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Oil Drilling and the Election

So you think the politicians are pushing the Offshore Drilling idea because it is something that will make the price of gas go down? I guess you also believed that in the 2004 election, that this Administration was going to do something about Gay Marriage? The reality of what this Offshore drilling talk as ONLY about is a hot button issue to get people to vote a certain way. After they are in office do you think anyone is going to be so stupid as to drill for oil off the coasts of California or Florida? It is not going to happen!

You have to understand that the price of oil is all about the market. India, China, Thailand, Malaysia are coming on-line and using more and more petroleum everyday increasing market demand and decreasing available supplies. Drilling off-shore is not going to change that. Just for argument sake, let’s say we start drilling for domestic oil. OK, we get more oil. The price of oil is based on the global market pricing. Do you think that if we had a local surplus of oil, which by the way is never going to happen no matter how many holes we put in the ground, that the oil companies are not going to sell that surplus to the highest bidder no matter where that could be?! Of course they will They are a company in business to make money. Will it bring down the price of oil to do more drilling? Of course not. It just allows the oil companies to get more oil to sell and make more money. Now you have Florida and California beaches that have a nice film of escaped oil on them. So much for the tourism economies of these two states!

It is just not going to happen! These guys are just pushing people’s buttons to get them to do something that is actually against their better interests. It reminds me of when I was back in grade school. The class Smartelic would mess with the kids that were easily upset over petty little things that aren’t true or don’t’ really matter. We are supposed to be grown up now. Let’s act like it. Wouldn’t it be better if there was more talk about important issues like getting out of Iraq, taking care of Guantanamo, and getting a handle on the mortgage crisis?

What should we do with oil companies windfall profits and tax breaks? Since these companies have sweet heart deals with the U.S. Government to get their tax breaks, we need to renegotiate these deals so that if they want the tax breaks, they have to give back as well. Whenever they have windfall profits, they should be required to use that money to do research and development into alternative energy resources.

So when it comes time to vote, please remember what you read here and understand the truth of the matter. This is a “hot button” issue and that is all it is. Please vote for what is good for YOU. This issue has everything to do with Oil companies and their profits. Not your profit!

Addition comments on this subject can be found at the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/opinion/19thu1.html

You are Invited and More than Welcome to also Please Post your Comments about this article originally posted at: http://i-shoptheworld.com/2008/05/31/save-gas-and-money-shop-online/

Michael S. DeVries is the Founder of I-ShopTheWorld.com (http://www.I-ShopTheWorld.com )

How What I Know About Airedales Has Made a Difference

I’m not going to say I’m an expert on Airedale Terriers. I’m not a breeder. I’m not a trainer. And I’m not a dog show judge. But Airedales have been a part of my family since I was child, so what I know about them is what I’ve learned from living with them.

As an adult, my husband and I have had four Airedales — two of them have passed and we have two now — Amber and Krissy. Each one came to us in a different way - Bernie came from a backyard breeder, Max came from a shelter, Amber came from an AKC breeder and Krissy came from rescue. Yes, they all could be described with the typical Airedale traits - smart, playful and determined. But what made these Airedales so unforgettable is not how they were the same, but how they were different.

Max had the most unusual color — his coat was what is called black and grizzle and though that is not the AKC standard, he was beautiful. His furnishings were very thick and he never grew out of his puppy black ears. Max was also the most happy-go-lucky guy. It didn’t matter what happened in life; he was always able to get up each day and wag his tail. This was one of the most important lessons we learned from him and it was the inspiration for my book, Life to the Max: Maxims for a Great Life by a Dog named Max, which was recently published.

Bernie and Amber had and have the typical Airedale black and tan markings, but Bernie’s furnishings were always thin and scraggly, while Amber’s are beautiful and full. Bernie was sweet, patient and razor sharp. Out of the five Christmas stockings we would hang for the family, including the one for Max, she could pick out hers and she would lay under it all night until Christmas morning when her patience would be rewarded. Bernie was stocky, her tail was docked too short and one of her ears was higher than the other, yet she was graceful, gentle and loving. From Bernie, we learned the meaning of unconditional love and how to be good parents.

In contrast, Amber was our rebellious teenager. She really gave form to the depiction of the Airedale “Terror.” Though perfectly proportioned, she was a clumsy puppy — she ran into walls, she fell off steps and her impulsive exuberance got her into trouble more than once. Like the time when we were all gathered around the pool and Amber spotted my son on the other side. Convinced she could walk on water, she took off running toward him and plunged head first into the pool. Thank goodness, we were there to fish out the surprised little puppy.

Amber has also been the most pig-headed of our Airedales. To this day, she has not mastered “come.” Instead she sits down and looks at us like, “What’s your ulterior motive?” When she was about four, she began to calm down and now that Krissy has joined the fray, her patience is really emerging. (One of Krissy’s tricks is to grab one of Amber’s back legs in her mouth and Amber just stands there until she lets go.) Amber has taught us the value of loving, but firm discipline — something that’s been invaluable now that our son is a teenager.

Krissy is a spunky, very petite one-year-old Airedale — the smallest we’ve ever had. Like Bernie, her furnishings are very sparse and her ears are asymmetrical, but her straight, coarse fur is totally different than any of the Airedales who have owned us previously. She does not have the typical Airedale beard or furry muzzle, so her face and body look more sleek and pointy. At first when I introduced her to friends, I found myself almost apologizing for her looks, “Well, we’re not sure if she’s really an Airedale.” Afterwards, I found myself blanching at the thought that I had become a doggy bigot! Of course, it didn’t really matter - Krissy had already captured my heart with her soulful eyes, her funny, prancing little walk and her big guttural sighs that sound like a cow mooing.

Still with all this dissimilarity among our dogs, it made me wonder: were these dogs really Airedales?

My question led me to do some research on the Web and to discover Joyce Miller, a long-time Airedale enthusiast who runs a website (dearjubilee) that offers advice, articles and links on all things dog and Airedale. She is as full of insight, wisdom and energy as any of the Airedales she once bred. After sending her pictures of my dogs, I asked if these dogs were indeed all Airedales. “No doubt they are Airedales,” she replied, “I have seen these variations in the same litter.”

After long conversations with Joyce talking about genetic anomalies and reading more Airedale history, this is what I now know: just because you’ve had one Airedale, it doesn’t mean they’re all the same. Just like people, they are all individuals and enjoying their diversity instead of expecting exact conformity is a lesson we can apply to life. If we were all the same, imagine how boring that would be! That may be the one thing we’re supposed to learn from Krissy. All I know is that I’ve learned something special from every wonderful animal that has been part of my life. And it’s made all the difference.

Robin Reynolds is an award-winning writer who has more than 25 years of experience writing in a variety of formats. An Airedale Terrier lover since youth, Robin lives in Tempe, AZ with her husband, teenage son, and two Airedales. Visit Nice Creative and Life to Max.

Dog Training: Biting Furniture

A sometimes cute but other times quite infuriating habit that some dogs have it to constantly bite the corners of furniture. Sometimes this is something that helps them such as times when they are only puppies and don’t know any better. He could also be in pain from the changes his teeth are going through. That in a way is excusable but there are other times when he is already at an old enough age where biting the corners of expensive furniture just wont do. You worked hard to be able to purchase them and you don’t need them to go to waste because your pet has a very bad habit of destroying it.

There are a lot of people who try to correct this problem but not by the means in which they are supposed to but by hitting the animal. This isn’t acceptable because for one it puts you at risk or being attacked if he decided to and secondly it is just inhumane to beat an animal for your own mistakes.

What I mean by your own mistakes is that this bad behavior is partly if not mostly your fault. Animals especially dogs follow the pack mentality which simple says that they have a leader of their group and whatever he says goes. When you own a pet you need to be able to provide that kind of leadership otherwise he will take it upon himself to do so. The conflict is essentially caused by this struggle of leadership because he thinks he is the pack leader and you think that he should be doing what you say which in a way is also the pack leader mentality.

So in order for this bad behavior to stop you need to establish yourself in his mind as the pack leader. You already know that you are the pack leader and now it’s time that you convince him of the same. The way to do that is to simply take a walk. This has to be the simplest way to do it but it is also the best way to establish who the leader is and who the follower is. Don’t be fooled by how simple this sounds. It is nowhere near simple and will take a lot of work and a lot of patience.

When you go out to the walk you first need to make sure that he walks beside you and not in front of you. Secondly and certainly important is the act of correction. When he does something that you don’t approve of such as pulling you, you need to stop him and correct him to make sure he knows that he did something that the pack leader didn’t approve of. Doing this consistently is the best way to establish yourself as the leader and make him aware that the next time he decides to bite the furniture of the pack leader there will be severe consequences for him performing that action. You must make sure of that.

This author lives in Flemington, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury dog feeders boutique offering variety of dog beds and dog couches.

Dog Training: Pooping At Home

There have been many instances where people have told me that they have a problem with their dog going to the bathroom in their homes. This especially becomes bad if you have carpet and he has chosen a spot that he likes which also includes carpet. This is very difficult to clean up and even if you cleaned it the smell is something that goes everywhere. It stays in the carpet and is one of the hardest things to remove. This article is not about how to clean your carpet but more importantly it is about how to prevent this from happening in the very first place.

The bad thing is that most people that are faced with this problem often think that the animal is responsible for it and they haven’t done anything to cause this problem. They would essentially be very wrong. All behavior whether they be good or bad start with you even if you don’t realize you had anything to do with it. This is one of those times when you need to step back and think about what it is that you have been doing that could have caused this. If your pet is constantly pooping on your carpet its time you did something about it.

The best way to establish the pack leader follower mentality is to go out for a walk. Now you might be reading this and wondering what exactly a walk is going to do for you but let’s think about it for a minute and follow an example. When you go out you need to make sure that your pet doesn’t walk in front of you and drag you around. You need to remember that you are walking him and not the other way around. If he has a problem where he likes to pull make sure you hold the leash with two hands and always make sure you make him walk next to you. You also need to practice saying to yourself that you are the leader and he is not and that way even if you don’t notice it you will begin to exude a leader mentality that your pet will respond to.

He can sense things like this and he will start to cooperate more and more if you are persistent and always make sure you think that way. If your pet does something that is not appropriate or is something you don’t approve of such as trying to pull you, you need to make sure that you stop him and correct that behavior because if you don’t it will make him think that it is ok. Remember that a pack leader does not allow things that he doesn’t like. He will correct the problem by letting his pack know that he doesn’t like it.

That is what you also need to do in order to have your pet see you as the leader and not disobey you. By doing this you will notice that the pooping in your home will slowly start especially when it is corrected. Always let him know that you are the pack leader and he is not.

This author lives in Flemington, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury dog feeders boutique offering variety of dog beds and personalized dog beds.

Dog Training: Urinating At Home

If you are a dog owner and you have a problem with your friend urinating in your home, this article is definitely for you. This bad habit can be the worst because just the smell alone can be something so difficult to get out. You might be able to clean up the mess but if you have carpet the smell will be something that will always linger. There are a lot of people that will solve this problem by just buying a well made cleaner to take care of the smell and hope that he out grows this phase but this is the wrong way to go because it is only reinforcing this behavior to him. This is the first and foremost thing that people need to understand about their pets. They are a bread of animals that react to leaders and when a leader see’s a behavior that is unacceptable he corrects it and makes sure they understand this. He also enforces the notion that there are consequences to this behavior should it happen again.

This is where you come in. You need to be the leader that he looks to for guidance. You need to be the leader who corrects him and keeps him in place and in check. He looks to you for that and the problems arise when you cant provide that. The problem I am referring to is your pet taking the role as leader from you because you didn’t embrace it. This simple task is what causes all these problems because your pet thinks that he can do whatever he wants because in his head he is the leader and you don’t think that because in your head you think you are the leader. This conflict causes your pet to misbehave.

The best way to eliminate this problem is to take control of your pet. You need to embrace and resume the active role of pack leader because that is the only way that he will listen to your corrections and obey commands. This will also cause him to take your threat of consequences seriously. There have been many dogs that didn’t seem to take any of these seriously and just went about doing what they wanted to do. The best way to show your pet that you are the leader is to think it yourself. If you were to think that you are the leader and actually believe it yourself, you will unknowingly exude that kind of feeling. Animals and especially dogs can pick up on this feeling.

Another way is to simply take him out for a walk. During this walk you need to make sure that anything that he does is corrected and you need to make sure he knows this. You need to stop him and correct any behavior you don’t like. As you keep doing this it will translate to the home. You will see that he has stopped urinating everywhere because he knows that the pack leader would not allow such thing.

This author lives in Flemington, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury dog feeders boutique offering variety of dog beds and personalized dog beds.

Dog Training — How To Control Biting

It can be a scary thing to have a pet that never seems to be nice to anyone. It has to not only be scary for someone visiting you to be confronted by a vicious dog but also for yourself because you never know at any moment when that same pet that lives with you could turn around and attack you. This isn’t something that you need to leave alone and hope that it is just a phase that will pass as the dog gets older. Instead it’s something that needs to be dealt with as soon as it occurs because you can’t take the risk of him biting someone and then having them pressing charges against you or even worse have your dog put down.

It’s not something pleasant that you would like to imagine let alone have happen to you. Problems like this need to be dealt with head on and immediately. With that in mind this article is about how to train your dog into submission. I don’t want to say that this training will make your dog passive or quiet. It’s more of a training of you and not the dog. What this means is that a dog bases his behavior on what he senses and feels from them and mostly from you. You need to be his leader because that is what they understand the quickest and the best.

It is also what they did when they were in the mentality of the pack. It is their natural instinct to follow a leader which is how a pack is essentially run. You have a leader who makes all the rules and decides who they will attack and when they will eat and pretty much every aspect of the pack.

If your dog is always growling and attacking people then its time you took the position of the pack leader and use that power to make him understand that you lead him and make the rules and not the other way around. In order to accomplish this you need to first believe it yourself. Dogs feed on emotion and they can sense when you feel scared and when you don’t. What you want to do is give off a feeling of confidence and leadership. You need to make yourself believe that that’s what your role is in order for him to feel that from you. That is always step one. The next step is to take a walk and I mean this quite literally. I want you to take your leash and go out for a walk. This walk can be something that may seem like its something easy but quite honestly it will be the toughest thing you will need to accomplish with your dog because it requires constant attention and dedication. If you are not dedicated to this step than you might as well give your dog up because he will finally end up biting someone and it will force you. Next time I want to go into specifics of what you need to do on a walk.

This author lives in Flemington, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury dog feeders boutique offering variety of dog beds and personalized dog beds.

Dog Training — How To Control Growling

Last time we talked about a potentially dangerous situation involving your animal when it comes to other people. It is quite a dangerous and nerve racking situation when you go over to see someone only to be confronted by their vicious dog who has the intent on either biting you or worse. In a way you can’t really blame the animal because it is his instinct to act this way. It’s not something that he is doing wrong but mainly something that you are doing wrong. In order to have a healthy pet and a healthy relationship with your pet you need to play by the rules so to speak. Your dog responds to certain stimulus mainly you acting like his leader but not so much physically as much as emotionally and mentally.

The pack mentality is something that looks quite simple but it is more complicated than it seems. It mainly revolves around one leader who pretty much makes all the rules and tells everyone what they need to do and how they need to do it. He also corrects them when they do something that is not up to his standards. This same principal needs to apply to you when you train your pet and as the last article said the best way to do this is to take a walk.

When you take a walk you need to be vigilant about what your dog does. You need to pay attention to how he acts and you need to correct anything that doesn’t meet your standards. For example, when he pulls you or tries to jump ahead of you, you need to stop him and correct him by raising your voice slightly and telling him no. This is sure to get through to him if you do it enough times. The main thing you need to always do is be consistent because it won’t be as effective if you stop him one day and then don’t the next because you are in a rush or just plainly don’t feel like it. You can’t slack off when doing this because this is what will eventually work and you need to do this in order to save him. That itself should be your motivation.

When you walk always make sure that he is not in front of you. That to him means that he is leading you instead of the way it should be which is you leading him. As soon as this happens you need to correct him. You cannot allow him to feel or even think that he is leading because only pack leaders can lead and you need to make sure that he knows that you are the pack leader and not him. This is crucial when training him on the walk because this is the mentality that he needs to understand in order for him to be submissive. When you have achieved this submissive state you will notice that he doesn’t get out of line anymore but that doesn’t mean that you can relax now. It only means that you have achieved what you wanted and now you just need to maintain it.

This author lives in Flemington, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury dog feeders boutique offering variety of dog beds and personalized dog beds.

Dog Worms - Has Your Dog Been Infected?

Here’s the thing about dogs. First, they forage for food - just like many animals. Second, they’ll eat just about anything, including feces.

Because of these two traits, dogs are very prone to developing worms - worms which can make them sick and even kill them. This includes heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, and tapeworms.

So how can you tell if your dog is suffering from any of these worms?

Here are the worms that are most likely to infest your dog and their symptoms.

Hookworms

Hookworms are usually found in dog feces. If your dog has a habit of eating feces, watch for this illness. The symptoms of hookworms include loose stool or blood in the stool, bloating, gas, and an unusual appetite. Also, the dog’s coat may become duller.

Roundworms

Roundworms are caused when the dog ingests the egg of the roundworm. Also puppies can become infected through their mother. Signs to look for that your dog has roundworms include vomiting, diarrhea, bloating, gas, and an unusual appetite.

Heartworms

Heartworms most often come from mosquitoes. This usually occurs during the warmer months when dogs are exposed to these pests. Heartworms are very dangerous and, if left untreated, can actually kill your dog. Symptoms to watch out for include lethargy, coughing, loss of appetite, and difficulty breathing. You might also notice that your dog is becoming more tired than usual after exercise. This condition needs to be treated immediately by a vet.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms occur when dogs eat fleas. While this may not be a pleasant exercise, you should regularly check the dog’s rectum to see if there are any white, rice-like parasites in the area. If you, the dog is almost sure to have tapeworms. Symptoms of these worms include an inability to digest food, weight loss, and stomach pain.

Whipworm

Whipworm occurs when dogs eat worm-infested feces or when they step in feces and then lick their paws. A dog with whipworm will often have a bloody stool, an unusual appetite, and will become bloated, experience cramps, and have a dull coat.

Other conditions that can affect your dog’s health include Coccidia which are parasites caused by ingesting feces. Symptoms of this disease include loose stool, vomiting, loss of weight, and bloating.

Another parasite which can affect pups is called Giardia. These parasites are found mostly in areas where there is a lot of water. The ingestion of Giardia can cause loose stool, loss of weight, and bloating.

The key is early detection

Early detection is the key to treating these illnesses. If your dog displays any of the symptoms listed in this article, be sure to get it to your vet for a checkup. Also, make sure your dog receives regular check-ups as this gives your vet the opportunity to check for worms and other conditions by taking stool samples.

It is always better to err on the side of caution and carefully watch your dog’s behavior and habits. If they

change in any way, make an appointment with your vet to get the problem diagnosed and treatment started immediately.

Does your dog need its own house? There’s a popular website that has a lot of good information about dog houses, including links to free dog house plans. Click here to visit this site and learn all about building your dog a great house!

Dog Health - Why Your Dog Needs an Annual Checkup

A once a year visit to the vet is a must for a healthy dog. During this annual visit your vet will check your dog’s heart rate, overall body health, perform a fecal and blood check to diagnose parasites, and keep your dog up to date on vaccinations. A simple annual visit to the vet may not seem like a very important aspect to your dog’s health, but it is.

Early diagnosis of diseases like cancer, early detection of any abnormalities like heart murmurs, and vaccines which prevent fatal diseases will all help your dog to live a longer life. Many cancers today, which dogs suffer from, are now treatable if they are diagnosed early, and dogs with heart problems can take medication to help their heart function well for many years. The key is ‘early diagnosis’, and without an annual veterinarian examination a life threatening illness could be missed until it is too late to

treat.

Identifying illnesses

An annual veterinarian check-up will also help your veterinarian to identify any illnesses in your dog such as ear infections, eye infections, parasitic infections, bladder infections, or teeth problems. Missed infections can cause wear and tear on a dog’s body, and if they progress serious damage to the body can occur. While these conditions are not always life threatening, they can stress the overall health of your dog and overtime harm your dog’s health, immune system, and organ function. Continual stress from constant infections, or severe infections that are not treated, can reduce the longevity of a dog’s life.

As comprehensive as you choose

A visit to the veterinarian can be as comprehensive as you want it to be. You can have the choice of just a short physical and vaccines, or you can have all the necessary tests performed to check the status of your dog’s health. In order for your dog to remain healthy, it is highly recommended that you have a comprehensive physical performed each year in addition to blood, fecal, and urine tests.

Don’t forget parasite control

Deaths caused by parasites are probably one of the most preventable causes of death in dogs. A high parasite load of worms and fleas can lead to malnutrition, reduced immune function, anemia, and poor health; the damage that these parasites can cause may reduce the longevity of a dog’s lifespan overtime. In addition, parasites such as ticks and mosquitoes can transmit deadly diseases. The parasites that you will need to protect your dog from include: ticks, fleas, worms, and mosquitoes.

Mosquitos and Heartworms

Many pet owners do not realize that mosquitoes can infect dogs with deadly heartworms. When a mosquito bites a dog that carries heartworms the mosquito can then transmit those worms to another dog. More and more heartworm infections are a leading cause of early death in dogs throughout the states.

Heartworm disease can be treated in dogs, but the treatments are not without risks; some dogs have deadly reactions to heartworm treatment. In addition, a heartworm infection that has continued for a long period of time may have caused too much damage to the dog’s health to treat. To protect your dog from the dangers of heartworms, always have a yearly test performed on your dog and keep your dog on a strict heartworm preventative regimen.

While tick diseases in some areas are rare, dogs that are exposed to ticks are still in danger of becoming infected with potentially lethal tick diseases. If you are in an area where your dog will be exposed to ticks, or you live in an area that has reported tick disease occurrences in dogs and people, it is essential that you keep ticks off of your dogs. There are products on the market today that will help to repel ticks from your dog, or that will kill the ticks once the ticks latch on to your dog’s skin.

Does your dog need a house of its own? There’s a very popular website that’s chock full of information about building a dog house. It even has links to free dog house plans, instructions for building a dog house and, if you’re not very handy, information about dog house kits.Click here to visit this site and learn all about dog houses

Sarkozy Muscles in on EU Reform

It’s just under a fortnight until France takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union and already the rest of Europe is getting a taste of what it can expect.

At a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Sarkozy said the Union would not be able to go ahead with any further expansion without ratification of the Lisbon treaty.

And guess what? He’s right - but that isn’t the immediate issue at hand.

Sarkozy is a somewhat lukewarm supporter of further expansion of the EU - especially if it were to include Turkey - has in his usual way managed to make the current controversy over the Irish rejection of “his” Lisbon treaty even more muddled.

He has linked institutional reform, which just about everyone agrees is outdated for the enlarged Union of 27, with further expansion saying there cannot be one without the other.

While that might be very true the real issue at the moment is how to deal with the problems that exist now rather than those further down the line.

A VERY quick potted history of recent events without breaking into Eurobabble - never very easy:

Ever since the EU took in 10 new members in May 2004 and then another two at the beginning of 2007 it has been chugging along like the proverbial ship without a rudder haplessly trying to make decisions with a voting system made for 15 countries but with 27 in mind.

Gridlock seemed to be inevitable especially if any real progress in joint foreign, defence and judicial policy were to be agreed and a former French president, Val

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