Oh I used to be disgusted
And now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted,
You know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
But when they told me ’bout their side of the bargain,
That’s when I knew that I could not refuse.
And I won’t get any older, now the angels wanna wear my red shoes.
Red shoes, the angels wanna wear my red shoes.

[NYT: Ratzinger resigns to spend time with family, Apologies to Elvis Costello]

Title: “The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think”

Authors: Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods

Rank: 72

Blurb: “Brian Hare’s stunning discovery is that when dogs domesticated themselves as early as 40,000 years ago they became far more like human infants than their wolf ancestors.”

Review: “I really don’t get ‘cat’ people.”

Customers Also Bought: “12 Piece Total Furniture Repair System”

Footnote: The infantilization of domesticated critters is not a new discovery. That said, cats have managed the transition while maintaining some degree of dignity. Or, depending how you regard it, spite.

The Genius of Dogs [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

“Rice hit a spectator on the sixth hole at Pebble Beach on Thursday after a bad swing went 50 yards into the gallery. The ball smacked the female fan in the forehead, causing what was later called concussion-like symptoms…” [Yahoo, via Political Wire]

Audacious Hack Exposes Bush Family Pix, E-Mail [Smoking Gun]

Our guest columnists are pissed that a Karl Rove minion critcized a William Buckley nepotite.

We, the free men and women of this great nation, affirm everyone’s natural right to speak their mind, but we cannot and will not abide the unjust, personal broadside your aide Jonathan Collegio leveled against a man whose family has dedicated itself to advancing the cause of liberty for over half a century.

This morning Mr. Collegio attacked [conservative Media Research Center founder] L. Brent Bozell, III and labeled him as a “hater” twice in an interview. His attack was not grounded in reason or principle; its justification was nothing more than disagreement with your newly formed organization.

Mr. Bozell is what we call in our movement a “legacy.” He has devoted his life to the cause of American conservatism as did his father, Brent Bozell II, who wrote “Conscience of a Conservative” for Barry Goldwater.

Maybe you’ve heard of Brent’s uncle, Bill Buckley, whose words you misquote and twist as the basis for your organization enough to falsely suggest you know something about him.

Read more »

Origins of 8 of the Strangest Place Names in Canada [Mental Floss, via The Loop]

“Coeur d’Alene Sen. John Goedde, chairman of the Idaho Senate’s Education Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday to require every Idaho high school student to read Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and pass a test on it to graduate from high school.” [Spokesman-Review, via Political Wire]