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A FRIENDLY CANINE or a furry feline is a core part of many family homes, assisting little ones on their adventures and bringing the whole house together.
At this time of year, with Santa on the way and Christmas present chatter happening non-stop, it’s natural that the topic of a new dog or cat might come up. After all, if your child (or you) has been dreaming of a pet, surely December 25 is as good a time as any to fulfill that wish?
According to the DSPCA, in many cases the Christmas excitement of getting a new dog or cat can soon dissipate, leaving bored children, fed-up parents and – ultimately – abandoned or homeless animals.
By early December of this year, the DSPCA was already inundated with unwanted pets. The animal protection organisation revealed that had received rehome requests for 25 dogs and 20 cats in one week, calling the figures for this year ‘worrying .’
Excuses given for giving up animals included ‘biting the children’, ‘unwilling to work on training’, allergies, the size of the animal and even replacing a ‘bold’ older dog with a puppy.
The DSPCA wants to remind people that their pet is a member of the family and “not a disposable item.”
So, tell us, would you get your kids a pet for Christmas?
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The American intelligence community has been interfering in other country’s elections since the 1950s. They can hardly complain when their own tactics are thrown back in their face. And yet they are complaining…
@Paul J. Redmond: They do that as a consequence of the Cold War were it was vital that the Democracies had control over at least 50% of Global supplies (oil and other). Better the Americans than the Communists wouldn’t you agree? Wouldn’t you be complaining if it was the other way around? and really why do you care and bother to defend rouge states and dictators that stand against Democracy. Nail em up I say!
@alan: I think that you are missing the point here. Which is that the difference you refer to doesn’t exist in reality. Both countries interfere in each other’s affairs. Your question, ‘would you rather USA or Russia’ then becomes more complex than you appear to realise. I wonder would some unemployed opiate user in Kentucky (no shortage of them) see the choice in such black and white terms as you do? Anybody who has been to Russia will tell you that Western media images of the country are about as ‘accurate’ as are Russian images of USA. As for rogue states, the same applies. Rogue states are usually any state but your own. Defending USA is tantamount to defending a rogue state. There are any number of US actions that would qualify them as ‘rogue’. Why would you want to defend them?
@andrew: I can make sense of your post, it’s completely incoherent. Kentucky junkies?
@alan: Google ‘opioid crisis Usa’. I assumed that your comments on USA were well informed. Mistake.
@Paul J. Redmond: WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT WHATABOUT…
@andrew: I’m well aware of the opioid crisis but fail to see how it is relevant. Just so you understand my point of view, I’m pro western Democracy and care very little about double standards, hypocrisy or anything of the sorts so long as the goal is to keep Democracy going stronger than the rest. I commend you on your morals but I think they are naive. It really is as simple as being pro west or anti west.
@alan: The opioid crisis is an index of failure. I was citing it as an example of the consequences of, in this case, domestic USA policy. Hardly the kind of life anybbody would want to live.As for being either pro or anti west, if that’s how you view the complexities of this world, then the best of luck to you.
@andrew: you can’t criticise communism or socialism, it is a well established and proven concept
@alan: Rouge states? Surely you mean the overthrow of democratic governments elected by the people… then subverted by the U.S. with the support of the so called West.. Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile, Porto Rico, Panama, Colombia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iraq Afghanistan.. just to name a few.
Of course they were indicted today, isn`t Trump due to meet Putin on Monday?
Theresa May meets Trump today, and lo and behold, there is now talk of a bottle containing Novichok having been found at Charlie Rowley’s house in Amesbury on Wednesday.
Global politics really is about timing.
@Pixie McMullen: It’s a conspiracy…. against? The Russians? Those poor Russians. Them Russians, them Russians, and them Chinamen. And them Russians. What?
@Womp Womp: I’m quoting Allen Ginsberg because I forgot this wasn’t fiction.
@Womp Womp: nah, he’s just a pr!ck
@Conor Paddington: Should use inverted commas when you do that .
@Pixie McMullen: If it only just stopped at the U.S., but we know Russia has interfered in or tried to interefer in the French, German, Dutch, Austrian, Macedonian elections, and the Brexit Referenda. Russia has also invaded and annexed soverign Ukrainian territory, kidnapped and Lithuanian Border Guard from inside Lithuanian territory. Has internally, murdered, imprisoned and or exiled all and any political opposition, censored and suppressed all and any media critical of the Government and President and has weaponised Social Media. So if they behave like a Mafia State is it any wonder the free world treats them as such?
@Mick Jordan: Russia also supports Assad and is occupying about 20% of Georgia’s territory, and has summarily imprisoned and tortured Georgian troops and returned them dismembered and dead and said it was an accident. Poisoning British citizens isn’t great.
Rumour has it that the 12 intelligence officers are frequent contributors to the Journal.ie.
Scary world isn’t it.
@Jimmy Coltrane: let’s hope they don’t try to scupper Michael D’s bid or it could have dire consequences for the future of Europe
@Jimmy Coltrane:
Francis McCarthy, Tariq(Bradford), Tariq Ibn Ziyad, Fiona De Freyne, Tony Daly, Liam Egan, Petr Tarasov, neilo, Open Borders, Diarmuid (Islamomonkey), Clever Jake & Larry.
@Native:
Hahaha!
All set up to interfere in improving relations with russia.
@@mdmak33: eh no, making democracy unreliable. That’s the real goal.
It’s fairly easy to indict 12 Russians living in Russia in the full knowledge that they will never stand trial. After all Mueller has to justify his spending $16 million chasing spooks that may or may not be there. It wouldn’t surprise me if he rang up one of his buddies in the NSA and asked dim for a dozen names of their counterparts and threw them into his report to “justify” his existence. He is safe in the knowledge that they aren’t going to come to the good old USA to try to clear their name, the liberals can howl on about the reds under the beds and Mueller looks vindicated.
Next week Mueller indicts the Big Bad Wolf for causing Hurricane Katrina.
@Ennui Kenny: Except Mueller isn’t just indicting foreigners, is he? He and his team have indicted American citizens who have lied to FBI investigators (about Russian contact) on US soil (and have plead guilty).
Facts are important.
@Ennui Kenny: you know they have to persuade a grand jury to get an indictment right? It’s not just a standard issue thing. Evidence must be provided and it must persuade a grand jury.
Omg,, poor America, imagine trying to influence the outcome of an election in a foreign country,, the nerve of them pesky Russians…..
By the way, still no collusion. Nearly 2 and a half years of FBI, CIA, and Mueller investigations into Trump-Russia collusion and still no collusion in sight. All the intelligence agencies were using the most advanced counter intelligence tools in the world. And still no collusion. Mueller’s investigation has virtually unlimited powers of subpoena. And still no collusion.
What is going on? I suppose we got the Steele dossier…
Usual Putinbots engaging in whataboutery in the comments section.
@Seán Ó Briain: Are they the same as racists and Islamaphobes , Oh and Nazis .
Because no one is aware of anything else but that stream of ideology .
When I was a kid we knew the difference between right and wrong , but we also had a programme on tv called the Muppets .
Maybe you should look into the difference between , fact and fiction .
As kids we knew .
@Seán Ó Briain: such a simplistic view of other people’s opinions . Is it because it suits you to think people who think differently are bots ?
5 words . Boris Yeltsin US sponsored election .
Because it suited to have him in power for privatisations of Russian state assets .
The contemporary Russian interference myth is implanted paranoia by people who can’t face the real motives of why the lost an election due to a lousy candidate and due the pursuit of eastern expansion , defence budget increases and neo liberal economic trends under threat .
@Isabel Oliveira: yes now tell us about how fair the elections in Russia are………… Maybe if Trump locks up all his opposition and installs Paris Hilton to run against him we may have a fair comparison to the west
It’s no wonder the DNC, Podesta and the like were hacked. They completely disregarded security protocols. Clinton should have been locked up in relation to her private email server. People like DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz had people like Imran Awan working as an IT specialist.
And they wonder why their server was hacked. You have to ask what exactly have the Russians and Chinese have received from the Clinton server in relation to the 30,000 bleached emails??
@Low Energy Jeb: ah here gaway arra that mr bot
@Colin Ahern: I know it sounds pretty incredible, Colin. But it’s all true except me surmising about the possibility that Russia and China may have got access to the 30,000 bleached emails.
It is a fact though that a security analysis of Clinton’s private email server did highlight a security anomaly linked to a foreign account. Non-Russian, by the way. To be clear, all the emails coming and going from this Clinton’s private server were also being diverted to this anomaly account overseas.This analysis was conducted by the IG office and reported to the FBI leading Clinton’s email investigation. All public information, Colin….
@Colin Ahern: By the way Colin, Clinton broke federal laws in her actions concerning the email server. If a private individual in the US was to be found to have perpetrated what Clinton did, he/she would have been locked up in prison for a stretch. Instead, her aides got immunity and she got a reprimand…
Only a few days ago the US interfered in the Irish political process in attempting to persuade Fianna Fáil to vote against Frances Black’s bill. They’re too up their own (w)holes to notice the contradiction.
@Cormac Ó Braonáin: Obama tried to scare Britain into staying in the E.U .
”President Barack Obama made a bold intervention into the politics of Washington’s closest ally on Friday, exhorting Britons to stay in the EU and warning that if they left they would be at “the back of the queue” for a U.S. trade deal.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-obama-idUSKCN0XH2U6
It didn’t work out .
Keep going Mueller, don’t stop until you get the prize chump locked up.
Nonsense, not even subtle, this is about stopping Trump meeting Putin. It is tiresome and of course complete rubbish from an increasingly desparate silly section of US society.
So that is how trump got in confirmed
@Darren Farrell: You should really read the article, Darren.
“The indictment also does not allege that any vote tallies were altered by hacking.”
Are you suggesting that a handful of Russian operatives with a couple of a million dollars budget actually swayed the US election away from the Clinton campaign? A campaign that had hundreds of thousands of operatives over half a billion dollars. And the support of virtually all the MSM in the US and much of the alternative media.
I think the Democrats need to hire the Russians for 2020 so….
@Low Energy Jeb: Or at least spend 20 million in Macedonia , or where ever .
have your say