Coffee and Provocation

• The Wolf at the Fence
  A wolf-dog hybrid named Chief - once ordered destroyed for aggressive behavior - will become a guard dog at Louisiana's maximum security prison at Angola, where he will be   used to patrol the perimeter of the 18,000-acre prison farm.
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• Foreign Policy Dogs
  Foreign Policy magazine might not be on the top reading shelf of every dog lover, but there is a very nice photo essay in the current issue, on War Dogs of the World by Rebecca Frankel.
   
• With Winter Over, Alaskan Cities Face Tons of Dog Poop
  It's the dog poop that pisses people off, not the moose poop.
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• Pygmies are Short In Order to Fight Jungle Disease
  It turns out that genetically-based immunity that is naturally selected for among jungle-dwelling people living in an area rife with infection, disease and bugs also impacts height.
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• Why "Drill Baby Drill" Means Zero Relief at the Pump
  Domestic American oil production has never been higher, and in fact it is so high that we now have nowhere to put the oil. So why is the price of gasoline not coming down? Simple: the price of oil is set by an international market. as everyone who is honest has said for years. So what part of "a global market" do the Republicans not understand?
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• We Used to Call Them Escorts
  "MissTravel.com" is a dating website for travelers that matches "generous" travelers who hate to travel alone with "attractive" travelers who would love the opportunity to travel the world for free. Notice that the pitch is to attractive women. Older attractive men (with hair, not fat, must know how to dance, must want to, and must be charming) have always been able to travel for free on cruise lines.
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• Why the NRA Is Less Relevant Than Ever
  The Economist magazine note that "The number of firearms in the country continues to rise, but most of these sales are to repeat customers. Over the last three decades the number of households with guns has steadily declined. Changing demographics are blamed. For one, America has become more urban (gun ownership is less common in cities). White males, the gun-loving sector of American society, also make up an increasingly smaller percentage of the population.  What the industry actually needs is more Latino, black and female gun enthusiasts. But the NRA isn't delivering these. The people who turn up to NRA conventions, like the one held this week in St Louis, remain older white men."
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• No more Free Bites for Maryland Pit Bulls:
  Are Pit Bulls inherently dangerous? They are according to the Maryland Court of Appeals which has voided a long-standing “one free bite” rule in the state regard­ing the rights of dog bite vic­tims to receive compensation for their injuries.

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