Killer onions...dog and cat alert

Onions are among several foods toxic to dogs and cats...see Dr. Yin's article here.

Caring for soldier's pets

Check out this program that helps soldiers and their companion animals.

NYC sight-seeing & saving with CityPass

Robin's travel piece on New York City icons...sight-seeing with new CityPass savings. In Aug. 30 editions of the Examiner newspaper. DC edition here.

VegFest DC Sept. 12

Finally there's a vegetarian fest in DC. Free booklets, cool talks, facts to counter food profiteer propaganda.

Fate of racehorses

Run for the money, many are disposed as if trash. Good sports article here.

Cooking 101 for the young and hungry

Robin's piece about Freshman in the Kitchen author Max Sussman, who is sous chef at Ann Arbor's hot restaurant named eve (yes, lower case). The article's in the Examiner print and web newspapers...here's one edition.

Junk instruments

Recycling debris into music instruments - Robin's article in various editions of the Examiner. Here's one.

Health care reform - good read

Good concise article addressing myths and realities about health care and insurance in the U.S. and worldwide.

Enlightened fighters

Good piece about former dogfighters and others happily enlightened.

Fixing the cheap, immoral food system

The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans. Read the article here. By the way, most animal agriculture takes place in horrid factory-like conditions, not like the farm shown in this photo.

Throwaway economy's high cost

Facts and figures on the high cost of our throwaway economy here.

Farm Sanctuary: saved from the slaughterhouse

"Rescued from slaughterhouses, stockyards and other “food animal” production facilities, these creatures find themselves in a bucolic idyll run by vegan activists.... They are more interested in improving the appalling conditions under which animals become food." Good folks running an interesting alternative farm - read on.

Spiritual vs. material gospel - great book

In "American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God," Erik Reece offers a more sensible interpretation of scripture, one that compels acting like Jesus on earth instead of banking on a free ticket to heaven. From another review: "Reece, author of the award-winning Lost Mountain, is the son and grandson of Baptist preachers. His own religious world-view, however, comes not from traditional Protestant Christianity, but from American thinkers such as Walt Whitman, Thomas Jefferson, William James and the lesser-known scientist Lynn Margulis.... He is searching for a form of Christianity that he can live with, since he believes that the usual sources are unhelpfully dogmatic. The primary tension is a classic one: the struggle between the material and spiritual worlds...." Details here.

Babies smarter than you think

Babies are smarter than you think - evidence here.

Science breakthroughs podcast

We discovered this resource at the American Chemical Society's national conference. Bytesize Science was conceived for smart kids, but adults will be able to understand it too. Dogs' companionship, super-floating boats, paper stronger than iron...podcasts and vids about energy and other science topics. Check it out here.

Energy vs. nature

Thought-provoking Newsweek article on animal casualties from new energy technologies and ways to reduce the carnage. Companies and govt can take more steps to protect wildlife and ecosystems...and each individual can help by trying to reduce their energy consumption (which will save you money too). Article here.

Veggies for longer, healthier life

If you want to live longer -- avoid heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer -- then pick and choose your foods with care to quiet down parts of your immune system. Meaning mostly plant-based foods. LA Times story here: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-anti-inflammation17-2009aug17,0,3196484.story

Detroit's latest remodels

Robin's latest travel piece in various print and online editions of the Examiner newspapers. Here's the Washington DC edition.

Crunch: feel hungry yet?

Do chips taste better when an ad describes their crunch? Is popcorn more flavorful if its aroma is featured in an ad? Yes, says U of Michigan researchers with a tasty assignment. They report that multisensory advertising - ads that describe taste, smell, texture, sight and sound - enhance consumers' taste perception. Why? Because taste is generated from multiple senses.

Dog Tip: Teaching beats jerking

Force-based corrections are popular because they can yield instant results. But most often, the instant results are confusion, a temporary end to the behavior, possible fear-based aggression, and fear of your approach. In her Your Dog article, "Teach Instead of Correct," Pat Miller offers expert guidance, including some of the tips noted here.