best to keep quiet and hope for the best...

From: Ronna Detrick

“An Idaho man was arrested last Saturday for strangling his own dog to death at the Daniels Parkway rest stop along I-75 in Fort Myers.
     Witnesses say a dog leaped out of a van driven by 54-year-old Larry Ellis Peterson and attacked a Yorkie on a leash. Peterson got out of his and kicked his dog and managed to get it away from the Yorkie.
     The owner of the Yorkie had left the scene to take her pet to a vet to get its wounds treated. A Lee County Sheriff's deputy arrived to find Peterson's dog dead.
     One witness said Peterson had asked him for a knife to cut the dog's head off. When that witness refused to help he and another witness said that Peterson then choked the dog to death.
     […] Peterson was charged with one count of cruelty to animals causing death or serious injury.”
— Fox4
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“I will say that the ‘if you can talk, you can breathe’ talking point is an instant invalidator of the speaker, and something that continually makes me need to stifle the personal urge to punch the speaker in the throat. Yes, yes—the victim in such a scenario is attempting to convey that while they can indeed currently breathe, they are not necessarily confident that they will be able to keep said breathing up much longer.
     I suppose the more proper expression would to say something like:
‘Hello, persons surrounding me, I am getting fuzzy-headed due to lack of oxygen and my vision is blurring and I feel like I am going to pass out, I require immediate assistance because I cannot go on describing these various symptoms much longer.’
    Instead the person—say, an asthma or stranglehold victim—shortens it to something like a gasping three-word ‘I can't breathe’ and expects/hopes the people surrounding him will comprehend what he or she meant by that, naturally assuming he or she is not surrounded by complete fucking idiots.”
— Hunter, Daily Koss
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“The state of New York is often associated with its most famous city. As much of a large metropolis as New York City is, the state has numerous, large rural areas. All New Yorkers are subject to the same animal cruelty laws whether inside the city or out. When these laws are broken they result in fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 and possible prison time up to 18 months. The severity of the crime and the number of offenses dictates the punishment.”
— eHow
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the best form of flattery

"The Tennessee Senate just days ago passed their alternative to the much lampooned 'Don’t Say Gay' bill that would classify holding hands as a 'gateway sexual activity' in their new 'family life education curriculum.' The bill also includes specific provisions that allow parents to sue teachers if they deviate from the specified curriculum.
     For the past few years Tennessee has been the subject of nationwide ire for its attempts to pass an infamous 'Don’t Say Gay' bill, that would have prohibited the mentioning of anything about homosexuality by teachers or students. In a new family life instructions bill, holding hands and kissing could be considered gateways to sex. [...]"
— David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
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"The rules, which apply to all public places, include a ban on all forms of nudity, playing music loudly and dancing, exchange of kisses between men and women -- and even on unmarried couples holding hands. Any breach of the guidelines, by nationals or expatriates, carries a possible prison penalty, the paper said."
— Topix
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"So not only is hand-holding a gateway to sexytimes, but the Tennessee State Senate, having exhausted all other possible things to give a damn about in their state, is making darn sure that your teacher can't demonstrate hand-holding in the classroom, while saying 'see? Don't do this.' Also out: winking, wearing short sleeves, any shoes not issued by the U.S. Army, and giving other children those horrible, chalky Valentine's Day candies with vapid little sayings on them. I don't know how many of our nation's children have gotten laid as a result of exchanging those wretched, inedible things, but that's not a risk good conservative Republicans can be taking anymore."
— Hunter, Daily Kos
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"[...] anything that propagates sex and is full of music, wine, lobster, nail polish, firecrackers, statues, sewing catalogs [...]"

"Obviously, Gotto and Johnson don't remember what it's like to be teenagers, because just about anything at that age feels like sexual contact. Hell, reading this legislation and remembering how fucking hot Tim Boblitt looked in his football uniform, I'm not sure it'd be legal for teachers to encourage young straight women to go to football games. The definition of gateway sexual activity is so vague it's hard to tell if we can even allow young people to sit together on school buses. What if their thighs touch? Their hands brush together? Their heads bonk into each other as they cross railroad tracks?"
— Betsy Phillips, Nashville Scene
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"In their ideal world, women are covered from head to toe, only learn how to cook and clean to take care of their husbands, and rarely venture outside the home. [...]
     'These people want to destroy society and the best way of doing that is by destroying education,' said Nur Waheed, holding the hand of his four-year-old granddaughter outside a butcher’s shop."
— Reuters (via The Express Tribune)
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"One Taliban list of prohibitions included: pork, pig, pig oil, anything made from human hair, satellite dishes, cinematography, and equipment that produces the joy of music, pool tables, chess, masks, alcohol, tapes, computers, VCRs, television, anything that propagates sex and is full of music, wine, lobster, nail polish, firecrackers, statues, sewing catalogs, pictures, Christmas cards. They also got rid of employment, education, and sports for all women, dancing, clapping during sports events, kite flying, and characterizations of living things, no matter if they were drawings, paintings, photographs, stuffed animals, or dolls. Men had to have a fist size beard at the bottom of their chin. Conversely, they had to wear their head hair short. Men had to wear a head covering."
— Wikipedia
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