The History of New Years Resolutions

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new.

The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year's gifts.

In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.

The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars. Some cultures have lunar calendars, however. A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon. The Chinese use a lunar calendar. Their new year begins at the time of the first full moon (over the Far East) after the sun enters Aquarius- sometime between January 19 and February 21.

Although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.

Ancient New Years

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23, although they themselves had no written calendar.

Late March actually is a logical choice for the beginning of a new year. It is the time of year that spring begins and new crops are planted. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year on March 25, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

Global Good Luck Traditions

With New Year's upon us, here's a look at some of the good luck rituals from around the world. They are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year.

AUSTRIA - The suckling pig is the symbol for good luck for the new year. It's served on a table decorated with tiny edible pigs. Dessert often consists of green peppermint ice cream in the shape of a four-leaf clover.

ENGLAND - The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first.

WALES - At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.

HAITI - In Haiti, New Year's Day is a sign of the year to come. Haitians wear new clothing and exchange gifts in the hope that it will bode well for the new year.

SICILY - An old Sicilian tradition says good luck will come to those who eat lasagna on New Year's Day, but woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle will bring bad luck.

SPAIN - In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one with every toll, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead.

PERU - The Peruvian New Year's custom is a spin on the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at the turn of the year. But in Peru, a 13th grape must be eaten to assure good luck.

GREECE - A special New Year's bread is baked with a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for the Christ child, the second for the father of the household and the third slice is for the house. If the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early that year.

JAPAN - The Japanese decorate their homes in tribute to lucky gods. One tradition, kadomatsu, consists of a pine branch symbolizing longevity, a bamboo stalk symbolizing prosperity, and a plum blossom showing nobility.

CHINA - For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness. Although the whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family's good luck for the next year.

UNITED STATES - The kiss shared at the stroke of midnight in the United States is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history. As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the new year.

NORWAY - Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year's and hide one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.

Chinese New Year

Except for a very few number of people who can keep track of when the Chinese New Year should be, the majority of the Chinese today have to rely on a typical Chinese calendar to tell it. Therefore, you cannot talk of the Chinese New Year without mentioning the Chinese calendar at first.

A Chinese calendar consists of both the Gregorian and lunar-solar systems, with the latter dividing a year into twelve month, each of which is in turn equally divided into thirty- nine and a half days. The well-coordinated dual system calendar reflects the Chinese ingenuity.

There is also a system that marks the years in a twelve-year cycle, naming each of them after an animal such as Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. People born in a particular year are believed to share some of the personalities of that particular animal.

Gary Ryan Blair is the inspiration behind Got Resolutions - http://GotResolutions.com

Got Resolutions was founded on the premise, that a single resolution can positively and profoundly create lasting change in your life and help to make the world a better place.

To learn more, visit http://GotResolutions.com

Gary can be reached for media requests, television or radio appearances and speaking services at 877-462-5748 or by sending an email to Gary@GoalsGuy.com

Mating Pigeons

Some animals have insanely complex mating rituals. Staring at each other for hours, days even, motionless. Others engage in dances that were choreographed hundreds of thousands of years ago and are so difficult to execute correctly the species has almost gone extinct (how's that for natural selection). Still others -mostly primates like us- seem to do practically nothing else than engaging in some sort of never ending ritual that hopefully leads to sex every now and then. My God, imagine the agony of that. (you can do it, just think about your life so far).

And then there are pigeons. Ever seen their mating ritual? Chances are you have but can't remember it. It never aired as a fancy schmancy Discovery channel or Animal Planet documentary that's for sure.

The mating ritual of the pigeon, rat with wings and the only scavenger that has somehow succeeded in suckering hordes of people into feeding them, goes like this:

A female pigeon triples through some populated area, just minding her own business. Along comes a male pigeon. He starts following her. Not at a respectable distance but within the tiniest of fractions of an inch from her feathery ass. She starts walking faster. He starts walking faster. She turns left, he turns left. She turns left, right, flies of, lands again, turns right-left-right. He turns left, right, flies of after her, lands again (within the tiniest of fractions of an inch from her feathery ass) , turns right-left-right. Finally, she gives up and lets him bang her.

This goes to show that what some call stalking, others (notably pigeons) call courting. And if someway, somehow, the pigeon society would ever evolve into a constitutionally governed state, bestowing certain, unalienable rights to its citizens -such as the right to be free- and some schmuck, overly eager pigeon of a lawyer would demand a restraining order for the pigeon stalking his female pigeon client, the pigeons would be royally fudged and die out in one generation.

Luckily for the pigeons though, they're really stupid and will only evolve into a society when hell freezes over. (in which case, fucking might be the only thing that can keep them warm)

Dutch slim-to-nothing dot-commer, 34 years old, living in Paris, France. One bedroom apartment, one baby, one girlfriend. Kind of like Seinfeld's Kramer with a kid I guess. Blogging about life and the world we live in. http://34something.blogspot.com/

10 Male Dog Names and Their Meanings

Finding just the right name for your new Dog is serious business. Both of you will need to be able to live with the name for many years, so be careful how you choose.

While uniqueness is certainly one consideration, it is also a good idea to try and choose a name that matches your Dog's personality and temperament.

Here are 10 boy Dog names along with their meanings.

Buddy

Meaning: Messenger

This name has long been, and is likely to remain, on the list of most popular names. Even people who do not name their dog Buddy often end up using it as a nickname.

Duke

Meaning: Leader or nobleman

This is another of the most popular names in dog naming history. It was made even more popular by the cartoon Great Dane named Marmaduke.

Riley

Meaning: Valiant

While this name has traditionally been for boy dogs, in recent years it has been used for both male and female dogs.

Zeus

Meaning: A Greek God

People who see their dog as tough and fearless often choose this name. Zeus was the name of a famous television dog: the Doberman that was on the popular hit Magnum P.I.

Sparky

Meaning: Lively

This name has long been popular, and got an extra boost when the creators of the hugely popular animated series South Park gave this name to one of the character's dogs.

Baxter

Meaning: A baker

How a name that means "baker" came to be a popular name for dogs will likely stay a mystery. While less popular that it once was, this name is still a fairly common one.

Gizmo

Meaning: A gadget or device

Gizmo tends to be most popular among owners of smaller, toy breeds.

Bruno

Meaning: Having brown hair

While the name might mean "having brown hair" for many it conjures up images of a lumbering white bulldog. The name is a good choice for any strong, yet slightly awkward looking, breed.

Marley

Meaning: Meadow lake

The popularity of this name has skyrocketed since the book, and then movie, Marley & Me, came on the scene.

Scout

Meaning: Lookout or one who gathers information

While this name doesn't crack the list of the 50 most popular, it is likely to never totally disappear from the dog naming scene.

Choosing a name for your dog has become big business. There are many books and websites dedicated to helping you select the perfect name.

Some people spend as much time selecting a name for their dog as they do selecting a name for their children. In fact, many people, in the search for the perfect pet name, purchase books of baby names in which they hope to find the perfect match. Have fun choosing your pet's name and remember that you will have to say that name every time you visit the vet, meet someone new while walking the dog or need to call him back when runs away. Keep that in mind and it will help you avoid choosing a name over which both you and your dog may someday be embarrassed.

Neil Lemons is a pet lover and Online Journalist. He has had the privilege of owning several cats and dogs over the years, some living into their 90s (in dog years). For information on where you can buy indestructible dog toys [http://www.n-bone.com/our-products/dogs], check out http://www.N-Bone.com, world authority on healthy animal treats for your dog, cat, or ferret.

Was The 'Rainbow' Division Tarnished By Its Battlefield Behavior In World War I?

World War I began in Europe in 1914, however, the United States remained neutral until 6 April 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the joint resolution declaring that a state of war now existed between the United States of America and Imperial Germany. Three months later, in August 1917, U. S. National Guard units from twenty-six states and the District of Columbia united to form the 42nd Division of the United States Army. Douglas MacArthur, serving as Chief of Staff for the Division, commented that it "would stretch over the whole country like a rainbow." In this manner, the 42nd became known as the "Rainbow Division." It comprised four infantry regiments from New York, Ohio, Alabama, and Iowa. Men from many other states, among them New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan, Rhode Island, Maryland, California, South Carolina, Missouri, Connecticutt, Tennessee, New Jersey, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Oregon, and Pennsylvania also joined the division and became machine gunners, ambulance drivers, worked in field hospitals, or served in the military police.

The Southeastern Department commander recommended that the 4th Alabama Infantry be assigned to the 42nd. The commander of the 4th was Colonel William P. Screws, a former regular army officer who had served from 1910 to 1915 as the inspector-instructor for the Alabama National Guard. Screws was widely regarded as one of the major assets of the Alabama National Guard, and his reputation was likely a prominent factor in the selection of the 4th to join the 42nd. To upgrade the 4th Infantry to war strength, the transfer of the necessary numbers of enlisted men from other Alabama Guard units, including the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments and the 1st Alabama Cavalry.

On August 15 the War Department officially redesignated the 4th Alabama Infantry as the 167th Infantry Regiment, 84th Brigade, 42nd Division. The regiment comprised 3,622 enlisted troops and 55 enlisted medical staff for a total of 3,677men. The 1st Alabama Infantry had contributed 880 enlisted men to join the new 167th, the 2nd Alabama Infantry and the 1st Alabama Cavalry had provided enlisted men to bring the 167th to war strength, which was nominally 3,700 officers and men.
The Rainbow Division became one of the first sent to Europe in 1917 to support French troops in battles at Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, the Verdun front, and Argonne. On 15 July 1918 the Division, acting as part of the 4th French Army, assisted in containing the final German offensive at the Battle of Champagne.

Let us set the scenario for the matter of alleged American battlefield atrocities on the part of the 'Rainbow' Division. On 15 July 1918, the Germans, in their final bid to end the war in their favor, launched a massive attack southward in the Champagne country of France. Although most of the defending troops were French, there were some units of the U.S. 42nd Division also involved in the defense and in the counter-attacks that ensued.

Concerning the battle participation of the U. S. 42nd ('Rainbow') Division in the Champagne-Marne Defensive battle of 15 July 1918, we read as follows in Donovan, America's Master Spy, by Richard Dunlop:

"The regimental commanders [of the U. S. 42nd Division] were instructed to post only a few men in the first trench line, which would easily fall. Most were to be positioned in the second line, from which they were also expected to withdraw as the Germans swept ahead."

"On July 15 at 12:04 a.m., the German artillery commenced one of the war's most tremendous barrages. When at 4:30 a.m. the artillery stopped firing as suddenly as it had started, the silence over no-man's-land was dreadful. The first Germans appeared wraithlike, running toward the American lines through the morning mist. Minenwerfers [large caliber German mortars] suddenly rained down on the defending Americana, and machine guns chattered death. The Americans who escaped the first charge scrambled back to the second line."

"The Germans found themselves in full possession of the American first trenches; they thought they had won. They shouted, cheered and broke into song. Then the American barrage opened on the trenches. Since each piece of artillery had been carefully zeroed in on the trenches when they were still in American hands, the accuracy of the gunfire was uncanny. Some of the crack Prussian Guards still managed to reach the second line of trenches, but they too were repulsed, after bloody hand-to-hand encounters. The Germans broke off the attack."

"To Donovan's [Colonel William J. Donovan, commanding officer of the 165th Infantry Regiment, from New York] disgust, the Germans resorted to subterfuge. Four Germans, each with a Red Cross emblazoned on his arm, carried a stretcher up to the lines held by the 165th. When they were close, they yanked a blanket from the stretcher to reveal a machine gun, with which they opened fire. The Americans shot them dead. Still another group tried to infiltrate the American lines one night wearing French uniforms. They too were shot. All told, some breakthroughs were made, but the Germans had been halted by the Americans. The Americans had not been defeated as the French battle plans had expected they would be. After three days of battle, the Germans began
to pull back." 1

On 18 August 1918 the following cablegram was received at American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) headquarters, Chaumont, France:

""A F August 18, 1918.

Commanding General, 42nd Division, Bourmont.

Following received from Washington:
"For Nolan. Condemned Associated Press Dispatch from London received by Cable Censor '0055 Monday Baumans Amsterdam accusation that soldier[s'] of 42nd American line Division enraged at losses suffered 15/7 near Rheims killed same evening 150 German prisoners is made by Wolff Bureau on "Creditable authority" and accordingly displayed in Saturday's German papers'. Dispatch held for assumed inaccuracy. Investigate and report." Make immediate investigation and report by wire this office. By direction.

Nolan

4.55 P.M. "" 2
A "Condemned Associated Press Dispatch..." is assumed to be an AP dispatch which was intercepted by the "Cable Censor" and deemed unfit for forwarding (if sent from F&F) or transmission (if originating in London) and thus was condemned. This action would also presumably be taken if the origin of the telegram or cablegram was thought to be spurious or even sent under false pretenses. The original copy of this message was most probably burned with the "Confidential waste" at AEF HQ Chaumont.

Pershing and his staff at Chaumont did everything possible to control the press and the AEF staff would quickly 'condemn' sources from reporters and reports that were not run through General Pershing's staff.

Regarding the day the telegram was received by AEF HQ on August 18, 1918, this would have been on a Sunday. "0055 Monday" in the telegram would refer to 12 August 1918. The telegram was received shortly after the Champagne-Marne Defensive Campaign, and while the U. S. 42nd Division was fighting in the Marne Salient during July and August of 1918. The "Wolff Bureau" was the Wolff Telegraph Agency in Berlin, a semi-official German new agency in 1918.

The G-2 (Intelligence Officer) of AEF Headquarters, Brigadier General Dennis E. Nolan took prompt action to investigate the alleged murder of German prisoners of war on 15 July 1918 during the Champagne-Marne Defensive Campaign. Nolan directed Major General Charles T. Menoher, commander of the U. S. 42nd Division to undertake an immediate investigation of the charge. The investigation was made on 20 August 1918 at the station of the U. S. 42nd Division, AEF, Bourmont, France.

The U.S. 42nd Division was composed of troops from Alabama, Ohio, Iowa, and New York. The troops that had contact with the German Army on 15 July 1918 were:

2nd Battalion, 165th Infantry Regiment (New York); 3rd Battalion, 166th Infantry Regiment (Ohio); 2nd Battalion, 167th Infantry Regiment (formerly 4th Alabama), and Companies E and F of the 168th Infantry Regiment (Iowa).

The force of the investigation fell on the 2nd Battalion, 165th Infantry, the 3rd Battalion of the 168th, 2nd Battalion, 167th, and Companies E and F of the 168th.

According to the "Report of investigation of reported killing of German prisoners of war," from the Division Inspector and to the Commanding General, 42nd Division, AEF, sworn testimony was taken from a total of thirty-eight officers of the 42nd Division, and particularly from officers whose troops were so stationed as to come into contact with the Germans in the Champagne battle of 15 July 1918. Twenty-three officers gave sworn testimony and fifteen company-grade officers were required to give depositions. The testimony was uniformly a denial that any atrocities were committed during the fighting that day of 15 July 1918.

According to the same report, "All the officers state that no German prisoners were killed by American troops nor were any mistreated; not did any officer hear anything to that effect. On the contrary the prisoners were treated well, the wounded cared for and carefully transported to the rear and the prisoners given food, drink and cigarettes. In at least one case a wounded prisoner was carried while one of our wounded officers walked." 3

The "CONCLUSION" of the report states: "That the statements contained in the telegram set forth in Paragraph II of this report are false and without any foundation in fact. That all prisoners taken by troops of the 42nd Division were turned over immediately to the French military authorities, and that, therefore, no troops of the 42nd Division had access to them other than those whose statements are covered by this report." 4
The "RECOMMENDATION" of the report states: "That no further action be taken." The findings were forwarded to AEF Headquarters and there the matter was dropped. 5

An unknown German newspaper purportedly published in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, 17 August 1918 allegedly printed an article alleging that 150 wounded and captured German soldiers were summarily killed by soldiers of the U. S. 42nd Division on 15 July 1918. There were five newspapers published in Berlin on the date of Saturday, 17 August 1918: Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Deutsche Tageszeitung Germania, Neues Preussische Zeitung, Nordeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Vossiche Zeitung. Searches of the mentioned German newspapers have been made by several historians. No atrocity articles have ever been located in these German papers.

In James J. Cooke's book, The Rainbow Division in the Great War, we read:
""The Rainbows also had developed a very real hatred for the Germans. During the German bombardment on 15 July 1918, the doctors and nurses moved what wounded they could to a dugout, and the once callow Lieutenant van Dolsen recoiled in horror at what he saw":

"Well we got down into the dug out and my dear mother such a shamble I never hope to see again. A long black tunnel lighted just a little by candles, our poor wounded shocked boys there on litters in the dark, eight of them half under ether just as they had come off the tables their legs only half amputated, surgeons trying to finish and check blood in the dark, the floor soaked with blood, the hospital above us a wreck, three patients killed and one blown out of bed with his head off. Believe me I will never forgive the bastards as long as I live."

Editor's note: Lt. van Dolsen, being an officer, was able to 'censor' his own letters, otherwise this type of comment would never have reached the home front. Van Dolsen's letter to his aunt, Occupation Forces, Germany, 19 February 1919, MHIA. See also Stewart, Rainbow Bright, 70-71.
"One Alabama private who was in the thickest of the fighting on 15 July wrote to his mother, "All of you can cheer up and wear a smile for I'm a little hero now. I got two of the rascals and finished killing a wounded with my bayonet that might have gotten well had I not finished him...I couldn't be satisfied at killing them, how could I have mercy on such low life rascals as they are?"
"A good bit of this hatred resulted from the Germans approaching American lines dressed in French uniforms taken from the dead in the first line sacrifice trench."

"The hand-to-hand fighting was especially severe for the Alabamians and New Yorkers, and many of their comrades were killed or wounded in the fighting for the second defense line and in the counter-attacks that followed. Adding to the confusion was the occasional round of friendly artillery fire that fell short and hit the Americans as they repulsed the enemy."

"The Alabama defense and decisive counter-attacks on 15 July was praised by all, and established the 167th Regiment as the best fighting regiment within the division."

"There had always been rumors of units of the 42nd Division taking no prisoners. Major William J. Donovan, in May of 1918, described to his wife the possibility of the Alabamians' of the 167th Infantry Regiment capturing and killing two Germans, and he ended his letter stating, "They [the 167th] wander all over the landscape shooting at everything."

"Elmer Sherwood, the Hoosier gunner, reported the story that the Alabamians attacked a German trench with Bowie knives. "They cleaned up on the enemy,
Sherwood recalled, "but it is no surprise to any of us, because they are a wild bunch, not knowing what fear is."

While in Germany on occupation duty with the Rainbow, Lieutenant van Dolsen wrote to his aunt back in Washington, DC, that the Alabams "did not take many prisoners, but I do not blame them for that."

"The New York regiment was also known for fierce fighting and taking few prisoners on the battlefield. This issue of battlefield atrocities by the U. S. 42nd Division would again surface after the severe fighting at Croix Rouge Farm, in the Marne Salient, where the soldiers from Alabama and Iowa were heavily engaged at close quarters with a determined enemy." 6

J. Phelps Harding, 2nd Lt., 165th Regiment, U. S. 42nd Division, AEF, wrote a letter home to his folks on 22 September 1918. His letter states, in part:

"I'm glad I had a chance to join the 165th-it's a man's outfit, and it has done fine work over here. One of the German prisoners, who met us here and at Chateau-Thierry, but did not realize we were at both places, said that America had only two good divisions - the 42nd and the Rainbow. He didn't know they were one and the same. I won't ask for any better men than the Irish in the 69th (165th). They are a hard hitting, dare devil bunch, very religious, afraid of nothing, and sworn enemies of the Boche. The regiment lost heavily at Chateau-Thierry - my company alone had 110 wounded and 36 killed outright - and every man has a 'buddy' to avenge. Lord help the Boche who gets in the way of the 'old 69th.' We are told to treat prisoners as approved by the war-that-was, when soldiers were less barbarous than they are now. After every action we see or hear of mutilation of our men - and there's many a German who suffers for every one American so treated. I don't mean he is mutilated - no American stoops that low - but I do mean that he grows daisies where, if his colleagues had been a bit more human, he might have been getting a good rest in an American prison camp.
Now I'll really stop - perhaps I should have stopped before writing this last paragraph, but it's said, so it stands." 7

Editor's note: As an officer Phelps was privileged to censor his own writing. An enlisted man, however, concerned about censorship, might have hesitated to write that 'after every action' soldiers found 'mutilation of our men' or to suggest that American soldiers killed German prisoners in reprisal. Boche is the French derogatory slang term for German soldiers during World War I.

In defense of the 'Rainbow' Division's behavior on the battlefield, here is a letter I received in 1997 from Clark Jarrett, grandson of Paul Jarrett, a lieutenant in the 166th Infantry Regiment. Clark Jarrett telephoned his grandfather (at his age of 101 years) and transcribed his father's conversation:

""I appreciated your letter very much. I did as you requested...I called my grandfather the night after I received your letter. We had a very good phone call. I read him your exact words and took notes during our conversation. Here is what he had to say:

"I never saw or heard of anything about atrocities in the Rainbow. I can say that the 165th (New York) was not prepared to go to the front when the entire division was ready. I heard personally that the "165th was not fit for service." They were considered playboys, not soldiers. My regiment, the 166th, served with the 165th as the 83rd Brigade. At the Second Battle of the Marne (Battle of the Champagne) I was informed by messenger that I should be aware of my left flank, as the Germans had entered the trenches of the 165th. I put my binoculars to my eyes and I saw that there was trench fighting going on down to my left. Thank God that the Germans did not break through. But I was aware that they might at any moment. After that, the 165th performed as well as any other unit in the Rainbow.

As for the 167th Alabama...the only time I every saw or heard of anything unusual was at Camp Mills, Long Island, New York, when we were in training to go to Europe. One night, we were called out to separate the 167th from a Negro unit. Apparently the white soldiers really got upset that black soldiers were in the division. Anyway, we had to part the two units...but I didn't see any specific violence. I heard that there was a pretty good fight going before we got there. It was the 167th I was going to help when I got my knee fractured during the fighting at the Ourcq River.""

I hope this will give you another piece of the puzzle, David. I quizzed him really hard about the facts. He, as you know, has a wonderful memory, and will not [I repeat] not, go along with anything, nor any memory of someone else just to satisfy that person. He will tell it just exactly the way it was."" 8

"On the fourth day, when the 69th and the Alabama continued to hold, the French general [Gouraud] said, "Well, I guess there is nothing for me to do but fight the war out where the New York Irish want to fight it." 9

Author of The Last Hero, Wild Bill Donovan, Anthony Cave Brown, tells us:

"And, Donovan was to admit, the Micks took no prisoners. "The men, "he wrote," when they saw the Germans with red crosses on one sleeve and serving machine guns against us, firing until the last minute, then cowardly throwing up their hands and crying "Kamerad," became just lustful for German blood. I do not blame them." Later when WJD [William J. Donovan] was required to sit in judgement on the German officers' corps for its conduct in World War II, he recalled this incident, realized that if World War I had gone the wrong way, he might have been arrested for having committed war crimes, and he refused to prosecute." 10
It is interesting to note that, during the fighting along the Ourcq River, and after the Champagne-Marne Defensive Campaign, the U. S. 42nd Division evidently again became involved with the matter of battlefield atrocities. We read as follows in Anthony Cave Brown's book entitled, The Last Hero, Wild Bill Donovan:

"In the fighting the Micks again began to kill their prisoners, and Donovan recorded: "Out of the 25 I was able to save only 2 prisoners, the men killed
all the rest." 11

Editor's comment: "Micks" is an ethnic slang expression for the Irish-Americans. Once again we have the situation where an officer in the AEF is able to write just about any comment at all to the home folks. One speculates as to what the average enlisted soldier would have written, had he been permitted to do so. Major General William J. Donovan, commander of the 165th (formerly 69th ) Infantry Regiment during World War I, was later to become the founder of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and "father" of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Going back to the 167th Infantry Regiment (formerly 4th Alabama), Professor James J. Cooke, author of The Rainbow Division in the Great War, informs the author that:

"The matter of the atrocities concerned mainly the 167th Infantry and I was very concerned with it because of the investigation conducted by the HQ, AEF. There had been problems with the 167th being very aggressive in combat. But, when I searched for references in German papers, like you, I found none. It appeared that HQ got their information from reporters who simply heard rumors, etc. I do believe, however, that HQ was well aware of the hard fighting tendencies of units like the 167th and wanted to investigate quickly. I included the investigation mainly because it was HQ that ordered it done rather than from any German or poor sources. That is as far as I got when doing the Rainbow book. I did indeed research AEF records in RG 120 at National Archives II, especially the JAG [Judge Advocate General] and G2 [Intelligence] records, but found, like you, a brick wall as far as the origins of the reported atrocities. By the way, when I ran across "condemned" sources it was usually for reporters and reports that were not run through Pershing's staff. As you know Pershing and his staff at Chaumont did everything possible to control the press." 12

The soldiers of the 4th Alabama National Guard Regiment (167th of the U. S. 42nd Division) seem to have been a rather different 'breed of cat.' Many of them were backwoodsmen, avid hunters and crack rifle shots. It is said that many of them brought their personal Bowie knives over to France and that they used them in battle. 13

In a letter to the home folks, Ambulance Corps driver George Ruckle wrote, in part: "The Germans call us barbarians, they don't like the way we fight. When the boys go over the top or make raids they generally throw away their rifles and go to it with trench knives, sawed off shotguns, bare fists and hand grenades, and the Bosch doesn't like that kind of fighting. The boys from Alabama are particularly expert with knives and they usually go over hollering like fiends-so I don't blame the Germans for being afraid of them." 14

A young officer in the 42nd Division, made the observation in a letter home in early 1918 that, "the Alabamans, a rough, quick-tempered lot, always spoiling for a fight, lost their tempers." This comment was made in regards to an altercation between the men from Alabama and the French civilians.

Could the old adage that, "where there is smoke, there must be fire" apply here?
In placing all of these pieces of evidence of alleged battlefield atrocities committed by the U. S. 42nd Division on the scales of justice, how does it all weigh out? In the opinion of this historian, the 'Rainbow' Division probably stands guilty of some extremely aggressive battlefield behavior during World War I. It is also my distinct impression that the investigation conducted by AEF HQ was a total whitewash.

Americans are loathe to accept the idea that their soldiery, in any war, either enjoy killing their enemies or are capable of committing war crimes of any sort and specifically battlefield atrocities against enemy soldiers or civilians. Americans are always so shocked and horrified whenever their soldiers act (or react) like anyone else in the world, as if "our boys" occupy a moral high ground unique on the planet. But, if one is to be true to historical fact, one must accept the idea that American soldiers have not always behaved honorably on the battlefield. There is ample testimony to this effect from World War I, World War II, Korea, (e.g., the incident at the tunnel at No Gun Ri in 1950, where a number of civilians were allegedly massacred by American soldiers) Vietnam (e.g., the Mylai incident, where Vietnamese civilians were allegedly massacred under the command of Lt. William Calley), and from Iraq, where all too frequently some of our fighting forces are accused of having shot unarmed prisoners, or having tortured them in prison.

In coming down to the year of 2005, we have Marine Corps Lt. General James N. Mattis, known as "Mad Dog Mattis" to the troops he led in Afganistan and Iraq, publicly stating that "It's a lot of fun to fight, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you. I like brawling." The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Mike Hagee said, in part, "While I understand that some people may take issue with the comments made by him, I also know he intended to reflect the unfortunate and harsh realities of war." 15

The murder of surrendering prisoners is not unique to World War I. That has been a barbarous practice in all wars. However, one aspect of World War I fighting has been perhaps neglected; perhaps the murder of surrendering prisoners was more common in that brutal war than we would like to believe.

While brave, kindly and charitable acts also characterized World War I, we should not forget that it also produced its share of battlefield atrocities. A certain de-sensitization about the value of human life may be necessary to cope in the stress of performing a job that requires killing, a cold mentality that must be kept on the battlefield.

Perhaps the best tribute to fighting ability of the Guardsmen of the Rainbow Division came from their enemies. In a study made in post-war days, the German High Command considered eight American divisions especially effective; six of those were those of the much maligned "militia" or National Guard! When the German soldiers were asked which American combat division they most feared and respected, the reply was always, "the 42nd", and "the Rainbow." For some reason the Germans never made the distinction. 16

Editor's note: On German opinion of the 42nd Div., see e.g., The United States Army in the World War, XI, 410, 412-13; Thomas, History of the A.E.F., 221.

George Pattullo, a World War I correspondent for the periodical Saturday Evening Post, and accredited to American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France in 1918, wrote as follows in his article entitled, "The Inside Story of the A.E.F.," May 6, 1921:

"Just as it is impossible for an individual to view his family's relations with outsiders impartially, so it is beyond the capacity of nationals of one country to see anything except their own side in dealing with other nations. The tendency to attribute base motives and double dealing to a rival is universal; on the other hand, everything that one's own country does is great and noble and of pure purpose. And of course an enemy is always a scoundrel.

The extremes to which this sort of thinking will drive people are often laughable. I remember two nice old ladies from New England stopping a returned war correspondent on Fifth Avenue to question him about certain stories they had heard of war prisoners in German hands.

"Was it true that the Germans prodded prisoners with bayonets and kicked them, too, to make them walk faster?"
"Well, war's a tough game," answered the correspondent who was a bit fed up with
the whole business.
"It's Dog eat dog, and every army has men in it who go in for rough stuff.

You have to, in a fight!"
"Oh!" gasped the ladies, all aflutter, "But not our boys!
They're too noble." 18
Howard V. O'Brien, an AEF officer stationed in Paris, wrote an illuminating statement in his 1918 diary:
"Acquaintance growing up among different regions of U.S. Oregon reg't and

outfit from Boston on same ship. Mass. boys at first dubious of "wild" Westerners-which had highest percentage of college men and generally bien élevé of any outfit I've seen. Most refractory bunch yet encountered, from Alabama. Pistol toters. G.O. [general order] ruled rods out. After that, all scrapping Marquis of Queensberry, and several good lickings helped." 19

Victor L. Hicken, in his book The American Fighting Man, states:

"As far as the fear of the German soldier for the American soldier in 1917

was concerned, there is some basis for this contention. A French officer, observing the Yanks, wrote: "He arrived a born soldier....I think the Germans are afraid of him." Rumor spread behind the German lines that it didn't pay to fight well against the Americans; for they seldom allowed the Germans to surrender after putting up a stiff fight. One American regimental history, that of the "Rainbow Division," substantiates this possibility by claiming that its men "fought to kill," and that few prisoners were usually taken. Indeed, the facts on the "Rainbow Division" show that, for the amount of fighting the division did, very few prisoners were taken." 20

A German is reported to have said:

"I did not meet the Americans on the battlefields but I have talked with German soldiers who did. These soldiers were against the Rainbow Division near Verdun and said they don't want such fighting as they encountered there. The Americans were always advancing and acted more like wild men than soldiers." 21

In Americans in Battle, we read:

"An historian of the Rainbow Division admits that its men fought to kill, an admission borne out by the mere 1,317 prisoners taken by the division." 22

David C. Homsher, a veteran of U.S. Army service during the Korean War, and now retired, is a historian/author of and about the American soldier of World War I and his battlefields. Dave has traveled extensively over many of the battlegrounds of both World Wars and he is has written and published the first of a series of guidebooks to the American battlefields of the World War I in France and Belgium.

Copyright April 2007 by David C. Homsher.
85 Tilton Avenue, # 4, San Mateo, CA 94401
Tel. (650) 347-6073
Website: http://www.battlegroundpro.com AEF blogs: http://www.davehomsher-wwi.blogspot.com/
http://www.doughboydiaries.blogspot.com/
Email: daveh@battlegroundpro

100 Questions to Ask Your Girlfriend - Fun Questions to Ask Your Girlfriend

I very often see and hear guys looking for good questions to ask their girlfriend. There may be a lot of reasons, what is yours?

• Looking to get to know your valentine date better?


• Running out of things to talk to your sweetie about?


• First date jitters and don't know what to talk about?

Well, here are first half of 100 questions that can break the ice and get a conversation going. Check them out and then continue to my blog for the other half, agreed?

And, please, remember that the most important thing is to have fun! Although this might seem easy to sit and list all the questions before your girlfriend but she might freak out and run away from you and we wouldn't like that, would we? So make fun of it. Throw a couple of questions and talk about them, discuss the answers, enjoy the conversation.

You might be very much surprised by what you learn about the other person. People are fun and they are so different but also so alike. Finding out your new girlfriend to be like minded with you should turn your date into a celebration at the end. Be prepared!

Don't force anyone to answer a question they don't want to and don't pry deeper if they are not willing to talk about a certain subject. Good manners are a must when asking personal and intimate questions, especially if you are not too acquainted with each other.

1. What was your best job?

2. What were your worst jobs?

3. Tell me all the places you worked

4. Tell me about your best friend

5. Tell me about your family

6. Tell me about your relatives

7. What was your first car?

8. Favorite movie star?

9. Favorite entertainer?

10. Favorite song?

11. What were your life changing moments?

12. First girlfriend/boyfriend?

13. First kiss?

14. What is the dumbest thing you have ever done?

15. Have you ever been arrested?

16. Political affiliation?

17. Have you voted for someone you wished you hadn't?

18. Have you used drugs?

19. Do you like to shop?

20. Best way to relax?

21. Favorite thing to do alone?

22. Ever had a one night stand?

23. Do you save money?

24. What hobbies to you spend money on?

25. If you found a $100 what would you do?

26. Do you want children/more children?

27. Are you a good parent?

28. What makes a good parent?

29. Are you romantic?

30. Ever loose a pet?

31. Dog or cat?

32. Pets growing up?

33. Sleep in the nude?

34. Favorite midnight snack?

35. Do you exercise?

36. Did you ever see your parents making love?

37. Peanut butter and what?

38. What is one food you will never give up?

39. What is a food you can live without?

40. Favorite drink?

41. Perfect day?

42. How many CDs do you own?

43. How many DVDs do you own?

44. Favorite thing to spend money on?

45. What is the weirdest thing about you?

46. What is on your bedside table?

47. Are you cheap or thrifty?

48. Ever been in love with 2 people at the same time?

49. Grades in high school?

50. Favorite teacher?

51. Relatives in jail?

52. Toppings on pizza?

53. Black or white?

54. Glass half full or half empty?55. Ever been to a food shelf?

56. Ever milked a cow?

57. Ever tipped a cow?

58. Bath or shower?

59. Mountains or the beach?

60. Plane, train or automobile?

61. Favorite all time movie?

62. Worse movie you have ever seen?

63. Best concert you have been to?

64. Beer, wine or coffee?

65. Best vacation?

66. If you could retire tomorrow what would you do?

67. Worse vacation?

68. Three places you would love to visit?

69. Worse boss?

70. If you could do anything what would it be?

71. Super powers you wish you had?

72. Ever had a massage?

73. Ideal romantic dinner?

74. Dumbest purchase you ever made?

75. Where did you find money when you were flat broke?

76. Ever sold blood?

77. What sporting event/concert/entertainment would you buy tickets to regardless of price?

78. Ever hit a jackpot on a slot machine?

79. Ever won the lottery?

80. What would you do with your lottery winnings?

81. Are you a neat freak?

82. Can't stand being around people who_________?

83. Crowds or small groups?

84. How old do you want to live to?

85. Loose your sight or hearing?

86. Ever had a crush on a member of the same sex?

87. Pet peeves?

88. Most annoying habit?

89. Sexiest parts of a member of the opposite sex?

90. Major turn offs?

91. Tattoos?

92. Bodypainting?

93. Piercings?

94. Plastic surgery-would you/have you?

95. Computer geek?

96. Trekee?

97. Play an instrument?

98. Been in a band?

99. Most embarrassing moment?

100. Nude beach yes or no?

Did you like this? I think this is a nice list of fun questions to ask your girlfriend. I hope the list is interesting enough and will keep you going for some time. Enjoy your conversations and have fun!

Find additional questions to ask your girlfriend on my relationship blog. Want to discover if you two guys are really compatible? Ask these questions and you'll find out!

Life After Death

Negative Energy

What is negative energy?
This question I asked three years back based on the behavior of my pet Dog. I want to share with you about my experience with my pet Dog. She is an Indian breed named lisy and I adopted her 5 years ago. She is always around me sleeps in the same bed. Few years ago for some strange reasons she started avoiding me. She smelled my room and walked away. I panicked. I visited a Sufi master and he told me that I have some negative energy. He did some procedure and I went back home. Immediately my Dog's reaction changed. She started coming closer to me and was comfortable in my room. She is a very friendly dog and rarely barks at visitors. But certain visitors she used to bark and sometimes hide from them. I realized that she can smell negative energies. I did research based on her behavior.

One scientist explained me that negative energy is about electrons spinning anticlockwise and positive energy is about electrons spinning clockwise. But I was sure that lisy is not afraid of electrons, and there is something mysterious about these negative energies. On doing further research I asked those visitors to leave all there belongings outside and enter. To my surprise lisy became immediately friendly with them. Immediately I realized that negative energy was absorbed on some object that the person was wearing. I found out that objects like gold, gemstones, leather items was mostly affected.

Going deeper I realized that these negative energies are Biomagnetic field of dead person. In fact after death the human Biomagnetic field with the memories gets detached from the body. That is the reason for my dog getting scared, because we are talking about a field which is alive with all memories. The Biomagnetic field gets attached to these objects and the person wearing them develops a negative field around him. Even today I have visitors coming home to check themselves of their negativity. Thanks to lisy I was able to write a book"Life after Death" published by frog books

Atman
Atman is different from Soul. Atman is an invisible umbilical chord or a connector above our head connected from the creator. At the time of death the atman gets disconnected and gets connected to a baby in the womb giving life. This is the concept of rebirth.

Soul is an energy concentration located in front of the body. The area between soul and the physical body constitutes our Biomagnetic field and the chakra layers. The physical body consisting of 8 layers is a common misinterpretation. The truth is that the soul has 8 layers with our physical body being the 8th layer. In fact our body is only a layer (gross) of the soul. The first layer of the soul is Ajna, 2nd is Vishuddha, 3rd is Anahata, 4th is manipura, 5th swadhishthana 6th is sahasrara, 7th is mooladhara (Bio magnetic field) and the 8th is the physical body.

At the time of death the soul with its 7 layers gets disconnected from the physical body. The atman gets separately disconnected from the body. The memory of the person remains in the Biomagnetic field. (Scientists have agreed that the memory of a person does not reside in the brain, so it has to be outside.) If a person is having distortion in his magnetic field (Karma Dosha) before his death he creates an opposite magnetic of that of the earth. Due to the opposite field the earth magnetic field pulls the distorted Biomagnetic field below the earth. The Biomagnetic field remains trapped below the earth till the distortion (Karma Dosha) is removed. Karma Dosha is a distorted magnetic field accumulated by man in his Biomagnetic field. One has to follow the law of nature. Going against the law can lead to accumulation of Karma Dosha. Our scriptures call it hell. It's like getting trapped below the earth with all the memories without any freedom. Sounds scary but it is true.

For a person who attained moksha, the connection with the atman remains permanent even after death.
As per my understanding and study there is no rebirth of the soul. Firstly the soul of the parents is replicated or multiplied and enters in to their offspring at the time of orgasm. So there is no chance of any external soul to enter. Secondly after death due to distortions (Karma Dosha) in the Bio magnetic field the soul with the 7 layers gets pulled down to the earth. If there is any rebirth it must be the atman which connects and disconnects during life and death, but it does not carry any memories with it.

Kundalini
It is a hollow 2mm size like vacuum located at the base of Mooladhara. At the time of orgasm the size increases to approx 7 mm and then shrinks back to the original size. When the kundalini increases its size the soul gets multiplied. A spiritually evolved person should be able to increase the size of the kundalini without the thought of sex and then raise it via sushumna nadi above the head between the atman and sahasrara chakra.

Once this phenomenon is achieved we can say that the person has achieved moksha. The atman remains permanently connected. After death his energy field gets intact only the body perishes. He has the freedom and lives eternally.

Man has a choice to live in this world for approx 80 years and the get trapped below the earth for years or achieve moksha and get freedom and live eternally.
Life begins after death

Why couldn't nature place kundalini directly above the head at first place?
Man is a co creator. For man to reproduce, the kundalini must be placed at mooladhara chakra.
Man has two main purposes with his body in life. One is to reproduce and second to attain moksha. Rest everything is secondary.

Depression
"If you talk to God, you are praying; if God talks to you, you have schizophrenia"

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

Some of the major symptoms have been perceptional difficulties and voices. 'Voices' is a poor word to use for this Symptom as very few people who are diagnosed as hearing a voice actually hear a voice; it's closer to being addressed by your own thoughts in the 3rd person and believing that these thoughts originate from outside yourself. Whether or not these thoughts come from evil spirits or a biochemical imbalance makes no difference to the person experiencing these symptoms because the effect remains the same. These voices and perceptional illusions can intrude upon the conscious mind and make it difficult to live. Diagnosis is based on the patient's self-reported experiences and observed behavior. No laboratory test for schizophrenia currently exists. A person diagnosed with schizophrenia may demonstrate disorganized and unusual thinking and speech, auditory hallucinations, and delusions.

The psychiatrist Kurt Schneider (1887-1967) listed the forms of psychotic symptoms that he thought distinguished schizophrenia from other psychotic disorders. These are called first-rank symptoms or Schneider's first-rank symptoms, and they include delusions of being controlled by an external force; the belief that thoughts are being inserted into or withdrawn from one's conscious mind; the belief that one's thoughts are being broadcast to other people; and hearing hallucinatory voices that comment on one's thoughts or actions or that have a conversation with other hallucinated voices.

Causes as per research conducted by Hora Biomagnetic research Center
Our Biomagnetic field is approx 1 meter from our body controlled by Mooladhara chakra. The clockwise and the anticlockwise spin of Mooladhara causes a double spin of the subatomic particles one vertical and one horizontal, creating a Biomagnetic field. Magnetic field has a single spin whereas Biomagnetic field has double spin.

At the time of death the Biomagnetic field with the memory gets disconnected from the physical body. The memory of the person remains in the Biomagnetic field. (Scientist has found that memory does not reside in the brain so it has to be outside.) That is the reason why no laboratory test can diagnose depression. If a person is having a distortion in his magnetic field (Karma Dosha) before his death ,due to the earth magnetic field which has an opposite field gets pulled below the earth and remains till the distortion (Karma Dosha) is removed.

When a dead person soul gets trapped or attached to living persons Biomagnetic field then it is called soul attachment. Through my research I have found that due to weak magnetic field of a living person a dead person's soul can get attached causing mental illness like depression, Schizophrenia etc. The memory of the dead person clashes with the memory of the live person causing phobias, confusion, hallucination etc. This must be the reason for hearing voices. If a soul of a dead woman enters a man he starts to develop female tendencies. Famous case I understand is of former Inspector General of police from India Mr. Panda popularly known as "doosri Radha". Suddenly his behavior pattern changed while on duty. He started dressing like a woman believing himself to be Radha .He is an unfortunate victim of soul attachment. We should understand that person like IG Panda is not an ordinary person and instead of finding the cause we ridicule them. The behavior of the victim depends on the position of the attachment. If the attachment is on the front right side the victim can develop hallucination, schizophrenia, opposite sex tendencies.

In a recent case Bollywood film actor Govinda, things seems to go seriously wrong for him. Incidents of his infamous eccentric behavior are on the rise. There was an article in Bangalore mirror where a Mumbai based psychiatrist said "Judging by these stories one cannot underline that Govinda is schizophrenic". This is a famous case of a normal person going abnormal. This according to me is an unfortunate case of soul attachment. In the past we have come across the famous case of actress Praveen Babi who suffered from schizophrenia.

There was a recent case of an IT professional committing suicide. She mentioned in the suicide note that she was a victim of split personality and got into depression. There are many such cases and it has become a global problem If the attachment is on the back right side, the victim can develop depression, phobias etc. In the news paper you must have come across of people suddenly getting into depression after the sudden demise of a person. There are cases abroad where people preserve the dead person in their house for years. This is a case of soul attachment where the dead person's soul influences the attached person of not destroying the body.

Gem Stones
We have done research on the popular 9 gemstones and their relation with human Biomagnetic field using Biomagnetic scanner. The gem stones were placed in the scanner. The scanner was opening for particular person for a particular stone. Out of the 9 gem stones only 3 stones are related to human beings: Blue Sapphire, ruby and Coral. We have done extensive research on people and found that they belong to the group of only one of these stones. In fact it is the same frequency of the soul. Each Individual will have one of the above frequency only.

Why human beings soul has 3 different frequencies and not one?
Probably the answer is with the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva Concept

Brahma represents Ruby frequency, Vishnu represents Coral Frequency and Shiva represents Blue Sapphire frequency. So if a person has coral frequency his ancestor must be Vishnu.

As per Charles Darwin's theory man arouse out of evolution from apes and not by creation. If that is true then the apes must also belong to the group of these three gem stones. We have yet to do research on apes to come to a conclusion. We have done research on many families and have come to a peculiar conclusion. If the father is of coral frequency and the mother is of ruby frequency their children will either be a ruby or coral frequency. The soul can replicate itself from the parents to their children. During the sexual intercourse the couple who gets the first orgasm will have his or her soul replicating to the new born. So the theory that the soul comes from outside and enters the womb is not true. The soul located in front of your Bio magnetic field is a replicate from your parents. If we go to the origin and its beginning it must be from the trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The very presence of soul in your Bio magnetic field has to be the soul from one of the trinity. So in a sense god is within you is true. Our physical body with the field represents the temple and the soul represents the almighty.

We also have heard of cases of children talking about past birth experiences and we conclude it as rebirth. The same child as it grows forgets the past experiences. This is a case of soul attachment. During childhood the child has a tender memory and hence it gets under the influence of the memories of the attached soul. As the child grows and develops his own memory the influence of the memory of the soul attached gets reduced.

Meditation
It is important for every one of us to know the art of relaxation. Remember only a relaxed person can meditate. Any technique which leads to moksha is called meditation. Meditation should be effortless like sleep. The moment you put effort to sleep, you cannot sleep. Similarly if you put effort to meditate you cannot meditate. Mounan is a powerful technique for a person to relax and prepare for meditation. Mounam has been misunderstood as silence. Mounam is not remaining silent. A practitioner can practice mounam amidst all chaos. He can talk, go to office do his task and still be in a state of mounam.

We have our inner conversation happening all the times. Thought comes we react mentally to the thoughts. We almost spend our lifetime reacting to our thoughts. It is not possible to stop the flow of thoughts. In fact it is not necessary. What we can do is to stop reacting to the thoughts and that is called mounam. Remaining silent is of no use as long as you react to the thoughts. Reacting to a thought accompanies emotion and emotions can be positive or negative. Instead of reacting, act with the thought. Acting with the thought does not bring emotion. One can remain in that state through out and remain in a calm state of mind.

Many have practiced this wonderful technique and have benefited from it. The practical benefits one gain from this technique is developing self confidence, stress reduction, maintaining harmony and balance within yourself and with the surroundings. These benefits help you to think positive and guide you in the right direction. Then the so called materialistic benefits become achievable.

Kundalini Shakthi
We are familiar with the term Kundalini shakthi. What is the importance of Kundalini yoga? What is the benefit for the modern man? Scientists say that man uses 10% of his brain; the rest remain dormant throughout his life. Kundalini yoga is a technique to activate the other dormant portions of his brain. You divide the brain into 7 parts. Each part is connected to each chakra. The seven chakras starting from Mooladhara chakra, swadhisthana chakra, manipura chakra, Anahata chakra, Vishudha chakra, ajna chakra and sahasrara chakra have direct influence on the functioning of the brain. Man has control over animals and uses them for their comforts, mainly because of the power of the brain. Animals also have chakras but the main difference between man and animal is that for animal the highest chakra is Mooladhara and for man the lowest chakra is Mooladhara. That explains the limitation of animals.

By birth by default human beings have got Mooladhara chakra activated. That is the reason for the 10% activation of the brain. We live all our lives within the limitation of these 10%. The other chakras are not activated. With every chakra getting activated, additional 10% of the brain gets activated. If you have visited the ashrams of great gurus you will notice a peaceful atmosphere around there. The presence of the great master makes one feel peaceful and serene. They speak on any subject with conviction. The reason is that they have activated some of their chakras thereby activated their brain cells further.

Remaining at the level of Mooladhara one cannot evolve spiritually. Mooladhara chakra has its negative side like greed, jealousy etc which is responsible for all the major crimes committed by man. Every one must make effort to activate at least one of the chakras by practicing Kundalini Yoga. People have the wrong notion that kundalini Yoga is difficult to practice. They conclude that one has to do years of penance like Sri Buddha which is not practical in today's world. One must understand that awakening of the chakras is as per the law of nature. Anything within the law of nature is attainable, only that one should have a deep inner quest towards it.

Great saints like Sri Buddha, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba were able to awaken theirKundalini. But unfortunately their disciples or their worshippers could not attain it. By simply following a guru or worshipping them you cannot be assured of awakening. The guru has his own set of ideas developed by his own thinking. The followers blindly follow those ideas, which is not wrong. The problem is that the follower stops thinking on his own and expects the guru to think for him. He simply justifies his guru's ideas. It is important that one must develop the habit of thinking, because from deep thinking one can evolve spiritually. Every human being should reach the level of a guru themselves. Then the world will be a better place to live in.

Soul Meditation
A vast majority of people believe in God. People throng to temples, churches in spite of his invisible existence. Majority of people offer prayers to the almighty. But most of them pray for fulfillment of desires, to satisfy their materialistic needs. Huge amount of money is spend for this purpose. Now the question is does the almighty fulfill your desires?. If that is true then why are people still suffering?

From childhood we hear this statement "God is within you" Is this statement true? If it is true then why go to temples and pray.

The soul located in front of your Biomagnetic Field is a replicate from your parents. If we go to the origin and its beginning it must be from the trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The very presence of soul in your Biomagnetic field has to be the soul from one of the trinity. So in a sense god is within you is true. Our physical body with the field represents the temple and the soul represents the almighty.

One should understand that the creator who created you will not help you in fulfillment of your desires. They are not meant for that. If you have a deep quest to evolve spiritually then this technique will be useful to you. So the next time you offer prayers make sure you ask for spiritual growth and not materialistic needs.

By Girish Menon
http://www.horamag.com

Girish Menon
Bangalore based paranormal investigator and vastu consultant
http://www.horamag.com

How Smart Are Pit Bull Terrier Dogs?

People say a lot of things about Pit Bulls, but you never hear them talk much about the intelligence of this particular breed. Fact is you'll never hear anything about the intelligence of this animal, unless you are in the company of Pit bull owners. Anyone who has owned one of these fascinating Dogs will tell you straight up that the Pit bull is a very smart Dog indeed.

Pit Bulls are fairly quick to learn, but they also have a certain stubborn streak which is a direct result of their intelligence. These Dogs have a definite will of their own, and they like to get their way, but then again most humans do as well!

This stubborn behavior which shows from time to time tends to make the Pit Bull breed slightly harder to train than other breeds. Some people mistake the Dog's independent will as the dog not being trainable, but nothing could be further from the truth! These highly intelligent dogs can be trained.

The problems in training arise from owners who have no knowledge about the Pit Bull breed. As with any breed, prospective owners should always invest a little of their time into getting to know the particular quirks that all dog breeds have. Owners who get a Pit Bull then whine about the training of them simply did not do their homework. That's not the dog's fault, now is it?

As the owner of a Pit Bull, you should understand that his stubbornness comes from his intelligence, and that you shouldn't take it personally. Just because he doesn't want to do what you want him to do at a specific time doesn't mean he doesn't love you. If you can simply treat it for what it truly is, stubbornness, then you'll both make out just fine.

Always meet their hard headed ways with patience and understanding. Certainly don't give up on their training, just be a little more stubborn than they are!

You may want to consider using a type of training called play training. This type of training appeals to Pit Bulls because they absolutely love to play. When a training task is presented as a fun game, the task will appeal to the dog's inner desire for play. With this technique, you can outwit the stubbornness you may have encountered with any other type of training.

When purchasing toys for your Pit Bull, keep in mind those strong jaws this breed is famous for. You'll want to purchase toys that are geared to survive for the long haul. Be sure to get toys which will not break apart easily and injure your Pit Bull. Above all, enjoy your new found friend!

To learn all about raising an American Pitbull Terrier and training Pitbulls, visit http://www.pitbullsrevealed.com/ today.

Dog Urinating Frequently? 5 Possible Causes and What You Can Do About It

Are you frustrated with your Dog urinating frequently and in the most inappropriate places? There are a variety of factors that could be causing your Dog's frequent urination. The first important step is to take your Dog to a veterinarian and get a proper diagnosis. The condition can become life-threatening if you don't start treatment in time. Here are 5 possible reasons why your dog is urinating frequently and what you can do to stop it.

1. If you notice your dog urinating excessively, he could be ill and extreme thirst may be the first symptom you notice. Dogs that drink abnormally large amounts of water suffer from what is known as polydipsia. The cause could be a serious disease such as a pituitary tumor, high blood cortisol, diabetes insipidus, liver disease, central diabetes, or Cushing's disease. Cushing's disease increases the production of cortisol, hence leading to hormonal imbalance and excessive urination. It is important to report any increases in your dog's water consumption to your veterinarian and have your vet do blood tests and other examinations immediately.

2. Old age can also be the cause of your dog urinating frequently. As dogs age, their sphincter loosens and it gets harder for them to hold in urine. There are medications that your dog can take to tighten his sphincter but they are not without their significant side effects. Instead, try giving your dog a homeopathic remedy that promotes bladder health and a healthy flow of urine.

3. Diet may be the cause of the symptom of your dog urinating excessively. If your dog is eating a diet high in salt that may be the reason why he is urinating so frequently. To avoid this problem, make sure to feed your dog plenty of raw food rich in minerals like magnesium, aluminum, and phosphate. Drinking plenty of fresh, filtered water is also important.

4. The symptoms your dog is experiencing may stem from behavioral issues such as separation anxiety or territorial marking. A dog urinating frequently needs training if these behavioral issues are the underlying cause. Dogs that bond well with their owners may get distressed when their owner is gone and urinate frequently in different, inappropriate locations of the house. You can prevent this behavior by leaving your dog chew toys to play with, taking him out on frequent walks prior to your departure to tire him out, or leave the TV on to distract him while you are out. Marking happens when your dog urinates on objects in the home as a result of territorial instincts. It is most common among unneutered male dogs. To stop it from happening, neuter your dog and keep him away from the windows so he can't see passerby.

5. Urinary tract and bladder infections caused by E. coli bacteria are most likely the cause of your dog urinating excessively. The infection can travel up to your dog's kidneys and become fatal if left untreated. For this reason it is important to treat this condition early. Your veterinarian can do a pee test to determine whether a bacterial infection is the cause. If it is, he will probably recommend treatment with antibiotics but you should weigh your treatment options carefully prior to giving your dog drugs. The problem with antibiotics is that they only suppress the symptoms and do not treat the underlying cause of the problem. Furthermore, medication is known to aggravate UTIs. If you want to treat the problem naturally and get long term results, give your dog a homeopathic remedy.

Your next step? Take this information and find out what could be the cause of your dog urinating frequently. The problem can be easily remedied if you address the underlying problems. Whether the cause is a tumor, bacterial infection, diabetes, or other disease, homeopathic treatment can help. Homeopathic treatment will maintain a healthy bladder, a healthy pituitary gland, a healthy flow of urine, and a strong immune system. It will help your dog achieve permanent recovery and overall good health and unlike drugs, it is 100% safe.

What Tax Deductions Can You Rightfully Claim?

Tax time and comprehending our deductions can be an overwhelming task for some, especially non-accountants and non-tax attorneys. We are torn between taking the standard deductions or itemizing them. Let us tackle item per item the definition of each, examples of deductions, requirements, and advantages of claiming them. When the water gets unclear, you can always consult an accountant for more detailed IRS assistance.

Tax deductions are expenses that have been incurred by the taxpayer for many reasons or purposes. This deduction is effected on the gross income. As a result, the taxable income is cut down, requiring less money for taxes. Let us take a gross income of $100,000 as an example. The deductions mean less tax because your taxable income is significantly lowered.

The two kinds of deductions are standardized and itemized deduction. A standard deduction is dependent on your civil status: single, married, head of household, and is a fixed dollar amount deducted from your gross income. An itemized deduction, which will be the central theme of this write-up, is a corresponding amount for certain expenses incurred. Asking for IRS or professional assistance will surely be of great help if you are in doubt as to which type of deduction you can claim.

Tax credits, which are different from deductions are also available. You can get them from certain expenses such as having children, adopting children, paying college tuition for your children, earned income tax credit, energy efficiency. The IRS online system and tax forms can provide you the criteria for evaluating your qualifications for certain tax credits. Credits are different from deductions in a way that the former are taken from the total taxable income, not the gross income.

Outlined hereafter are some of the common tax deductions:

• Fees for professional and business-related associations


• Job-hunting costs


• Fees for job agencies


• Professional books and magazines


• Union fees


• Work clothes or uniforms


• Expenses for the house and office


• Legal fees to collect taxable income, such as alimony


• Tax preparation and advice charges


• Costs Incurred from moving to a new job


• Fees for IRS set-up and administration


• Other legal fees


• Donations to charitable institutions


• Business liability insurance premiums


• Tuition fees for job-related classes

Always ask for IRS assistance in computing for your taxes so you do not overpay. On the contrary, a number of supplementary references are available should you decideto do the itemization on your own.How do you avail of these deductions? If you are doing your taxes on paper, then the instruction booklet will have notes that will help you determine if you qualify for these deductions. If you go online, the system will guide you through the process. In addition, a professional will be able to tell you which deductions you can claim for. The list of miscellaneous deductions is available online for more assistance on taxes.

Increasing the amount for refund or reducing the amount of taxes due are lawfully addressed through tax deductions. To make sure you are claiming all the deductions to which you are entitled to - or not wrongfully claiming for deductions- IRS assistance or professional help is always helpful. Otherwise, take time to conscientiously go over the instructions in your booklet. Several taxpayers in reality, pay too much, so be sure you know what you can and cannot use as deductions.

Darrin T. Mish is a Nationally recognized Attorney whose practice focuses on representing clients across the United States with IRS Problems. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbel and is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. He has been honored by a listing in Martindale-Hubbel's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. His passion is providing IRS help to taxpayers with both individual and payroll tax problems. He teaches attorneys, CPAs and Enrolled Agents in the finer aspects of IRS representation all around the United States. He can be reached at his website at http://www.getIRShelp.com

Help, My Pet Has Diarrhea!

One of the most common reasons pet owners seek the help of a veterinarian is because their pet has diarrhea. Whether it is a regular occurrence for a pet with an over sensitive digestive system or a one off event, it always signifies that something is not right and requires action to firm those stools up again. This article explains in simple terms some of the more common causes of diarrhea in Dogs and cats, and how best to deal with the problem.

OK, so you have noticed your pet has diarrhea. The first question to ask yourself is to describe the nature of the feces. The consistency, color and even smell of the feces gives the veterinarian vital clues as to the cause. Here are some questions to ask yourself, so that you are well prepared to answer any questions your veterinarian might ask if you end up seeking his/her advice.

1. How long has your pet had diarrhea for? Has your pet suffered from episodes of diarrhea in the past? If yes, there may be a dietary intolerance to deal with and therefore specific foods to avoid.

2. Is your Dog/cat bright and well or depressed and lethargic? If the latter is true, more urgent diagnostics and treatment may be necessary.

3. How is your pets appetite? If your pet is still eating it is a good sign that the cause of the diarrhea is a simple one that is easy to fix.

4. Is the diarrhea watery or just slightly loose? If it is very watery then it suggests fluid is being actively secreted into the intestines, and there is more of a danger from your pet suffering from dehydration due to fluid loss.

5. Has there been any vomiting at all? If your pet has been vomiting too then the disease is affecting the front end of the digestive tract (esophagus, stomach and small intestine) in addition to the back end (small intestine and large intestine). This could be due to something your pet has eaten, or due to toxins in the bloodstream that make the animal feel nauseous.

6. Is there any blood in the diarrhea? Blood can take on two forms; bleeding into the small intestine results in black feces as the blood is partly digested by the time it reaches the anus. Bleeding into the large intestine or rectum leads to reddish feces, with more fresh looking blood. The nature of the blood and the color of the stool tells us the location of the problem. Puppies and kittens commonly have streaks of blood in their feces; this is often no major cause of concern. Copious blood in the feces however is a huge worry and needs immediate veterinary investigation to check for nasties such as anticoagulant toxicity, severe infections and tumors.

7. Which of these two descriptions best fits the diarrhea:

A) your pet is producing huge amounts of explosive diarrhea a couple of times a day at most, or

B) your pet is straining to defecate and passing small amounts of mucus covered diarrhea 4 or more times during the day. If the answer is A, the small intestine is the source of the problem whereas if the answer is B, the large intestine is where the disease is. This is also important in how the diarrhea is treated. 8. Could your pet have swallowed an object that is lodged somewhere? This is far more common in dogs, particularly those that play with sticks and toys, or those that are given bones to chew. However it does happen to cats occasionally, with things such as elastic, string or cotton. If your pet has swallowed something that is stuck it will usually be vomiting first and foremost, and off its food. An object stuck in the intestine somewhere will often cause diarrhea though, which can lead to rapid dehydration. This scenario requires urgent veterinary attention, for xrays and possible surgery.

Common causes of diarrhea in dogs and cats

1. Intestinal parasites. Make sure your dog/cat is wormed with a licensed veterinary product every 3 months to prevent an infestation building up and causing diarrhea and weight loss.

2. Bacterial infections. Arguably the most common cause of diarrhea in pets. Many animals are by nature scavengers and will gobble up things they find lying around outside, some of which might be harbouring nasty bacteria that cause vomiting and/or diarrhea. Certain bacteria are worse than others; the 3 ones to worry about are E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter as these can be passed to humans. However, bacterial infections are usually easily treated by a course of antibiotics. Veterinarians usually prescribe a non specific broad spectrum antibiotic to start with, and if the stools do not firm up then a swab is taken to determine the species of bacteria involved and which antibiotics it is sensitive to.

3. Viral infections. Though quite rare nowadays in the USA and UK due to widespread vaccination, viral infections are often more deadly than their bacterial counterparts. One of the better known and most deadly ones in dogs is Parvovirus, which causes an explosive foul smelling bloody diarrhea, usually with vomiting, and severe dehydration. Since antiviral drugs are seldom used in veterinary practice, treatment usually focuses on keeping the dog hydrated via an intravenous drip, and treating any secondary bacterial infections with antibiotics.

4. Dietary intolerance. Also widely known as food allergy, this is a hypersensitivity reaction to certain ingredients in a pets diet. Certain breeds are more prone to it than others, and it can occur in pets that have been fed the same diet for years but suddenly develop an allergy to one of its ingredients. The symptoms can either be diarrhea, though the animal usually remains bright with a good appetite throughout, or itchiness, in particular licking at the paws. Diagnosis is either via a blood test sent to a specialised laboratory to measure antibodies to different ingredients, or by conducting a strict dietary trial and feeding nothing but chicken and rice for 6 weeks, with no treats at all. Long term resolution is identifying the ingredient responsible and eliminating it from the diet.

5. Inflammatory bowel disease. This is an inflammation of the wall of the intestines, usually due to a defective immune system. It is characterised by a long history of intermittent or constant diarrhea that is non responsive to antibiotics or a dietary trial. Diagnosis is best achieved by taking biopsies of the intestines and having the tissue samples examined by a pathologist. The disease cannot be cured and is often managed with low dose steroids and/or a prescription diet.

6. Liver disease. This tends to occur more in older animals and is easily diagnosed via simple blood tests. There are medications to lessen the symptoms, and a low protein, high fibre diet is advised.

7. Hormonal imbalances. Disease of the adrenal or thyroid glands can cause diarrhea. These can be diagnosed via blood tests and treated appropriately.

8. Cancer. This is unlikely to occur in young animals. There are a number of different types of cancer that can cause diarrhea, all of which have different prognoses. Early identification and surgical removal of some types may be curative, but if they have already spread via the lymphatic system the outcome is poor.

What you should do

If your pet has recently developed diarrhea (and/or vomiting) and seems depressed, lethargic or flat, contact your veterinarian immediately.

If your pet is off his/her food completely, or is unable to hold down water, contact your veterinarian immediately.

If your pets diarrhea (or vomit) contains a large amount of blood or is very dark looking, contact your veterinarian immediately.

If you suspect your pet has a high temperature or is dehydrated, contact your veterinarian immediately.

If none of the above apply, first of all starve your pet for 24 hours. Make sure plenty of water is available during this period (not too cold), but no food at all. Once your pet has been starved for 24 hours, offer him/her a small amount of chicken and rice. If it is eaten, continue feeding small amounts of chicken and rice 3 times a day for the next 5 days. This bland diet will be gentle on the digestive system as your pet recovers. The majority of cases of sudden onset diarrhea will respond to this protocol.

Dr David Brooks is part of the online veterinary team at WhyDoesMyPet.com [http://www.whydoesmypet.com]. Veterinarians, Vet Technicians, Nurses, Trainers, Behaviorists, Breeders and Pet Enthusiasts are here to answer your pet questions and concerns. Our dedicated community of caring experts are waiting to offer you advice, second opinions and support.

Liver Shunts In Dogs - Why My Dog Went Undiagnosed For 3.5 Years And How You Can Spot It!

My Italian Greyhound is truly the best friend (no, more like a child) of my husband and I. Her name is Wendy. She's absolutely a beautiful specimen of an Italian Greyhound - with her sleek body, her tucked tummy, her champion like posture and whimsical gallop. Wendy is now 4.5 years old and her life has been one long terrible journey.

When we first adopted Wendy - she was a tiny fawn puppy with large black eyes. You couldn't even tell if she was looking at us because her pupils and eye color had not developed yet. She was very fuzzy for an Italian Greyhound puppy. She had remnant milk breath and wagged her tail in play.

Unfortunately, a few weeks after we adopted her, she threw up. It was a small projectile like vomit while my husband was holding her. We did not think anything of it because puppies will throw up sometimes. She was on a strictly "puppy" food diet, her stools were normal and her urine was normal. She was eating and drinking normally and behaving normally.

Approximately a month later, things started to change with Wendy. She became less active. She laid down all the time. She didn't want to engage in typical "puppy" play - or if she did, she didn't last more than a few minutes before she wanted to lay down. We didn't know any better and thought maybe she was just a "quiet" puppy or had more of a "serious" temperament than our other Italian Greyhound.

We soon began to notice that she was not eating as much. It was time to go to the vet. The vet told us that her weight was fine and she looked fine. We told the vet that her appetite had greatly decreased, but he told us to give her some chicken soup and rice. We tried, and she did eat some of it, but within a day she stopped eating. We took her back and the vet told us to just keep trying. We tried for another night and she refused to eat. At this point she also stopped ALL physical activity. She didn't get up! She didn't walk, she didn't do anything. She just was looking around her while she was laying down.

We brought her back to the vet again, this time my husband was furious. The vets' office had at least 5 vets working in it. He demanded to see a vet and NOT the same one who had been treating Wendy. He told the new vet Wendy's history and he demanded that something be done about her quickly deteriorating condition. The vet told my husband he thought she had a food allergy and prescribed Hill's C/D. Well, luckily - this did help her come back to life. Later, I learned that Hill's C/D is a low protein food and it was the high protein in her puppy food that was killing Wendy.

Wendy did fine on this food. I kept bringing her to the vet at least once a month for colds, fevers and strange behavior. She constantly urinated all over the place. She never had a good appetite and never drank a lot. She was still a "quiet" Dog, but she grew older and we moved to a different town. She became an adult and we took her off of the Hill's C/D. She immediately started to develop crystals in her urine. Italian Greyhounds do not like to urinate outdoors, so we always made it a point to use pee pads in a basement or garage area. Fortunately, as a youngster, Wendy didn't always quite make it to the pad and I was able to see the crystals on the floor!!!

I took her to the vet specifically to address the crystals in her urine. The vet ran some blood tests and told me that her BUN count was a little low (and maybe her creatin too - I can't quite remember the creatin reading). I researched this on the net (which was still developing at the time) and found information about liver shunts. Liver shunts are often congenital defects that occur in puppies/Dogs and these affected Dogs typically have low BUN, low creatin and ammonium crystals in their urine! I brought it up to the vet - she said "no" and "that's not it". She told us it was just the food allergy that our earlier vets had diagnosed. I truly believed my vet - SHE was the EXPERT. I completely put the idea of a liver shunt OUT OF MY MIND.

Every time I brought Wendy to the vet, I kept asking each vet if they thought Wendy was too skinny. They all told me that she was just petite and that she looked normal. Again, I had instinctual doubts but believed the EXPERTS.

If I had only known then what I know now. After 3.5 years of going through hell bringing Wendy to tons of vets and ER vets - I finally found an ER vet who actually took the time to listen to Wendy's full history and my concerns. He said the magic words "I think she might have a liver shunt, you should get a bile acid test done on her".

Here are the symptoms of liver shunts:

1. Poor Doer: A puppy/dog that is always getting sick. Because liver shunts cause toxicity in the blood because the dog is not having its blood filtered by the liver. This causes various illnesses to occur often.

2. UTIs: A puppy/dog that has frequent urinary tract infections or looks like it is having a urinary tract infection due to having many accidents all over the house, isn't able to be housebroken or urinating small amounts.

3. BAD ODOR: A puppy/dog that has bad mouth odor and/or bad urine odor. Often, the urine is also a darker color yellow instead of the "barely" yellow of normal healthy urine. (Note: Puppy and young dogs should have good breath. Bad breath is a RED FLAG that something isn't right)

4. Head Pressing: Dogs with liver shunts don't filter their blood which results in ammonia build up in the blood. Ammonia toxicity causes their heads to feel funny - so they rub their heads a lot.

5. CRYSTALS IN URINE: This is from the excess ammonia in their system. Any dog with crystals in the urine should have a bile acid test.

6. Complete Blood Count (CBC): This test is easily given in the vet's office. Liver shunt dogs often have a lower than normal BUN and Creatin count.

7. Depression: Liver shunt dogs are not very active or they may be active for very short periods of time. They are known as "quiet" puppies or "quiet" dogs. A "quiet" puppy usually isn't very normal and all "quiet" puppies should have a bile acid test to make sure they are okay.

8. Low Weight: Puppies with liver shunts look normal with a milk belly, etc. As they grow into dogs it is obvious they are too skinny. Their ribs show, their bones are prominent and they don't develop muscle mass. Not all liver shunt dogs have low weight though, but many do. They tend to have low weight because their liver cannot absorb and process nutrients to bring these liver shunt dogs to their normal weight.

9. Small: Dogs with liver shunts often do not grow as much as their siblings. They have smaller than normal livers and sometimes smaller than normal features. Wendy never developed the strong leg muscles that all greyhound breeds exhibit.

10. Anorexia: Many liver shunt puppies/dogs do not eat normally. They eat very little dog food. They may chow down on a newly introduced canned food or people food - but they invariably resort back to not eating very much. Eating food makes them not feel well because of the higher toxicity they have after a meal - so they tend to shun food.

11. Breed: Any breed can have a liver shunt, but Yorkshire Terriers are famous for having them.

Here is my advice to anyone who has a dog with these symptoms:

FORCE YOUR VET TO DO A BILE ACID TEST IF YOU SUSPECT A LIVER SHUNT AND/OR YOUR DOG IS EXHIBITING SOME OF THE ABOVE SYMPTOMS!!!! Don't take "no" for an answer. Tell them you want to MAKE SURE and cover all of your bases. A bile acid test is about $100.00 and can save your dog's life.

Once your dog has been diagnosed with a liver shunt, you can then begin the process of determining treatment. In the meantime, ask the vet for Lactulose which may cause diarrhea at first but will immediately help to greatly detoxify your dog. Also, immediately put your dog on Hill's L/D diet which is low protein. Do not give your dog any people food that has protein! Protein promotes toxicity in liver shunt dogs.

There are several treatment options. You may want to have a scintigraphy done to find out if the shunt is intrahepatic or extrahepatic. Usually the liver shunt is extrahepatic (outside the liver) which is easily operable. Intrahepatic shunts (inside the liver) are much more difficult to operate on and are usually found in larger breed dogs. Your vet can recommend whether to operate or not. Usually, it is recommended to medically manage your dog rather than operate with intrahepatic shunts.

Surgery: One of the best and cheapest places to have the surgery performed is at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, TN. And I do mean the BEST and the cheapest. They specialize in liver shunt surgery. I wouldn't have trusted Wendy to any other surgeon for treatment. In addition, UTK utilizes a surgical method for extrahepatic shunts that cannot be surpassed by mere ligation.

Puppies in in the uterous of their momma dog get nutrients from momma through a portal vein. At birth, this vein is supposed to close up. In liver shunt dogs, it doesn't close up. Instead, this portal vein acts as a "bypass" and most of the blood bypasses the liver. The liver is what cleans the blood. The liver also performs thousands of other vital functions!!! 94% of Wendy's blood bypassed her liver!!!

The classical surgical method has been to ligate the portal vein (close it off, shut it down, get rid of it....). Unfortunately, the ligation method can throw the body into shock and kill the dog because there is a halt to the circulatory system! UTK developed a much better and much safer method. A metal ring is coated with a substance that expands upon contact with moisture. It expands SLOWLY (it takes a month or so for it to fully expand). This ring, called an ameroid constrictor, is placed AROUND the portal vein. The ameroid constrictor closes slowly over time until the vein is closed. This not only helps the body from going into shock, but it also helps to prevent infection that is caused by ligation! The liver is able to slowly accept more and more blood as the constrictor does its job. There is no shock to the liver or the circulatory system.

I HIGHLY recommend the surgery with an ameroid constrictor - you can research all of this on the net to make your decision. The UTK program includes a scinitigraphy to locate the shunt, surgery, hospital stay, AND A BIOPSY OF THE LIVER for about $1,600 (2007). They do a great job!

What to Expect Post Op: Your dog will be in some pain for a few days after the surgery. Fortunately, there is not a lot of pain because the only cutting involved is the skin on the belly and for the biopsy. There is usually no cutting done for placing the ameroid constrictor.

Over the next 4 months, you will notice the following: weight gain, muscle development, loss of puppy fur (if your dog retained its puppy fur), improvement in general appearance (shinier), LOTS more ENERGY and no more head rubbing.

At 4 months, you will need to redo the bile acid test to check on how the ameroid constrictor is operating. Wendy had 0s on her follow up bile acid test!!! After 4 months, if the bile acid test comes back normal, you can put your dog back on regular food!!!!

I can't tell you how glad I was that I was able to have Wendy surgically corrected.