Speaking of dog smarts...

NY Times: With Dogs, It’s What You Say — and How You Say It

“Both what we say and how we say it matters to dogs,” said Attila Andics, a research fellow at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest.

Dr. Andics, who studies language and behavior in dogs and humans, along with Adam Miklosi and several other colleagues, reported in a paper to be published in this week’s issue of the journal Science that different parts of dogs’ brains respond to the meaning of a word, and to how the word is said, much as human brains do.

Amy, have a tall boyfriend and a bark-y dog.

Thanks -- have both. Boyfriend did not bark this morning but dog did...something creepy with a tail under house, I think.

This case is terrible, and I would bet that LAPD will not land the perps and there's more to this (and more of these cases) than is reported.

I'm so glad not to live near the beach in Venice anymore. It's gotten really dangerous, due largely to meth users.

Techdirt got spanked by a lot of its readers for siding with Gawker, and had to do a follow-up podcast to make amends. (I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but the article tacitly admits that Techdirt got on the wrong side of a lot of its audience.) Basically, the argument went like this:

Techdirt: "What Peter Thiel did was immoral! He shouldn't have been allowed to do that!"

Audience: "What about Gawker? Was what they did moral? Should they have been allowed to do that?"

TD: "But Gawker is protected by the First Amendment!"

A: "So your argument is that what Gawker did should be allowed because it's legal. But what Peter Thiel did was legal too."

TD: "But... Peter Thiel's a Republican!"

A: "So, what liberties a person should be permitted under the law should be determined by what political opinions they hold? Aren't you the same guys who are all for 'net neutrality'?"

TD: "..."