June 13, 2018 The Skanner Page 9
News
5 Lessons on Peace I
Learned From my Cat Soleil
How Big is Gig Economy? Government
Study Shows How Little We Know
By Christopher Rugaber,
AP Economics Writer
Dr. Jasmine’s tabby cat enjoys the warmth from the sunlight
By Jasmine Streeter, DVM
Special to The Skanner
News
C
ats are incredible
creatures that make
excellent
com-
panions. Sigmund
Freud once said, “Time
spent with cats is never
wasted.” I agree. Their
majestic, independent
and self-sufficient per-
sonalities are truly to
be respected. More of-
ten than not, when I find
myself frantically rush-
ing to make a deadline,
I catch my cat Soleil qui-
etly sitting and watching
me. She rarely seems
stressed,
frequently
naps under rays of sun-
shine and never misses
a meal. After years of liv-
ing under her reign, I’ve
learned and adopted five
of her most peaceful hab-
its that I will share with
you.
1. Cats understand com-
fort is key.
Make your surround-
ings comfortable and
peace will follow. Cats
have mastered the art of
comfort and they know
it. Take a look around a
cat lover’s home and you
will most likely find a re-
laxed and content com-
panion. Beautiful garden
views with access to bird
watching, large plush
pillows, and relaxing
back massages are favor-
ites in Soleil’s repertoire
of kitty comforts.
2. Cats understand that
naps are good.
Cats sleep almost all
day with intermittent
bouts of play and activity.
They are considered cre-
puscular, meaning they
are most active during
dawn and dusk. On the
contrary, living in a fast-
paced, high-tech society
has had caused many
Americans to suffer
from sleep deprivation.
The National Sleep Foun-
dation reported that a
20- to 40-minute nap can
improve mood, alertness
and performance. Imag-
ine how much kinder
many of us would be if
we took a nap. Next time
you have a break, try a
cat nap and watch your
wellbeing increase.
Dr. Jasmine
Shanelle
Streeter
Veterinarian
3. Cats understand that
money can’t buy hap-
piness.
I’ve purchased a cornu-
copia of cat toys from ex-
pensive pet boutiques to
amuse Soleil. Of course,
in true cat fashion, she
finds more joy playing
inside a paper bag and
swatting at my ponytail
palm tree. As a material-
istic society, we see im-
ages bombarded every
day on television and on
social media. Cats are an
honest reminder that
true happiness comes
from within.
4. Cats understand self-
love.
Cats are some of the
most confident animals I
know. Whether they are
perching on a window-
sill, sashaying across the
room or effortlessly leap-
ing from a ledge, they do
it with grace and pride.
They pause in front of
an antique mirror to
admire their beauty be-
fore moving on to more
stately affairs. I often feel
the soft purring I hear
Soleil emit during her
grooming sessions are
words of affection and
affirmation. We should
strive each day to love
ourselves as our cats do.
5. Cats don’t sweat the
small stuff.
When it comes to liv-
ing life, cats are noto-
rious for keeping the
peace. When possible
they choose the path of
practicality and least
resistance. They avoid
confrontations and are
happy to remove them-
selves from stressful sit-
uations in exchange for
a tranquil atmosphere.
We should do the same.
Through Soleil’s feline
teachings I have found
immeasurable happiness
and peace. So on this day,
I wish the same for you.
You can ask Dr. Jasmine
your pet question or email
your pet photo to drjas-
mine@theskanner.com.
WASHINGTON — Look around,
and it seems more Americans are
working outside traditional full-
time jobs — whether as freelance
graphic designers or indepen-
dent contractors or Uber drivers.
Or maybe not. A government
report this week suggested that
the proportion of such jobs hasn’t
budged in the past decade. Yet the
data carries limitations that indi-
cate there’s still plenty
we don’t know about
the evolving U.S. job
market.
The Labor Depart-
ment’s report con-
cluded that more than
15 million Americans
were working as in-
dependent
contrac-
tors, on-call workers,
temporary workers
and for contract com-
panies as of May 2017.
That’s equal to about
10.1 percent of the
American workforce,
down slightly from
10.8 percent when the
government last con-
ducted the survey, in
2005.
That
conclusion
contradicts a body of
academic
research
that has found a sig-
nificant increase in
what economists call
“alternative
work
arrangements.” Two
leading economists,
Lawrence Katz and
Alan Krueger, found
in a 2016 study that the
number of people in
alternative work had
risen by more than 50
percent in 2015 from a decade ear-
lier, to 23.6 million.
And the Federal Reserve re-
leased a report last month that
said nearly one-third of Ameri-
cans rely on side jobs or so-called
“gig” work to supplement their
incomes.
So what might explain the dis-
parities between the govern-
ment’s report and other research?
Here are areas where econ-
omists agree with the report’s
conclusions, where they found it
lacking and why it all matters:
Gig economy hype is overdone
You may be able to grab an Uber
in every big city. But that doesn’t
mean the nation as a whole is en-
gulfed by people finding work
through mobile apps. The gov-
ernment’s report appears to put
the “gig economy” in proper per-
spective: Such jobs hardly seem
to represent the future of work
in America. Katz and Kruger’s
See ECONOMY on page 10
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