RTFA: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0…

BOSTON (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will teach at Yale University in the next academic year starting in September, leading a course on “faith and globalization,” the Ivy League school said on Friday.

Yale, the alma mater of U.S. President George W. Bush, said Blair had been appointed Howland Distinguished Fellow, a post that dates to 1915 and which has been occupied by such notable individuals as former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and journalist Sir Alistair Cooke.

Blair, a part-time international envoy for Palestinian economic development since he stepped down last year, will also participate in other events at the New Haven, Connecticut, campus, where he will teach the half-year course, Yale said.

He also plans to set up the Blair Faith Foundation, based in London, before taking up his teaching post, the university said.

The foundation aims to examine the role of religion in the modern world and to promote understanding among Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

RTFA: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/Story?id…

What, then, provoked one U.S. Marine to let himself be videotaped apparently flinging a yelping puppy over a cliff, bursting into laughter at the sound of the animal’s body hitting the ground below? The tape of the apparent incident has rocketed around the Internet, provoking a firestorm of criticism.

The motivation for such an act, if it did indeed occur, may be as complex and deep as the U.S. war that has dragged on for more than four years, experts told ABCNEWS.com. Chief among them: Having to live with the constant fear of being injured or killed might have led this Marine to take his aggression out on a defenseless animal, several psychologists said.

I disagree with the fundamental premise of the article: it’s not clear that this is cruelty. The puppy is obviously in a combat zone, so it’s no surprise that a US Soldier is nearby. It’s obvious that it is a soldier committing the act, and we’re well aware that animals are being used by terrorists.

This is just another instance of the predictable knee-jerk reaction of the liberal media and liberal blogging world. Pity for the puppy, scorn for the soldier. As usual, the liberals jump to conclusions, but I ask: what is the context? Literally, the tail wags this dog, and literally, this particular dog is headed over a cliff.

I must caution you against feeling for the puppy due to emotional reasons. It is a cute, cuddly, and innocent baby of an animal. However, if you allow yourself to think such thoughts, it will be impossible to view this situation in the proper context. How else can you reconcile the actions of this soldier with your beliefs, unless you kill the part of your soul that feels pity for the puppy.

Listen folks: we can’t conclude that this is cruelty, because we’re a nation at war. Feel pity for the soldier, not for some insignificant animal. I say that if it helps our soldiers, then throwing enemy puppies off a cliff is as patriotic as anything else. And another thing: let’s send our troops some body armor, too.

Well, maybe.