This dog run is named in honor of PAPD K-9 Sirius #17. He was a four year old yellow Labrador Retriever who served as an explosives detector canine for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department. Sirius, along with his partner, Police Officer David Lim, were assigned to the World Trade Center in New York, where their primary duty was to check vehicles entering the Complex, clear unattended bags and sweep areas for VIP safety. Sirius, who began work at the World Trade Center on July 4, 2000, was the only police dog to perish during the Sept. 11 attack on the Twin Towers – he died when Tower Two collapsed. His body was recovered on January 22, 2002. Sirius was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross at the British Embassy in Manhattan.
Click here to view hundreds of past and current Hurricane Katrina (and other natural-and/or-man-made-disasters-for-non-human-animals) alerts.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Aug 29, 2007 1:19 PM
Subject: When 2 Years Equal A Lifetime, AUGUST 2005-2007
Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Relief
Permission to crosspost as written
PHOTO: Kinship Circle member Tim Gorski on the water in New Orleans with the Winn Dixie rescue effort in 9/05.
9/13/05, Excerpt From Early Kinship Circle Alert: In our search for Spike (the little Yorkie) we’ve learned about volunteers on the water who could save Spike and others — but they desperately need more boats!
The Jefferson Pet Feed & Garden Center is serving as a drop site for boats and has a triage center with a veterinarian. Please, if you can bring down boats — or know someone who can — call: Jefferson Pet Feed & Garden Center: 504-733-8572 (This number, like all in the area, may be hard to reach. Do not give up. They are there!)
Lyrics here and here, respectively. Neither of these songs are animal rights treatise per se, but given that 1) they were performed live in service of Farm Sanctuary; 2) singer John Darnielle is a longtime vegetarian; and 3) some of their other songs do have animal-friendly overtones, I’ll loosen the standards here. Plus, that terror song totally reminded me of this terra-ific PSA from the DHS, spotted on CNN this very morning. (Which, interestingly enough, is actually from 2004…and still running in 2007. Trying to shore up scare up support for the Freedom Fighters Republicans in 2008, are ya?)
…and the early battle scenes in Qatar? In poor taste, to say the least. Watching American soldiers and Middle Easterners being blown to smithereens isn’t so much entertaining as it is depressing.
Also depressing was this statement, part of Optimus Prime’s endless moralizing: “All sentient beings deserve freedom”. (Or perhaps it was more along the lines of “All sentient being deserve the right to live”…I forget now.) Really?All sentient beings? Because, like, “sentient” isn’t codeword for “human+”.
Sentience refers to utilization of sensory organs, the ability to feel or perceive subjectively, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. The possession of sapience is not a necessity. The word sentient is often confused with the word sapient, which can connote knowledge, consciousness, or apperception.
Sadly, and despite the obvious implications of such an animal-friendly statement, Transformers was hardly a pro-AR movie. On the contrary; one of Optimus Prime’s cronies (you know, the “good” “guys”) wanted to kill a dog (which he* saw as evidence of a “rodent infestation”) for pissing on his foot. Uh, yeah, maybe y’all should modify that statement to “All sapient beings…” I hate to break it to the screenwriters, but dogs are sentient, you dumbasses.
The effects were pretty cool, though.
* Though Shane doth protest, the Transformers are all clearly uber-masculine entities. Androgynous they aint.
Wow. I managed to keep this thing going for two whole weeks before I sputtered out. Now I’m 2 for 5, having spent one more Friday procrastinating than I have vlogging. Ah well.
Here’s a punk rawk 3fer straight off of PETA’s Liberation album*, then I’m off to do some packing. Happy Friday, y’all.
First up, Goldfinger singing Fuck Ted Nugent. Live. So forgive the poor quality, is what I’m saying. And try to ignore the sexist slurs about J. Lo. She’s something bad for wearing fur, but a “twat” it ain’t.
Next we have Bring Out Your Dead, via Anti-Flag. Maybe it’s just the times, but it sounds like an AETA protest to these ears.
“Stephen suggests that by eating endangered animals we can prevent their extinction.”
Amazingly, antis use this same argument to defend their meals of BBQ and fried chicken. Because, like, if no one cared enough to eat cows and chicks, they’d go extinct. So it’s really a philanthropic vs. a convenience thing. Seriously. You cannot make this shit up.
This week’s pick was inspired by a recent post on Pandagon, wherein “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” was chosen as one of the three worst Beatles songs penned by John Lennon, My Retro Boyfriend ™. Naturally, I disagree. Wholeheartedly.
According to the song’s Wiki entry (everything has a Wiki entry nowadays, don’t it?),
This song mocks the actions of a young American named Richard A. Cooke III, known as Rik [sic] who was visiting his mother, Nancy Cooke de Herrera, at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh at the same time that the Beatles were staying with the Maharishi. […] According to Nancy’s life account, Beyond Gurus, the genesis of the song occurred when she, Rik, and several others, including native guides, set out upon elephants to hunt for a tiger (allegedly presented by their Indian guide as a traditional act). The pack of elephants was attacked by a tiger, which was shot by Rik. Rik was initially proud of his quick reaction and posed for a photograph with his prize. However, Rik’s reaction to the slaying was mixed, as he has not hunted since. Nancy claims that all present recognised the necessity of Rik’s action, but that John Lennon’s reaction was scornful and sarcastic, asking Rik: “But wouldn’t you call that slightly life-destructive?” The song was written by Lennon as mocking what he saw as Rik’s bravado and unenlightened attitude.
Lennon later told his version of the story in a Playboy interview, st
