MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a bacterium infection that is difficult to treat in humans, is said to be eight times more prevalent in households with cats as pets.

The first cases of MRSA in pets was discovered just five years ago, though it seemed to be limited to therapy dogs who were exposed to health care workers and patients on a consistent basis, and fell into the belief that illnesses jump from humans to pets, and not vice versa. However, in more recent studies it’s been found that animals store the infection in their bodies, though a healthy dog or cat …read more

Though it was only this past Saturday that it was announced the First Family’s new dog wouldn’t be heading to the White House until this Tuesday, the First Pooch made its arrival already!

It will be “formally” introduced to the family tomorrow by Senator Edward Kennedy, but it’s already in Washington and has already met the Obama girls, Malia and Sasha.
With a little lei around its neck, the Portuguese Water Dog (also known simply as PWDs) sat patiently as the President and daughter Sasha gave it a pet. The girls have already decided on a name as well: Currently named Charlie, …read more

And I didn’t know it. Well, like I said at today’s meeting – it isn’t Perfect’s Anonymous…
September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. B5 media’s Health and Wellness Channel (check out B5’s new design btw) is taking the moment to present our collective individual experiences with the Twelve Steps. Or, we’re going to do the research needed to offer our readers valuable information on the Twelve Steps relating to a number of areas in the human nature.
If you are a new reader here are the Twelve Steps according to Alcoholics Anonymous. There are over 2000 other …read more

This strikes my “funny bone,” sorry…

I have no idea at all whether or not Lindsay Lohan has the disease alcoholism. From her actions she appears to, but that is her decision to make, not mine.
The consequences of her drinking and drugging are another story! Catch this -
“Lindsay Lohan is about to see dead people. The 21-year-old actress will soon be working at a morgue as part of her punishment for misdemeanor drunken driving, her attorney, Blair Berk, told a judge Thursday… Her two four-hour days at the morgue are part of a court-ordered program to show drivers the real-life consequences …read more

“Biden Challenges Public Perception of Addiction”
“Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., is introducing legislation that portrays addiction as a preventable, treatable brain disease.”
Ya’ think?
“Eliminating word abuse takes away the notion that it’s willful misconduct. It’s inappropriate to term this ‘abuse.’ Ten percent of [the] population [are] unknowingly vulnerable to alcoholism when they drink. They can’t be held to be immoral for developing that illness.”
Word Abuse?
OMG – catch this! >>> “People think of an addict as a bum or a homeless person,” said Cynthia Moreno, executive director of the Association for Addiction Professionals. “Over 70 percent of drug addicts hold down very responsible …read more

Alcohol goes everywhere. They spoke of the “most sordid spots on earth” and the Greenland Ice Cap in the Big Book. Now it’s apparently made it into space.
“Panel Finds Astronauts Flew While Intoxicated”
“A panel reviewing astronaut health issues in the wake of the Lisa Nowak arrest has found that on at least two occasions astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk.
The panel, also reported ‘heavy use of alcohol’ by astronauts before launch, within the standard 12-hour ‘bottle to throttle’ rule applied to NASA flight crew …read more

To: Dr. Silkworth’s Birthday Celebration in W. Long Branch NJ, on 7/21/07
“Area 44 History & Archives Committee cordially invites you to the Fourth Annual Dr. Silkworth Birthday Celebration!”
One small excerpt from the invitation (I believe written by Barefoot Bill);
“He gave deep understanding and great encouragement to an infant society in the days when a lack of understanding or a word of discouragement might easily have killed it. He freely risked his professional reputation to champion an unprecedented spiritual answer to the medical enigma and the human tragedy of alcoholism. Without his blessing, our faith might well have died in its …read more

It’s Theme Day again and the topic is “Mental Health” as May is Mental Health month. Just in time too – I could use a mental health day
When it comes to alkies, wow, do we have a seemingly never-ending supply of “stuff” to talk about relating to mental health! If you visit The Big Book Index or The Big Book Concordance under “M” you’ll see what I mean. Take a look at “Mental” and “Mind.” I’d waste a lot of space here re-printing the number of pages to be read. So I’ll narrow my focus (I hear ya’…)
Something …read more

Thanks to Billy C. from the AA History Lovers Group for permission to reprint this interesting information. The founder of the AAHL group, Nancy O. put a lot of effort into this and Billy is carrying the tradition on within the group.
Significant August Dates In AA History
Aug 1934 – Rowland H and Cebra persuade court to parole Ebby T. to them.
Aug 1939 – Dr. Bob wrote & may have signed article for Faith magazine.
Aug 1981 – Distribution of Alcoholics Anonymous passes 3 million.
Aug 1, 1943 – Washington Times-Herald (DC) reports on AA clubhouse, to protect anonymity withholds address.
Aug 3, 1954 …read more

Father Tom told me to dedicate the rest of my life to thankfulness on my first sober anniversary and I took him at his word. Which leads to a thank you to prairiegirl66 who “stumbledupon” A Dozen Steps and recommended it to her friends as a great 12 Step site/blog.
Very much appreciated prairiegirl!
She has a membership at stumble upon and offers some very interesting resources on these pages relating to recovery (especially, for me, those that mention Dubya ).
Check it out…
Prairiegirl – down below in my right sidebar, there are a bunch of good folks writing their hearts out …read more