My dear, sweet wife is struggling with a personal issue that I am not going to share with you dear readers; for obvious reasons. The issue is not to do with our relationship, not at all, but part of the journey of getting a little older day by day.
Yesterday morning, sitting up in bed after breakfast, accompanied by many of our dogs fast asleep around us, Jean had a bit of a weepy session. Today Jean and I are off to see a medical consultant to ascertain the nature of the issue. Not going to say any more than that.
So back to yesterday morning, me reflecting on Jean’s tears, and me musing about what to write for today’s post. There in my email inbox was an item in the latest Big Think newsletter that was perfect. It was called The Science behind Maintaining a Happy Long-Term Relationship and it was by Dr. Helen Fisher, senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute.
Here is how that article by Dr. Fisher opens:
Plenty of people are pessimistic about the state of relationships in society. Dr. Helen Fisher, senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, isn’t one of them. She sees trends like extended periods of cohabitation before marriage and a persistent fear of divorce not only as interrelated, but also signs of a healthy change in attitude toward love. While marriage was once the start of a long-term relationship, she says, today it’s the finale. And that’s a good way to cope with a brain whose primitive regions are driven intensely toward short-term relationships. Dr. Fisher also explains how to maintain novelty, the fuel of romantic love, and how to be aware of the brain regions that affect satisfaction in a relationship.
Now I don’t have permission to republish the full transcript but I see that the video, that was included in the Big Think article, is on YouTube.
I count myself incredibly lucky to have met Jean back in December, 2007 and that out of that meeting came a loving relationship that is more beautiful than words. Well more beautiful than my words so I will let E. E. Cummings say it how it should be said.
That sub-heading is a very old proverb supporting the idea “that even when the outcome of an event seems certain, things can still go wrong.”
That proverb came to me when I was reading a TomDispatch essay that was published last Tuesday. I couldn’t make up my mind about whether or not to continue with yesterday’s mood of “Living in interesting times” but in the end decided to so do. Because Peter Van Buren’s essay, published as a Tomgram, needs to be widely read so that as many as possible appreciate the need to reach out to those that should be supported.
I am very grateful to Tom Engelhardt for his continuing permission for me to republish his TomDispatch essays.
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Tomgram: Peter Van Buren, Minimum Wage, Minimum Chance
To say that we live on a 1% planet isn’t just a turn of phrase. In fact, it would undoubtedly be more accurate to speak of a .1% or a .01% planet. In recent years, wealth and income inequalities have grown in a notorious fashion in the United States — and, as it turns out, globally as well. In January, Oxfam released a report on the widening gap between global wealth and poverty. It found that, between 2010 and today, the wealth of the poorest half of the planet’s population fell by a trillion dollars, a drop of 41%, while that of the richest 62 people (53 men and 9 women) increased by half a trillion dollars. Put another way, those 62 billionaires were wealthier than the bottom 50% of the world’s people, while the richest 1% owned more than the other 99% combined. The direction in which we’re heading is obvious. Just consider that, in 2010, it took 388 of the super-rich to equal the holdings of the bottom 50%; now, that number is 326 people smaller.
Keep that trend line in mind as you read about TomDispatch regular Peter Van Buren’s latest adventures in the minimum-wage economy. Back in 2014, he described for this site how, having lost his State Department job for being a whistleblower on the Iraq War, he fell for a time into the low-wage world. As he wrote, “And soon enough, I did indeed find myself working in exactly that economy and, worse yet, trying to live on the money I made. But it wasn’t just the money. There’s this American thing in which jobs define us, and those definitions tell us what our individual futures and the future of our society is likely to be. And believe me, rock bottom is a miserable base for any future.” His experiences in a big-box retail store inspired him to write his novel, Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent. As last year ended, he returned to the minimum-wage world, now — thanks in particular to Bernie Sanders — part of the national conversation. And here’s what he found. Tom
Nickel and Dimed in 2016 You Can’t Earn a Living on the Minimum Wage
By Peter Van Buren
When presidential candidate Bernie Sanders talks about income inequality, and when other candidates speak about the minimum wage and food stamps, what are they really talking about?
Whether they know it or not, it’s something like this.
My Working Life Then
A few years ago, I wrote about my experience enmeshed in the minimum-wage economy, chronicling the collapse of good people who could not earn enough money, often working 60-plus hours a week at multiple jobs, to feed their families. I saw that, in this country, people trying to make ends meet in such a fashion still had to resort to food benefit programs and charity. I saw an employee fired for stealing lunches from the break room refrigerator to feed himself. I watched as a co-worker secretly brought her two kids into the store and left them to wander alone for hours because she couldn’t afford childcare. (As it happens, 29% of low-wage employees are single parents.)
At that point, having worked at the State Department for 24 years, I had been booted out for being a whistleblower. I wasn’t sure what would happen to me next and so took a series of minimum wage jobs. Finding myself plunged into the low-wage economy was a sobering, even frightening, experience that made me realize just how ignorant I had been about the lives of the people who rang me up at stores or served me food in restaurants. Though millions of adults work for minimum wage, until I did it myself I knew nothing about what that involved, which meant I knew next to nothing about twenty-first-century America.
I was lucky. I didn’t become one of those millions of people trapped as the “working poor.” I made it out. But with all the election talk about the economy, I decided it was time to go back and take another look at where I had been, and where too many others still are.
My Working Life Now
I found things were pretty much the same in 2016 as they were in 2012, which meant — because there was no real improvement — that things were actually worse.
This time around, I worked for a month and a half at a national retail chain in New York City. While mine was hardly a scientific experiment, I’d be willing to bet an hour of my minimum-wage salary ($9 before taxes) that what follows is pretty typical of the New Economy.
Just getting hired wasn’t easy for this 56-year-old guy. To become a sales clerk, peddling items that were generally well under $50 a pop, I needed two previous employment references and I had to pass a credit check. Unlike some low-wage jobs, a mandatory drug test wasn’t part of the process, but there was a criminal background check and I was told drug offenses would disqualify me. I was given an exam twice, by two different managers, designed to see how I’d respond to various customer situations. In other words, anyone without some education, good English, a decent work history, and a clean record wouldn’t even qualify for minimum-wage money at this chain.
And believe me, I earned that money. Any shift under six hours involved only a 15-minute break (which cost the company just $2.25). Trust me, at my age, after hours standing, I needed that break and I wasn’t even the oldest or least fit employee. After six hours, you did get a 45-minute break, but were only paid for 15 minutes of it.
The hardest part of the job remained dealing with… well, some of you. Customers felt entitled to raise their voices, use profanity, and commit Trumpian acts of rudeness toward my fellow employees and me. Most of our “valued guests” would never act that way in other public situations or with their own coworkers, no less friends. But inside that store, shoppers seemed to interpret “the customer is always right” to mean that they could do any damn thing they wished. It often felt as if we were penned animals who could be poked with a stick for sport, and without penalty. No matter what was said or done, store management tolerated no response from us other than a smile and a “Yes, sir” (or ma’am).
The store showed no more mercy in its treatment of workers than did the customers. My schedule, for instance, changed constantly. There was simply no way to plan things more than a week in advance. (Forget accepting a party invitation. I’m talking about childcare and medical appointments.) If you were on the closing shift, you stayed until the manager agreed that the store was clean enough for you to go home. You never quite knew when work was going to be over and no cell phone calls were allowed to alert babysitters of any delay.
And keep in mind that I was lucky. I was holding down only one job in one store. Most of my fellow workers were trying to juggle two or three jobs, each with constantly changing schedules, in order to stitch together something like a half-decent paycheck.
In New York City, that store was required to give us sick leave only after we’d worked there for a full year — and that was generous compared to practices in many other locales. Until then, you either went to work sick or stayed home unpaid. Unlike New York, most states do not require such a store to offer any sick leave, ever, to employees who work less than 40 hours a week. Think about that the next time your waitress coughs.
Minimum Wages and Minimum Hours
Much is said these days about raising the minimum wage (and it should be raised), and indeed, on January 1, 2016, 13 states did raise theirs. But what sounds like good news is unlikely to have much effect on the working poor.
In New York, for instance, the minimum went from $8.75 an hour to the $9.00 I was making. New York is relatively generous. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 and 21 states require only that federal standard. Presumably to prove some grim point or other, Georgia and Wyoming officially mandate an even lower minimum wage and then unofficially require the payment of $7.25 to avoid Department of Labor penalties. Some Southern states set no basement figure, presumably for similar reasons.
Don’t forget: any minimum wage figure mentioned is before taxes. Brackets vary, but let’s knock an even 10% off that hourly wage just as a reasonable guess about what is taken out of a minimum-wage worker’s salary. And there are expenses to consider, too. My round-trip bus fare every day, for instance, was $5.50. That meant I worked most of my first hour for bus fare and taxes. Keep in mind that some workers have to pay for childcare as well, which means that it’s not impossible to imagine a scenario in which someone could actually come close to losing money by going to work for short shifts at minimum wage.
In addition to the fundamental problem of simply not paying people enough, there’s the additional problem of not giving them enough hours to work. The two unfortunately go together, which means that raising the minimum rate is only part of any solution to improving life in the low-wage world.
At the store where I worked for minimum wage a few years ago, for instance, hours were capped at 39 a week. The company did that as a way to avoid providing the benefits that would kick in once one became a “full time” employee. Things have changed since 2012 — and not for the better.
Four years later, the hours of most minimum-wage workers are capped at 29. That’s the threshold after which most companies with 50 or more employees are required to pay into the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) fund on behalf of their workers. Of course, some minimum wage workers get fewer than 29 hours for reasons specific to the businesses they work for.
It’s Math Time
While a lot of numbers follow, remember that they all add up to a picture of how people around us are living every day.
In New York, under the old minimum wage system, $8.75 multiplied by 39 hours equaled $341.25 a week before taxes. Under the new minimum wage, $9.00 times 29 hours equals $261 a week. At a cap of 29 hours, the minimum wage would have to be raised to $11.77 just to get many workers back to the same level of take-home pay that I got in 2012, given the drop in hours due to the Affordable Care Act. Health insurance is important, but so is food.
In other words, a rise in the minimum wage is only half the battle; employees need enough hours of work to make a living.
About food: if a minimum wage worker in New York manages to work two jobs (to reach 40 hours a week) without missing any days due to illness, his or her yearly salary would be $18,720. In other words, it would fall well below the Federal Poverty Line of $21,775. That’s food stamp territory. To get above the poverty line with a 40-hour week, the minimum wage would need to go above $10. At 29 hours a week, it would need to make it to $15 an hour. Right now, the highest minimum wage at a state level is in the District of Columbia at $11.50. As of now, no state is slated to go higher than that before 2018. (Some cities do set their own higher minimum wages.)
So add it up: The idea of raising the minimum wage (“the fight for $15”) is great, but even with that $15 in such hours-restrictive circumstances, you can’t make a loaf of bread out of a small handful of crumbs. In short, no matter how you do the math, it’s nearly impossible to feed yourself, never mind a family, on the minimum wage. It’s like being trapped on an M.C. Escher staircase.
The federal minimum wage hit its high point in 1968 at $8.54 in today’s dollars and while this country has been a paradise in the ensuing decades for what we now call the “One Percent,” it’s been downhill for low-wage workers ever since. In fact, since it was last raised in 2009 at the federal level to $7.25 per hour, the minimum has lost about 8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation. In other words, minimum-wage workers actually make less now than they did in 1968, when most of them were probably kids earning pocket money and not adults feeding their own children.
In adjusted dollars, the minimum wage peaked when the Beatles were still together and the Vietnam War raged.
Who Pays?
Many of the arguments against raising the minimum wage focus on the possibility that doing so would put small businesses in the red. This is disingenuous indeed, since 20 mega-companies dominate the minimum-wage world. Walmart alone employs 1.4 million minimum-wage workers; Yum Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC) is in second place; and McDonald’s takes third. Overall, 60% of minimum-wage workers are employed by businesses not officially considered “small” by government standards, and of course carve-outs for really small businesses are possible, as was done with Obamacare.
Keep in mind that not raising wages costs you money.
Those minimum wage workers who can’t make enough and need to go on food assistance? Well, Walmart isn’t paying for those food stamps (now called SNAP), you are. The annual bill that states and the federal government foot for working families making poverty-level wages is $153 billion. A single Walmart Supercenter costs taxpayers between $904,542 and $1.75 million per year in public assistance money, and Walmart employees account for 18% of all food stamps issued. In other words, those everyday low prices at the chain are, in part, subsidized by your tax money.
If the minimum wage goes up, will spending on food benefits programs go down? Almost certainly. But won’t stores raise prices to compensate for the extra money they will be shelling out for wages? Possibly. But don’t worry — raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would mean a Big Mac would cost all of 17 cents more.
Time Theft
My retail job ended a little earlier than I had planned, because I committed time theft.
You probably don’t even know what time theft is. It may sound like something from a sci-fi novel, but minimum-wage employers take time theft seriously. The basic idea is simple enough: if they’re paying you, you’d better be working. While the concept is not invalid per se, the way it’s used by the mega-companies reveals much about how the lowest wage workers are seen by their employers in 2016.
The problem at my chain store was that its in-store cafe was a lot closer to my work area than the time clock where I had to punch out whenever I was going on a scheduled break. One day, when break time on my shift came around, I only had 15 minutes. So I decided to walk over to that cafe, order a cup of coffee, and then head for the place where I could punch out and sit down (on a different floor at the other end of the store).
We’re talking an extra minute or two, no more, but in such operations every minute is tabulated and accounted for. As it happened, a manager saw me and stepped in to tell the cafe clerk to cancel my order. Then, in front of whoever happened to be around, she accused me of committing time theft — that is, of ordering on the clock. We’re talking about the time it takes to say, “Grande, milk, no sugar, please.” But no matter, and getting chastised on company time was considered part of the job, so the five minutes we stood there counted as paid work.
At $9 an hour, my per-minute pay rate was 15 cents, which meant that I had time-stolen perhaps 30 cents. I was, that is, being nickel and dimed to death.
Economics Is About People
It seems wrong in a society as wealthy as ours that a person working full-time can’t get above the poverty line. It seems no less wrong that someone who is willing to work for the lowest wage legally payable must also give up so much of his or her self-respect and dignity as a kind of tariff. Holding a job should not be a test of how to manage life as one of the working poor.
I didn’t actually get fired for my time theft. Instead, I quit on the spot. Whatever the price is for my sense of self-worth, it isn’t 30 cents. Unlike most of this country’s working poor, I could afford to make such a decision. My life didn’t depend on it. When the manager told a handful of my coworkers watching the scene to get back to work, they did. They couldn’t afford not to.
By the way, when I copied across that image of Peter Van Buren’s book the Buy The Book link didn’t work. If you are interested in buying the book then Amazon have it listed here.
My closing thought is directed as much to me and Jean as it is to you, my dear reader. It is this. Don’t read this post and think it’s too big a social problem for you. Find some way of making a difference. If you have recommendations as to how we lucky ones can make a difference please share them today! Thank you!
A reposting of an item from this place some three years ago.
On Sunday, in recognition of Valentine’s Day, I posted a selection of articles under the post title of Loving Relationships.
Then yesterday my day that should have been quiet and uneventful turned out to be anything other than that! So it was well after 3pm that I sat down in front of my PC wondering what to publish today. I thought that as there had been a steady flow of new readers signing up to follow this place (and a huge thank you – it really does mean a lot to me) I might see what I published three years ago.
To my surprise it was a post about the most important relationship of all; the one with ourself.
So please do enjoy what was published on February 15th, 2012.
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Do you or I really know who we are?
The strangeness of this species Homo sapiens.
My writings of the previous three days have explored the nature of man. The many ways that we struggle to understand so many issues in our lives. In particular the biggest issue of them all since we abandoned the life of the hunter-gatherer. Our very survival.
It would be so easy to beat oneself up. To stare in the mirror and despair at all the unfinished ideas that one has about being ‘sustainable’ shortly before jumping on one’s shiny new tractor, yet another symbol of our industrial civilisation. The hypocrisy, the double standards!
New tractor delivered last December.
But the mistake in any attempt at self-awareness is the assumption that you know who you are! Therein lays the problem.!
Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy is a very smart person. This is how WikiPedia describes him.
Prof. Sautoy came to the realisation that the thoughts that make us feel as though we know ourselves are easy to experience. But where do those thoughts come from? Marcus Sautoy acknowledged that they are notoriously difficult to explain.
So, in order to find out where they come from Marcus subjects himself to a series of probing experiments. With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Jennifer Aniston and a general anaesthetic, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science’s greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are?
He learns at what age our self-awareness emerges and whether other species share this trait.
Next, he has his mind scrambled by a cutting-edge experiment in anaesthesia. Having survived that ordeal, Marcus is given an out-of-body experience in a bid to locate his true self. And in Hollywood, he learns how celebrities are helping scientists understand the microscopic activities of our brain.
Finally, he takes part in a mind-reading experiment that both helps explain and radically alters his understanding of who he is.
All of this is covered in a fabulously interesting episode from Horizon, the excellent and long-running BBC TV science and philosophy series. Thankfully, it made its way onto YouTube.
(NB: In the intervening period, that BBC Horizon programme has been removed from YouTube for copyright reasons. That’s a great shame. However, the following documentary from the good Professor will, I am sure, be equally fascinating.)
The Secret Rules of Modern Living Algorithms
Published on Oct 30, 2015
Without us noticing, modern life has been taken over. Algorithms run everything from search engines on the internet to satnavs and credit card data security – they even help us travel the world, find love and save lives.
Mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy demystifies the hidden world of algorithms. By showing us some of the algorithms most essential to our lives, he reveals where these 2,000-year-old problem solvers came from, how they work, what they have achieved and how they are now so advanced they can even programme themselves.
As Confucius reportedly wrote: Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.
Whether you’re on board with celebrating a “traditional” Valentine’s Day this year—chocolates, cards, romance—or not, this year should be the year we also show some extra love to the animals in our lives. Whether we focus on our own companion animals or forgotten creatures out there in the world who also need compassion, this Valentine’s Day could be the start of a new tradition. Here are a few ideas to really bring the love to our furry and feathered friends this year:
1. Plan a trip to an animal sanctuary
Animal sanctuaries are wonderful places to visit solo, with your partner or with the kids. Most, if not all, states have at least one farmed animal sanctuary where pigs, cows, goats, chickens, geese, horses and many others have found a permanent home after being rescued on the way to slaughter or from their terrifying lives in the animal industries. There are few ways to connect with an animal and appreciate all they have been through in their lives that shine brighter than spending time petting a goat or cuddling a pig.
There are also other types of sanctuaries open to the public with different types of animals to behold, such as bats, tortoises, exotic birds, wolves and wild cats. The difference between reputable and respectable animal sanctuaries and zoos is, in many cases, the dedication to the animals’ needs. Some zoos may have great conservation programs, yet any profit-driven establishment who puts animals on display in unnatural living environments and social groupings does not have the animals’ true interests at heart. Sanctuaries strive toward giving the animals the best lives they can have—public observation is not at the heart of the matter. By supporting reputable animal sanctuaries, you are showing immense love and compassion to animals.
2. Dine on a meatless meal
To have a truly animal-friendly Valentine’s Day, don’t serve any of them on your plate! By choosing to dine on a plant-based meal full of fresh vegetables, hearty legumes, sweet fruits, wholesome grains and satisfying nuts and seeds, you are showing the animals the utmost respect. Try these Valentine’s recipe ideas, ethical wine suggestions and delicious vegan chocolate truffles for the big day! And, if you are interested in reducing the amount of animal products you consume beyond V-Day, visit the Meatless Monday website to learn how to tip the scales gradually toward regular vegan meals.
3. Reach out to an animal in need
Do you have a friend who could use a dogsitter for an upcoming trip? Does your local animal shelter or adoption agency need an extra hand with walking the dogs, cleaning cages and spending time with furry friends? Have you spoiled your own companion critter lately with a new toy, extra play time or some homemade treats? Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to extend our love to our own companion animals and to those around us who also need a little extra love. The rewards from reaching out to a pet in need are tenfold what we expend putting forth the effort. Use this February as an excuse to spend more time with some critters!
This dog is serious about keeping the title of ‘man’s best friend.’ (Photo: Best Friends Animal Society)
Dogs have lived alongside us for thousands of years, earning the reputation as “man’s best friend” for good reason. But while some people may be quick to dismiss a dog’s devotion as simply a relationship based on need, experts say that’s just not true.
“Dogs have developed the strongest ability of all animals on Earth to form affectionate bonds with humans,” says Dr. Frank McMillan D.V.M., director of well-being studies at Best Friends Animal Society, an organization helping adopters find loving companions. “Dogs don’t just love us — they need us, but not just for food and physical care. They need us emotionally. This is why the attachment bond a dog feels for his human is one of deep devotion and is, as has been often stated, unconditional.”
But how exactly does a dog say, “I love you”? Read on to find out.
Your dog wants to be close to you.
If your dog is always in your lap, leaning against you or following you room to room, it’s clear your pooch is attached to you.
“A dog’s affection is most evident in their desire to be physically close to you. This can sometimes appear to be a clinginess, and it isn’t always easy to distinguish healthy positive clinginess from insecurity, but in both cases your dog is deeply attached to you,” McMillan says.
Your dog gazes into your eyes.
When you and your pup share a long look, your dog is “hugging you with his eyes,” according to Brian Hare, a professor at Duke University who studies canine cognition, and research shows that this “hug” has a profound effect on both man and animal.
When scientists at Japan’s Azabu University took urine samples from dogs and their owners before and after 30 minutes of interacting, they found that the pairs that spent the most time gazing into each others’ eyes showed significantly higher levels of the hormone oxytocin, the same hormonal response that bonds us to human infants. “It’s an incredible finding that suggests that dogs have hijacked the human bonding system,” Hare told Science.
Loving glances like this can say a lot. (Photo: Best Friends Animal Society)
Your dog excitedly greets you.
Does your pup jump up, wag his tail and barely seem able to contain his excitement when you arrive home? If so, that’s a sure sign of affection.
“This becomes even more obvious when your dog learns, like Pavlov’s dogs, that some sound signals your upcoming arrival, like the garage opener or sound of your car, and they show excitement upon hearing that sound,” McMillan says.
Your dog sleeps with you.
Dogs are pack animals that often huddle together at night for warmth and protection, so when your dog snuggles up with you, it means he considers you to be part of the family. And these canine cuddles may even help you get a better night’s sleep.
You are your dog’s safe haven.
“Much affection in animals and humans is based on how much you can be relied on as a source of comfort and support in scary situations,” McMillan says. “If your dog seeks your comfort during thunderstorms, car rides, vet visits or other frightening occurrences, then you are seeing another aspect of her attachment bond to you.”
Your dog ‘reads’ you and reacts accordingly.
A close bond with your dog may enable him to sense your mood and respond with affection. “Many dogs who sense that you are upset or not feeling well will demonstrate their affection by spending even more time by your side. They might give you licks or rest their head or paws on some part of your body,” McMillan says.
A cuddly canine can make the day a little better. (Photo: Brian Goodman/Shutterstock)
Your dog yawns when you yawn.
If you’ve ever yawned after witnessing another person’s yawn, you’re aware how contagious the act can be. This contagious yawning is unique to only a few species, and man’s best friend is one of them.
Researchers have even found that not only are dogs more likely to yawn after watching familiar people yawn, but also that dogs will yawn when hearing only the sound of a loved one’s yawn. So if your canine companion yawns in response to your yawns, odds are good that his affection for you enables him to empathize with you.
Your dog focuses on you.
It’s not unusual for dogs to delight in positive attention from virtually anyone, but just because your pooch loves on everyone, doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you most. Pay attention to how your dog acts when in a room full of people. If he stays focused on you or ignores others while awaiting your return, you know you hold a special place in your dog’s heart.
Your dog forgives you.
“Part of the affectionate feelings your dog has for you shows up in their willingness to forgive you for things you do that make them feel bad, such as raising your voice, or misplacing your frustration on your dog by ignoring them,” McMillan says. “Forgiveness is your dog’s attempt to maintain the loving bond they share with you.”
However, even if your canine best friend doesn’t show affection in these ways, it certainly doesn’t mean your pooch doesn’t love you. Just as some people can care deeply without expressing their feelings, so can your pup.
“Be sure not to go through the list above and think that because your dog shows very few or even none of these things, he or she doesn’t love you. Odds are, love is very much there. After all, we’re talking about a dog here,” McMillan says.
And how can you show your dog some love? Engage in playtime, take a long walk, bake some yummy dog treats, or give your pup a homemade toy. Above all, McMillan says the best thing you can do is simply give your dog more of you because that’s what man’s best friend wants most of all.
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Finally, enjoy this fabulous video. (Thanks Sue Dreamwalker)
Published on Oct 20, 2014
As humans animals can be also friends. If animals live together they became often friends. Friendship between different species can be cold as unlikely animals friendship. In this you can see friendship between dogs and cats, Lion tiger and bear friends, Baby Chick and Chihuahua best friends, cat and own friendship etc.
So many loving relationships! So many lessons for us to learn from our dogs!
One Common Thing That is More Toxic Than Chocolate for Dogs!
Note: This is a repeat of the Xylitol warning that appeared in a LfD post on the 4th. January. It is being repeated to ensure the maximum awareness of all my readers and followers.
Deborah Taylor-French is an author and also has the blog Dog Leader Mysteries. It was on her blog that I saw a reference to the acute dangers on Xylitol for dogs, and for cats. So please read and share the following.
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One Common Thing That is More Toxic Than Chocolate for Dogs!
Actually, I didn’t know the answer until I did the research. The startling fact that thousands of
Dog ill or sleeping?
products contain this substance stymied me. There are no warning labels for pet owners. Because these products are made for people, hundreds of dogs and cats suffer when adults or children leave these foods and productswhere pets can ingest them.
This substance naturally develops in grapes and onions. Is also an ingredient often added to gum, candy, mouthwash, toothpaste, and ear medications for children, plus it is added to many prepared foods.
Gum, candy, peanut butter all harmless, right?
WRONG! What is okay for people to eat, proves toxic for pets. Chocolate and nuts are two examples of what people can eat, yet can be lethal for pets. Xylitol damages dogs’ livers. In both people and canines liver failure often means the end of life.
A Tiny Bit Could Kill Your Dog…
In an article in The Wall Street Journal, Mark Maremont reported that,“Besides gum, xylitol is used by manufacturers in products including mints, gummy vitamins, toothpaste, specialty peanut butter and melatonin sleep aids—in part because it has about two-thirds the calories of sugar and is safer than sugar for diabetics. Some gum makers cite studies showing dental-health benefits.”
“A type of sugar alcohol extracted from plants, xylitol is well-tolerated by humans, but in dogs causes a sudden release of insulin, resulting in low blood sugar and potentially leading to seizures and brain damage. It also can cause liver failure.” Xylitol has been added to literally thousands of products. It is safe in these many products for people, but it kills dogs and cats.”
Toxin Levels for Pets in Xylitol Products
Hershey’s Ice Breakers contain 10 times the pet toxic Xylitol level per piece
“Xylitol makes up more than half the weight in certain Ice Breakers flavors, about 1.2 grams of xylitol per piece, according to Hershey’s consumer helpline. That’s about 8 to 10 times the amount of xylitol in some other popular gums. A pack of the brand, introduced in 2006, contains 40 pieces.”
Hard candies, breath mints, toothpaste, tooth whiteners, mouthwash, some jams and jellies all contain xylitol. The U.S.A. Federal Drug Administration does not require warning labels on any of these sweet treats.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal article, “A toxic dose of xylitol—enough to potentially cause low blood sugar or other symptoms—is 0.1 grams per kilogram of the dog’s weight.”
one piece of Xylitol could be toxic for a 26-pound dog
one piece is 12 times as toxic as a piece of dark chocolate the same weight
“Xylitol is extracted from plant material and is available as an ingredient (additiive) in more and more foods, but the amount naturally occurring in foods is very small. In addition to gum, xylitol can now be found in some hard candies, chocolate, table syrup, jams, and jellies.”WebMD.com/ supplements/xylitol
What other health risks does xylitol pose for pets?
“…some animal studies have shown tumor growth resulting from high doses of xylitol over long periods.…” – WebMD Warning for Dog Owners
“If you are a dog owner, be aware that xylitol can be toxic to dogs, even in small amounts”
chewable vitamins
Nicorette Gum
IceBreakers
Peanut Butter (some brands)
chocolate
tooth paste
Xlear Nasal Spray
Note: This list is far from complete.
Please read the labels on anything you put on pet level in your car and home. Dogs love sweets.
Keep these foods containing xylitol away from pets:
onions
garlic
onion like shallots, green onions, etc.
peanut butter
grapes
raisins
chocolate
anything baked with xylitol
Xylitol Poisoning Affects Canine and Feline Livers
Xylitol may kill pets that ingest it. If you suspect your dog of eating any items made with this toxin, immediately rush you pet to a veterinarian.
Symptoms of Poisoning
loss of balance
difficulty breathing
difficulty walking
refusal to drink
refusal to eat
unconsciousness
Please help dog lovers and cat lovers by sharing.
Here’s hoping all dog lovers will receive benefit from my second guest post on 4Knines’ blog. Ready to save pets’ lives? Please share this with dog and cat lovers everywhere. Spread the word about this naturally substance, artificially introduced to our homes in dozens of products. Please share and discuss the threat to pets’ health and lives from ingesting even a small amount of xylitol.
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As I mentioned in my introduction, do share this vital information.
And stay safe! (That applies to you and your wonderful animals!)
For the last two days there has been a post running explaining the desparate need for donations to be sent to MaxMello, the Brazilian charity run by Sandra Guilarducci and her husband, Francisco, in Ibiuna, Brazil.
Earlier yesterday, John Zande in Brazil sent me an email:
Morning Paul. Sandra wrote to G this morning. Portuguese and English translation below.
ah querida Dionete…ando tão cansada, tão cansada… na segunda de carnaval lá estava eu num laboratório em Cotia com a minha cachorra Nicole, fazendo eletrocardiograma e hemograma. Não paramos nunca aqui. Tem tantos cães soltos no sítio em Piedade por falta de canis e isso gera um estresse que vc nem imagina, além de brigas. Dentro da minha casa, aqui em Ibiúna, vivem 62 cães, que não podem ficar lá fora porque senão os outros matam, aqui em IBiúna o espaço é super pequeno. Enfim…, sempre correndo com eles, sempre tem um ou outro com problemas de saúde, ainda tenho vários pra castrar e…não tem fim. Mas a sua ajuda tem sido importantíssima pra gente. Que Deus te abençõe sempre e sempre. Ficamos emocionados demais com essas publicações no exterior (graças a vc, claro !) e esperamos cheios de esperanças mesmo, que isso gere frutos em pról de toda essa galerinha que abrigamos. Que vc e seus amigos envolvidos nessa nossa luta sejam cobertos de prosperidade, saúde e bênçãos. Quando puder, vamos marcar de vir aqui, será um prazer imenso poder te abraçar e agradecer pessoalmente. Forte abraço, cheio de gratidão.
Ah dear Dionete …I am soooo tired… on Monday I had to take my dog Nicole to a clinic in Cotia for an ECG and blood test. We never stop around here. There are too many dogs in the property in Piedade – we don’t have kennels for all of them – and the amount of stress it generates is almost too much to bear. And the fights! Here in Ibiúna I have to keep 62 dogs inside my house; they can’t go outside otherwise they will be killed by the others. And they don’t have much room. Anyway… always running up and down for them, there’s always one or another who gets sick or needs treatment, many to still be neutered… it’s an endless task. But your help has been very important for us. May God bless you always and forever. We are thrilled to see these publications abroad (thanks to you, of course!) and do hope it generates the help these little creatures desperately need. May you and your friends involved in our struggle be covered with prosperity, health and blessings. Let’s try to set up a visit. It will be an immense pleasure to hug you and thank you personally. Big hugs full of gratitude
So all of you who have cared for Sandra and Francisco know that it counts.
Do drop across to their Facebook page here, from where the following photographs have been taken.
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So, once again, if you can see your way to help, by sharing this information or by making even the tiniest donation, then please do. The MaxMello PayPal account is: associacaomaxmello@gmail.com
Big hugs to every one of you out there!
Update: This is a translation of a recent comment left by Sandra on MaxMello’s Facebook page.
Friends, thanks to the generosity of you guys have raised almost 9 thousand Real. Our survival challenge continues, but we know that we are not alone in this fight. Our total debt is 36,450 Real and we need help to stamp her out. Any amount makes a big difference. As we have received many requests for the bank details, follow the possibilities:
Bradesco
Agência:1937-2
Current account: 16505-0
Social Security Number: 766.545.758-49
Sandra Maria Guilarducci
Caixa econômica federal
Agency: 0800
Arr. Operational: 003
Current account: 692-4
A Social Security Number: 16.729.925/0001-08
To those who are outside of Brazil, the transfer can be made via Paypal to the email associacaomaxmello@gmail.com
Very, very thank you all for the affection and solidarity.
This is a very simple message – please help MaxMello.
(Please note: To ensure the widest readership of this post I am running it for two days. I.e. the next post will be on Thursday, 11th.)
Yesterday I republished a post from John Zande. It explained how Sandra Guilarducci and her husband, Francisco, in Ibiuna, Brazil were caring for over 350 dogs and 32 cats. If you haven’t read that post then go no further in today’s post until you have read about the desparate need for funds.
Here’s a section from yesterday’s post (but please do read it in full):
Today, MaxMello burns through 5 tonnes of food every month, and a small army of vets help with reduced fees. But it all adds up. It has added up, and over this past weekend, Sandra was forced to admit that she and Francisco (weighed down with over 30,000 reis debt, about $10,000 US, to vets and pet food suppliers) had reached the point beyond which they simply could no longer afford to keep the shelter open. Sandra put out an urgent call to other NGO’s, saying she will keep the sick, the crippled, and the old (the one’s that stand little to no chance of adoption) but new shelter-homes would have to be found for the hundreds of other rescues under their care. With every NGO we know of here in Sao Paulo being already full, this is, in all honesty, an impossible situation. These are good people, and they (and their keep) are in genuine need of a hand.
Please, help keep MaxMello open and donate to the MaxMello PayPal account: associacaomaxmello@gmail.com.
But just as important as making whatever donation you can is letting Sandra and Francisco know you care.
Yesterday, Jean and I sent a letter to John for John’s wife to translate from English into Portugese as Sandra and Francisco do not speak English. We wanted them to read our letter in this post.
So this is the letter in Portugese:
Sandra e Francisco,
Aqui no sul do Oregon, hoje temos 9 cachorros e 4 gatos; há três anos, quando viemos para cá, eram 14 cães e 7 gatos. Eu simplesmente não consigo imaginar o que deve ser cuidar de 350 cachorros e 32 gatos, ainda mais divididos entre duas propriedades diferentes, separadas por 200 km!
Entretanto, Jean sabe bem o tamanho do amor e da dedicação que movem sua paixão por esses animais maravilhosos – porque ela vivia em San Carlos, no México (na Península Baja) e dedicava a vida a recolher os cachorros de rua de lá, tratando de sua saúde, dando-lhes amor e conseguindo adotantes para eles nos EUA. Ao longo de vários anos, Jean acredita ter resgatado mais de 200 cães. A alimentação e tratamento de todos esses animais foram custeados por ela e o marido, Ben, que morreu em 2005.
Foi meio por acaso que a conheci, em San Carlos, no Natal de 2007, e me via com os olhos cheios de lágrimas ao ver a afeição que os cachorros dela demonstravam ao me ver, toda vez que ia visitá-la em sua casa. E essa afeição deve ter causado um efeito profundo em mim, pois, quando voltei para a Inglaterra, em janeiro de 2008, Jean e eu percebemos que queríamos ficar juntos para o resto da vida. Mais tarde, nesse mesmo ano, ao lado do meu pastor alemão, Pharaoh, voltei para San Carlos. Não demorou muito, com 14 cachorros e 7 gatos, fomos para o Arizona, onde nos casamos, e por fim, no segundo semestre de 2012, viemos para o Oregon, onde estamos até hoje.
Pouco antes de sairmos de San Carlos, em 2010, uma cachorra foi deixada na porta de nossa casa. Era uma mestiça de rottweiler e devia ter acabado de dar cria porque ainda estava cheia de leite. Nós a batizamos de Hazel e quase de cara ela mostrou sua natureza amorosa para Jean, para mim e os outros animais. Hazel é uma inspiração para a humanidade graças ao perdão e ao amor incondicional que oferece ao mundo.
Por isso, aceite essas poucas palavras minhas e de Jean, endereçadas aos dois, como uma pequena amostra de amor e gratidão que sentimos por vocês e que certamente também serão sentidos pelos leitores e seguidores do Learning from Dogs
And here is the letter in English:
Sandra and Francisco,
Here in Southern Oregon we have 9 dogs and 4 cats, down from the 14 dogs and 7 cats when we moved here some 3 years ago. I cannot simply imagine what it must entail to care for 350 dogs and 32 cats let alone care for them in two locations seperated by 200 kms!
However Jean can imagine the level of love and commitment that fuels your passion for looking after these wonderful animals. For Jean, when she lived in San Carlos, Mexico (on the Baja Peninsula) devoted her life to rescuing Mexican street dogs, loving them back to health and then finding homes for them in the USA. Over the many years Jean believes she found homes for well over 200 dogs. The feeding and caring of these animals was funded personally by Jean and her late husband, Ben, who died in 2005.
Quite by chance, I met Jean in San Carlos the Christmas of 2007 and was moved to tears on numerous occasions by the loving affection shown by her dogs to this visitor to Jean’s home. That affection must have rubbed off on me for by the time I returned to England in January, 2008 Jean and I wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. Later in 2008, together with my German Shepherd, Pharaoh, I travelled out to San Carlos. Subsequently, with 14 dogs and 7 cats, we moved to Arizona to be married and then, in the Autumn of 2012, came up here to our home in Oregon.
Shortly before we left San Carlos in 2010 to go to Arizona, a female dog was dumped outside the house. She was a Rottweiler crossbreed and must have just given birth to puppies for she was still in milk. We named her Hazel and she very quickly showed her most beautiful and loving nature to Jean and me and to the other animals. Hazel is an inspiration to humankind of what flows from offering forgiveness and unconditional love to the world.
So please take these few words from Jean and me, sent to you both, as a small measure of the love and gratitude that we feel for you, and I know will be felt by many of the readers and followers of Learning from Dogs.
I also want to republish a comment from yesterday’s post, left by Mr. Merveilleux, because it speaks such perfect common-sense:
As Zande’s explained, the current exchange rate means donations go a very long way. Keep in mind the minimum wage in Brazil is only around £130 p/month. By skipping one little luxury this month, like going out for a meal today, and sending what one would have spent on that to the shelter, we can all make make a substantial difference to the lives of these animals.
My suggestion is for people not to just reach for the change they’ve got in the car ashtray, but consider a little, insignificant sacrifice that will do one no harm, but will have a disproportionately positive effect.
Skip one bottle of champagne, or a bottle of wine, or don’t buy flowers this week… skip any little thing that one doesn’t really *need*, and put that money to good use.
Let me move on a tad.
As is obvious to any visitors to this place in the last 6 weeks, I have just published my first book. It is called Learning from Dogs, the same name as this blog. I am also donating 50% of the net proceeds from all sales of my book to our local Rogue Valley Humane Society.
However, for the whole of the month of February I shall be donating the other 50% of net proceeds to MaxMello.
So, please, buy the book and help two fabulous charities. The book is available as a paperback, priced $15.95, or either of two eBook formats, MOBI and EPUB, priced at $5:39. Full details here: Buy the Book.
Of course, you may also buy the book from Amazon or you can order it from most booksellers.
If you prefer to purchase it direct from me but do not wish to pay online, then mail me (as in Paul Handover) a cheque for $18.67 ($15.95 + P&P of $2.72) and I will send it to any part of the USA. (For overseas paperback purchasers who do not wish to pay online then email me your address details and I will respond within 48 hours.) My email address is learningfromdogs (at) gmail (dot) com
All of this is part of never forgetting how important it is to care for our dogs – they are man’s oldest companion and have devoted themselves to caring for us for possibly 40,000 years. Is it asking too much to help these dogs in Brazil in return!
Hazel showing her love and caring for our cat, George. Both animals are ex rescues from Mexico. Picture taken last Sunday evening.
A wonderful story of the love for dogs and cats shown by two people in Brazil.
As is the way in this world of blogging, a few months ago I connected with John Zande. He is an Australian living in Brazil and blogs under the name of The Superstitious Naked Ape. John is also the author of the book The Owner of All Infernal Names, which I reviewed last October (and greatly enjoyed!).
All the proceeds from the sale of John’s book go towards animal rescue and shelter in Brazil and that offers a strong clue to the purpose of today’s post.
So with that in mind, please read the following post published by John on February 3rd and republished here with John’s permission. (And please make a note to return tomorrow and read the sequel that will explain how you and I can make a positive difference.)
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The MaxMello Association for the Support of Animal Life needs an urgent hand
“You can judge a man’s true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.”
― Paul McCartney
Twelve years ago, Sandra Guilarducci and her husband, Francisco, started the NGO Associação MaxMello de Amparo à Vida Animal (MaxMello Association for the Support of Animal Life) in Ibiuna (a small city in Sao Paulo state, Brazil), to rescue, treat, house, and place stray and abandoned dogs in loving homes. Animal dumping is a tremendous problem in Brazil, and MaxMello today is home to over 350 dogs and 32 cats sheltered in two properties’s separated by 200 kilometres; a drive Sandra undertakes every single day. Sandra and Francisco never once imagined taking care of so many, but over the years their shelter has become a convenient dumping ground with boxes of puppies simply left on the road, together with the old, the sick, and the unwanted. These are not people who can say, “No,” so every four-legged case left on the road, or rescued by Sandra and Francisco in and around Ibiuna, gets a home and all medical assistance they require.
Today, MaxMello burns through 5 tonnes of food every month, and a small army of vets help with reduced fees. But it all adds up. It has added up, and over this past weekend, Sandra was forced to admit that she and Francisco (weighed down with over 30,000 reis debt, about $10,000 US, to vets and pet food suppliers) had reached the point beyond which they simply could no longer afford to keep the shelter open. Sandra put out an urgent call to other NGO’s, saying she will keep the sick, the crippled, and the old (the one’s that stand little to no chance of adoption) but new shelter-homes would have to be found for the hundreds of other rescues under their care. With every NGO we know of here in Sao Paulo being already full, this is, in all honesty, an impossible situation. These are good people, and they (and their keep) are in genuine need of a hand.
Please, help keep MaxMello open and donate to the MaxMello PayPal account: associacaomaxmello@gmail.com. This urgent and immediate appeal has so far raised R$4,500 since the weekend, which is truly fantastic, but we are still a long, long way from giving Sandra and Francisco the breathing room they need to keep this shelter open.
Below is a MaxMello video (in English), with other videos on their You Tube page, including news reports produced by the TV stations, Record and SBT. This link, Associação MaxMello de Amparo à Vida Animal, will take you to their Facebook page, and for anyone interested, you can review their current debts there. Please take 30 minutes to scroll through the Facebook photos and watch the videos, and you will see the selfless work Sandra and Francisco do. Any help anyone can provide would be enormously, enormously, appreciated.
Donations, again, can be made via PayPal, at: associacaomaxmello@gmail.com
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As I wrote in my introduction, please come back and read the sequel post tomorrow.
(Big thanks to neighbour Dordie who sent these to me.)
Few friendships can compare to the bond between a child and their pet. Pets provide companionship, they help kids learn, they encourage nurturing, they keep them healthy and help build beautiful family bonds. Let’s take a look at some of the cutest kid-and-pet pictures around.
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The second set will not be next Sunday owing to that day being Valentine’s Day and I have plans for that day! 😉 So part two of this wonderful three-part series of photographs will be Sunday, 21st February.
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In New York, for instance, the minimum went from $8.75 an hour to the $9.00 I was making. New York is relatively generous. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 and 21 states require only that federal standard. Presumably to prove some grim point or other, Georgia and Wyoming officially mandate an even lower minimum wage and then unofficially require the payment of $7.25 to avoid Department of Labor penalties. Some Southern states set no basement figure, presumably for similar reasons.
By: Katie Medlock February 8, 2016
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ooooToday, MaxMello burns through 5 tonnes of food every month, and a small army of vets help with reduced fees. But it all adds up. It has added up, and over this past weekend, Sandra was forced to admit that she and Francisco (weighed down with over 30,000 reis debt, about $10,000 US, to vets and pet food suppliers) had reached the point beyond which they simply could no longer afford to keep the shelter open. Sandra put out an urgent call to other NGO’s, saying she will keep the sick, the crippled, and the old (the one’s that stand little to no chance of adoption) but new shelter-homes would have to be found for the hundreds of other rescues under their care. With every NGO we know of here in Sao Paulo being already full, this is, in all honesty, an impossible situation. These are good people, and they (and their keep) are in genuine need of a hand.
is called Learning from Dogs, the same name as this blog. I am also donating 50% of the net proceeds from all sales of my book to our local Rogue Valley Humane Society.
All the proceeds from the sale of John’s book go towards animal rescue and shelter in Brazil and that offers a strong clue to the purpose of today’s post.
MaxMello de Amparo à Vida Animal (MaxMello Association for the Support of Animal Life) in Ibiuna (a small city in Sao Paulo state, Brazil), to rescue, treat, house, and place stray and abandoned dogs in loving homes. Animal dumping is a tremendous problem in Brazil, and MaxMello today is home to over 350 dogs and 32 cats sheltered in two properties’s separated by 200 kilometres; a drive Sandra undertakes every single day. Sandra and Francisco never once imagined taking care of so many, but over the years their shelter has become a convenient dumping ground with boxes of puppies simply left on the road, together with the old, the sick, and the unwanted. These are not people who can say, “No,” so every four-legged case left on the road, or rescued by Sandra and Francisco in and around Ibiuna, gets a home and all medical assistance they require.
Today, MaxMello burns through 5 tonnes of food every month, and a small army of vets help with reduced fees. But it all adds up. It has added up, and over this past weekend, Sandra was forced to admit that she and Francisco (weighed down with over 30,000 reis debt, about $10,000 US, to vets and pet food suppliers) had reached the point beyond which they simply could no longer afford to keep the shelter open. Sandra put out an urgent call to other NGO’s, saying she will keep the sick, the crippled, and the old (the one’s that stand little to no chance of adoption) but new shelter-homes would have to be found for the hundreds of other rescues under their care. With every NGO we know of here in Sao Paulo being already full, this is, in all honesty, an impossible situation. These are good people, and they (and their keep) are in genuine need of a hand.
Please, help keep MaxMello open and donate to the MaxMello PayPal account: associacaomaxmello@gmail.com. This urgent and immediate appeal has so far raised R$4,500 since the weekend, which is truly fantastic, but we are still a long, long way from giving Sandra and Francisco the breathing room they need to keep this shelter open.
Below is a MaxMello video (in English), with other videos on their You Tube page, including news reports produced by the TV stations, Record and SBT. This link, Associação MaxMello de Amparo à Vida Animal, will take you to their Facebook page, and for anyone interested, you can review their current debts there. Please take 30 minutes to scroll through the Facebook photos and watch the videos, and you will see the selfless work Sandra and Francisco do. Any help anyone can provide would be enormously, enormously, appreciated.
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Learning from Dogs 