THE CONTRACT -- traditionally, when one party violates a signed contract, there are many stages of recourse and redress -- usually involving lawyers, demand letters and various stages on the way to civil suits and court decisions. the issue is not that Ellen violated the contract; it's that the agency took it upon themselves to enforce the letter of the contract. as others in this comment section have pointed out, in this case it might have been better for all to review the new family and see if things could be worked out, despite the contract violation

ADOPTION AGENCIES -- they are as a whole, fairly decent and well-meaning folks, though some individuals appear to be too "pro-pet" and make no effort to mask their resentment of would-be pet owners. Regardless of a feeling of zealotry throughout the pet-rescue world, their efforts are humane and only in response to the millions of mistreated, neglected and finally destroyed animals (annually).

THE PUBLIC -- most folks think it's great to own a pet and think of pet ownership as a God-given right and part of the American Tradition. However, as the pet-rescue folks know, all too often even "good" families are terribly irresponsible and though they had good intentions, all too often, "Spot" or "Fluffy" is given away or worse and the animal winds up at a shelter scheduled to be destroyed. People like Ellen who have the eye of the media establishment AND the public have an opportunity to help promote public awareness about the greater issues of animal abandonment and pet care. The lessons that can be gained from this one unfortunate case are lost if one only reviews the case-specific elements instead of the larger and more complex social issues.

hmmm...and to think that this quote is coming from one of the most intellectually dishonest authors and "philosophers" of the 20th century...

the snippet says "a blood test revealed she had a genetic predisposition to the disease.[...]She wanted to meet her future husband and say, "we got this out of the way so our family won’t go through what I did growing up."

one wonders if a genetic disposition would be passed on to her children -- seems logical that it would -- and if so, how "out of the way" has the double mastectomy made things for her future kids?

that might be how capitalism works, but it's also how evil works. it's called the "banality of evil" and in some circles it is the mechanism by which the Holocaust and other acts of atrocious evil are committed: by folks following orders and defering to authority and the chain of command. Check out the Milgram experiment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

in this case, the clerk and the boss are just following orders that resulted in the loss of a sale (or a bottle of wine from the customer's POV). but in fact, this is the same exact behavior that put people on trains to death camps and that's no exaggeration. of course, rabid racism or other forms of hate and society-supported forms of discrimination help to bolster the process, but it has been shown over and over again that real "evil" can be perpetrated by "regular" folks who are "just following orders" and who, in fact, do not share in the consensus view (e.g., Jews are subhuman scum; Mexicans should be kept out of the US with a wall; all Muslims are radical would-be terrorists; etc.).

don't be fooled by the fact that the fellow was stubborn and ornery about the situation; yes, he could have simply told the clerk his age, but more importantly, he questioned the application of the "rule" and failed to elicit any thoughtful or considered responses from the store staff, who could have reviewed the applicability of the age-policy and seen that in this case, it could be waived. in this case, the blind adherence to the rule prevailed, regardless of the results (i.e., the rule was set up to keep under-aged buying but was not set up to force compliance with disclosure when the customer is clearly over the legal age for purchase).

seems that references might helpt support some of those anecdotes, such as the one about him enjoying execution and porno films...

hitler was a vegetarian, which he felt helped his digestion (he suffered from digestion problems up until he adopted vegetarianism).

the nazis did invent methamphetamines -- they were designed as a "pep pill" for troops. hitler's doctor administered daily shots of speed towards the end of the war.

they have a rudimentary lung (that works when air blows through it as opposed to inhaling) and they store up coconut fat in a gland...which is pretty tasty. you can't eat them anymore...they're protected. they are strong enough to use those claws to open coconuts, which is not a trivial thing.

one wonders what the ceiling is made from...yes? what material would deform like that? water is about 8 pounds per gallon...so that would have to be both very flexible and strong to hold a bulge that pendulous.

since most every ceiling is made with gypsum board or plaster and some sort of sub-layer (like wood lath), this image appears to suggest some sort of very flexible, rubber-like material.

that, or photoshop.

hmmm...fake facial hair...curious.

it's not real, but it is clever...except the above noted zero occupancy issue

having the walls and floors entirely covered in tile must help for keeping it clean and in reducing the odor(s. that big window helps too with nice fresh air (when the weather permits).

it must be hard to find new homes for them -- life in Russia is pretty grim these days -- Moscow is now the most expensive city in the world.

long eggs and chickens are a variant of the "long horse" meme that's out there on the web. these long eggs are made from soy and sold as a slice-worthy garnish for udon soup (and other noodle treats). little kids have them in their lunches too in japan.

it's not intentionally a hoax, but can turn into one when folks post links as credible. but in this case, the title of the post ends with a question mark, implying that the post might be fully credible.

the fake eggs from china (man-made eggs) turned out to be an actual hoax.

Moller has been pushing this (much desired) flying car for...decades. Apparently his operation is always a million short on investment and just needs some money to go into production. Awhile back, one of the prototypes (the only one?) was on eBay for over $1M...it didn't sell.

almost all of these are totally wrong. too bad.

is that the Rolex logo on there?

http://www.chronomaster.co.uk/B133_rolex_logo.jpg

there's some chance that either this specimen or some future find will be from creatures that have gone extinct but have left their remains preserved in tens-of-thousand-year-old ice sheets. it might be little consolation that as the global weather changes, there are bound to be some new and amazing insights gained -- such as the 'new' island off the coast of Greenland, and so forth.