“Polly want a cracker?” She does, but that’s only the beginning of your pet care challenge if you dare to purchase a parrot. Parrots are loyal and can be endlessly fascinating — indeed, comedic and highly entertaining — companions, but before you get one, make sure you’re ready for the ongoing maintenance required. A healthy parrot requires constant feeding, grooming, ...

Growing up, I recall my Grandmother urging me to eat my carrots.  “Have you ever seen a rabbit with glasses?” she’d ask. The sight of Bugs Bunny chewing on a carrot is one of the best-known and beloved images in American cartoon history. But it turns out carrots aren’t good for rabbits – and in fact, many won’t eat them. ...

Would you like to own a ferret?  Only about 500,000 Americans currently do, and that’s down from about 725,000 seven years ago, according to available statistics. Compare that to some 35 million cat owners or 48 million dog owners, and even 2-3 million pet rabbit owners.  Clearly, ferrets aren’t for everybody. Apparently, their reputation has taken a hit of late… ...

A six-year-old boy collapsed and died in his school lunch line in the Bronx section of Manhattan last June.  His death resulted from complications from a knife wound to his neck he’d received two months earlier. From his own mother, it turns out. Parents killing their own children is on the rise in America, and mothers are now just as ...

There’s a reason so many libido-challenged Americans are turning to Viagra these days. It’s because so many of the other drugs they’re taking are killing their sex drive. The latest evidence?  The “pill,” the oral contraceptive so many women take to keep from getting pregnant. A just-released study has found that women on the pill suffer a decrease in the ...

Obese teenagers can’t seem to stop eating, even when they’ve had their fill.  For years, researchers assumed that the problem was largely psychological:  Overeating youth had developed an irrational compulsion as a result of stuffing painful emotions. Recommended treatments have included cognitive therapy, increased exercise and changes in unhealthy dietary habits. But new research points to another possible obesity cause:  ...

Xmas is right around the corner!  And what better way to get into the spirit of the yuletide season than to watch a classic Xmas movie.  But which one? There are so many good ones to choose from. And with all that gift shopping, cooking, tree trimming and endless sports-watching, there’s so little time to enjoy all but a few. ...

Is it okay to be fat? Americans have disturbingly schizophrenic views on the issue of body weight. In today’s politically correct culture, it’s considered deeply offensive to stigmatize people because of how they “look”, especially based on their weight alone. But tens of millions of women are so obsessed with weight loss that they’ll spend a third or more of ...

What do Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. all have in common?  They’re sports super-stars, of course. But they’re also something else:  Hard-core gambling addicts. Which means they’ve also lost a ton of money– much of it betting on sporting events. Mayweather, Jr. regularly gambles as much as $400,000 on college football games.  He reportedly once ...

A year ago, African-American civil rights activists in Kansas City, Missouri convinced the city council to rename a major city artery in honor of slain civil rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. Many city residents, Black and White, cheered. But under pressure from critics, who say the city council forced the name change through without proper consultation, the city’s been ...