have. And always will.

My cousin sent this to me today from my Uncle Marvin’s funeral notice. I didn’t know him that well, but enjoyed visiting his dairy farm and spending time with his family. I still remember him squeezing some fresh milk from the cow into the cat’s mouths, and his fields full of old Volvos, some with trees growing up through the hoods! And tasting fresh milk for the first time – so different from our store-bought milk, and so much better. My Uncle Marvin was married to my mom’s sister Marie, who passed away years ago. He lived a good long life, to 85.

My brother stayed on the farm one summer and worked, a bit of “growing up” for him. Sometimes I really wish I had a farm to send my kids off to – it would be good for them.

Prayers to all the family for their loss.

A Farmer’s Hands

(adapted from My Father’s Hands – Rev. Ken Mettler)

Really, the Sunni sheiks should have known better.

Great article at Takoma Gardener about the effects of climate change on our gardens – and what we can do to help.

In my own garden, I’ve developed the idea of “canopy gardening”, so the large trees provide shade for most of the yard and smaller shrubs offer some protection from winter frosts and freezes. I still lost a lot of plants this year due to the big chill in December and the long dry summer. Our extremes here in SoCal have been severe this year, from five nights in a row of freeze in the winter to five days in a row of 100 plus temperatures this summer. Overall it’s been much cooler in San Diego in the past year. May gray and June gloom this year extended into July, and we didn’t have a very hot week until late August / early September.

Coming into a La Nina year, there won’t be much rain, so we’re looking for our eighth year of drought conditions. I’m going to need some very tough plants! Go read the full article, it’s well worth it.

Takoma Gardener: Global Warming in the Garden

How Gardeners Can Help Reduce Climate Change

To borrow from one of the central tenets of organic gardening, the first goal of gardening should be to do not harm. Here are some ways:

* Stop using gas-powered lawn equipment or products that use fossil fuels in their production, like synthetic fertilizers. Gas mowers spew as much pollution in one hour as a new car does in 40 hours – that’s how terrible the gas-mower technology is. And those synthetic fertilizers can be replaced primarily by compost and organic mulches, supplemented with organic, slow-release fertilizers when an extra boost is needed.

* Instead of blowing leaves into plastic bags for them to be trucked away to landfills or to an incinerator, turn them into soil, by composting. Home compost operations help lighten pressure on landfills and result in more water-retentive soil for the gardener – that really cool circle of life thing. Some municipalities collect leaves and turn them into free leafmold mulch or compost.

* Grow your own food. It’s fresh, it’s as organic as you want it to be, and it doesn’t have to be trucked or flown in from far away. In the alternative, frequent our local farmer’s markets.

* Finally, the quaint suggestion that we bring back a garden ornament from our grandmothers’ gardens – the clothes line – comes from the Goracle himself.

The Borowitz Report .com
Exhausted, Thompson Quits Race

Calls Week-long Campaign ‘Punishing’

Saying that he was “totally exhausted and drained,” former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson withdrew from the race for the Republican presidential nomination today.

Mr. Thompson’s move surprised supporters and rivals alike, since the Tennessean had announced his candidacy less than one week earlier.

But in his announcement, Mr. Thompson made it clear that the “punishing” schedule of a presidential candidate was not to his liking: “I am putting in seven, sometimes eight-hour days, and that is not what I signed up for.”

When asked when he began having second thoughts about his decision to run for president, the former senator replied, “I’d say half-way through my announcement on the Leno show — I could definitely feel myself fading.”

The erstwhile candidate said that his week on the campaign trail made him long for his days as an actor on the NBC series “Law and Order.”

“We’d find out that there was a murder and bam, an hour later it was quittin’ time,” he said.

Davis Logsdon, chairman of the political science department at the University of Minnesota, offered this comment on Mr. Thompson’s surprising decision: “This should end the debate over whether Fred Thompson is ‘lazy like a fox’ or just plain old lazy.”

For his part, Mr. Thompson scoffed when a reporter asked if he was departing the race to spend more time with his family.

“Oh, please, that’s even more exhausting than running for president,” he said. “Right now I just want a nap.”

BACON CHOCOLATE!!!!

Chocolate Candy Bars – Gourmet Milk, Dark & White Chocolate Candy Bars from Vosges Haut-Chocolat – Bacon Exotic Candy Bar – New
Bacon Exotic Candy Bar – New

Applewood smoked bacon Alder smoked salt deep milk chocolate

Deep milk chocolate coats your mouth and leads to the crunch of smoked bacon pieces. Surprise your mouth with the smoked salt and sweet milk chocolate combination.

Crisp, buttery, compulsively irresistible bacon and milk chocolate combination has long been a favorite of mine. I started playing with this combination at the tender age of six while eating chocolate chip pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Beside my chocolate-laden cakes laid three strips of fried bacon, just barely touching a sweet pool of maple syrup. Just a bite of the bacon was too salty and yearned for the sweet kiss of chocolate syrup. In retrospect, perhaps this was a turning point, for on that plate something magical happened: the beginnings of a combination so ethereal and delicious that it would haunt my thoughts until I found the medium to express it–chocolate.
–Katrina

Thanks to Mac at Pesky Apostrophe for turning me on to Vosges Chocolates!!! She has a great article on beans and franks today, too.

Mmmm….

And every damn neocon supporter there with them.

Bring our kids home. Send the neocons and oil executives to fight their war for oil.

Via Hoffmania.

Ah, I love being an engineer! My son just made me watch this – you must go watch the video..

Steam – Team Fortress 2: Meet the Engineer

Meet the Engineer, one of nine playable character classes in Team Fortress 2:

Name: Engineer
Role: Defense
Weapons: Shotgun / Pistol/ Wrench
Contraptions: Turret / Dispenser / Teleporter
Favorite Equation:

This amiable, soft-spoken good ol’ boy from tiny Bee Cave, Texas loves barbeque, guns, and higher education. Natural curiosity, ten years as a roughneck in the west Texas oilfields, and eleven hard science PhDs have trained him to design, build and repair a variety of deadly contraptions.

Dynamic quality is unpredicatable, and impossible to replicate. Quite possibly, it is the uniqueness of dynamic quality that makes it so intense or meaningful for us. Moments of dynamic quality occur seemingly at random: a spectacular sunset, a red fox walking out from the woods to stand gazing into your eyes, the fairyland of a tree freshly dusted in snow, the sudden arc of a meteor across the sky. These may be dramatic moments, but there are others less dramatic but equally powerful: the sound of a child singing softly to herself, the silky feel of a dog’s ear sliding between your fingers, the warm pressure of a body curled lovingly around your own, the sweet smell of rain in the spring.

Moments of dynamic quality, moments with the potential to move our very souls, are all around us. Though unpredictable, they require only one thing from us in order to experience them: We must be available. Because it resides in your response, dynamic quality is everywhere you are, if you are open to the experience, willing to seek it out, interested and alert to what is happening within and beyond yourself. Sweepstakes promoters have it all wrong: In life, you must be present to win. If we are glued to the nightly news, we will not see the sunset.

Suzanne Clothier, Bones Would Rain From the Sky

“Wake Me Up When September Ends”

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

summer has come and passed
the innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when september ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

like my father’s come to pass
twenty years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends…

– Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day

To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts unexpressed — that can make of this earth a garden. — Goethe

You know how I am about process and quality and connection and dog training – this lovely passage from Suzanne Clothier’s “Bones Would Rain from the Sky” has it all. I’m really enjoying this book.

When we enter into a relationship with a dog or any other being, we are seeking a connection or, perhaps more accurately, what we feel as a result of this connection: comfort, love, acceptance, peace, joy. What we are seeking and striving for is a quality of connection that is — hopefully — a mutually pleasurable state, a dance of two spirits moving in agreement. Though we may be unable to articulate precisely what we seek, we recognize it when it happens. Simply stated, it feels good when it is right, and it does not feel good when things are wrong. And when it is right, it’s delightfully, incredibly, inexpressibly right. And when it is wrong, it can be terribly, unbearably wrong. What drives us crazy at times is that even when the connection is powerful and good, we may not know just how that moment was achieved or what magical ingredients helped to create it or, sadly, why it just as mysteriously dissolves into the mundane or routine.

Because this kind of profound connection is elusive (whether we seek it with other people or with animals), we may not understand that it is not a goal or a “thing” but rather a process, and a dynamic one at that. Despite the messages from advertisers that assure us that with their product (their car, soap, beer, dog food, jeans) we will be able to have the fulfilling relationships we seek, the truth is there is no particular formula by which a powerful connection may be summoned or created. In our restless searching through books and videos and seminars, we are asking for the recipe that can help us create what we know exists. Such a relationship between us and our animals is possible, though not necessarily easy, certainly not automatic. We’ve tasted it, or we’ve seen it or perhaps we even just read about it — and we want more. We want a road map to There, because we’ve been there or we know others who have, and we know it’s where we want to go.

None of us deliberately sets out to create a relationship filled with conflict, frustration or disappointment. But the deep connection we seek may be missing, especially if we mistake the technicalities of dog behavior training theories and techniques for a relationship. To find what we are seeking, we need to begin at the beginning, examining the foundation on which the entire relationship will turn: the quality of the connection itself.

Each time we interact with a dog or another being, we have an opportunity to create an event of quality, or not. Our relationships with our dogs are dynamic, responsive to and informed by every choice we make. Each of our actions, whether intentional or inadvertent, will move us in only a few possible directions — away from or toward greater intensity of connection, or we do not move at all and remain still.

If quality is indeed an event, then in every moment, we have a choice. Relationships are not mechanical processes…. Our world is not one of simple cause and effect, but one of dynamic interactions, right down to the cells within our bodies. .. A relationship is also — at its core — a seamless integration of information. By the very act of choosing to be in a relationship — even casually — with another being, we open ourselves to the dynamic process of both putting forth and receiving information.

To fully embrace the idea that quality is a dynamic event that we can choose to create is both a heavy burden of responsibility and one of the greatest of all freedoms… The event of quality is one that we can actively choose, every day, each time we are with our dogs.

The idea of choosing in every moment what you will create in that moment is absolutely central to Tao. It is what people mean when they talk about being “in the moment” – not just living moment to moment, but actively understanding what it is you are creating moment to moment, and accepting responsibility for that. I think it is what a lot of people do not understand about me — I’ve always accepted the responsibility for my actions, and known what i was creating — even in those times when I was “crazy” and “out of control”.

I have always been well aware of the quality of the connections in my life. A good friend called me this morning and thanked me for that, for which I will be eternally grateful. I do not think I had realized until today that the depths of how much I care for other people and value them is not a character flaw, but probably the deepest part of my character itself. One friend would chide me in the past for being “too intense”. But I think that only meant he was afraid of having intense experiences in his own life. Another friend stepped away because they didn’t feel the intensity of the relationship that I did — or so he claimed. Yet, looking back, I know very well that the intensity was there on both sides. Yet another friend stepped away because they didn’t like my intensity – and yet gossiped about me to all her other friends. I suspect she was actually jealous of my own ability to create a relationship worth gossiping about.

And those friends who have stuck with me, through everything, and especially my wonderful husband – those are the ones I love most of all. People like that will be the ones who can get me through anything.

And the ones who read here, who have even that much interest in my life to casually check and see what I’m doing or what I have to say — you are the special ones, the ones that indeed, make my world a garden.

Thank you.

I love today’s Doonesbury – it’s such a great example of the kind of thing we bloggers waste our time on all the time. ;^)

(I mostly just posted this because I love this devil golden!)

Canine Smarts: Behavioral Science Turns to Dogs for Answers – International – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News

For serious scientists, Lassie and her friends were deemed little more than dumbed-down ancestors of the wolf, degenerated into panting morons by millennia of breeding. But a younger generation of researchers has set out to restore the reputations of our beloved pets. “Dogs can do things that we long believed only humans had mastered,” says Juliane Kaminski of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Evolutionary Anthropology in the eastern German city of Leipzig.

It is precisely their proximity to people — which disqualified our four-legged friends as a model for so long — that now makes them interesting to animal researchers. “When it comes to understanding human behavior, no mammal comes even close to the dog,” says Kaminski. Her Leipzig research team has demonstrated that dogs are far better than the supposedly clever apes at interpreting human gestures.