I can see where you're coming from, but I guess that itself sounds kind of ableist to me...it kind of sounds like you're ranking disabilities. I mean, MS isn't the same as leukemia which isn't the same as trauma-related quadriplegia like Christopher Reeves's situation which isn't the same as blindness and let's not…

I think that is definitely possible. I've seen a gay male friend be homophobic towards lesbians, to the point of decrying "dykes" eschewing traditional femininity. It was something Rush Limbaugh would have applauded, and I knew that guy since high school and he'd been openly queer longer than anyone else I knew. He's…

I know others have said this as well and I don't mean to add to a pile-on, just to hopefully show you that this isn't a fringe belief. I come from a family with a history of addiction. I've struggled with alcohol abuse myself, and I have 6 recovering addicts in my close family (we are a large family, to be fair).

#notallnorthamericans ;)

The ENT doctor was her personal doctor, so I'm guessing he was there to watch the procedure, like make sure they got everything on the endoscopy that he needed or something. Still all kinds of messed up.

I've been training dogs for years and I've never seen an unpreventable bite on a child. People let their kids get away with murder when it comes to dogs, and it's a testament to how gentle and thoroughly domesticated dogs are that there aren't more serious bites on kids. Parents need to wise the hell up and realize…

I'm the first to advocate against any breed-specific beliefs/legislation/etc. when it comes to aggression, but this isn't true. Pits were bred for tenacity and aggression as bull-baiting dogs. The American Pit Bull Terrier in particular was bred as a dogfighting dog and several prominent dogs in its history did…

I have never slapped a partner, and I have only been slapped by one partner and he was an abusive asshole in many other ways as well. It makes me sad for you that slapping is something you consider normal behavior.

Thank you so much. :) The dog in my avatar is a GSD, but he's from West German working lines and tbh he's often mistaken for a Mal even in person. He's long and lean like a Mal and honestly is built pretty similarly but he is lacking that ridiculous Mal mouth, thankfully! ;) His name is Ty.

Serious answer? In the past, selective breeding was typically a much slower process because the market pressures weren't quite so extreme. The popularity of "teacup" animals has exploded over the past few decades in a way that wouldn't have been possible before the advent of TV/internet. If humans were perfect this…

Normal, healthy poms are freaking adorable enough. I totally agree.

The dog in my avatar is a purebred GSD from working lines, and I've actually had American/show line GSD breeders tell me he must be a mutt because of his conformation. He is well within breed standard and seems quite sloped in the hips to me (coming from border collies, so any GSD slope seems like a lot), but because…

Right? Just no. This is not how good breeders work. And I say this as someone who is heavily involved with rescue but also did buy a puppy from a breeder (and a GSD too, so another breed that attracts bad breeders like flies).

Off the top of my head, poorly bred poms are prone to epilepsy, heart problems, luxating patella, collapsed trachea and skin conditions. Flat-faced poms like this guy may also be susceptible to respiratory issues like any flat-faced dog. Luxating patella probably isn't a huge problem for a dog owned by someone as…

Hell, the dog in my avatar is from a working GSD breeder and he was only $2500, and he literally saves lives for a job. And he's nearly 7 with no health problems yet because surprise surprise, working breeders carefully select for health and test their parents for any hereditary diseases. So even if I was to go out…

Yep, I read that description and it basically translated to,

It is something that many rescue workers have observed. I have search dogs (wilderness though, so we don't really do large-scale disaster work as it's a bit of a different skill set, at least for me as a handler) and I even notice it when I work them too long just on cadavers in training. The reward is exactly the…

That one about the first responders is a bit funny in light of him arguing against raising the minimum wage. A lot of first responders (EMTs mostly) don't even make $15/hour. Starting wage for an EMT-Basic in my state is around $10-12 per hour.

Well, to be fair the debate over supersessionism is pretty much as old as the church itself (it's even addressed in the Bible itself). I subscribe to it myself, but I understand why many Christians believe in a dual-covenant theology. Although I do have to admit, I struggle to understand how someone can subscribe to a…

Yeah, that's been pretty much my experience. Lots of focus on the Old Testament, lots of focus on the Epistles (out of context, of course), and the actual Gospels are mostly glossed over except a few verses like John 3:16, particularly when talking about gender issues (for example, the story of Mary and Martha, where…