folo

All right, this is pretty sappy, but if you don’t like sappy, you probably bypass Saddy Animals already, so no harm no foul. MSPolitical sent in Jasmine and her story:

In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog. It had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished and clearly had been abused.

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing haven for animals abandoned, orphaned, or otherwise in need.

Geoff Grewcock and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims: to restore the dog to full health and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved.

They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home. The dog had other ideas. No one remembers now how it began, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn’t matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or a rhinoceros, Jasmine would peer into the box or cage and, where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.

Geoff Grewcock relates one of the early incidents. “We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when they arrived at the centre and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them.”

“But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits. She takes all the stress out of them and it helps them to not only feel close to her but to settle into their new surroundings.

“She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose.”

Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary’s resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.

And one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, 11 weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into the full foster mum role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the roe deer with affection and makes sure nothing is matted in her fur.

“They are inseparable,” says Geoff Grewcock. “Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary. It’s a real treat to see them.”

Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.

From left, Toby, a stray Lakeland dog; Bramble, an orphaned Roe deer; Buster, a stray Jack Russell; a dumped rabbit; Sky, an injured barn owl; and Jasmine, doing what she does best.

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Colin Hawkins/Getty Images

Our Saddy Animals cover-pup may be a Border collie or perhaps a Bernese Mountain Dog, but in any case, he or she is advertising a contest that I propose NMC’s English setter Hank should enter.

You see, the ancient and venerable British dog show Crufts is going on right now. But due to a dispute between the BBC and the Kennel Club, this year’s Crufts ain’t on the telly. But never fear, The Guardian has stepped into the breach:

So today, in an attempt to satisfy your dog show yearnings, The Guardian launches Grufts, the search for the World’s Leading Liberal Dog. There’ll be no kerfuffle over in-breeding, no snooty concerns over pedigree, for this will be the people’s dog, and all hounds are welcome.

Like any good dog show, we’ve divided the contest into six categories – click on the link for an example of what we’re looking for:

(1) Most Stylish
(2) Most Talented
(3) Most Loveable
(4) Most Heroic
(5) Best Lookalike (your hound can bear an uncanny resemblance to yourself, a famous dog or, indeed, a celebrity)
(6) Best-travelled (your picture, Photoshopped or otherwise, should show your dog in an exotic location)

Naturally, bonus points will be awarded for any hound pictured reading (we use the term loosely) the Guardian, browsing guardian.co.uk, or engaging in any Guardian-approved activities (taking out the recycling, perhaps).

We’ve set up a Flickr group where you can post your entries. And should you wish to film your dog, you can post video links below this very article. On Monday morning we shall announce the shortlist of dogs vying for the Grufts title on guardian.co.uk. We will then open it up to a public vote, and the Best in Show will be announced in the afternoon. Good luck pups, one and all!

Though I bet Hank could make things very ruff on all those Blighty-bred pooches, I don’t see why other foloers shouldn’t make a play for it too. Somebody’s Mississippi accent and fine manners might just bowl those judges over.

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Kingfish at Jackson Jambalaya is thoroughly covering the car crash involving Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Irby in which Drs. Daniel Pogue and Lisa Dedousis were killed. Today, he writes about the Jackson Police Department’s dissembling about the toxicology reports (quoting news reports contrasting statements from the JPD and the state crime lab), and then describes the Irbys’ political contributions over the years.

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With apologies to y’all on dial-up, sailor sent this in, and how was I to resist? In some Southern town, the Catholics and Presbyterians have this across-the-street theological war going on, ya see. To my mind, the Catholics have a better sense of humor and spelling, and the Presbyterians have a tighter ass, but your mileage may vary . . .

So . . . based on his Krewe of Barkus party-hardiness, my guess is that Gordon here (also h/t sailor) is no Presbyterian.

aerohde in the Times-Picayune

May he and youse have a rawkin’-good weekend!

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Although I’m not right sure that the squirrel-smoocher near the end of this first one (turn up your speakers) is an any-footed. Nor exactly a smoocher. What is that — a giraffe or a boa constrictor? Friendly or hungry? Anyhow, being this is both Saddy and St. Valentine’s Day, today we got romancin’ Animals.

How ’bout these courters-and-sparkers, Tate and Shama?

Mehgan Murphy – Smithsonian Institution

Know what they are? Got a guess?

Honey, them’s red pandas (even if they do look more like mutt-pups than bears). They’ve just met at the National Zoo and fallen deeply in l-u-v.

Next, here’s Henry the Tuatara:

AP

He’s 111 years old and just now, at longest last, a daddy. (No truth to the rumor that Pfizer’s trying to sign him for a Viagra commercial.)

Finally, what OWIL and I know and love as the Daffiest Species in the World.

Happy Valentine’s Day, however many feet you do or don’t got.

P.S. Oh — to our GOPer dears, as lagniappe just for today, Juanita Jean lends her glitter:

Heeheeheehee . . . . . ………

UPDATE: Even a day late, you don’t want to miss this WiredScience post that ducky found — I mean, where else can we catch flatworms’ penis-jousts, hah?

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On Monday we heard that in Gulfport “it’s been all over town” that Mayor Brett Warr met with his department heads over the weekend. Now Anita Lee confirms the main rumor: on Friday Thursday, Republican Warr and his wife Laura

TIM ISBELL / THE SUN HERALD

were indicted by a federal grand jury on 16 counts of fraud (11-page pdf). The indictment alleges that the Warrs sought and received a grant for replacing a residence in which they weren’t living pre-Katrina.

Passed-along courthouse gossip has it that Warr refused a plea deal including fines and probation but no prison if he would resign.

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The Old Main at Mississippi State in its day was the largest college dormitory in the United States, and is a large part of the memory of male students who went to school there before 1959– it’s estimated that through its history, about 40,000 stayed there, including John Stennis and Congressman Sonny Montgomery.  The dorm was started in 1880 as the first dorm residence there and added onto through 1922.  It established one side of the parade ground at the center of Mississippi State.

On January 22, 1959, it burned to the ground (with the loss of one life).  Over a thousand students resided there at the time of the fire.   Sid Salter remembers the Old Main and fire here. There is going to be a memorial program about the event Thursday night at 7:00 in Starkville, with video of the fire and descriptions of the event by eyewitnesses.

The fire itself was started by a student, who was thought to  have set a curtain on fire from candles, and there are apparently some mysteries remaining to this day about the fire.

Update

There’s information about the commemoration at Mississippi State here.

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As regulars know, the federal prosecutors asked to move Joey Langston’s report date later than mid-January because they needed his continued assistance in their investigation.  Judge Mills agreed to delay it, but is (I think) keeping everyone in a relatively short time-frame, moving the report date from January 15th to March 16th.

Here’s the order.

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The Mississippi Supreme Court has a handful of decision lists out since the new members have joined the court, and a number of opinions in these lists are split decisions that  might provide some clues about the impact of the change in court personnel (we have three new justices) at the reading-the-runes level of court watching.  What we have here is enough evidence to start us scratching our heads, but too small a sample to draw conclusions.  This also may just be an artifact about how quickly various judges write.  But it’s what we have so far to go on.

I’ve already written about one split decision, arguing that Justices Dickinson and Kitchens got it right in their dissents (where they were joined by Justice Graves) in the Solomon Osborne case.  Here’s a story in the Greenwood Commonwealth about the Osborne case, which also notes:

The state Supreme Court is still considering another recommendation, based on an unrelated case, that Osborne be banned for life from the bench. That case involves a then 17-year-old Greenwood female whom Osborne ordered detained n a move the commission claims was the result of “improper, illegal and inappropriate” acts.

There are three more cases with slit opinions.  I’m not counting a zoning decision written by Justice Randolph to which Justice Graves dissented without written opinion– without an opinion from him one can’t tell anything about why Justice Graves dissented.

Details about all this below the fold.

(more…)

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• Melton gets to prove he knew the house was a crack house. Recall that Mayor Melton is being tried for a civil rights violation in tearing down a house in Jackson.  In the federal civil rights trial in Jackson, the judge has ruled that Melton can put on limited evidence about what he knew about it being a crack house.  Oh, and they can’t do what I’ve just done and call it a crack house.  Here’s the ruling.   The Clarion-Ledger accurately described the ruling:  “Jordan agreed with Reeves that closing the door to all drug evidence ‘would deprive the jury of necessary context.’ But Jordan limited such evidence to only what drug activity Melton and Recio knew at the time of the raid regarding that specific address.  ‘Historical evidence’ about the property or evidence, generally about drug-related crime in the neighborhood or the city of Jackson, ‘could inflame passions about crime or mislead the jury into concluding that the ends justified the means and therefore Defendants should be acquitted even if the Government proves its case,’ [Judge] Jordan wrote.  Jordan said Melton could introduce such evidence by testifying personally to what he knew about the house the night of the raid, or other people could testify as to what they told the mayor.”  There are sealed motions on the docket by the feds to keep out evidence of statements and misconduct by their police witness.  Presumably the motions are sealed because they have details in them.
• Coach Kennedy sues the cabbie and valet.  In the Cincinnati controversy, Coach Kennedy has sued the cab driver and the cab driver’s witness for defamation, according to the Clarion Ledger, which has a long description of Kennedy’s view of what happened.  That account is consistent with what has been written in comments here on Folo.
• Emerging questions in the death of Billey Joe Johnson, Jr. The Sun-Hearald says “the mystery deepens.”
• Ho, ho ho, Merry Christmas. The Daily Journal has a story, focused on Oxford and then Starkville and with no real surprises, about the “college town holiday tradition” of small epidemics apartment burglaries once the students go home for the holidays.
• Dog Bites Man story in Clarion-Ledger. The C/L briefly describes yet another government report “rip[ping] FEMA” for its incompetence in responding to Katrina, this report issuing from the Government Accountability Office.
• Never Say Goodbye. The first annual concert for the Stax Music Academy, a great program at the museum training school-age kids to be soul men and women, was a great success at the Germantown Performing Arts Center, with 85 kids participating according to the Commercial Appeal account.
• Sam Phillips on a stamp. There’s a campaign for a Phillips stamp.  The Memphis Music Confidential blog notes this and that artists recorded by Phillips, Howlin’ Wolf and Elvis Presley, are already on stamps (the post also says that Muddy Waters was a Sun artist, to which I respond “Huh?”  Paging Scott Barretta: is my Complete Muddy Waters recordings less complete than I’d been told?).
• Senator Franken? Everyone seems arriving at the conclusion that Franken is going to win the recount, although it’s going to court.
• Blagojevich goes Tysonic. Talking Points quotes a reader email:   “Bill Simmons, a sportswriter for ESPN, coined the term “Tysonic”. It refers to Mike Tyson, and applies to anyone who has entered a sphere of existence so bizarre, you will believe any news you hear about them, no matter how absurd. Aside from Mike Tyson, Britney Spears is Tysonic. After the turkey interview, I classify Sarah Palin as Tysonic.   As a native Chicagoan, I say Blogo is definitely Tysonic. If someone told me, “Hear about Blogo? He dressed himself up as Elvis, highjacked an Air Yugo flight from O’Hare to Belgrade, and is now living under the protection of Serbia… And he’s formed an exploratory committee for 2016. “I’d pause for a moment and say, “Yeah, that sounds right.”"

Update: typo fixed (deepens not depends…)

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