You’ve heard about “therapy dogs,” but have you ever seen one in action? Nala, a teacup poodle, is sensitive to people’s needs and chooses whom to visit at this Minnesota nursing home.
Warning: This video may cause clouding of vision.
Archive for August 31, 2016
Your Music = Your Personality
I ran across an interesting study indicating that the music you listen to reflects your personality. Adrian North, a UK professor, carried out his research with 360,000 people in 60+ countries and looked at a large variety of music styles. Here are his conclusions:
Blues fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease
Jazz fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing and at ease
Classical music fans have high self-esteem, are creative, introvert and at ease
Rap fans have high self-esteem and are outgoing
Opera fans have high self-esteem, are creative and gentle
Country and western fans are hardworking and outgoing
Reggae fans have high self-esteem, are creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease
Dance fans are creative and outgoing but not gentle
Indie fans have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard working, and not gentle
Bollywood fans are creative and outgoing
Rock/heavy metal fans have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, and at ease
Chart pop fans have high self-esteem, are hardworking, outgoing and gentle, but are not creative and not at ease
Soul fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing, gentle, and at ease
I just thought this was an interesting tidbit to pass on to you. For more details, read Preferred Music Style Is Tied to Personality. Before clicking on that link, though, be sure to put on those headphones and rev up your tunes.
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Adrian North, Bollywood, jazz, music, opera, personality, rap, Reggae, research, rock, soul, study
Epipen’s Cost to Us All
I admit. I have a vested interest in the issue–a granddaughter with a peanut allergy. I want her to keep carrying a non-expired Epinephrine-dispensing device that can save her life. Most people know the device as an Epipen (although there is a cheaper alternative a doctor might prescribe, Adrenaclick).
I don’t get it. Pharmaceutical companies always issue a new product at a high price because “we need to make up for all the money that went into its research and development.” Then, shouldn’t the price go down rather than up — or at least stay the same — after almost ten years of their recouping their investment?
Look at the Epipen, at what PHARMACIES have paid over the years for each set of two pens: $100 (2007), $103.50 (2009), $264.50 (July 2013), $461–up 75%! (May 2015), $608.61 (May 2016). And the price from the pharmacies to consumers, of course, is much higher.
Now Mylan, who makes the Epipen, promises to offer a generic Epipen for around $300 for a two-pack, but that’s the cost to the pharmacies, not to us. It’s still a lot of money for something that started out at a price of $100, which Mylan figured would cover their R and D costs.
Also, people with such allergies should, to be safe, have two pens with them at all times (in case a second dose is needed), plus two at home and two in in any other home they spend much time in (such as a divorced parent).
Oh, and those pens expire in 12 months. Expired ones should not be used because the Epiniphrine degrades, making it less effective or totally ineffective.
Yes, insurance covers the pens. There are two hidden costs there, though: the patient’s co-pay and the rise in insurance rates due to such unreasonable medication costs. A third, devastating cost is in lives lost because a family can’t afford the co-pay or an insurance plan that covers such medications.
I want my granddaughter, and everyone else’s family members, to be taken care of, not to be taken advantage of!
Enjoy a Climate-Friendly Yard
Are you thinking about redoing part of your yard, or even all of it? Now is a good time to do some eco-thinking. The right yard can be friendly to our planet, easy to keep up, cheap to maintain, and beautiful, all at once. Before reaching for your gardening tools or taking a trip to the local plant nursery, consider what is in the article “How to Put Your Yard to Work for the environment.”
A National Expensive Disgrace
What is both a national disgrace AND costing our country a bundle of money? Racism. Read the article Racism costs U.S. billions every year. Part of it says,
“Closing the income gap between whites and minorities, would boost earnings by 12 percent, an economic windfall of $1 trillion, for a nation burdened by debt and an anemic job market, according to a recent study by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Altarum Institute…..
“Minorities make up 37 percent of the working age population now, but they are projected to grow to 46 percent by 2030, and 55 percent by 2050. Closing the earnings gap by 2030 would increase GDP by 16 percent, or more than $5 trillion a year,” stated the report. Federal tax revenues would increase by over $1 trillion and corporate profits would increase by $450 billion.”
Come on, Ryan–Man Up!
It’s bad enough that an athlete representing the United States should vandalize and act like a jerk in another country. But Ryan Lochte himself shouldn’t have made things worse.
Maybe he was encouraged by the people who were urging everyone to “give him a break,” because the swim team were “just kids” doing “mischief.” KIDS? At their age? MISCHIEF? Destroying and urinating on other people’s property?
Ryan hasn’t actually apologized to Brazil yet. His explanations relate to himself, not to others: “I should have been more careful” – “I made a mistake. – “I learned a lesson.” He admits to immature behavior and “over-exaggerating” the facts. And his excuse is that he was drunk.
But there’s no apology to the Brazilians–or to the American people, whom he disgraced.
Come on, Ryan. You’re 32. Grow up. And man up.
What’s in a Smile?
It’s tiny, sometimes bubbling up from within us, sometimes called up because we think it would be appropriate. No matter. As today’s Thursday Thought quote illustrates, it has great power.
“WHAT SUNSHINE IS TO FLOWERS, SMILES ARE TO HUMANITY. THESE ARE BUT TRIFLES, TO BE SURE; BUT SCATTERED ALONG LIFE’S PATHWAY, THE GOOD THEY DO IS INCONCEIVABLE.” — JOSEPH ADDISON
What Would You Do?
Let’s say that, based mostly on a “jailhouse snitch,” you were committed of a crime and sentenced to 40 years in prison. But you didn’t do it. And the “snitch” admitted he lied. And the eye-witnesses admitted that they were wrong when they identified you. In other words, all the evidence pointed to your innocence. But nobody was doing anything to get you set free.
Then you were offered a deal: either spend an indeterminate amount of time–more long years–in prison awaiting a new trial or be released now, with time served and the conviction on your record. Yes, a conviction, even though you’re not guilty. You know your family is living in a homeless shelter and that you can be out there helping them and reuniting the family. What would you choose?
That’s where Keith Cooper stood. He chose freedom and his family. Now he wants and needs his record to be clear. His prosecutor and the Indiana Parole Board have recommended a full pardon for him. Indiana Governor (and V.P candidate) Mike Pence has sat on the request for pardon since March 2014–almost 2 1/2 years.
Obviously this is a flaw in our legal system, as this sort of thing is not uncommon. But something can be done for Keith Cooper. Read a little more about this at the Change.org website and sign their petition to Gov. Pence to grant the pardon.
Smart Phone/Smart Utilities
Use your Smartphone to do your own analysis of your home’s use of water, electricity, heating/cooling, and appliance energy: how much you consume, pay, and add to the atmosphere’s CO2. Learn ways to change that. Download the free app at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heat-home-energy-audit-pro/id537939000?mt=8
[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]