I was turned down by a rescue group. My older female basset needed a companion. I thought rescue would be the way to provide. My 3 acre, fenced yard was fine. The house that is raised off the ground, insulated from below, sheltered on 2 sides and under a deck for rain protection was fine. The age of my current dog and consistent vet care was fine. What killed my chances was the fact that both dogs would sleep OUTSIDE at night.

Not unlike the author, I considered lying. But I don't lie about stupid things. And requiring a 50+ lb dog who has been wallowing in dirt all day to sleep inside every night is, well....more than I could take.

A friend of mine wanted to adopt a rescued mastiff. She too has a nice, large fenced yard where the dog would run and play during the day with her other dog. She too was turned down because that rescue org thought it was "unfit" for a 150+lb dog to EVER be outside.

I realize both these rescue folks were doing good work. I know they really cared about their charges. But dogs have lived outside for thousands of years and I'm not going to feel like a criminal because I don't keep one in the house 24 X 7.

I'm not going to comment on the excitement or not of baseball, but King, it's November. Baseball season is OVER. (Six months too late, imho, but if anyone cared about my opinion that much, I'd have a column.)

There have been a lot of exciting and interesting things happening in the NFL, especially a game this weekend pairing two little-heard of but decent teams. I promise, I won't be irritated if you don't talk much about the draft next spring so you can concentrate on MLB's opening day if you'll just get back to the sports that are actually being played RIGHT NOW.

He doesn't really want people digging into the "real stories". Stories like his refusal to cut the sales tax on groceries (accomplished by the Dem governor who followed him), stories like him putting pressure on Parole Board members to get them to let a convicted rapist free who later raped and killed a woman in a neighboring state (Google "Wayne Dumond").

That "tabloid" he refers to did a good job of setting him straight a few times. And they're still at it.

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=6da3ec0c-3022-460b-bb93-35056b367425

Huckabee is NOT a "checks and balances" kind of guy. He complained to any media who would listen that the members of the state legislature were "terrorists" because they wouldn't rubber stamp his legislative package. Anyone who could pay enough to get time with him had a good shot at getting their relative out of prison, no matter the crime, if they could convince Huck that the offender had "given his life to God". He tried to steal furniture from the governor's mansion (owned by the state, not him) and as he was leaving office, had all the computers he used destroyed so that none of his thoughts could be brought up against him.

Please read more than this article about Huck before you completely make up your mind.

Both my parents are racists. Dad much more so and more loudly so than Mom, but neither thinks all that much of non-Caucasians of any stripe. Yet, I'm not. Or at least, I really try to NOT lump everyone into one category and take people as they are. I'm not perfect, but I try.

The one issue that stunned me into thinking racism was bad was when we learned about slavery in the 3rd grade. My best friend that year was a girl named Vicki. 120 years before, she would have been my slave. As I thought about the life she would have had, I was horrified that someone would mistreat one of the kindest people I knew simply because of her added pigmentation. I didn't make a big deal about it, but it informed my thinking from that point on.

Years later, my Mom asked me how I got to be so tolerant when she and Dad were clearly not. I told her the story about Vicki and she understood. She still segments people of all color (except white, of course) into groups she likes and groups she doesn't, but she is quieter about it in my presence.

I love to cook. So does my husband. There are things he cooks that I may never learn to make and things he cooks because I won't (I don't touch raw chicken). When we built our house, BOTH of us put a lot of time and energy into the design of the kitchen because both of us use it.

However, we aren't the average red-state couple. I don't have his last name. Somehow, this still perplexes my family, even though they've had 13 years to "get used to" not calling me something different than they have previously. On Sunday afternoons, you will find me planted in front of the TV from noon until 10:30 or so watching NFL. If a button comes off a shirt in this house, he sews it on.

So we both love the kitchen. And stuffed mushrooms, for that matter.