It seems that there’s a poll for everything. They say 68 percent of Americans think that it is inhumane to put a dog in a kennel on the roof of a car for a long motor trip. When told that Mitt Romney once did this, 35 percent of those asked say that this fact makes them less likely to vote for him, while seven percent say they are more likely to vote for him.
Which makes me wonder: why don’t we just leave Fido home with Grandma like we do with the kids?
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It’s called “TWD” — Texting While Driving — and it is now an epidemic. The National Transportation Board most-recent study tells us that at any given moment during the day, approximately 13.5 million motorists are using a handheld phone while they are driving. This resulted in more than 3,000 deaths last year. Hey there you talkers and texters, you are risking your lives every time you pick up the cell. Do you not care about living? The rest of us on the roads do.
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Hey ladies, it appears that a clean house may save your life. The U.S. Department of Health and Human services says that a woman in the United States will suffer a heart attack every 90 seconds (please don’t tell me the old joke about that poor woman). About 200,000 of those women will die. Many of them could have been saved if they dialed 911. Half of those who lived through the attack say they would not call emergency services because, according to the information from AARP, they would not want the paramedics to see their messy house.
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A recent copy of Men’s Health Magazine informs us that the average American throws away 253 pounds of food each year. This alarming number came from a report released in 2011 by the Food and Agriculture Organization, a division of the United Nations. Do you believe it? I don’t. I wonder how they arrived at that number. Did they actually peek into our trash cans or did they take our word for it. Ever since I learned about this report last year I’ve kept a close watch on my pantry and refrigerator, and I am certain that the waste from the Gershbein household is less than 10 percent of that number. What about you?
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A very recent CNN poll reported that 50 percent of Americans say that the federal income taxes paid are about right. Sure, they are. That 50 percent is the 50 percent that doesn’t pay any income tax at all. Why should they complain about how much they pay if what they pay is nothing?
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Four years ago only 15 percent of America discontinued land lines and used cell phones exclusively. Right now, almost 32 percent of households are served only by cells. The number has more than doubled in four short years. Little by little America is cutting the cord.
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From a CBS News poll: only three percent of Americans have a favorable view of former Sen. John Edwards. That’s three percent more than many of us would have guessed.
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President Obama recently suggested that government investment is what made America great. Do you agree with him? Scott Rasmussen asked one thousand likely voters and learned that only 27 percent agree with the president. I’m one of the 42 percent who do not. We believe in free enterprise. But 32 percent haven’t the faintest idea of what we are talking about.
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More than 40 percent of the current Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant. There is still opportunity in this great land of America. I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net praying it stays that way.
Read Stanley P. Gershbein's column every Monday on BrooklynDaily.com.
