A new study found that having a furry friend may boost your overall life satisfaction as much as being married or regularly spending time with loved ones.
And it’s something researchers can actually put a price tag on. A team in the U.K. says the emotional value of owning a pet is worth as much £70,000, or about $90,000 a year in life satisfaction.
That’s a statistical measure they use to gauge the “implicit price” of otherwise intangible things — for example, the theoretical boost in income a person would get from having a spouse or regular meet-ups with friends.
The findings were published March 31 in the journal Social Indicators Research.
The study’s co-author Adelina Gschwandtner, an economics professor at the University of Kent, told CNN, “If pets are indeed like friends and family, why shouldn’t that measure be comparable to talking to friends and family once a week? You have your pet every day.”
The team used data from a survey of 2,500 British households. The findings suggest that pets may offer many of the same emotional benefits as human relationships. That’s why Gschwandtner believes policymakers should make it easier for people to have pets — for example by changing housing rules that limit them.
But not all experts agree that pets can fully replace human connections. “While animals are connected to us in powerful ways, they are not the same as humans,” said Megan Mueller, a professor at Tufts University who studies human-animal relationships.
In 2017, before the “defund” movement took hold, Seattle recorded 27 homicides. By 2022, that number had skyrocketed to 54 murders – a 100% increase. Rapes jumped from 255 to 347, and aggravated assaults soared from 2,474 to 3,516. Surprised? We’re not.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Police Department hemorrhaged officers. More than 700 police personnel have separated from the department since 2020, when the city first embraced anti-police initiatives following George Floyd’s death. The force plummeted from 1,400 sworn officers in 2017 to a mere 913 in 2024 – an unprecedented staffing crisis that left neighborhoods vulnerable and response times dangerously long. How many 911 calls went unanswered while Seattle’s leaders were busy virtue signaling?
On March 25, Seattle councilmember Robert Saka introduced Resolution 32167, which did something almost unthinkable in one of America’s most liberal cities: it officially acknowledged the failure of the “defund the police” movement and reversed course completely. Yes, you read that right—they actually admitted they were wrong.
The resolution didn’t just quietly walk back previous policies – it explicitly honored and affirmed “the essential services provided by the Police Department” and recognized the vital work done by all first responders. This represents a complete 180-degree turn from the anti-police rhetoric that dominated Seattle politics just a few years ago. Amazing what a crime wave can do to clarify thinking, isn’t it?
Even more telling, the resolution passed with unanimous support from those present. Not a single council member voted against it. The hard reality of their failed experiment had become impossible to deny, even for the most dedicated progressive ideologues.
Perhaps most remarkable is the personal transformation of Councilmember Saka himself. This is the same official who once wore a “Black Lawyers Matter” T-shirt to a Floyd-related protest and proudly declared his belief “in the principles of BOTH the American Flag and the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Now, Saka acknowledges that the anti-police rhetoric was “very divisive” and harmful to public safety. His evolution mirrors that of many progressives who have been forced to confront the devastating real-world consequences of their ideological crusade against law enforcement. How many victims had to suffer before this realization finally dawned on him? ….
The SPD is now working to rebuild, with interim Chief Shon Barnes prioritizing recruitment and retention. The department aims to reach at least 1,000 officers by 2026 – still below pre-“defund” levels, but a step in the right direction. It will take years to undo the damage of their progressive experiment.
A straphanger got “instant karma” when she tried to yank a MAGA hat off another rider’s head — and instead face-planted on a filthy Manhattan subway platform.
“If you f–king voted for Trump, you’re a racist. He’s a racist,” the woman said to another commuter while pointing at the MAGA hat-wearing man shortly after 11:30 p.m. Wednesday on the northbound train.
“But there were other people in the car who were defending the young man with their opinions as well,” the witness said.
Some of the other straphangers urged the woman to leave the man — who chuckled at her remarks and questioned how he could be considered a racist — alone.
One of the bystanders even began arguing with the woman, telling her, “New York City has been run by Dems for the last decade and this is why things are the way they are,” Ngo said.
But the woman continued to harass the MAGA fan, who insisted he is not racist.
He then lifted the red cap off his head and ducked out of the train’s open door after it entered the station — while she lunged toward him in an attempt to snatch it away.
The pair appeared to briefly tussle before the man ran down the platform, with the woman hot on his heels and her arms outstretched toward the hat.
She only made it a few steps before she fell face-first on the platform.
“Freedom of speech — everyone has their own opinions, but when it gets physical, that’s when it just goes too far,” said Ngo, adding he contemplated stepping in before deciding to record the interaction instead.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that you can see only in New York City. And that’s what I love about the city,” he said.
The clip has since been reshared across numerous platforms, including X, where it gained momentum on conservative accounts.
“Woman falls on her face after trying to grab a MAGA hat from a man’s head in New York … Instant karma,” said Collin Rugg, co-owner of the conservative media company Trending Politics, on X on Friday.
The clip has racked up millions of views, and most commenters cheered on the embarrassing fall.
Here’s the video:
In an update, the NY Postreportsthat the MAGA-hater woman is Alberta Testanero, a 55-year-old dual Italian-American citizen, who is a creative director for several luxury brands like Tiffany & Co., Coach, Bergdorf Goodman and Kate Spade, Testanero prides herself on “maintaining the highest standards,” according to her online profiles.
For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.
Here are only a few examples of the WASTE and ABUSE:
$1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities”
$70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations — even AFTER an inspector general launched an investigation
Millions to EcoHealth Alliance — which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab
Funding to print “personalized” contraceptives birth control devices in developing countries
Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,” benefiting the Taliban
The list literally goes on and on — and it has all been happening for decades.
Under President Trump, the waste, fraud, and abuse ENDS NOW.
Surprise! Not.
Big names like Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey are connected to the USAID corruption.
The Patriot Journal 
