Daily Blend: Tuesday, September 14, 2010

D.C. Officer Fike holding down Parrot the dog (before killing him) [source: The Washington Post]

• A truly fitting 9/11 memoriam post from Phil Plait.

• Doggycide: Whom to believe? D.C. officer Fike, who says he shot a pitbull as it turned aggressive, or owner Aaron Block, who says his Shar-Pei mix was brutalized and never showed any signs of aggressiveness? Interestingly, both accounts have eyewitness support.

• Doggycide, take(s) 2 & 3.

• Natural gas companies in Michigan refuse to disclose the nature of potentially dangerous chemicals they use to fracture rocks to the EPA, claiming it’s proprietary information. Let’s get one thing clear: Nothing that can, and most likely does, affect common water supplies should ever be considered private information.
  (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

• Wingnuts still can’t stop playing “six degrees of separation” with Park51 in court.

• FBI arrest would-be Christian terrorist who planned to blow up a North Carolina abortion clinic. The only difference between our terrorists vs. Islamist extremists: theirs wear turbans, ours wear crucifixes.
  (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

• This sounds like an awesome prison.

• U.S. Military researchers have developed a robot capable of lying. Two reactions: A) That’s pretty cool. B) What is it with humans and always using technology in the wrong way?
  (via The Daily Grail)

• Q&A with David Attenborough and Richard Dawkins. Or, (intellectual) Dance of the (scientific) Stars.
  (via The Daily Grail)

• Tragic report on a U.S. soldier who killed herself when forced to take part in torture of prisoners.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Daily Caller: Sexism and victim-blaming, all in one.

• Just give it up, Prop 8 supporters. You lost. Cry and move on already.
  (via Right Wing Watch)

• Andrew Breitbart attacks media for “false portrayal” of Tea Partiers as racists – in a rally filled with racist signs.

• Shocker of the day: Senate Republicans continue to reveal they don’t give a shit about serious policy-making, promise to block Obama’s plan to (slightly) raise taxes for the obscenely rich.

• I’m no fan of Oprah, but watching her cruelly tease her increasingly hysterical audience like this is just plain fun.

• Republicans planning to reject Obama’s new economic plan on grounds that it … um … SQUIRREL!

• Dana Milbank at the Washington Post: Imam Rauf is the one who (intentionally) set off the media circus around Park51 and he’s now “exploiting the controversy” by defending himself.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: 9-11 • Phil Plait • Bad Astronomer • dogs • Mike Holding • cops • police • Aaron Block • natural gas • hydraulic fracturing • hydrofracking • Michigan • EPA • wingnuts • six degrees of separation • Larry Klayman • Park51 • Ground Zero Mosque • Christian terrorists • abortion clinics • Justin Carl Moose • extremists • prisons • San Pedro Prison • robots • lying • David Attenborough • Richard Dawkins • Alyssa Peterson • Daily Caller • Proposition 8 • Prop 8 • same-sex marriage • gay marriage • California • Andrew Breitbart • Tea Party • Tea Partiers • teabaggers • racism • Republicans • GOP • Oprah Winfrey • Dana Milbank • The Washington Post • Feisal Abdul Rauf • Imam Rauf