This evening I received an email forwarded by the animal behaviorist who helped us with Jack, our Alaskan Malamute, who had some initial behavioral issues.

She had received it apparently by mistake, but forwarded it on to her clients for dissemination and feedback.

I’m plopping it on DailyKos, ePluribus Media and Docudharma to open a discussion on other issues and where candidates stand on them.

I’d like folks who know of a candidate’s actions with regard to animals to put the candidate’s last name first in their subject, then ” — good” or ” — bad” next to the name, and have the content of the comment itself contain any good, bad, or additional information. I hope to tally this up later and present results. Please don’t get into candidate wars; just post what you can verify and include a link to support your statement.  Please note that this also includes Republican candidates; please follow the same procedure, if you’ve information to add.

Thank you.

I’ve got a question about a book title for folks, and then a request for folks to share their favorite odd or surreal sayings; I’ll cover the book question above the fold, then share an odd line related to the author and a relate a short experience with another “gotcha!” line afterward.

You’ll have full use of the comment section for replies to either or both.

First, the book related question:

There’s a 1958 book by Richard Matheson called “A Stir of Echoes” — it was eventually made into a Kevin Bacon flick, but that’s not important.

I’m interested in determining whether the title was ever a quote from a larger work of literature.

I’ve checked quote databases, but cannot locate it. Yet, I can’t shake the feeling that it was taken from somewhere…anybody know for sure?

Wifey and I had a dilemma — we wanted to get out and have fun, but didn’t want to go into Boston and deal with traffic, parking, headaches and lunatics.

We hit “teh Google” and surfed the Intertubes, and found a comedy club that wasn’t far from our home — it’s in Randolph, MA, inside a Holiday Inn.

Dick’s Beantown Comedy Escape @ the Holiday Inn, inside Zack’s Restaurant.

No problem parking.

We’ve already met comedian John Turco, and also on the bill tonight are Greg Howell and Kris Norton.

Originally posted over on ePluribus Media.

The story by Mike Corder of the Associated Press over on My Way (via TruthOut) began simply enough:

The Hague, Netherlands – The war crimes trial of Charles Taylor, Liberia’s former president, heard its first testimony Monday and saw video of victims telling of being sexually assaulted or dismembered by rebels who plundered West African diamond fields.

[Emphasis mine.]

That one sentence got me thinking, particularly when I saw the term sexually assaulted.

Not to play down the other horrors like amputation that the victims underwent, but — sexual assaults mentioned in the same sentence as “war crimes trial” caught my attention.

Originally posted to ePluribus Media as “Rock Solid” is the new “Slam Dunk” — Israel, Bush and Iran.

Just a reminder:

About two weeks before deciding to invade Iraq, President Bush was told by CIA Director George Tenet there was a “slam dunk case” that dictator Saddam Hussein had unconventional weapons, according to a new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward.

     — From CNN

[Emphasis mine.]

Now back to the present, where we find this:

First posted tonight over on ePluribus Media. If you have any information that could help locate Edna, or give police more information that would be helpful, please share it in the comments over on ePluribus Media in order to keep everything together.

A story by Kathy Matheson in today’s edition of the Boston Herald caught my attention today: Teen faces extort rap over mutt. (Available online here.)

Edna, a ten-year-old beagle mix belonging to Bill Whiting of Philadelphia, PA, vanished during a Halloween walk. Whiting received a late-night phone call from kids demanding $600 for the safe return of the dog. A dog collar was jangled over the line, and in the background a dog yelped. Whiting didn’t recognize the yelp, but the jangle of the collar sounded familiar.

This is a partial crosspost from the ePluribus Media article The Devil Quotes Scripture: The GOP’s Damning Hypocrisy.

“Gaeity” is a term denoting joyful exuberance or merriment, but in the hands of today’s Republican party, I would not be surprised to find it reinterpreted to a bastion of misleading and negative connotations almost as confusing as the definition and use of the word  gay.  The “Party of Moral clarity” has demonized the use of any word, term or action that could even hint at homosexuality in order to key into the knee-jerk prejudice of millions of “Christian” voters everywhere.  (Note that I put quotes around “Christian” — I can’t duly insult those who actually practice the teachings attributed to Christ, when I’m only targeting those who simply claim to.) …

Grieving is hard. Writing is cathartic.

At least, it is for us.

I just posted a piece called “As I Lay Dying…” — A Farewell to Mumsie on both ePluribus Media and DailyKos, the two spots on the vast Intertube network where she was known the best.

It was a stream-of-consciousness piece that Wifey and I both shared in the creation of, started as I sat vigil by Mumsie’s side in the nursing home and completed, for the most part, last night as Wifey and I quietly passed the small pocket computer between us at our local watering hole.

Please go leave a comment in one or both places for Wifey, and if you “knew” Mumsie through any of our writings please feel free to post a note for her as well.

There comes a time where the echoes of history begin to take on a most alarming toll, like the sounding of a gong announcing the approach of an ominous new enemy just like a previously-defeated old foe.

This is that time. Put on your tinfoil hat for a trip down memory lane, and follow me…

Crossposted from ePluribus Media 2.0, because one can never have enough foil and recycling is good for you. Also available in orange.