Drink this...

This morning I'm mourning the loss of this...

Ziggy (1995-2007)

It's a sad, sad day at casa de TGOM.

I woke up this morning and noticed that the Zigster was sitting in the same spot on the living room floor as I left him when I went to bed last night.  He's been kind of quiet the last couple of days and when I saw he hadn't moved, I was immediately concerned. 

I nudged him to get up and go to the kitchen for breakfast, but noticed he was kind of wobbly.  As he got to the food bowl he reached around as if to get an itch and then sprawled out on the floor and had some type of seizure that lasted about a minute.  Afterwards, he was stiff-bodied and mostly unresponsive.

I promptly took him to the vet who admitted him for x-ray and bloodwork. About a half hour after I dropped him off I got the call.  He crashed when they put the i.v. in to draw his blood and couldn't be revived.

Ziggy was adopted from the North Shore Animal League when he was just weeks old.  I had just moved into my own apartment in the big city and mom was out helping me get situated.  We decided that I needed a cat and off we went. While there my mom suggested several other cats, but I knew Ziggy was the one the moment I saw him. He was quite possibly one of the oddest looking cats there. His head was ginormous compared to the rest of his body, but his body eventually caught up and he grew up to be a gorgeous cat. 

Ziggy lived a long, happy life and we particularly enjoyed our last month together.  He was alone over the holidays and upon my return received much special treatment - a new collar and tag, more frequent canned food meals, catnip treats and lots of ice cubes.  His love of ice cubes was a fairly recent, accidental discovery. I only wish I had known earlier and that he could have enjoyed many more throughout his years.

The Zigster was loved by all who knew him and will be greatly missed.

AQI plan terrorist threat against this...

ABC News - Mimicking the hijackers who executed the Sept. 11 attacks, insurgents reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil.

Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently testified that documents captured by coalition forces during a raid of a safe house believed to house Iraqi members of al Qaeda six months ago "revealed [AQI] was planning terrorist operations in the U.S."

At the time, Maples offered little additional insight into the possible terror plot. ABC News, however, has learned new details of what remains a classified incident that has been dealt with at the highest levels of government.

Sources tell ABC News that the plot may have involved moving between 10 and 20 suspects believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq into the United States with student visas -- the same method used by the 19 al Qaeda terrorists who struck American targets on Sept. 11.

Full story

Don't buy things made in this...

Why China's Missile Test Is Troubling

If it weren't for you kids meddling with this...

Animator Iwao Takamoto, creator of the beloved cartoon dog Scooby-Doo and director of the cartoon classic "Charlotte's Web," has died. He was 81.

A spokesman from Warner Brothers, where Takamoto was still employed as a Vice President, died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Takamoto is said to have created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder and named him after Frank Sinatra's final phrase in "Strangers in the Night."

In addition to Scooby, Takamoto created cartoon pups Astro, from "The Jetsons," and Muttley, who appeared in several Hanna-Barbera animations.  He also contributed his talent to such features and television shows as "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," and "The Flintstones."

California taxpayers to insure this...

Attention all children of the world!!!

Free health insurance can be yours if you come to the U.S. and take up residence illegally in California!