OT - Slow News Day

Paraphrased quote "when he left ESPN he did not burn bridges he napalmed them".

Ah yes to always be right.

Good sports anchor, lousy newsreader.

Mark

Actually very different things are said about Olbermann and Palin. They share the characteristic of being partisan, but Olbermann doesn't seem to be accused of being delusional with anything like the frequency of the half-term former governor of Alaska.

I liked Reagan, and he did some things that needed doing. But he also made some serious blunders some of which we're still paying for today.

Unless the Republicans in Congress manage to de-fund the EPA, in which case you'll probably want to stay out of the sea and invest in a good respirator.

Which is an excellent incentive to get off one's butt and JOIN the top 5%.

George W Frost wrote the following:

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

True. I have six cats. They keep me busy.

There was this feral cat living in our back yard, my wife--being a woman--insisted on feeding it and even caught it and took it in to be fixed after it had a litter on our patio. On a good day my wife could briefly scratch the top of the critter's head when feeding it, that was about it. I figured if we were going to feed the damn thing we had some affection payback coming, so I set out to train the cat. It took quite awhile, but I remember the day my wife came out on the back porch to see the cat curled up in my lap, she didn't believe me when I'd told her I'd got the cat to do that. Now the cat mostly lives in our house, rubbing our ankles, hopping up in our laps, watching TV with us (she likes nature shows, I suspect she fantasizes about being a lion) and sleeping in the spot I trained her to sleep--a big reading chair in our office. I realize food is a big part of this, not to mention a warm place to be in the winter, but the cat's clear desire to share our company and be near us suggests a certain affection, I suppose she thinks we are her substitute litter-mates or something along those lines. So while cats might be more difficult to train than dogs, it's amazing what you can do if you set your mind to it.

This feature is occasionally useful, as cats also seem to have a remarkably efficient time sense. A few times the cat has gotten me up in time for work when the alarm did not function.

Good story ...

There was a very interesting PBS documentary recently on the domestication of canines, and how wild species become increasing different with each successive generation of domesticity in physiology, physical characteristics (color, for one), and behaviour (eye contact, pointing recognition, etc).

Apparently a feral cat is still, when all is said and done, an animal with generations of domesticity in its genes and will act accordingly given the opportunity.

I watched those 2 shows (if we are talking about the same and I think we are) with absolute fascination. Just awesome.

Moxie picked up a wad of tissue in the church parking lot and I didn't want her to have it, so I tried to get her to give it up. No way she would, so I forced her jaws apart and took it, but as I let go, she lunged for my hand with a very vicious bark to go with it. She didn't draw blood (glove) but that stung quite a bit...and I was reminded of what my navy buddy once told me... inside every dog, is a wolf... ultimately.

"Robatoy" wrote

==================

Ahhhh..., cute little killer dog stories.

Little Bernie, all 13 lbs of him, likes to "hunt" through any shopping bags my wife brings home. He has found "prey" a few times in those bags. My wife makes baby quilts and often buys a stuffed animal to go with the quilt. But Bernie thinks all stuffed animals are prey. Sooooo....., you can guess where this is going.

So both my wife and myself had to make a quick, last minute trip to the store to replace the little stuffed animal for the baby shower. Cuz Bernie "killed" it.

He definitely thinks he is a wolf. No stuffed animal is safe in his presence.

Sounds like the same documentary ... IIRC, this one that included the Russian scientists who followed successive generations of domesticated wolves for 50+ years?

Real science for a change, not the version based on computer modeling from interpolated/adjusted data.

Take a close look at those chompers if you don't believe that. ;)

I'd bet Moxie, being a MaltiPoo is like 6lb Pandi, a ShiPoo, who seems to have a bigger mouth than would fit in her head ... the further back it goes, the wider it gets, amazingly so.

... and the bigger the teeth.

: Actually very different things are said about Olbermann and Palin. They : share the characteristic of being partisan, but Olbermann doesn't seem to be : accused of being delusional with anything like the frequency of the : half-term former governor of Alaska.

He's also quite smart, and well-read, and she's... kind of a simpleton.

-- Andy Barss

Very true, but, I thought the word would have been slaves

That's some pretty funny stuff right there...LOL

"DGDevin" wrote in message news:cbOdncDWz8jRMKDQnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com...

One cat I had I trained to use the toilet bowl to crap and piss in, saved on cat litter The other one, I acquired when he was 12 years old, I tried to train it and when I took him into the toilet and closed the door, a few minutes later he was there beside me in the kitchen, thinking that I hadn't closed the door properly, I let it go, then, the next time, I made sure that I closed the door properly. However, a few minutes later, there he was, beside me, rubbing against my leg. I began to wonder had Old Timers Disease caught up with me already and I had not closed the door? So, I took him into the toilet and closed the door, stood outside and watched what would happen, Then, to my surprise, the lever door handle started moving, then the bloody door opened. The cat had taught himself to open the door. Then I did it again, with me inside the room with him and I watched what he did. as soon as he wanted to go out, he stood on the toilet, then stretched up to the handle and moved it enough to open the door, then jumped down and out the door. Now, you may say, "so what, he learned that from a kitten" But, this cat had lived all of his previous 12 years in a house which had round door handles, he had never seen a lever type door handle before. Cats are intelligent, this one was white Oriental, the other was a brown Burmese and they both had no fear of dogs, Chihuahua's or German Shepherds, one day, I watched the white one send a Bull Mastiff yelping off into the distance when he jumped onto the dogs back and dug his claws in as far as they would go, and all because the dog barked at him.

people who de-claw their cat should be shot.

Agreed. It's the equivalent of cutting off your fingers at the first knuckle to keep from having to trim your nails.

Or to stop you from picking your nose