I am one of those co-workers who gets projects that should have been completed by others. Sometimes, I get the entire project from start to finish, as I watch my co-workers stroll in at 10 am (we're supposed to start at 9 am) and then take 30 minute smoke breaks. A woman who sits in the cube next to me is sleeping with one of the big wigs at the firm, so she gets away with more than most. I used to feel angry and resentful, until I realized that I was as much of the problem as they were - for a different reason. I'm not a complainer and I don't run down to HR to cry and complain every other day, so I've turned the situation around and worked it to my advantage. I willingly do overtime and at the end of August, I will be able to afford to quit my job, without going into debt or using savings, to take a well-deserved sabbatical for a year and try my hand at something completely new and different. I've reached the point where it behooves me to send a thank you note to my co-workers when I leave.

To the LW, I thank you for your honesty and courage to look at your situation without illusions. There are many people out there (including some with whom I work) who kid themselves about the amount they portray to work versus what they really do. I hope you find meaningful work and chances are that if you do, your motivation will be revived. Good luck.

When a President and Vice President who did everything in their (and their families' power) to avoid serving get to make decisions, this is what we get. I'm amazed that Cheney hasn't finagled a deal for Halliburton to run VA hospitals and VA clinics. What a deal that would be.

When it suited Tenet, he sat back and never spoke up for what he claims were untruths which he knew about. Now that he'd like to clear the stench of the non-existent mushroom cloud, he comes forward. Too little too late. Last night, he came across as petulant, scolding Pelley rather than taking responsibility for his own cowardice.

The march is fueled by many consumers who no longer trust the conventional food supply nor do we trust the FDA/USDA to ensure the safety of the food for ourselves and our pets. Both organizations are behemoths run by former industry officials. Agribusiness needs to drive a wedge whereever it can but hopefully those of us who are concerned will see through this ploy.

Maybe when Wolfie resigns, he'll tell us that the scandal had nothing to do with his resignation. Rather, he's resigning to spend more time with his family. Oh, wait ...

Did you ever get around to making good on your threat to shove those liberals' soft teeth down their whiny throats? Just wondering. As a Northern Virginian Democrat, I'm hoping that GOP candidates will hire Allen as campaign adviser. He did so much for Senator Webb last year.

It's important to see the big picture here. Webb came from way behind (in fact, he wasn't even taken seriously for much of his campaign) so to win by 10,000 is huge, in my book. Allen made threats to increase his machismo and presumably his appeal to the redder parts of Virginia and he needs to be held accountable for his words.

Lest anyone have any doubts about where Ekedahl is coming from ($$$$$$$$) here's an excerpt of his testimony:

"The system suggests that you don't have to have a cop standing at your shoulder to do the right thing and to produce a good product—because the marketplace will deal with that," Ekedahl said.

"Well, the marketplace has dealt with it, and a lot of consumers across America aren't going to buy Menu pet food for a long time," Sen. Durbin said.

"That was a foreign contamination of an ingredient that all the regulation in the world would not really have captured," Ekedahl said.

Senator Durbin asked Ekedahl several times whether Menu Foods should have reported sooner that it suspected problems. Ekedahl said he had no direct knowledge of the timing.

Ekedahl is relying on the marketplace? Now that's a vote of confidence.

I agree with the posters who have suggested raw feeding and/or home made food for pets. The debate over raw food continues and as it grinds on (pun intended), there have never been reports of pets becoming ill from raw food. The taurine issue is overstated - chicken livers are a great source of taurine. I have 2 cats, both of whom eat raw food and have never experienced problems.

I know what you mean about how complex this subject is, but these are some resources that have helped me a lot (both in terms of making food for my cats, as well as holistic health for cats, in general:

http://tedeboy.tripod.com/drmichaelwfox/id19.html

http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Health-Happy-Cats-Naturally/dp/1592532667/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-6546478-9445627?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180020587&sr=1-1

and if you're interested in participating in a holistic website for cats (the discussions aren't limited to food for cats - there are other topics too):

www.holisticat.com/forum

Good luck!

My heart goes out to LW. I'd like to suggest a product called Feliway (It's a cat pheromone-like substance). When we took in a stray male (very submissive, gentle cat) our resident female cat went nuts, attacking him at every opportunity even though she was half his size. We tried Feliway and it helped. You spray it around the house (but not on the cat) and you can also get the plug-in version and it seemed to help. Good luck to you!