Busybody neighbors

When we travel, we leave Baxter the Wonder Dog with a retired couple who live in another suburb and have their own dog. It is no doubt a source of some small income to them though given that they live in an upper-middle class area, I doubt that they really need the money. They will take up to one or two extra dogs at a time but most of the time Baxter has been their only guest. We like keeping Baxter in a home rather than a more impersonal kennel because he has the run of the house, gets walks and treats, and can play with their own dog.
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Uh-oh

Today is Thanksgiving day in the US. It is a holiday that has problematic roots in history and now has become associated with the kick-off to an orgy of shopping. But despite all that baggage it is a nice holiday that celebrates wholesome virtues such as getting together with family and friends and we will spend it with some old and dear friends as we always do.
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Noam Chomsky on the current state of US politics

Abby Martin of Telesur interviews him on the current state of politics. As usual, he paints an accurate picture, that the spectrum of political opinion has become so skewed that it only ranges from the center to the extreme right and that the current Republican party is off the spectrum and that what we have is a plutocracy with democratic forms, with the actual wishes of the public largely ignored.
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The whitewashing of the bombing of the MSF hospital in Kunduz resumes

The US military has ‘investigated’ itself about the attack on the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz that killed 30 people. The US commander in Afghanistan spoke at a press briefing today with the expected language, saying that ‘mistakes were made, equipment failed, and we will fix them’, so let’s forget about this and move on.
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Is homeopathy harmless?

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a statistician and risk analyst. He recently sent out a tweet that defended homeopathy as being harmless and even beneficial since after all people were only taking a placebo and that it may prevent them from over-treatment of marginal symptoms. He followed up with another tweet saying that “Superstitions can be rational if 1) harmless, 2) lower your anxiety, 3) prevent you from listening to forecast by economists & BS “experts””
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