Coffee and Provocation

• Are Liberals more evolved?
  According to some egg-head study "human evolution may have a big influence on whether you're liberal or conservative—not to mention how smart you are, whether you believe in God, or whether you've got a cheatin' heart." Right. I am a liberal and even I do not believe this nonsense. But of course that may be because I am so damn smart, being a liberal and all. Pardon me if I am skeptical, but here's the link for the gullible.
  
  
• The Royal Bahamian Potcake:
  It started out as a joke, but now it's a breed. This is a very different story from all those dogs that started out as a breed, but ended up as a joke. Read all about the newest "rescue dog" creation of the Bahamas. Hat tip to Sean O'Q for this one!
  
  
• Do Great Whites Love Calamari?
  Great White Sharks may be majors consumers of Giant Squid.
  
  
• Boning Out an Elephant:
  In Zimbabwe, where hunger stalks the countryside thanks to the vicious politics and failed policies of Robert Mugabe, an elephant died after crossing the border from Mozambique. The locals butcher it out in under 2 hours, and 24 hours later, even the bones are gone. A story in pictures, with humans as locusts with knives. At least this dead animal was put to good use. No mention of why it died.
  
  
• It Only Hurts When They Bite:
  Liz Palika discovers vicious dogs on a military base -- and owners that have been shoving the problem under the family rug for years. Training a dog is one thing, but rehabilitating vicious and aggressive dogs is different, and the clock is on.
  
  
• Cesar Millan on the Limits of Altruism:
  In an old article in Salon, Cesar Millan opines: "Most of my clients say, 'Well, my dog is my soul mate, but he wants to kill another dog!' So they achieve emotional energy or spiritual energy, but that doesn't mean the dog listens to them. You see? Dogs don't follow a lovable leader or a spiritual leader. We're the only species that has Gandhi. We're the only species that rescues other species: pandas, zebras, gorillas. The rest of the species won't. If they see somebody that's weak, they exterminate them."
  . . . . For the record, this is not entirely true. Yes predators kill the weak of other species, but generally not their own species. Of course a dog is a predator, and a human is a different species, so .... (see previous story).
  
  
• Chicago Gun Laws, Reloaded:
  The Chicago Tribune says Chicago's restrictive gun law has been a failure. It's always refreshing when people admit the obvious. So often, they don't!
  
  
• Irony Alert:
  A 45-year-old woman, charged with ending a domestic dispute by killing her 26-year-old husband of FIVE DAYS, is a registered lobbyist for a group fighting domestic violence.
  
  
• Sing Along With Me:
  "Woke up and it was a Chelsea morning, and the first things that I knew, it was .... Whoa, is that a coyote out there?!"
  .