D E C E P T O L O G Y: The barbequed roadkill prank

This item from the Deceptology blog:

D E C E P T O L O G Y: The barbequed roadkill prank

Tarotize: A Dolphin Abundance Blessing Reading

Lisa Lloyd shares a lovely reading and spread using a multi-deck approach concerning a dream vision/visitation from Dolphin. Tarotize: A Dolphin Abundance Blessing Reading.

As Lisa writes at her blog; "Is the thought of connecting psychically with dolphins too woo-woo for you? Then stop reading right now!

I would have laughed at the idea myself not long ago if it weren't for a dream I had of dancing with dolphins."




One of the decks used in her spread is Doreen Virtue's Magical Mermaids and Dolphins deck, which I have and absolutely love.

Hunters Shoot Drone Out Of Sky: “Octocopter” Was Owned By Animal Rights Group | _

Hunters Shoot Drone Out Of Sky: “Octocopter” Was Owned By Animal Rights Group:

Police are investigating an incident at a Berks County hunting club in which someone on the hunting grounds allegedly targeted a mechanical flying object rather than a living and breathing one.

SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) are in the midst of a campaign against the Wing Pointe commercial hunting grounds in Hamburg, Berks County and its live pigeon shoots in which the birds are shot down. SHARK began to use an “Octocopter,” a remote controlled flying machine with a high tech video camera, to secretly record the pigeon shoots as they happen.

Driving America’s 85-mph toll road before the fun gets old

On one section of a Texas highway, you can drive 85 miles an hour. I like that idea. I'm not sure I'd actually want that reality, but the idea of going 85 -- legally -- is a pleasant one, even if a daydream. But there are risks (duh), including feral hogs, which cause huge problems for citizens of Texas, not to mention the hogs as well:

Driving America’s 85-mph toll road before the fun gets old | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos: There've already been quite a few accidents, four on opening night, in fact, including one car completely totaled. That's because Texas built the 130 in prime feral hog territory. This forced them to put up large digital signs, at 10-mile intervals, reading "WILDLIFE CROSSING." That's all fine and good, but the problem is that wildlife can't read. Just outside Lockhart, I had to swerve fast and violently to avoid a freshly eviscerated coyote carcass. This is going to be a disgusting massacre without end.

How deeply ironic, then, that I pulled off TX 130 on my way home to take a five-minute jog into Lockhart, the barbecue capital of America, and bought a two-pound slab of pork ribs at Smitty's to bring home. What was once a half-day family trip has suddenly become an errand far less time-consuming than a visit to IKEA.

Animals Are Moral Creatures, Scientist Argues

As usual, there's the skeptic side of this issue where humans are elevated in all ways; non-humans are incapable of emotions or "morals." That belief allows some to mistreat animals, whether it's outright abuse, or exploitation for "entertainment."

Animals Are Moral Creatures, Scientist Argues - Yahoo! News: In the case of the child-rescuing gorilla Binti Jua, for instance, "what sort of instinct is involved there? Do gorillas have an instinct to help unconscious boys in enclosures?" he said.

And even if instinct is involved, human parents have an instinctive desire to help their children, but that makes the desire no less moral, he said.

Being able to reason about morality isn't required to have a moral compass, he added. A 3-year-old child, for instance, may not consciously articulate a system of right and wrong, but will (hopefully) still feel guilty for stealing his playmate's toy. (Scientists continue to debate whether or not babies have moral compasses.)

If one accepts that animals have moral compasses, Rowlands argues, we have the responsibility to treat them with respect, Rowlands said.

"If the animal is capable of acting morally, I don't think it's problematic to be friends with your pets," he said. "If you have a cat or a dog and you make it do tricks, I am not sure that's respect. If you insist on dressing them up, I'm not sure I'm onboard with that either."

'Giant Caterpillar Outside Manchester, 1850!' Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog

(Thanks to Anomalist for link) This is the kind of animal story that warms the Fortean's heart: Giant Caterpillar Outside Manchester, 1850!  Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog

Octopus as Art: Stop Issuing One-Day Hunting Licenses!

I saw this story a few days ago but didn't want to deal with it. Sometimes the greed and arrogance, as well as cruelty of humans just does me in. In this case, Dylan Mayer of Washington state and an over-blown sense of personal entitlement, tortured an octopus.

Mayer got himself a one day license to "hunt" an octopus. He did this in a protected marine area. He tricked the octopus by making noise in order to lure it from its home, then, according to witnesses, punched the still living octopus repeatedly after he hauled it onto his truck. Mayer said he wanted the octopus not just for its meat, but "to draw it for this art project."

Even if the octopus was hunted for food, as in hunting because one needs to survive, the gratuitous nature of the act is unjustified. If you need to hunt, then kill quickly and cleanly, and with gratitude.

A very sad story. So click on the link below and sign the petition. And call out this ass clown Mayer.
Stop Issuing One-Day Hunting Licenses! - The Petition Site

Yahoo Slide Show: "Cute and Different" Pets

I hate to see things like this. Promoted as a cute and fluffy human interest story, Yahoo shows slides of people and their "unusual" pets.

First up is a three year old hugging his pet python. There's a "pet" bear, and baby lions, among other kinds of animals.

These animals are the "pets" of owners all over the world, not just the U.S.

Unusual pets | Photo Gallery - Yahoo! News

Coyote or Wolf? Missouri Hunter Shoots 80-Pound Mystery Animal | Field & Stream

Another sad incident of an all too damn proud of himself hunter grinning gratuitously over his kill. Coyote or Wolf? Missouri Hunter Shoots 80-Pound Mystery Animal | Field & Stream

Lesley Gunter: Encounters with Mystery Animals

Lesley writes about mystery animals in New Mexico for her OctoberGrey Matters column at Binnall of America.
Referring to David Paulides book Missing 411, which had just arrived, Lesley writes:

Had I got the book during a different time of year, I might not have even noticed, but it is September as I write this and, during the first part of September, we had two unusual experiences when we took the dog for her nightly walk. There have also been reports of odd encounters in the mountains nearby. Now, whether any of these things have anything to do with the Missing 411 of the book, I couldn't say.

Our first experience at the very beginning of Sept when we were taking Pooka (the dog) for her walk and decided to take the short way back home. The short way is a road that runs right in front of our next door neighbor and our house. On the other side is nothing but open land running through the middle and then a road and houses on the other side, which is the road we started on that loops back around. On the far side of my next door neighbors' house, there is also some open land. As we passed by that, we could hear something clawing at the ground and grunting and growling. I have a really bright flashlight which I shined all over the area, but saw nothing. The only thing I could think of was that it might be was a bear. Coyotes are always around and I have never known them to act that way and it didn't seem like something a feline would do, nor did it sound like a cat. We walked home very quickly. I walked backwards, shining my flashlight behind us most to the way to make sure nothing was following or coming after us.

Talking Elephants

Amazing, beautiful but not surprising. I've always believed that elephants were the dolphins of land; highly intelligent and emotional beings. Stories like this remind us of how little we really know, and understand, about animals, and our relationship with each other. Say hello to the talking elephant... but if you want a chat, you'll have to learn Korean | Mail Online

Hurricane Sandy probably wiped out New York's rats despite warnings of the rodent apocalypse, say experts | Mail Online

Hurricane Sandy probably wiped out New York's rats despite warnings of the rodent apocalypse, say experts | Mail Online

'Mass. lobsterman finds Halloween-themed catch'

Seems too good to be true; such a Fortean catch! Mass. lobsterman finds Halloween-themed catch - CBS News As usual, the fate of unusually colored lobsters is a strange one. Saved from the boiling pot, the orange and black lobster "will either be on exhibit in one of the aquarium's habitat tanks or used for live animal presentations..."

CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track

CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track is one of the best Fortean creature blogs around. So no particular post to highlight, just passing along the link. Have fun reading all the great posts over there!

poorrichard's blog: Police armed with sub-machine guns stalk streets hunting for a runaway COW

I saw this story a few days ago but chose not to post about it because I try to stay away from animal cruelty or gratuitous content. But, as "poor richard" writes, it is an over the top reaction by humans to a sad situation. All the more sad since, if it weren't for the desire within so many humans to eat beef, the incident wouldn't have happened in the first place. This story is a reminder that animals are extremely cognizant of the slaughter is going on around them, and, that they themselves are about to endure.

I also suspect that, while on the surface, the police in this story act like Keystone cops, their "over the top" get up and response is intentional. In a gestalt context, it's all about control, show of force, and fear. poorrichard's blog: Police armed with sub-machine guns stalk streets hunting for a runaway COW

'Snake Eating Itself:' This is Bigfoot News How?

Once again, snakes are the topic and Bigfoot Evidence once again posts a video of a snake being tortured, this time, apparently, by itself. (A few weeks ago same blog posted a video of a young boy skinning a snake alive.) The blog feels its germane to...something, to post a video of a snake eating itself. (Or, attempting to do so, don't know if it was successful, since I didn't watch the video.) If it was successful, why didn't the person filming the poor thing help it? If it was successful, whew, but also, yewwww. In other words, what is the point?

'Cat People' Movie Poster Images

1942 Cat People.

 

There was a "mostly unrelated sequel" as it was described by IMDB, in 1944.

I haven't seen the movie, but I love this poster!

Vintage Fortune Telling Emphemera; Animal Images

Enjoy these vintage images of "fortune telling" themes, with animals promoting the wares...

I remember these! And those paper flowers that "grew" from shells once you put them in water :)

binnallofamerica.com

I wrote this in August of 2011 for Tim Binnall's Binnall of America site. I still think these are important points. Trickster's Realm: "Absurd Bits" in Fortean Phenomena

Reading one of my favorite esoteric Fortean authors Colin Bennett right now: Flying Saucers Over the White House; The Inside Story of Captain Edward J. Ruppelt and His Official U.S. Airforce Investigation of UFOs. I'm only just into it, but, as usual when I read Bennett, there is so much rich, juicy and insightful right on stuff it's exhilarating. It's almost too much, one quick brilliant statement after another. One of the numerous gems is the "psychosocial filter" as Bennett calls it concerning UFO (and, I'll add, paranormal events in general) witness experiences:

It is an amusing feature of the Western mind that those people who have had a UFO experience of any kind are judged to be people least worthy of analyzing that experience." [Bennett]

The witness is often treated as an afterthought, or even an embarrassment. And all is lost if the witness has things that clogs up that "psychosocial filter":

The courts of "proper" debate rule out any odd, highly individualized, comic, or ludicrous or absurd elements. Here we see the most tragic-comic emblem of mankind's philosophy: get rid of the nutcases and there will be revealed the shining truth. [Bennett: 39]

From The Frog Bag: Yes, There Really is Such a Thing as a Blobfish

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't explored several sites that tell us yes, there is such a thing: The Frog Bag: Yes, There Really is Such a Thing as a Blobfish, and here.