December 21, 2006
How old is my dog/cat?
According to this vet site it's not true that multiplying your dog's age by seven will produce its equivalent in human years.
The first year of a pet's life is roughly equivalent to about the first fifteen years for a human and two pet years are equal to about twenty-four human years. After that, each year for a pet is equivalent to four years.
Dog Human
1 year 15 years
2 years 24 years
4 years 32 years
7 years 45 years
10 years 56 years
15 years 76 years
20 years 98 years
(actually for dogs it's very weight dependant, larger/heavier dogs age faster than lighter/smaller see chart in link below)
Cat Human
1 year 15 years
2 years 24 years
5 years 36 years
7 years 45 years
12 years 64 years
15 years 76 years
18 years 88 years
21 years 100 years
http://www.antechdiagnostics.com/petOwners/wellnessExams/howOld.htm
(Hey! I’m 212 in cat years!!)
Hanukah: Celebrating an oil crisis
The first Hanukah was about a Middle Eastern oil crisis -- not about a shortfall in the desert, a debate over whether to drill in environmentally correct habitats or even about oil found underground.
The oil crisis that led to the celebration of Hanukah was about the oil that grows on trees, olive trees. The oil crisis of 164 B.C., perhaps not unlike the oil crisis of 2006, could only be solved by a miracle... ...more at:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SuzanneFields/2006/12/21/celebrating_an_oil_crisis
St. Nixed: Store Santas Shunned Over Child Safety Fears
December 21, 2006 London - In a development that would make the Grinch smile, Santa Claus is said to be in danger of disappearing from British homes, stores and streets -- a victim of the fear surrounding child sex abuse.
...Concern about lawsuits has prompted many department stores to ban children from sitting on Santa's knee, touching him or visiting him in the traditional grotto (Santa's workshop).
As a result, report author Josie Appleton said children were learning that Santa is a character to fear -- not the jolly, happy figure of years past... Now you've got a standoffish guy, standing under track lighting."
...The Manifesto Club said the current atmosphere of suspicion and fear also has tainted other customary Christmas activities, including caroling, Nativity plays and bell-ringing. Even at such apparently innocuous events as barbershop quartet concerts, adults are not allowed to be alone with children, the report said...
...Conservative Party lawmaker Tim Loughton's office confirmed Thursday that when the lawmaker volunteered as Santa for a fundraising event in his constituency in southeast England this year, children were forbidden from sitting on his knee.
David Pearson, head of the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service charity, had a mixed reaction Thursday to the Manifesto Club report.
He said his group works with dozens of faith and community groups each week and believes that concerns over child protection sometimes go too far.
For example, some schools in the country ban parents from photographing and videotaping their children in Nativity plays - a measure he found ridiculous.
At the same time, Pearson said he had come across several instances in which known sex offenders had been hired to play Santa. Community groups were right to be cautious, he added...
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200612/INT20061221b.html
School accuses 5-year-old of sex harassment
December 20, 2006 HAGERSTOWN - A kindergarten student was accused earlier this month of sexually harassing a classmate at Lincolnshire Elementary School, an accusation that will remain on his record until he moves to middle school.
Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Carol Mowen said the definition of sexual harassment used by the school system is, "unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors and/or other inappropriate verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature directed toward others."
...According to a school document provided by the boy's father, the 5-year-old pinched a girl's buttocks on Dec. 8 in a hallway at the school south of Hagerstown.
Charles Vallance, the boy's father, said he was unable to explain to his son what he had done. "He knows nothing about sex," Vallance said.
"There's no way to explain what he's been written up for. He knows it as playing around. He doesn't know it as anything sexual at all."
The incident was described as "sexual harassment" on the school form.
...Lincolnshire Principal Darlene Teach ...said regardless of grade level,"Anytime a student touches another student inappropriately, it could be sexual harassment."
School administrators at a Texas school in November suspended a 4-year-old student for inappropriately touching a teacher's aide after the prekindergarten student hugged the woman...
...The incident will be included in the boy's file while he remains at Lincolnshire, but Mowen said those files do not follow students when they move on to middle school... (then why bother?) http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=154557&format=print
ZUCKER TAKES ON THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP AND JAMES BAKER (humor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w77sLtz754
Report: Robots will have rights
...Far from being extracts from the extreme end of science fiction, the idea that we may one day give sentient machines the kind of rights traditionally reserved for humans is raised in a British government-commissioned report which claims to be an extensive look into the future...
..."If we make conscious robots they would want to have rights and they probably should," said Henrik Christensen, director of the Centre of Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The idea will not surprise science fiction aficionados. It was widely explored by Dr Isaac Asimov, one of the foremost science fiction writers of the 20th century...
...Robots and machines are now classed as inanimate objects without rights or duties but if artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, the report argues, there may be calls for humans' rights to be extended to them...
..."If granted full rights, states will be obligated to provide full social benefits to them including income support, housing and possibly robo-healthcare to fix the machines over time," it says.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=FT&Date=20061219&ID=6290728
Robots are honored in Japan (I know, not the same thing…)
Dec 21, TOKYO - A feeding machine and a furry, therapeutic seal — both designed to make life easier for older people — were among robots honored at a government-sponsored robotics award ceremony in Japan on Thursday...
...Robots are seen in Japan as one way to deal with a rapidly aging population and combat an impending labor shortage. The country's population of 127 million is expected to plunge 30 percent by 2055, with those aged 65 or older making up 40 percent of that figure, according to government forecasts released earlier this week...
The Robot Award was set up earlier this year by the Japanese government to promote research and development in the robotics industry. Ten robots won prizes out of a total of 152 entries from across Japan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061221/ap_on_hi_te/robot_prize_1
Scientists link weight to gut bacteria
Dec 20, WASHINGTON - Maybe it's germs that are making you fat.
Researchers found a strong connection between obesity and the levels of certain types of bacteria in the gut. That could mean that someday there will be novel new ways of treating obesity that go beyond the standard advice of diet and exercise.
According to two studies being published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, both obese mice and people had more of one type of bacteria and less of another kind...
...growing evidence of this link gives scientists a potentially new and still distant way of fighting obesity: Change the bacteria in the intestines and stomach. It also may lead to a way of fighting malnutrition in the developing world.
"We are getting more and more evidence to show that obesity isn't what we thought it used to be," said Nikhil Dhurandhar, a professor of infection and obesity at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
"It isn't just (that) you're eating too much and you're lazy."
(Whew!! Boy am I releived... pass the chips, I don't want to get up.)
...People are born germ-free, but within days they have a gut blooming with microbes....
COMPLETE ARTICLE AT: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_he_me/diet_obesity_microbes
17 yr old Loses Testical [sic] in Turkish Hospital Due to Islamic Shari'a
2006-12-21 -A 17 year old youth was admitted to a hospital with extreme pain and swelling in the groin. When sent for an ultrasound, a veiled woman radiologist Dr. K. Aribag refused to administer the test and told the patient to return the next day. The young man was disappointed for a second time when the second doctor turned out to be another veiled female doctor who also refused to treat him, due to the Islamic ban on touching a man's body. Finally, after the Chief Physician was involved and a male radiologist was found, the young man underwent an emergency surgery, but lost a testical due to the delays.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/196.htm
Charter to subordinate Sharia introduced to European Union
December 20, 2006 WASHINGTON - An initiative challenging Muslim communities living in the West to subordinate their interpretations of Sharia law to the laws of the land has been launched at the European Parliament.
The Muslim Charter, written by Islamic law expert Sam Solomon and sponsored by Gerald Batten, a British member of the European Parliament, is designed to encourage Muslims to state that they reject extremist interpretations of religious texts that promote or excuse violence and bring Islam into conflict with the modern world.
Groups purporting to represent Muslims were encouraged to sign the charter to affirm that they reject violence and discrimination against non-Muslims, value the freedoms of the West and want to live as law-abiding citizens.
The 10-article charter calls on the Muslim community to issue a fatwa prohibiting the use of violence or threats to their followers
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53441
(Yeah, this'll work)
Ex-National Security Adviser Berger Hid Archive Documents in 2003 Under Trailer
12/21/06 WASHINGTON - President Clinton's national security adviser removed classified documents from the National Archives, hid them under a construction trailer and later tried to find the trash collector to retrieve them, the agency's internal watchdog said Wednesday...
...Berger took the documents in the fall of 2003 while working to prepare himself and Clinton administration witnesses for testimony to the Sept. 11 commission. Berger was authorized as the Clinton administration's representative to make sure the commission got the correct classified materials.
...Berger pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents. He was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and was barred from access to classified material for three years.
Officials told The Associated Press at the time of the thefts that the documents were highly classified and included critical assessments about the Clinton administration's handling of the millennium terror threats as well as identification of America's terror vulnerabilities at airports and seaports.
...Later, when Berger was confronted by Archives officials about the missing documents, he lied by saying he did not take them, the report said.
...Berger took a break to go outside without an escort while it was dark. He had taken four documents in his pockets.
"He headed toward a construction area. ... Mr. Berger looked up and down the street, up into the windows of the Archives and the DOJ (Department of Justice), and did not see anyone," the interview notes said.
He then slid the documents under a construction trailer, according to the inspector general. Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.
"He was aware of the risk he was taking," the inspector general's notes said. Berger then returned to the Archives building without fearing the documents would slip out of his pockets or that staff would notice that his pockets were bulging...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=2741356
I'm not normally a Trump fan but I like this...
Trump To Rosie: You're Sued!
NEW YORK, NY (December 20, 2006) -- Donald Trump is set to sue "The View" host Rosie O'Donnell, Access Hollywood can reveal.
Earlier this afternoon Trump announced he is filing suit against the TV talk show host. "She says things that come to her mouth, she's not smart, she's crude, she's ignorant and to be honest I look forward to suing Rosie," he told our cameras. "I'm gonna sue her and I look forward to it. She's really very dangerous for the show."
Trump declined to elaborate on the details of his proposed legal filings, but added O'Donnell will understand his reasoning. "Rosie will find out what we're suing her for. She knows what we're suing her for,"
he said adding the lawsuit is already in the works. "It's something I look very forward to," he added...
http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah3204.shtml
David Bennett <><
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
http://www.knology.net/~lonesomedove
According to this vet site it's not true that multiplying your dog's age by seven will produce its equivalent in human years.
The first year of a pet's life is roughly equivalent to about the first fifteen years for a human and two pet years are equal to about twenty-four human years. After that, each year for a pet is equivalent to four years.
Dog Human
1 year 15 years
2 years 24 years
4 years 32 years
7 years 45 years
10 years 56 years
15 years 76 years
20 years 98 years
(actually for dogs it's very weight dependant, larger/heavier dogs age faster than lighter/smaller see chart in link below)
Cat Human
1 year 15 years
2 years 24 years
5 years 36 years
7 years 45 years
12 years 64 years
15 years 76 years
18 years 88 years
21 years 100 years
http://www.antechdiagnostics.com/petOwners/wellnessExams/howOld.htm
(Hey! I’m 212 in cat years!!)
Hanukah: Celebrating an oil crisis
The first Hanukah was about a Middle Eastern oil crisis -- not about a shortfall in the desert, a debate over whether to drill in environmentally correct habitats or even about oil found underground.
The oil crisis that led to the celebration of Hanukah was about the oil that grows on trees, olive trees. The oil crisis of 164 B.C., perhaps not unlike the oil crisis of 2006, could only be solved by a miracle... ...more at:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SuzanneFields/2006/12/21/celebrating_an_oil_crisis
St. Nixed: Store Santas Shunned Over Child Safety Fears
December 21, 2006 London - In a development that would make the Grinch smile, Santa Claus is said to be in danger of disappearing from British homes, stores and streets -- a victim of the fear surrounding child sex abuse.
...Concern about lawsuits has prompted many department stores to ban children from sitting on Santa's knee, touching him or visiting him in the traditional grotto (Santa's workshop).
As a result, report author Josie Appleton said children were learning that Santa is a character to fear -- not the jolly, happy figure of years past... Now you've got a standoffish guy, standing under track lighting."
...The Manifesto Club said the current atmosphere of suspicion and fear also has tainted other customary Christmas activities, including caroling, Nativity plays and bell-ringing. Even at such apparently innocuous events as barbershop quartet concerts, adults are not allowed to be alone with children, the report said...
...Conservative Party lawmaker Tim Loughton's office confirmed Thursday that when the lawmaker volunteered as Santa for a fundraising event in his constituency in southeast England this year, children were forbidden from sitting on his knee.
David Pearson, head of the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service charity, had a mixed reaction Thursday to the Manifesto Club report.
He said his group works with dozens of faith and community groups each week and believes that concerns over child protection sometimes go too far.
For example, some schools in the country ban parents from photographing and videotaping their children in Nativity plays - a measure he found ridiculous.
At the same time, Pearson said he had come across several instances in which known sex offenders had been hired to play Santa. Community groups were right to be cautious, he added...
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200612/INT20061221b.html
School accuses 5-year-old of sex harassment
December 20, 2006 HAGERSTOWN - A kindergarten student was accused earlier this month of sexually harassing a classmate at Lincolnshire Elementary School, an accusation that will remain on his record until he moves to middle school.
Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Carol Mowen said the definition of sexual harassment used by the school system is, "unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors and/or other inappropriate verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature directed toward others."
...According to a school document provided by the boy's father, the 5-year-old pinched a girl's buttocks on Dec. 8 in a hallway at the school south of Hagerstown.
Charles Vallance, the boy's father, said he was unable to explain to his son what he had done. "He knows nothing about sex," Vallance said.
"There's no way to explain what he's been written up for. He knows it as playing around. He doesn't know it as anything sexual at all."
The incident was described as "sexual harassment" on the school form.
...Lincolnshire Principal Darlene Teach ...said regardless of grade level,"Anytime a student touches another student inappropriately, it could be sexual harassment."
School administrators at a Texas school in November suspended a 4-year-old student for inappropriately touching a teacher's aide after the prekindergarten student hugged the woman...
...The incident will be included in the boy's file while he remains at Lincolnshire, but Mowen said those files do not follow students when they move on to middle school... (then why bother?) http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=154557&format=print
ZUCKER TAKES ON THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP AND JAMES BAKER (humor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w77sLtz754
Report: Robots will have rights
...Far from being extracts from the extreme end of science fiction, the idea that we may one day give sentient machines the kind of rights traditionally reserved for humans is raised in a British government-commissioned report which claims to be an extensive look into the future...
..."If we make conscious robots they would want to have rights and they probably should," said Henrik Christensen, director of the Centre of Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The idea will not surprise science fiction aficionados. It was widely explored by Dr Isaac Asimov, one of the foremost science fiction writers of the 20th century...
...Robots and machines are now classed as inanimate objects without rights or duties but if artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, the report argues, there may be calls for humans' rights to be extended to them...
..."If granted full rights, states will be obligated to provide full social benefits to them including income support, housing and possibly robo-healthcare to fix the machines over time," it says.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=FT&Date=20061219&ID=6290728
Robots are honored in Japan (I know, not the same thing…)
Dec 21, TOKYO - A feeding machine and a furry, therapeutic seal — both designed to make life easier for older people — were among robots honored at a government-sponsored robotics award ceremony in Japan on Thursday...
...Robots are seen in Japan as one way to deal with a rapidly aging population and combat an impending labor shortage. The country's population of 127 million is expected to plunge 30 percent by 2055, with those aged 65 or older making up 40 percent of that figure, according to government forecasts released earlier this week...
The Robot Award was set up earlier this year by the Japanese government to promote research and development in the robotics industry. Ten robots won prizes out of a total of 152 entries from across Japan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061221/ap_on_hi_te/robot_prize_1
Scientists link weight to gut bacteria
Dec 20, WASHINGTON - Maybe it's germs that are making you fat.
Researchers found a strong connection between obesity and the levels of certain types of bacteria in the gut. That could mean that someday there will be novel new ways of treating obesity that go beyond the standard advice of diet and exercise.
According to two studies being published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, both obese mice and people had more of one type of bacteria and less of another kind...
...growing evidence of this link gives scientists a potentially new and still distant way of fighting obesity: Change the bacteria in the intestines and stomach. It also may lead to a way of fighting malnutrition in the developing world.
"We are getting more and more evidence to show that obesity isn't what we thought it used to be," said Nikhil Dhurandhar, a professor of infection and obesity at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
"It isn't just (that) you're eating too much and you're lazy."
(Whew!! Boy am I releived... pass the chips, I don't want to get up.)
...People are born germ-free, but within days they have a gut blooming with microbes....
COMPLETE ARTICLE AT: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_he_me/diet_obesity_microbes
17 yr old Loses Testical [sic] in Turkish Hospital Due to Islamic Shari'a
2006-12-21 -A 17 year old youth was admitted to a hospital with extreme pain and swelling in the groin. When sent for an ultrasound, a veiled woman radiologist Dr. K. Aribag refused to administer the test and told the patient to return the next day. The young man was disappointed for a second time when the second doctor turned out to be another veiled female doctor who also refused to treat him, due to the Islamic ban on touching a man's body. Finally, after the Chief Physician was involved and a male radiologist was found, the young man underwent an emergency surgery, but lost a testical due to the delays.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/196.htm
Charter to subordinate Sharia introduced to European Union
December 20, 2006 WASHINGTON - An initiative challenging Muslim communities living in the West to subordinate their interpretations of Sharia law to the laws of the land has been launched at the European Parliament.
The Muslim Charter, written by Islamic law expert Sam Solomon and sponsored by Gerald Batten, a British member of the European Parliament, is designed to encourage Muslims to state that they reject extremist interpretations of religious texts that promote or excuse violence and bring Islam into conflict with the modern world.
Groups purporting to represent Muslims were encouraged to sign the charter to affirm that they reject violence and discrimination against non-Muslims, value the freedoms of the West and want to live as law-abiding citizens.
The 10-article charter calls on the Muslim community to issue a fatwa prohibiting the use of violence or threats to their followers
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53441
(Yeah, this'll work)
Ex-National Security Adviser Berger Hid Archive Documents in 2003 Under Trailer
12/21/06 WASHINGTON - President Clinton's national security adviser removed classified documents from the National Archives, hid them under a construction trailer and later tried to find the trash collector to retrieve them, the agency's internal watchdog said Wednesday...
...Berger took the documents in the fall of 2003 while working to prepare himself and Clinton administration witnesses for testimony to the Sept. 11 commission. Berger was authorized as the Clinton administration's representative to make sure the commission got the correct classified materials.
...Berger pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents. He was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and was barred from access to classified material for three years.
Officials told The Associated Press at the time of the thefts that the documents were highly classified and included critical assessments about the Clinton administration's handling of the millennium terror threats as well as identification of America's terror vulnerabilities at airports and seaports.
...Later, when Berger was confronted by Archives officials about the missing documents, he lied by saying he did not take them, the report said.
...Berger took a break to go outside without an escort while it was dark. He had taken four documents in his pockets.
"He headed toward a construction area. ... Mr. Berger looked up and down the street, up into the windows of the Archives and the DOJ (Department of Justice), and did not see anyone," the interview notes said.
He then slid the documents under a construction trailer, according to the inspector general. Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.
"He was aware of the risk he was taking," the inspector general's notes said. Berger then returned to the Archives building without fearing the documents would slip out of his pockets or that staff would notice that his pockets were bulging...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=2741356
I'm not normally a Trump fan but I like this...
Trump To Rosie: You're Sued!
NEW YORK, NY (December 20, 2006) -- Donald Trump is set to sue "The View" host Rosie O'Donnell, Access Hollywood can reveal.
Earlier this afternoon Trump announced he is filing suit against the TV talk show host. "She says things that come to her mouth, she's not smart, she's crude, she's ignorant and to be honest I look forward to suing Rosie," he told our cameras. "I'm gonna sue her and I look forward to it. She's really very dangerous for the show."
Trump declined to elaborate on the details of his proposed legal filings, but added O'Donnell will understand his reasoning. "Rosie will find out what we're suing her for. She knows what we're suing her for,"
he said adding the lawsuit is already in the works. "It's something I look very forward to," he added...
http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah3204.shtml
David Bennett <><
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
http://www.knology.net/~lonesomedove
posted by David Bennett | 4:40 PM
