♣ What dictators are really afraid of.

♣ Fun and funky French hotels. Would you stay in the hamster one?

♣ A really thoughtful post from a personal finance blogger I follow: From the Rich to the Poor, or What I Learned in Africa.

♣ And how about Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture?

♣ Ram taxi! I like the ram’s attitude: “yeah, so what?”

♣ Inspiration: The good, the bad, and the ugly.

♣ Hipmunk is both adorable and useful – I’ve been pricing flights for kicks even though I haven’t been planning on going anywhere.

♣ If you’re ever in NYC, find the Cupcake Stop truck. Soooo good.

♣ I love The Oatmeal, and agree 100% with The Likability of Angry Birds. Stupid boomerang bird!

Plenty for you here, but nothing for your dog.

If you live in Midtown Manhattan and you own a dog, you are a bad person. Stupid at best.

I’ve been seeing more and more people out walking their dogs around 6pm on 8th ave above Penn station. They’re male, 25-30, sometimes scruffy, usually with that ex frat boy look. Some have cocker spaniels, some chihuahuas, some boxer mixes. All of the dogs are not dressed for the winter and terrified.

Owning a dog in such an industrial area is unfair to the animal and borders on animal abuse. There is no grass anywhere nearby, and dogs aren’t allowed on the subway as far as I know. The most running these dogs can do is around their living rooms.

Worst of all, these dogs are scared. I once saw an oblivious 20something male with a chihuahua on the corner of 8th and 34th. It was 20 degrees and the dog had no sweater, jacket, or boots. Second, this 5pm dog was surrounded by 30 people at the corner – way too easy for someone to misstep and take him out. Third, the dog was cowering. Desperately shivering at the end of his leash, trying to escape the crowd, while his owner tugged him along.

This is animal abuse. If you have a 5lb dog and you’re in a massive crowd of people, pick him up until it’s safer. If it’s below freezing, your dog needs a jacket. And who knows what horrible things he’s picking up on his paws? You wouldn’t walk barefoot in Manhattan – don’t make your dog.

Its not that I haven’t seen good dog owners – I have. I just see ten deadbeats for every good one.