@matigo Also, if the FBI have just handed the election to Trump, I will be very cross.
@matigo It was unfortunate timing, because I’ve just read half a dozen books on how important bacteria are.
@matigo It’s not as simple as that. Children who grow up around dogs are healthier in general — they have richer microbiomes and less trouble with allergies, asthma &c.
E. coli is a normal and useful member of our gut communities already, and it’s only a few species of it that are harmful.
Many bacteria can be either helpful or harmful depending on the context, so a couple of paragraphs saying, “Yuck, germs!” doesn’t get you far. The examples of small numbers of nasty illnesses are scary, but only a part of the picture. If sharing bacteria with dogs makes large numbers of people less prone to allergies and asthma, while causing a small number of extreme illnesses, the picture becomes much less clear.
Having said that, I don’t like having my face licked by dogs, so I don’t let Bembo do it.
@larand | wear them mainly because I like to put my feet on the furniture & it gets dirty if I wander round with bare feet.