Rescue A Pet Today - Make Your Life Better.

As you know, I have a rescue named George.  He is the greatest dog in the world (no bias here at all).

And with the Holidays approaching the wish of a little dog or cat grows large (Santa must keep huge stocks of puppy-chow at hand).  Well reports suggest that owning a dog or cat may help you live a much healthier and happy life.

Huffington Post reports that the social and emotional benefits of pet ownership are many: companionship, affection, unconditional love, and entertainment, to name a few. Children raised with pets are more likely to be empathetic and social than kids without pets. And having a pet can help enhance a child's self-esteem.


Recent research has also uncovered some surprising physical and psychological benefits of pet ownership for children and adults. And many of the positive effects are not just limited to dogs and cats, but rabbits, rodents, birds, fish, lizards and other pets as well. Here are six of these health benefits:

1. Pets can help prevent eczema and some allergies in children. Babies and toddlers who live with dogs -- but not cats -- have lower rates of childhood eczema than those raised without dogs. And young children who've had a cat or dog since their first year of life have fewer pet allergies than other kids their age.
2. People who own pets make fewer trips to the doctor than those who don't. As a result, pets help keep the cost of health care down for individuals as well as our nation.
3. Pet owners tend to have lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels than people who don't have pets.
4. Petting pets has been shown to reduce blood pressure and heart rates in adults. Even being in the same room with pets, including fish in tanks, can lower blood pressure and reduce stress in adults and children. Indeed, many dentists and other doctors keep aquariums in their waiting rooms. This not only helps relieve anxiety, but reduces the need for pain medication as well.
5. Regardless of age, people who have pets, especially dogs, get more exercise than non-pet owners. While this isn't surprising for dog owners, owners of other kinds of pets are also more likely to be physically active than people who don't have pets. Perhaps as a result of this increase in exercise, adults and kids with pets also tend to have lower rates of obesity.
6. Last but not least, dog and cat owners are significantly more likely to survive heart attacks than non-pet owners, regardless of the severity of the heart attacks.

The Humane Society reports that:

Estimated number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year - 6-8 million (HSUS estimate)

Estimated number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year - 3-4 million (HSUS estimate)

Estimated number of cats and dogs adopted from shelters each year - 3-4 million (HSUS estimate)

So add some love to your life.  Save or rescue a pet and safe yourself.

Do You Watch FOX News? - You Are Likely An Idiot/I Mean Misinformed

A University of Maryland study released this week finds that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed of any news consumers.

I question whether it is "misinformed" or do they simply want to hear only what confirms their political views.  If you want to believe the sky is falling, Thank God Fox News is there to tell you it is.  Or is it that Jesus Christ is coming to save you and banish all those heathen Mexicans (Democrats/liberals/blacks/poor people/homeless people/homosexuals/unemployed/immigrants/etc./etc./etc.) to hell.  The meek shall inherit the Earth was obviously some sort of mistaken interpretational error - by damn us WASPs will not give up The Hamptons and Palm Beach (the damn poor workers may have Miami and New Jersey - we have no use for that).

So nevertheless, The University of Maryland study, called "Misinformation and the 2010 Election," looked at "variations in misinformation by exposure to news sources," among other things, and specifically newspapers and news magazines (in print and online), network TV news broadcasts, NPR and PBS, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.


The study found that daily Fox News viewers, regardless of political party, were "significantly" more likely than non-viewers to erroneously believe in out right lies!!!!  Among other lies:

•The stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points) {WOW - Big LOL.  There were a ton of Republican sponsored tax cuts, which few economist thought helped at all.}

•Their own income taxes have gone up (14 points) {Taxes have gone down and there have been a number of special credits just to give you MORE money.}

•The auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points) {Did you actually watch the news?????  Bush drove (pun intended) the auto-bailouts and masterminded how they should play out.

•When TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points) {LOL -LOL - LOL.  TARP was a bailout out of Banks and Big Wigs.  The rich got richer.  Banks got WAY richer and the Republicans pushed hard to get TARP done.}

The study also found that as exposure to Fox News increased, so did the misinformation.  Is that fuck*** surprising?  The liars are good at lying!

The study was released in the wake of leaked memos that show Fox News D.C. Bureau Chief Bill Sammon instructing staffers to cast doubt on climate change, and to parrot GOP talking points on the health care debate.  So all that Fox News (ok, let me barf) wants to do is parrot GOP talking points.  HOW IS THAT NEWS????

42,911,042

So what is 42,911,042?

Sounds like a huge number.

Is it - Forty Two Million Nine Hundred Eleven Thousand Forty Two Dollars?  No but that is a lot of money.

Sad to say it is the number of Ameriucans on food stamps.  As of Oct 2, 2010, another half-million Americans signed up for food stamps, bringing the number to 42,911,042 participants.

Food stamps are the soup lines of the Great Depression.