One solution is to import generic drugs from countries such as India, which does a thriving trade in copy-cat pharmaceuticals because it is not yet obliged to recognise drug patents.

ECONOMIST: Patently troublesome

President Obama has proposed replacing the regular consumer price index, or CPI, to adjust Social Security benefits with the chained CPI -- often called the cat food CPI because the index assumes that when the price of human food rises, seniors can substitute cheaper food to get the same nutrition.

CNN: Keep seniors' national park fees low

Not because I actually use it to boost my sex life in between the urgent searches for cat pictures, but because it seems to me to be the adult way of dealing with such things.

FORBES: The Difference In Censorship On Facebook And Twitter

Stevenson, nicknamed The Cat in the Hat because of the fact that he wears a black street hockey safety helmet, claimed silver with 5.90m.

CNN: Mack pulls off a last-gasp victory

"That someone in Theresa May's position can be so misinformed as to parade out a story about someone being allowed to stay in Britain because of a cat is nothing short of alarming, " the campaign group said.

BBC: Theresa May under fire over deportation cat claim

She said the cafe and shop a few doors away were closed on Friday because of financial difficulties facing CAT plc, which in turn were fuelled by the economic downturn.

BBC: Centre for Alternative Technology cafe, food store shut

Did her enquiries extend beyond the Daily Mail, which first published the story: " Migrant facing deportation wins right to stay in Britain... because he's got a cat"?

BBC: Government v Judiciary on Article 8

However, the cat (or, rather, subatomic particles that behave like the cat) has proved hard to hunt down in practice because such superpositions of states are fragile and easily disrupted phenomena.

ECONOMIST: The 2012 Nobel prizes

It transpired that he had stayed at a friend's house, and used an asthma inhaler because he was allergic to his friend's cat.

ECONOMIST: The harm done

"This type of cat you'd put in your car ... just because you want someone to talk to, " Ramsey said.

CNN: Mystery surrounds freed Cleveland captive

Already, a number of US multinationals, from IBM (NYSE:IBM) to General Motors (NYSE), Intel (NASDAQ), and Federal Express (NYSE:FDX), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), and Ford (NYSE:F) have been reporting lower earnings because of a global slow-down.

FORBES: The Five Threats to Globalization

There was the woman with a picture of her deceased cat on her shirt, and, of course, the group of sickos who run because they actually enjoy it.

FORBES: Why Do People Run?