Friday, March 27, 2009

Pet dogs and cats a good way to break a leg, government says


We knew they could bite, scratch or make us sneeze, but Fido and Fluffy may be hazardous to our health for another reason: they can cause us to fall. America's dogs and cats, it turns out, can be blamed for injuries caused in an estimated 86,000 falls treated each year in the country's emergency rooms, federal health officials said today.

Nearly 88 percent of those injuries come at the paws of man's best friend, who's more apt to wound the fairer sex, epidemiologists report in today's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). About a quarter of those spills occur when a pet owner is walking his or her dog, and twice as many women as men are hurt.

"Most people think of pets in terms of tripping over them. They don’t think of walking a dog as a hazard," Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) injury center, tells ScientificAmerican.com. Dogs, she adds, are more likely to be dangerous than cats because "they tend to be bigger and stronger and you have to walk them, which you don’t with cats." Women, she says, are more likely than men to take a tumble if a pup pulls during a stroll, because they generally weigh less and aren't as strong.

Stevens based the estimates on 7,456 pet-related falls treated in ERs that were collected between 2001 and 2006 by the government's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program. Fractures, contusions and abrasions were the most common types of wounds treated in those cases. While children and 30- to 50-somethings were most often hurt, the most serious injuries were in people 75 and older, who more frequently suffered fractures that can be tougher for the elderly to recover from.

Most of the falls happened at or near home. Among the people hurt while walking their dog, a third of the injuries came from tripping over the pooch and a fifth from the canine pushing or pulling them. Nearly 9 percent of injuries occurred when someone toppled over their pet's toy or food bowl. Investigators weren’t able to sort out the circumstances of nearly 40 percent of doggie-related falls.

Scientific American features editor Christine Soares can attest to the dangers of dogs. Soares broke her left ankle in January while chasing her 10-month-old puppy, Murfee, around her dining room. After wearing a cast for seven weeks, Soares is now using a cane and is in physical therapy. "I faked right and went left and my foot didn’t go with me," she recalls.

But Soares doesn’t hold a grudge against Murfee, an 18-pound rescue mutt. "I can't blame the dog. I can only blame myself and the wooden floors," Soares says. "I was angry at myself for trying to replicate the biomechanics of a 10-month-old puppy as a 44-year-old woman."

It's clear why pups might cause trouble – but cats? Nearly 12 percent of injuries from tumbles linked to kitties stemmed from incidents in which a person was chasing his or her feline friend – and ended up tripping over the elusive animal. But as with dogs, the circumstances of the cat-related falls were most of the time unclear.

Care to help us out? Message us about your injurious pet via Twitter or in the comment section below.

Image of Murfee, "worth a broken ankle," courtesy of Christine Soares http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=pet-dogs-and-cats-a-good-way-to-bre-2009-03-26

Ghost Dance-Ghost Dance by Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

NATIVE AMERICAN CODE OF ETHICS


1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen, if you only speak.
2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy - and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance.
3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor.
5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. It was not earned nor given. It is not yours.
6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth - whether it be people or plant.
7. Honor other people's thoughts, wishes and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal expression.
8. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.
9. All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.
10. Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. Practice optimism.
11. Nature is not FOR us, it is a PART of us. They are part of your worldly family.
12. Children are the seeds of our future. Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life's lessons. When they are grown, give them space to grow.
13. Avoid hurting the hearts of others. The poison of your pain will return to you.
14. Be truthful at all times. Honesty is the test of ones will within this universe.
15. Keep yourself balanced. Your Mental self, Spiritual self, Emotional self, and Physical self - all need to be strong, pure and healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind. Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails.
16. Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you will react. Be responsible for your own actions.
17. Respect the privacy and personal space of others. Do not touch the personal property of others - especially sacred and religious objects. This is forbidden.
18. Be true to yourself first. You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first.
19. Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on others.
20. Share your good fortune with others.
May The Great Spirit Smile down on you and keep you and yours safe
May the trail rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sunshine warm upon your face
May the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May The Great Spirit hold your hand in the palm of his handhttp://www.sapphyr.net/natam/nacodeethics.htm

Parrot gets award for warning about choking tot


Willie repeatedly yelled ‘Mama, baby’ and flapped wings to alert babysitter
DENVER - A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored as a hero.

Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter's Animal Lifesaver Award.

In November, Willie's owner, Megan Howard, was baby-sitting for a toddler. Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.
Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich maneuver but said Willie "is the real hero."

"The part where she turned blue is always when my heart drops no matter how many times I've heard it," Hannah's mother, Samantha Kuusk, told KCNC-TV. "My heart drops in my stomach and I get all teary eyed."

Willie got his award during a "Breakfast of Champions" event Friday attended by Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29858577/

Penguins Released After Rehab

Chess Site for Chess Lovers


"Chess Site for Chess Lovers - Chess games analysis - Chess news - Chess videos - Chess history - Openig theory - Endgame study - Middlegame Tactics ..." http://www.chessgambiter.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Lone Wolf vs Sow Grizzly with cubs for Elk Carcass

Mighty Titan The Most Scary Lovely Dog


Top 10 Time-Lapse Videos Show Nature at Work


What is Onexposure?

"Onexposure is an artsproject and a photo community with a difference. Take the most talented photobloggers of the web and other famous photographers as well as many serious amateurs, select their best work and put it all in one place - there you have Onexposure. Everyone is welcome to contribute, but every photo is screened, which means it has to be approved by an editor before being published. Onexposure is like a constantly evolving high class photo gallery with new art every day. We don't judge over good and bad, or over art, we merely decide if a photo fits into our gallery or not. Like in an arts gallery, you can buy many of the photos as prints and hang them on your wall. Onexposure also offers a premium membership, which includes unlimited image hosting and your own professional homepage with complete control over what photos to display. "

The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time


"This is what makes a great rock & roll guitar sound: an irresistible riff; a solo or jam that takes you higher every time you hear it; the final power chord that pins you to the wall and makes you hit "play" again and again. Every song here has those thrills. But these are rock's greatest guitar moments because of what's inside the notes: hunger, fury, despair and joy, often all at once. You hear the blues, gospel and rockabilly that came before, transormed by the need to say something new and loud, right away. Rock & roll has been the sound of independence for half a century. The guitar is still its essential, liberating voice. These are the 100 reasons why." http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/20947527/the_100_greatest_guitar_songs_of_all_time/print

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The 100 Best Websites List


Johnny and June Carter Cash Sing Jackson


Together


If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together..
There is something you must always remember.
You are braver than you believe,
stronger than you seem,
And smarter than you think.
But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…
I’ll always be with you. - Winnie the Pooh
A.A.Milne

Disney's Snow White - Someday My Prince Will Come


Disney's Snow White - Someday My Prince Will Come - For more funny videos, click here

Endangered: The Most Dangerous Bird on Earth


African Lions Accept Man As One of Their Own

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/earth/general/kevin-the-lion-whisperer.html

BLUE RODEO - Bad Timing