contrarycrow

First off, SHE IS FIXED. Definitely not an "in-heat" issue.

I got 2 females, a daughter and her mom a few months ago. They lived on a farm mainly outside but they're not feral and very affectionate. Since the weather's been warm, I was letting them go in and out as they want. But as it gets colder, I don't like them being outside all night. Momma cat is fine with it and she'll curl up with me, but the daughter is stubborn and will yowl at the door until I get fed up and let her out. Sometimes she's out all night until I get home from work the next day because she doesn't want to come inside in the morning.

I give her catnip, I give her food and plenty of attention but I also need her to shut up and be okay with being inside for the winter. I can't just let her freeze out there!

Any advice on how to get her to shut the hell up?

Can anyone confirm with an actual reliable link if this is true? (And is it Johnston or Johnson?)

I remember reading a while ago (this year) about a scientist in Japan (I think) that had discovered how to program subcutaneous cells to behave like stem cells. I haven't seen anything about it since and can't find anything with just a basic search. Ten points to anyone who can provide a link. Thanks!

On 7/16, Michael Savage, made the following statement on autism:

"Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism? ... A fraud, a racket. .... Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is.

What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."

Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool." The worst thing he said -- "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training..."

For those that don't know, this policy "involuntarily reinlisted" people who have served their time in the Army past their contract. Should they get some sort of extra compensation for the extra time ? I'd love to know what people in the military actually feel about this.

Democracy Now had a show about this morning, talking with 2 guys that it's happened to and the director of an upcoming movie about it:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/11/stop_loss_a_...

Back in the days of the Cold War, Russia was a real and tangible threat. More intangible was the fear of communism, which was taken to an extreme with McCarthyism. Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, was for universal health care, a decidedly 'socialist' idea. A lot of Republicans have passed bills that could be classified as 'socialist'. So where does this fear of socialism come from and is it a 'rational' fear in the uncoming elections?

At the same time, we have religious extremists here who want to bomb the Middle East back to the Stone Age and bring on their own Armageddon. We have religious extremists there that want to bomb us. Isn't religious extremism more of a threat to the world than socialism?

And sea floor turbines powered by the tides?

I know some of you are laughing because the Kennedys made a big stink about windmills ruining their view off of Massachusetts. I'm a Dem but I thought that was hypocritical too.

But seriously folks. That is energy we can use right now. That is relief from fuel costs this winter. What about it?

And sea floor turbines powered by the tides?

I know some of you are laughing because the Kennedys made a big stink about windmills ruining their view off of Massachusetts. I'm a Dem but I thought that was hypocritical too.

But seriously folks. That is energy we can use right now. That is relief from fuel costs this winter. What about it?

What changes have you made to deal with this? Obviously you've been dealing with outrageous prices for a while now and we're freaking out over $4 a gallon. What is yours? About $10 USD a gallon?

And still get more growth from a single plant?

I'm planting arugula, radicchio and red leaf lettuce in containers on my partially shaded front porch. This is my first time growing these.

Also: How often should I reseed to get constant growth through the fall?

His wife is an heiress to the Anheiser-Busch fortune, no? Will people think negatively of her, and him by default, if their beloved American beer is outsourced?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=505610...

I really want to read well-reasoned arguments for and against. If you can answer this question with facts and proper grammar, you might win best answer. If you need to rant, go somewhere else.

Did you hear about this and does anyone find this as chilling as I do?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_el_pr/hu...

Did you hear about this and do you find it as chilling as I do?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_el_pr/hu...

I just read that the Houston area is experiencing an invasion of "crazy raspberry" ants, which are smaller than fire ants, and are resistant to common chemical poisons. They supposedly came from a cargo ship. Pest control companies are overwhelmed and want to get restrictions lifted on banned pesticides.

My question is: What can people do to repel or kill these ants without bringing out the "big guns" of highly toxic chemicals (which will also kill other beneficial bugs)? Isn't this long-term public health concern?

Here's the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/te...

I'm so sick of living in a neocon oligarchy. I have no problem with true Republicans. The Republicans I know personally are very nice and reasonable people. I used to admire McCain as a man of principal but lately he's moved over to Crazytown. I've got expat friends in Ireland and Scotland who say c'mon over. I'm seriously considering it.

There's a lot of hateful speech being spewed by both candidates' supporters. Why so mean? A lot of people who don't like Clinton make personal comments about her. The same with Obama haters. Why are so many so angry and full of spite? Don't you realise it will be over soon and we'll have to work our @sses off to beat the hell out of McCain? Isn't calm and reason better than mudslinging?

Just wondering since my cats (mom and daughter) have tufted ears and bobcat-like markings. They were farmcats before I adopted them so I thought they might have a bobcat grannie. However they don't have the short tail of a bobcat.

In Iowa the polls were really really wrong. Why do you think that is? I think there are whole groups of people that NEVER get polled or simply don't answer polls. For example, I use my cellphone exclusively and I never get called. What about people on the Do-Not-Call list? I've worked on phone surveys before and I know even with the best intentions, it's not an accurate representation of the population. I've lived in PA and I think there's a "hidden" population of students (who likely use cellphones only) and busy working-class people who don't have time for surveys. What do you think?