Free Republic

Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Floods. Fires. Some natural disasters can be anticipated. Others can't, but we can prepare for them - and our emergency plans should include our pets. In the wake of large disasters in recent years, even federal, state and local emergency managers have realized the importance of providing information for pet owners and including the welfare of animals in their own plans. Probably one thing that many pet owners don't think about with those plans are the dangers that pets are susceptible to in the hours and days immediately following the destruction from a disaster.

NORFOLK, Virginia, August 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A controversial new porn site by the world’s leading animal rights group could actually feed animal cruelty fetishes, according to one counselor specializing in recovery from porn addiction. Users of PETA’s new site, to be launched this year, will first be presented with pornographic galleries and videos, but shortly after they will be exposed to PETA’s graphic hidden camera investigations of animal mistreatment. “We are working on a XXX site and the content will be graphic — an off-limits video that people won’t expect. This will grab people’s attention and start a discussion...

Opinion L.A. 2012 Campaign: Rick Perry And A Uniquely Anti-Gay GOP Field? August 24, 2011 You might think as much following the revelation by reporter Mark Benjamin that Republican front-runner and Texas Gov. Rick Perry once compared, in writing, homosexuality to alcoholism. Benjamin writes at Time magazine's Swampland blog: Since leaping into the GOP presidential race, Texas Gov. Rick Perry hasn't been asked if he thinks gays are born or made. But in a little-noticed passage in his first book, "On My Honor," a encomium on the Boy Scouts published in 2008, Perry also drew a parallel between homosexuality and...

7-14-2011 SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. announced today that he has signed the following bill: • SB 48 by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) – Pupil instruction: prohibition of discriminatory content.

Dogs, straight and gay, will strut their funky stuff at London’s first gay dog show later this month. Battersea Cats and Dogs home has joined forces with Pride London to find the hottest talent in the canine kingdom to compete to be London’s Pride Pooch 2011. Celebrity judge Julian Barnes from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and BBC Three’s Help! My Dog’s as Fat as Me will be presiding over the finalists and picking the winners at Vauxhall's Fire nightclub on June 30. Victorious dogs will then take centre stage on July 2 at the head of this year’s...

NEW YORK – Hundreds of protesters against the legalization of gay marriage in New York jammed the hallways of the Capitol building Monday as Republican senators privately discussed whether to bring the same-sex marriage issue to a floor vote. Demonstrators opposing gay marriage, including Christian ministers, African-American church members and Tea Party organizers, outnumbered those in support of the controversial bill, which has 31 votes and needs one more vote to pass the New York Senate. The measure was approved by the New York State Assembly last Wednesday, 80 to 63.Republicans have been mulling over same-sex marriage bill in private...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An Alum Creek man has been arrested after neighbors allegedly found him standing over the dead body of a stolen pygmy goat while wearing women's underwear. Mark Lucas Thompson, 19, of Greenview Road was taken into custody early Monday at his home. Deputies had dealt with the man before and believe him to be mentally unstable. Thompson told deputies he had been high on bath salts for the last three days, said Cpl. Sean Snuffer, a detective with the sheriff's office. Deputy J.S. Shackelford was dispatched about 3:15 a.m. Monday to the home on Quebec Drive to...

America’s self-described toughest sheriff has issued a warning to the CEO of Craigslist saying the popular Internet website is providing a “mechanism to facilitate criminal activity.” Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s warning to Jim Buckmaster follows the arrest last month in Arizona by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office detectives of two men — one a middle school teacher and the other a handyman — on charges of conspiracy to commit bestiality. Sheriff Arpaio said an undercover investigation by his office began after detectives became aware that persons in the Phoenix area were using Craigslist to engage in illegal acts with animals. Detectives set...

Here is how Peter Yost of the Associated Press (as dutifully reported by their ally, Newsday), defended Obama’s reversal on the Defense of Marriage Act (the reversal being that the Justice department will no longer defend the act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes. Obama campaigned as an opponent of gay marriage.): Obama’s move may position him politically at the forefront of rising public support for gay marriage. Polling results can vary rather significantly depending on what words are used to describe gay marriage, but there is a gradual trend in public opinion...

Redefine marriage and you'll encourage polygamist agendas. At least that's the view of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), and one I share. According to the ACL, "It's important that the definition of marriage remains the union of a man and a woman" not two men or two women – and certainly not four women and one man. Also, "It's important that marriage is not watered down to include polygamy, such as is being debated in Canada." The uncomfortable truth: In Canada, where marriage was redefined, Muslim fundamentalists and scripture-twisting cults want their versions of "equality" too. Consider: Canadian multiculturalists are...

The trick in this biz is never to be right too early. Kathy Shaidle writes: Remember during the gay ‘marriage’ debate, we were scolded: ‘Nobody’s talking about polygamy, you bigoted hicks’? Why, yes. Yes, I do. Steyn in The Western Standard, September 2004. Headline: It’s Closer Than They Think. The activists roll their eyes and go into "Oh, come off it, you can't be serious" mode. Like the chichi gay couple from New York who've built their dream home in rural Vermont, they don't want any other incomers muscling in. Gay marriage, they assure us, is the merest amendment to...

The trick in this biz is never to be right too early. Kathy Shaidle writes: "Remember during the gay ‘marriage’ debate, we were scolded: ‘Nobody’s talking about polygamy, you bigoted hicks’?" Why, yes. Yes, I do.

A few days ago I complained about positive book reviews for a new book that partially involves explicit depictions of sexual intercourse between a chimpanzee and a woman, with the reviewers either lauding the bestiality or praising it with non damnation. I saw the acceptance of bestiality/literary porn as a disturbing symptom.  Here is part of what I wrote in that post: This is a real storm warming.  Positive and pornographic depictions of bestiality are nothing to smile about or shrug off.  Standing against the normalization or acceptance of bestiality is far more important than having our “sensibilities” offended.  As...

What’s wrong with a prominent professor’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. The story of David Epstein, the Columbia University political scientist and Huffington Post blogger now facing criminal charges of incest, has launched a very interesting discussion. What is fascinating about it, and deeply disturbing, is the inability of some commentators to articulate what is morally wrong about the act of incest. It is almost equally disturbing that a legal argument for a “right” to engage in adult, consensual incest stands on surprisingly firm footing, thanks to precedents the United States Supreme Court has already established in other cases on...

Two Wisconsin men, one of them a twice-convicted sex offender, have denied in court that they used a live snake to rape a woman in a home in Eau Claire. John Bullock, 24, of Altoona, and Damonta Jones, 25, of Eau Claire, pleaded not guilty Monday in Eau Claire County Circuit Court to first-degree sexual assault of the 32-year-old woman. Both men remain jailed in lieu of $30,000 bail.

A YOUNG Toowoomba man yesterday tied the knot with his best friend – a five-year-old labrador. In perhaps a first for the Garden City, Laurel Bank Park hosted the wedding of Joseph Guiso and Honey, a labrador he adopted five years ago. Thirty of the couple’s closest friends and family were in attendance for the emotional ceremony, held at dusk. "You’re my best friend and you make every part of my day better," Mr Guiso’s vows read. The couple decided on the location – and to tie the knot - after stumbling upon a wedding in Laurel Bank Park during...

Last weekend saw the first Capital Pride festival where same-sex couples were free to marry within city limits. That's more than enough reason to celebrate for the potent gay and lesbian activist community, which was able to cap decades of effort with an overwhelming 11-2 vote to legalize gay marriage. Now the question for the city's activists is: Now what? My colleague Tim Craig looked at that question Sunday through the lens of the ongoing mayoral campaign. Here's another question: What would activists' "perfect" city government look like? Handily, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance -- the city's longest-running activist...

Animal sex is not illegal in Sweden, and every year between 200 and 300 pets are injured because of sexual assaults. The estimate was presented by Svenska Veterinärforbundet, the Swedish veterinary organization, and it is now trying to make the authorities and the public more aware of animals’ suffering. The organization claim the problem has increased during the last couple of years, even if most people are unaware of it. “We have seen an increase since 1999 when child pornography became illegal,” said Johan Beck-Friis. “It appears, in other words, as there are some people who have replaced children with...

Decrying as “missionaries of hate” U.S. Christians who preach in Africa against homosexual practice, a former bishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda spoke June 8 at a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.Christopher Senyonjo was hosted by Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop to be consecrated in the Anglican Communion. Robinson has served as Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP) since March. The two spoke about anti-homosexuality legislation in Uganda, which they blamed upon U.S. evangelicals. They also called for a broader effort to decriminalize homosexual practices...

In what may seem more like a Hollywood science-fiction plot, as in the forthcoming movie "Splice," lawmakers are trying to prevent scientists from combining human and animal embryos to make "human-animal hybrids." In "Splice," two scientists defy ethical boundaries and splice together human and animal DNA to create a new organism, also known as a chimera.