Some of you guys underestimate the strength of raptor birds, including the red tailed hawk. I am from Albania and all my life was in contact with birds. I breed canaries, pigeons,chickens,rabbits and other animals. Several times we had to experience episodes involving birds of prey which were a permanent threat to our birds and animals. Once we had a lamb that disappeared and only days later we found parts of the carcass about three kilometers away (about 2 miles). Not far from there was a nest of turkey vultures. We concluded that it was the vultures that had killed the lamb. The lamb weighted about 8-10 kilograms (about 20-24 pound). It was summer time and we knew that it was not a wolf because they never (almost) kill lambs in that time of the year. Now you do the math; the lamb was at least 3-4 times heavier than the vulture. In another episode a hawk took a pigeon almost from my hand; I was holding the pigeon when all of a sudden a hawk was plunging toward me and I released the pigeon because confused and scared. In matter of tenths or hundredths of a second the pigeon was under the hawks claws. Several other times we had pigeons or chickens killed by birds of prey. I am not proud to say it, but I had to kill several hawks over years. I was young and only saw it as a threat and I believed that it was my right to kill them in order to defend my birds. In another occasion we captured a hawk and kept it for several days in a cage. It refused to eat for 4-5 days, and after advice from my father I released it. Anyway, my advice is for all of you who have animals weighting under 10 pounds to not underestimate the strength of birds of prey. They can carry up to 4 times their body weight. Be careful guys

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I am very happy to hear that you are taking in this poor dog. He needs a good home and crating, though sometimes necessary, seems cruel to me (when its long periods of time). My brother had a Golden Retriever with skin problems, don't know exactly what they were, but he spent most of his time in a cage (when he couldn't break out). The vet couldn't figure out what was wrong and eventually they decided to give him away. He was trying to get my parents (who have 2 Sheppard's) to take him in but on chance remark I found a friend at work and her hubby had been discussing getting another dog. They usually have 2 but lost one and were thinking of getting another for a companion. They also only consider Golden Retrievers (its their favorite breed like Sheppard's are for my parents). He was 2 years old when they took him and he went to a great home with 3 kids who were used to dogs and a dog companion as well as an active family that included their pets in their lives. I left but still spoke to her and they never had any skin problems with the dog since they got him. Long story but the short of it is that I think the skin condition was the result of stress. My best friend had very sensitive skin and it got worse for her when times were stressful in her life and I think the same applies to animals. Watch the rash and see if it doesn't go away by itself in his new, happy home. As for your Grandson I am not worried about him growing up to be abusive. I think if he saw this behaviour in his home and was rewarded for it or imitating it from someone else then he might learn to deal with things more violently. My concern would be that he would become desensitized to the feelings of other creatures. You're doing a great job in helping correct his behaviour and are providing an example of kindness and compassion that should be shown to all living creatures. I'm not saying that abusive/violent adults don't sometimes start down that path with cruelty to animals but I'd be more concerned if he was doing that behaviour as a teenager. In high school I remember overhearing a conversation of some teen boys saying they lit firecrackers off in a kitten's face and I turned around and told them I hoped one day someone would do the same thing to them. That they were joking and thinking it was fun was disturbing and those are the kids we need to educate. I hope the bite your grandson got wasn't serious but I have to say it was educational. I wouldn't want him to need stitches and I'm not saying I'm glad he got bit, but sometimes in life we have to learn things the hard way. It reminded me of an ex's sister who owned a horse. It had it moments when it wasn't nice to her. When it bit her, she bit his ear. When he kicked her, she kicked him back (in a spot he wouldn't forget). I think after that he learned not to bite or kick anymore. Some of the most valuable lessons in life can be learned by experiencing them.

Oh for god's sake let's not start dragging the aclu into this. I can't find it now, but just a couple hours ago I read where prime forclosures are starting to creep upward. One of the people profiled in the story was in Vegas--true, a declining mkt, but she had a good job as technology head of a casino and a fairly reasonably priced house. Nevertheless, in '06 or '07 she was bait-and-switched into an interest-only loan w/ a $40,000 prepay penalty that doesn't go away until 2009. (Countrywide) That $40k is more than 10% the amount of the mortgage. I thought to myself 'how the heck did she get into such a loan??' Then I noticed the picture. She's black. And yes, that does make a difference. Conservative pundits may protest till they're blue in the face that it's not color, it's poverty, or lack of education, or whathaveyou. But that's bull. It's color. Minorities are many times more likely than whites to get overcharged or offered only inappropriate products. It happens over and over again. Just a year or two ago, most of the big life insurers settled a class action case where they essentially were forced to admit that they'd charged blacks more for life insurance products over decades. They'd also churned these accounts and done all sorts of other fraudulent things. I used to date a guy who worked in a mortgage office located in a black neighborhood in Bklyn. This place was scam-central. I read years later that the company had been shut down by the atty general. It's a disgrace that it took so long. Even as a college kid I could tell they were in the business of ripping people off. So, bottom line, the fact that the aclu and others have fought to force lenders and other financial companies to a) do business with minorities at all, and b) do so fairly without adding a 'color surcharge,' has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we're now in a mortgage meltdown caused by lax lending and fraud. What does have to do with it? Well, whoever invented the idea that people should convert unsecured loans to secured loans by taking out home-equity loans to pay off the CCs, for one. They're still running those ads in my area. What gets me is not only that shady 'credit counseling' companies would push it (why not, there's a buck to be made) but that it actually makes it into 'financial advice' given by so-called experts on tv and in magazines. Also, the Fed, by keeping the money supply so cheap and plentiful for so many years. Check out Jim Jubak on msnmoney.com for multiple well-thought-out discussions of why and how the Fed caused the last several asset bubbles, and why the current rate-lowering is setting us up for the next one. And of course the loan machines--I mean banks--that keep inventing ways of lending money to people under terms that are meant to look like they're good for consumers, but are actually just a way of dragging out the repayment and therefore increasing their profit (I/O, 40-year, exploding ARMs, etc). Finally: I was watching 'My First Place' on HGTV last night. A young couple was looking for a house somewhere in the mountains out west. They were completely unreaslistic about what they were going to get for ~$200k, I thought, but then lo and behold they found a place. Paid $225k. At the end, when they're showing the closing, I almost jumped out of bed--they took out a 100% interest-only ARM mortgage! They were shown signing the 'adjustable rate disclosure' without even reading it! I almost shouted--they still do those?!? I don't know when this was filmed, but it's a pretty new show. I wonder if they're foreclosed yet.