Stroking pets can cut painkiller use after surgery

Stroking a pet can help patients cut their amount of painkillers in half, according to a new study.

he research found that patients who had undergone hip or knee replacement operations needed less painkillers if they used pet therapy.

It is well known that animal owners are generally healthier than non-pet owners because they can help reduce stress and encourage exercise.

In Britain a charity called Pets and Therapy has been taking animals into care homes, hospices, hospitals and children's wards to help patients recover and reduce stress levels since 1983.

A conference in America has heard that patients recovering from joint-replacement surgery needed 50 per cent less pain medication if they used pet therapy.

Julia Havey, from the Loyola University Health System (LUHS), Chicago, who led the research, said: "Evidence suggests animal-assisted therapy can have a positive effect on a patient's emotional and physical well being.

"These data further support these benefits and build the case for expanding the use of pet therapy in recovery."

Ms Havey and colleague Dr Frances Vlasses raise puppies to become assistance dogs through a program called Canine Companions for Independence.

Dr Vlasses said: "As nurses, we are committed to improving the quality of life for others.

"This service experience has provided us with a unique way to combine our love for animals with care for people with special needs."

The findings were presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology and the First Human Animal Interaction Conference (HAI) in Kansas City.

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Child entrepreneur gives back for holidays

By C. Garcia - NBCSanDiego.com

AN DIEGO - In the home of eighth-grader Jason O'Neill, teddy bears are everywhere. They're white, black or brown. Some have bow ties and some have ribbons. They sit on chairs, tables, counter tops and the floor.

Thanks to O'Neill, a young entrepreneur who started his own company at age 9, they're all going to sick children for Christmas.

"At Christmas I wanted to do something special, so I started a fundraiser this year to raise money for buying a bunch of bears," O’Neill said.

All of the bears will be given to children at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.

O'Neill has been giving money to charity since he started Pencil Bugs four years ago. The company's main product is pencils with hand-painted Styrofoam toppers designed to look like bugs. He's sold hundreds of them in the last four years — and he's also expanded his product line. His products now include Pencil Bugs T-shirts and greeting cards, and he's working on a Pencil Bugs board game.

"In the beginning of my business, I knew that I was very fortunate being a kid and being able to do all of this, so I wanted to help other kids in some way," said O’Neill.

'Every little bit helps'
This year, O'Neill decided to donate more than money. He wanted to give less fortunate children something tangible for Christmas. He thought of teddy bears.

He began a fundraising campaign, encouraging children across the country to donate. He's received more than $700 in donations. A group of students from Michigan sent him $119 from a bake sale. Other kids have sent only a few dollars.

"What I always say is that every little bit helps," O'Neill said. "Those kids that just donate five or 10 dollars out of their own money, that helps and that will change somebody's life."

O’Neill and his mom are now busy tying special tags to hundreds of bears, each one thanking children for donating to make the project possible.

O’Neill is still trying to raise money on his Web site to buy more bears before the end of the month, the deadline for holiday donations at the hospital.

"I haven't had any big tragedies in my life, but I know that there are always people more and less fortunate that you, so it's good to help out," O’Neill said.

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New Movie Produced about Mongolian Opera and Ballet Theater

Written by E.Bayannasan

N.Lkhamsuren wrote screenplay of the movie named “Ikh Nairal Egshiglen” (Great Symphony Orchestra) dedicated for the 85th Year Anniversary of National Symphony Orchestra.

Contemporary professional symphonic orchestra was founded in Ulaanbaatar in 1924 with a group of players of folk music instruments, which later became foundation stone of National Central Theater in 1931.

In addition, modern-day Opera and Ballet Theater of Mongolia, a home to the National Symphony Orchestra, made its first ever opening on May 18, 1963 with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

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The RESIDENTS Announce 2010 Talking Light Tour

The Cryptic Corporation has announced that The Residents will perform a series of shows in 2010. The show is being considered by the group to be an experiment in new directions deviating from the more "band" productions ofWormwood through The Bunny Boy.

The "song" Talking Light was first released here by RSD in late Spring 2009. It was the positive response to the song that encouraged The Residents to start work on bringing the idea to the stage.

January 23 - Santa Cruz CA - Rio
January 29 - San Diego CA - Birch North Park Theater
January 30 - Los Angeles CA - Henry Fonda Theater
February 2 - Austin TX - Stubbs
February 3 - Dallas TX - Granada
February 4 - Memphis TN - Hi Tone
February 5 - Atlanta GA - Variety
February 9 - New York NY - Webster Hall
February 12 - Montreal PQ - Club Soda
February 13 - Toronto Ontario - Opera House
February 15 - Chicago IL - Logan Square
February 16 - Milwaukee WI - Turner Hall

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Medieval market returns to Siena In Palio square it commemorates early constitution

A medieval market that was once the heart of this Tuscan town is to flourish once more in Siena's historic Piazza del Campo, the site of the world-famous Palio horse race each summer. The colours, sights, smells and sounds of the bustling weekly market will return to Siena's beautiful central square this Saturday.

The one-off event has been organized to commemorate 700 years since the medieval city's renowned collection of duties and rights, the Costituto, was set down in the common tongue. The market will open at 8am, with stalls selling farm produce, crafts and clothes. Experts have scoured ancient municipal records to recreate, as far as possible, the 14th-century layout of stalls. This will reflect the market's traditional division into two broad sections, one devoted to food, the other to general goods, as well as its sub-divisions according to the types of produce for sale.

The market existed on the site that later became Piazza del Campo long before it became a town square. It started life as an open, sloping field near the meeting point of three hillside communities that later merged to form Siena. A market thrived there informally before the 1200s but the site only developed into one of the greatest medieval squares in the mid-1300s, when it was paved in its current fishbone-pattern of red brick. The fast-paced, hectic Palio race, which draws thousands of visitors to Siena each year, emerged at the same time, originally staged in the muddy, sloping field and later in the new square. A written form of the Costituto was commissioned by the Nine, a group that ruled Siena for 70 years, and penned by a notary named Ranieri di Ghezzo Gangalandi between July 1309 and June 1310.

The order was to ''draw up, at the expense of the Commune of Siena, a statute of the Commune anew in vernacular in large letters, well legible and well written, on good sheepskin paper so that the poor people and the other people who do not know grammar, and the others, whoever wants to, can see and copy whatever they like and fancy''. The document was held in a public building and any citizen was free to enter and personally transcribe parts of interest. Today, the Costituto is contained in two manuscripts kept in the State Archives of Siena, described as ''Statute 19'' and ''Statute 20''.

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