For me, it’s the better physical and mental health. Not every dog or cat was destined to be super smart, but very few were destined to have the wide range of emotional and other temperament problems that so many do now. I’ve even met animals that could be described as on the austism spectrum (I live with one).

I’m sorry about having to go to Walmart. I almost did for cheap insulin but I just couldn’t, but I understand about the toothbrush thing. There’s one CVS that carries replacement heads for mine. It’s cheaper to buy a new one, but ....

Just to let you know: every dog that’s lived with my brother has come from a shelter. In fact, all my dog-friends have “pre-owned” dogs (I’m “pre-owned” cats). There are some decent people out there. Thank you for doing what you do.

Most purebreds have short, miserable lives. Breeders - even (or maybe especially) “good” breeders are trying to produce dogs that conform to increasingly bizarre “standards” (the same is happening to cats; look at an old-fashioned Siamese or Persian vs the nightmare versions of today). No thought is given to the…

Thank you, Fellow Pedant. You saved me a lot of typing and you did it in an awesome way.

I’d be more horrified, but I was raised in Golden Age Science Fiction. Many writers weren’t thrilled with the pablum of Golden Age Television (the TV game show in the original Robocop is from one of those writings, The Marching Morons). Even I’m not old enough to remember Queen for a Day, where contestants competed…

NSAIDs are extremely nephrotoxic. This is not new-age bad-vibe woo; it’s on the black box warning. None of them should be taken long-term (more than three days) without a doctor’s supervision and not all by those with any kidney problems, including kidney stones, recurrent kidney infections, diabetes (most people with…

It’s not really something that’s forgotten. The actual act might be blocked, but all the confusing feelings are always there. A child that age doesn’t really have the language to express - even to him/herself - exactly what was done to them, but they know it was wrong and usually assume (with help from their attacker)…

To derail just slightly, while an addiction that threatens life/relationships/career is not a good thing, self-medicating after such a terrible, ongoing trauma is one of the saner options. I hope the help she got addressed the underlying problem and that her father died a painful death.

It’s been going on since there’s been dating. It used to be Lonely Hearts scams when “on line dating” was printed notices in the paper.

For us Olds, that's not a lot of money. I mean it is, but it's not everything.

I wanted to be Annie Oakley when I was a kid (I still kinda want to). The first gun I shot was an 1890 Stevens .22 (still have it). My otherwise freakishly overprotective parents gave me a BB pistol and rifle to practice with in our backyard. I spent hours shooting the spots off cards, sighting with a mirror and all…

I know she has problems, but women with problems get raped, too.

On bathrooms and Girl Scouts: I was not a popular child. To put it mildly. One childhood memory that has stayed with me now for nearly 40 years is using the toilet during a Girl Scout meeting only to have the other girls come in and hang themselves over the sides of the stall I was in. As an adult, I wonder what the…

Awesome! My mother did stuff like teach me how the differential gear works and stuff like that, but at my elementary school is a needlepoint hanging commemorating the bicentennial, featuring several nice little squares and one terrifically horrible one (mine). And yes, I'm Old.

So envious! I did have a grandfather who taught me woodworking, shooting, how to sharpen a knife on a stone or the bottom of a bowl and other cool stuff, but I think I managed to live in the one area with the most boring Scouts ever.

I knew about her history as a model; got the impression you do not want to fuck with her and didn’t know she’d been raped by her father, though I did know about her struggle with addiction (I'm one of those people who think addiction is a symptom, so I guessed something horrible like that). Yeah, if she lived through…

Even though my Girl Scout troop was soooooo boring (all needlepoint and sewing; no knife skills and fire building), GS are way cooler than Boy Scouts. Better cookies, too.

She’s been through the - not sure what right words are, but the ones that convey nothing very pleasant - about dealing with an addiction in the public eye, and seems to have dealt with that really well. She seems like she’s a determined and strong person. I hope I’m right.

Not that I'm an expert on her, but from the little I do know about her, I don't think she could be bought off this. I hope I'm right!