why you should proofread

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Grim Reaper-kitty: [link]

(AP) PROVIDENCE, R.I. Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.

His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who workthere, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patientsat the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill.

She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.

Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.

If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.

Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying.

Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care."

But if a guy took a look at me today and complimented me on my shoes (black mary janes with red chinese dragons) I'd do him there and then.

ita, if a man complimented the shoes while you were wearing the corset, he's probably gay.

And more evidence of the importance of proofreading:

Profitability experts say wireless and banking companies routinely discover that 100% or more of their profits are attributable to just 30% of their customers.

Or more!

I don't even know where to begin with this question. My friend told me that if you are converting to Judaism, and you are already circumcised you still need to provide a drop of blood from that area. Do you really have to get naked to convert?

Do you really have to get naked to convert?

There's a mikvah, but maybe you can go in your skivvies, I don't remember.

I'm fascinated. Tell me more!!

I think mikvahs are naked things.

Well, after women's periods they are.

Conversion requirements vary by denomination. The mikveh is required for Orthodox and Conservative conversions. It may be optional for Reform and/or Reconstructionist conversions. And yes, if you go in the mikveh, it's a clothing-free environment. But it's private.

It's a ritual bath. As Trudy says, it's used after women's periods, but they're also used as a ritual cleansing. If someone is going to convert, they need to have a mikvah, a bar/bat mitzvah, and I forget what else.

ETA: I was so young when my mother converted (and took us with her), I only vaguely remember the mikvah, and the naming ceremony.