If you run through this you come out in an upside-down world where everything seems the same and yet somehow horribly wrong in ways that you want to say out loud but cannot, the words die on your tongue and the things that are there in place of people stare at you like a weirdo, your reflection in the glass of storefronts matching theirs but you see your own hands when you look down, your own feet, and also your shoes and pants cuffs will be soaking wet.
The bill was brought forward after the events of Hurricane Katrina. Before and during Katrina, there were no evacuation measures for pets set in place when natural disasters occurred in the United States. None. At all. Because of that, it’s estimated that about 70,000 pets were left behind. It’s believed that 15,000 of them were killed.
Images of families leaving their pets behind made international news. One in particular showed a young boy being torn away from his beloved dog, Snowball. Aftermath pictures showed dogs stranded on car roofs and cats swimming to get to safety. The loss and horror was so high, lawmakers decided that evacuation efforts for pets, as well as people, were necessary during future events.
What Does The PETS Act Do?
The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create guidelines for state and local emergency services to use in regards to pets and families with pets during natural disasters. If states wanted FEMA funding, they needed to create emergency plans that:
Allows pets to stay in state or federally funded shelters during natural disasters.
Allows rescue operations specifically to save household pets and service animals.
States that included pet rescue and relief efforts in their emergency planning would continue to get FEMA support. Community shelters that allow animals can even be reimbursed for their care later on.
Why Does The PETS Act Not Apply To Hotels/Motels?
The PETS Act only applies to government agencies.
Hotels and motels are not government or state run entities. They are exempt from the law and are not required to shelter animals during natural disasters. It is not illegal for them to turn away pets if it is against hotel policy.
Some families may choose to leave their pets in the car and stay into the hotel themselves. Others may lie and then sneak their animals in anyway. Others, still, may leave and try to find more accommodating shelter somewhere else. Either way, this is added stress to an already stressful situation. And it can be dangerous.
During times like this, proper safety and shelter information is a must. You should always double-check everything before you reblog it when lives are on the line. You don’t know who’s reading it. You don’t know who will believe it. You don’t know what that misinformation will cost someone.
The social networking website Care2 opened an online petition letter Wednesday requesting the World Meteorological Association change the name of Hurricane Irma to Hurricane Ivanka, in reference to President Donald Trump’s daughter. The petition, which aims to reach 10,000 signatures, has gathered m...
Man of the moment Keanu Reeves has shown his generosity by giving away £50 million of his earnings from the Matrix sequels. The 38-year-old decided to hand over the money to the unsung heroes of the sci-fi blockbusters - the costume and special effects teams.
*fistbump*
Confirmed. He’s also dumped millions into cancer research. I really do love Keanu Reeves a lot.
Keanu Reeves is like the nicest person. He still lives in an apartment/flat and he gives most of his money away to charities and people who need it. He even invites some paparazzi people to sit down and eat with him when he’s at a coffee shop or restaurant. He’s such a nice person.
When I was working on the UWS, one of my delivery guys accidentally backed his scooter into a parked car in front of the restaurant. I went out to help, since the driver didn’t speak much English, and it turned out the car belonged to Keanu Reeves. He helped us pick the scooter up, and when I asked if we could exchange insurance information (because the front of the car was pretty banged up), he kept telling us not to worry about it and put his hand on the driver’s shoulder and said “I just want to make sure you’re okay, man. Are you okay?” And he was so sincere about it and so kind that I decided in that moment I would always defend Keanu Reeves at all costs. He is an excellent man.
I need to be more like Keanu Reeves because I’m evil compared to him.
“Next few centuries”
Keanu dropping hints that he is an immortal.
i love keanu reeves
My wife and I were dining at Nobu’s in Honolulu and sitting across from us was Keanu or at least I thought it was. We kept talking about whether it was him or not and finally, I decided to throw some old school Bill & Ted at him.
I stood up and threw my arms up into the motion of an air guitar, my wife is begging me to sit back down, and I pointed at the guy who may be Keanu Reeves, and said, “Most Excellent.”
He stood up and did it back at me. Then we both had a moment and pointed at each other. I sent him another of whatever it was he was drinking. It was a cucumber sake martini. That was the end of it.
Or so I thought.
He left before we finished our meal. By the time we were done, dessert came that we didn’t order. We thought, “oh, must be compliments of the chef.” Then the bill never came. When we asked for it, our waitress said Keanu Reeves took care of it.
IT WAS REALLY HIM. And he left a note. It said, “thanks for the refresh. Keanu.”
When I finally saw him again years later, because of work. I brought it up. Then he air guitar and said, “most excellent. I remember. At Nobu’s. Thanks for the drink.” We chatted a bit and I got an autograph for my mum because she’s a huge Keanu fan. Then that was that.
What a moment.
An angel
And he does a lot of anti human trafficking work iirc. Seems like a really awesome guy.
Back when I first moved to NYC, I got a job as a theater usher. We were all young, 18-20 or so, and it was heavily impressed upon us that we needed to treat the theatergoers with TOTAL respect at ALL times or risk our jobs. As such, we were all totally underprepared for the drunk guy who tried to steal a bottle of wine from the lobby bar during intermission. We were trying to politely get the bottle back, but he was growing loud and belligerent. Since the second act was now starting, this was a countdown to all of us being in trouble.
Then Keanu walks up. Calmly charms the guy. Slips the usher behind the bar cash to cover the bottle, without the guy even noticing, and walks him back in to his seat like it’s a normal thing he does every day. He didn’t know the guy, didn’t know any of us, but effortlessly deescalated the situation and quite probably saved some jobs that night.
PSA for Hurricane Irma Victims about their pets!!!!
[An image of text which says:
If you are evacuating to a hotel/motel and they say they DON’T take pets, don’t get ugly, but simply tell them that it is against the law and FEMA established that after Hurricane Katrina!
The Pets Evacuation and Standards Act (PETS) was a bi-partisan initiative in the United States House of Representatives to require states seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance to accomodate pets and service animals in their plans for evacuating residents facing disasters.
Jesus Christ was a brown Jew in the Middle East, conceived out of wedlock in an arguably interracial if not interspecies (deity and human) relationship, raised by his mother and stepfather in place of his absent father. He may not have had a Y chromosome. He spent his early youth as a refugee in Egypt, where his family no doubt survived initially on handouts from the wealthy (You think they kept that gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the wise men? Hell no, they sold that stuff for food and lodging). He later returned with his parents to their occupied homeland and lived in poverty.
Trump and his administration are xenophobic, misogynistic, racist, fear-mongering, warmongering, tax-dodging, anti-Semitic, anti-choice, anti-welfare, anti-equal pay, anti-LGBTQIA+, anti-immigration, support tax cuts for the rich, support Citizen’s United, want to keep refugees out of this country, want to limit our ability to speak against the government, plan to abolish the Affordable Care Act, and they wrap all of that up behind a banner of “Christian family values.” If you support them, you have no right to call yourself a follower of Christ.
it’s so rare, yet so fulfilling, to see the J-man on my dash
One of my friends is literally the most religious Christian I have ever met. What does that mean in regards to her lifestyle and outlook? She loves everyone. EVERYONE. Unconditionally. And she supports healthcare and education and birth control and everything that’s necessary to have a healthy, stable society.
My son made this. He called it “Monstrous Moon” and it was presented to me at a parent teacher’s conference this week.
Teacher: “Can we talk about your son’s art project? He made this moon.” Me: “Neat.” T: “He then told the class that it was an evil moon that demanded gifts and songs. People who made it happy could turn into werewolves and those who made it mad would be eaten by said werewolves.” M: “Ah.” T: “He then said we was making the monstrous moon happy and howled, which made other kids howl. They then spent recess howling and talking about eating people.” M: “Oh. That’s a problem.” T: “I’m glad we’re on the same page here.” M: “I’ll speak to him about the importance of the separation of Church and State. He shouldn’t bring his religion to school.” T: “Uh, that’s not what I meant. I have a few therapists that-” M: “HHHHHOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLL”
[image text: Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but because out of a hope for restored patriotism, or a sense of economic anxiety, or a hope to preserve their religious values, or dislike of their opponents, or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.
A friend recently told me that a local wildlife center welcomed donations of Beanie Babies and other such small stuffed animals because baby raccoons and other small animals like to cuddle with them.
Your local humane society, animal shelter, or wildlife rescue organization may be able to use many things you might be looking to unclutter.
Many such organizations take blankets (especially fleece) and bath towels, but always check with your local organization before bringing in donations. Many do not want sheets, but some do. Other obvious potential donations, depending on each organization’s policy, are pet care items in good condition: food, food bowls, grooming supplies, cat trees, laser toys, catnip, cat litter, pet carriers, etc. The SPCA of Solano County wants cardboard flats or beer trays to use as disposable litter boxes.
A lot of these organizations also need office supplies, which many people have in excess. Pens, highlighters, copy paper, staplers, rubber bands, and Post-its are just some of the items I’ve seen on numerous wish lists. The San Diego Humane Society has surge protectors and calculators on its wish list, and I’ve seen many homes with unused calculators sitting around.
Cleaning supplies are also on many organizations’ lists: laundry detergent, bleach, hand sanitizer, trash bags, dish soap, hand soap, etc. Humane Animal Rescue specifically wanted Original Dawn liquid dish soap, but many organizations don’t care about the brand.
Rather than recycling your newspaper, you might give it to a shelter or rescue organization that asks for it, as many do. Some also want shredded paper. There might be some restrictions — for example, Humane Animal Rescue specifically notes the shredded paper should not include shiny ads. The Humane Society of Missouri can use long-cut shredded paper, but not confetti-like crosscut shred.
I’ve also seen a number of organizations, such as Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter and the SPCA of Solano County requesting gardening tools: hoes, shovels, rakes, garden gloves, garden hoses, etc. Flashlights and batteries are popular wish list items, too. ASH Animal Rescue in the U.K. also wanted general tools to be used in maintenance: screwdrivers, drills, hammers, pliers, etc.
The dog has an issue where his esophagus doesn’t work right; it doesn’t get food in there right because it’s all stretched out and stuff. So what dog owners (and cat owners and I guarantee you the cat ones look goofier) do is make a highchair and feed them upright so gravity can be a hero. It’s also really cute.
The disorder is called Megaesophagus.
Here is a cat with the same disorder in his eatin’ sock.
a guy in a salvos truck yelled at me and my gf while we were kissing today so I was thinking of this
Do you know, when I was in high-school I went to the mall near my house with my girlfriend to do some Christmas shopping.
We were there, sixteen year old me and seventeen year old her, holding hands and window-shopping, minding our own business.
This Salvation Army shitheel gets aggro about it in the middle of the mall and I’m there totally flabbergasted cause like, it’s christmas
Only, 16!Tabi had even less composure than 26!Tabi, so I lost my fucking mind on her.
Thing is: when I’m really angry, I don’t rage, I go all cold and apparently that freaks people out, because I could see my gf backing up and the lady getting tense and then I realized that anger doesn’t solve problems.
So instead, I started wailing.
Picture this: 5’4, tiny, blonde haired high school girl with her little violin on her back and pearls in her ears just as PTA-approved as could be, full on sobbing in the hallway.
Just, sobbing like my dog’s been shot.
Now my gf’s like, “oh fuck” and the lady’s like “oh fuuuuck!” and I’m here, head thrown back, tears down my cheeks and in that shrill, distressed, /loud/ voice, “WHY WOULD YOU B-b-be so MEAN?! It’s CHRISTMAS!”
And the lady’s like “please stop Oh fuck” because now we have a crowd, and this Molly Weasley of a woman putters over, “what’s the matter, dear?”
And mall security’s coming and this bell ringer is looking very uncomfortable so I just look at this matronly ellen-watching suburban housewife lady, eyes wide and wet and my lip wobbling.
“I was, she s-said, s-s-she said I was going to HELL!”
And I burst right back into tears.
Maaaaaaaan, they didn’t even stick around to ask why she’d said it. Soon as I said it, Mall po-po bounced her like a fucking pogo stick.
We get outside and my girlfriend’s like “that is the most Slytherin thing I have ever seen anyone do.”
It was four years before I saw the Army back in that mall.
that is beautiful
Holiday reminder: don’t let anyone get away with trying to make you feel bad about yourself.
So yeah, they’re not just ‘homophobic’, they’re bigoted fucking murderers.
(Wikipedia article on her death conveniently (for SA) omits Salvation Army connection, linking only to expired articles from local newspapers)
SA claims that they didn’t turn her away, and accept all homeless people, except, it’s not like Jennifer Gale was only trans woman refused shelter by Salvation Army, making this denial appear to be worth less than bullshit:
