Can dogs get lyme disease?

In light of our recent tick fiasco, I thought it fitting that I post this article. Look at what we found in the news yesterday. Seriously!!

Lyme disease reports in Washington region grow April 8, 2009 - 9:56am
WASHINGTON (AP) - Reports of Lyme disease in the Washington region have grown in recent years, more than doubling in Virginia and Maryland from 2006 to 2007, the last year for which data are available.
Reports nearly doubled in the District, tripled in Howard County and quadrupled in Montgomery County. Loudoun County recorded half of all cases in Virginia.
Loudoun County health director David Goodfriend says the black-legged ticks, commonly called deer ticks, that carry the disease are taking hold in the Potomac region.
If caught early, most cases can be treated quickly. If not, the disease can bring heart and joint problems as well as Bell's palsy.
The first sign in about 70 percent of cases is a bull's-eye-like rash three to 30 days after a bite.
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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com (Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Reports of Lyme disease in the Washington region have grown in recent years, more than doubling in Virginia and Maryland from 2006 to 2007, the last year for which data are available.
Reports nearly doubled in the District, tripled in Howard County and quadrupled in Montgomery County. Loudoun County recorded half of all cases in Virginia.
Loudoun County health director David Goodfriend says the black-legged ticks, commonly called deer ticks, that carry the disease are taking hold in the Potomac region.
If caught early, most cases can be treated quickly. If not, the disease can bring heart and joint problems as well as Bell's palsy.
The first sign in about 70 percent of cases is a bull's-eye-like rash three to 30 days after a bite.
___
Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com

Tend and keep the earth

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend [dress, KJV] and keep it" (verse 15).

Tend (Hebrew 'abad) means "to work or serve," and thus referring to the ground or a garden, it can be defined as "to till or cultivate." It possesses the nuance seen in the KJV's choice in its translation: "dress," implying adornment, embellishment, and improvement.

Keep (Hebrew shamar) means "to exercise great care over." In the context of Genesis 2:15, it expresses God's wish that mankind, in the person of Adam, "take care of," "guard," or "watch over" the garden. A caretaker maintains and protects his charge so that he can return it to its owner in as good or better condition than when he received it.

Explanation from:
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/156/Dominion.htm

Daniel has Lymes disease

....just kidding! We had a discussion about this at Paul's Birthday lunch last week. Since then I have pulled three more ticks off the dogs, one of which was so deeply lodged in Sam's head that it left a big bloody scab.

Last night Daniel went to CVS and got a gel which you put on the dogs' back and is supposed to keep the fleas and ticks at bay. After a few hours the dogs, especially Frodo started acting bedonnered (loco, crazy). We put them in the box to go to sleep and they cried all night. Finally D woke up this morning and washed off the gel.

Frodo has calmed down a bit but has been pacing and panting all day, rubbing his back up against everything. Just a bad reaction I guess.


They got hair cuts a couple of weeks ago, which is good considering the ticks this season. They were super-cute with their long hair though.




Shaggy Sam on the daybed




Shaggy Fro on the daybed




Shaggy Fro on regal pillow

Chic Living

After five years of living with a ginormous, second hand couch, we finally decided to get a couch that fits the size of our apartment. Check out our new couch and chair. They are Calvin Klein (I know--fancy shmancy) and are quite comfortable. I thought the chair was kind of cool--like a big cube.

The Tonight Show - Obama - Full Interview

The Tonight Show - President Obama - Full Interview

"This New Technology is Adorable"

Watch this funny video on twitter...or is it tweet...or chirp? I like how he says "there's a reason teachers don't allow cell phones in 7th grade classrooms." Can you believe some of the things our congress people are writing during house meetings?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Angler

I've been reading through a Washington Post feature and really enjoying it.  It's composed of excerpts from a book published before the election was over and is quite heavily slanted against VP Cheney, but at the same time it provides some great behind the scenes stories around some of the more controversial decisions relating to prisoner torture, warrantless domestic surveillance, and environmental protections.  The author claims Cheney had a dominant hand in the policies surrounding these issues, but did so while leaving little trace of his influence.  This portrayal of Cheney makes for an interesting character to read about.  I hope you enjoy it.  Of course, take it with a grain of salt.

The story that sucked me in was 'Conflict Over Spying Led White House To Brink' and the second part of the story, 'Cheney Shielded Bush From Crisis.'  This shows how close we came to the upper levels of the DOJ resigning over the domestic spying program.

The Washington Post is a subscription site, but this link should allow you to read all of the associated stories. 

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/cheney/