New Jersey legislators are morons

For 31 years, foothold traps have been prohibited in New Jersey. A law passed during the administration of former NJ Governor Tom Kean banned any animal trap of steel-jawed leghold types.

But last June the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife changed the law, voting to legalize these traps. And now, the New Jersey state Senate has refused to over-rule the DFW, thus opening up the possibility that your innocent family pet will be killed in one of these inhumane traps.

The stupidity of the New Jersey legislators in the state Senate and Assembly is not surprising. The state is in a mess is so many ways, and this situation just illuminates the fact that politicians are foolish and incompetent.

It also shows how politicians are beholden to special interest groups. The legislators are bowing to the demands of 267 members of the New Jersey Fur Harvesters group, while ignoring the 60,000 New Jersey citizens who signed a petition urging the law banning traps be upheld.

So if your pet's leg gets caught and mangled in one of these ridiculous steel traps, thank New Jersey legislators like Steve Sweeney and Bob Smith.

Death, dying, medicare, and obamacare

Funny how people moan and groan about their taxes, government waste, and "entitlement programs" yet no one wants to discuss how to start changing all of it.

Twenty percent of Medicaid dollars go to one percent of the people who use it. Many are the elderly in nursing homes.

Medicare spends 25% of its $551 billion annual budget on medical treatment in a person's last year of life.

One way to save money would be stop spending billions of dollars of machines and drugs that do nothing except prolong our misery when we get older. In the United States we treat our pets more compassionately at the end of their lives than we do our people.

It would be better to have discussions about how we want to die when we're young. If someone wants to be kept alive at the end through machines, fine, it would be their choice. But I'm sure many of us would opt for hospice care. If money was re-directed from hospitals and doctors who charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for tests and medical equipment toward hospice care, not only would billions of dollars be saved in our taxpayer money but people, and their relatives, could be spared the horrific way of dying that now exists for many Americans - plugged into machines in an intensive care unit of a hospital.

If someone is 20 years old, you do everything it takes to save their life. When someone is 90 years old and frail, it would be best to just let nature take its course.

Nothing is going to change though. Most Americans just don't want to talk about it. Others make death and dying into a political or religious issue. If that's the case, then I hope everyone just stops complaining about the national debt and taxes. Because we already know where the money is going and how to change things.

Finding the Perfect Pet - Adopt a Dog or Cat

It's been estimated that anywhere from 5 to 7 million dogs and cats enter animal shelters in the United States each year. As many as 3 to 4 million of them are euthanized, due to a lack of space to house them and/or a lack of finances to care for them.

So the best thing to do if you want to add a pet to your family is to adopt one from a shelter. The next best thing is to adopt a dog or cat from a rescue group. For a list of shelters in your area search online at your city or town's website, or sites of animal welfare organizations such as the ASPCA. Check Petfinder.com for lists of rescue groups. Petfinder also lists photos and descriptions of dogs and cats, so that you can try to make a better match for the pet and your family situation.

When adopting a dog it's important to consider your own lifestyle. If you're not particularly active, don't adopt an active breed, such as a Labrador retriever. Labs often end up in shelters because their owners were not aware of how much walking and exercising was needed to keep this breed of dog. Other dogs may need more training to become well-behaved, and this could mean paying for a professional trainer or training classes. Do some research on the temperament of various breeds, to see what you can realistically handle.

Also remember to microchip your dog. It's not a huge expense, and is the best bet to get your pet home to you if it ever becomes lost.

Having a dog or cat to come home to every day can bring incredible joy to your life, and adopting a pet can bring happiness to an animal. Just like people, many just want to find their forever home.