that each day 10000 humans are born in the US – and each day 70000 puppies and kittens are born?

This slideshow speaks for itself (res ipsa loquitur).

Immanuel Kant - He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.

If I'd only had some classes

My family brought me home
cradled in their arms.
They cuddled me and smiled at me,
and said I was full of charm.

They played and laughed with me,
they showered me with toys.
I sure do love my family,
especially the girls and boys.

The children loved to feed me,
they gave me special treats.
They even let me sleep with them,
all snuggled in the sheets.

I used to go for walks,
often several times a day.
They even fought to hold the leash,
I'm very proud to say.

These things I'll never forget
a cherished memory.
I now live in the shelter
without my family.

They used to laugh and praise me
when I played with that old shoe.
But I didn't know the difference
between the old ones and new.

The kids and I would grab a rag
for hours we would tug.
So I thought I did the right thing
when I chewed the bedroom rug.

They said that I was out of control,
and would have to live outside.
This I did not understand,
although I tried and tried.

The walks stopped, one by one;
they said they didn't have time.
I wish I could change things,
I wish I knew my crime.

My life became so lonely,
in the backyard on a chain.
I barked and barked all day long
to keep from going insane.

So they brought me to the shelter
but were embarrassed to say why.
They said I caused an allergy,
and then kissed me good-bye.

If I'd only had some classes
as a little pup,
I wouldn't have been so hard to
handle when I was all grown up.

"You only have one day left"
I heard a worker say.
Does this mean a second chance?
Do I go home today?

that anyone could think entire breeds of dogs should be outlawed?

Have a tissue ready for this video:

www.sorryagain.com

Click on title for more info. http://www.pitbull.us/

that losing your marbles can be a good thing?

I received this, and it meant something to me, I hope it means something to you too…..

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement ham-shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other.

What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice.

You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.

Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.

I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.

I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles...

A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.

And so, as one smart bear once said..."If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.

Pass this on to all of your FRIENDS, even if it means sending it to the person that sent it to you.

And if you receive this e-mail many times from many different people, it only means that you have many FRIENDS.

And if you get it but once, do not be discouraged for you will know that you have at least one good friend...

And that would be ME

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need the money, love like you have never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching!!"

that people care so little about things that matter?

Recently I saw a bumper sticker that read "He who dies with the most toys is dead". That's reality. Always liked, "He who dies with the most ethics wins". Never met a person that was made truly happy by the gathering of the "most toys". In fact it seems to me the most miserable people around ARE the people with the "most toys".

Just think how different our lives would be if we all lived them everyday as if each day was our last and with the goal of only doing good things? Is there really any other criteria we will have on our deathbeds to judge ourselves besides how much good we have accomplished? Do you really think how much money and power you accumulated in life will be a part of that deathbed evaluation?

The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates

that our president is openly breaking the law?

and declaring what laws he will ignore as he deems appropriate?