BadgerLOG-- observations & opinions for 2004 from the MaximumBadger

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BadgerLOG
BadgerLOG Archives -- January thru April, 2004
BadgerLOG Archives -- June & July, 2004

warning! adult news & info is
addressed in the contents
of these postings!
easily offended? LEAVE NOW!

10/07/04 - been nice knowin' y'all- that's it, the MaximumBadger is, in the immortal words of the Eagles, "Already Gone"

9/23/04 - Cannibals in the News! not the most reliable source, but hey, any joke at the expense of Kim Jong Ill is fine by the Badger! comes with a great [bad] doctored photo-
http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/suspects/61279

Installment #3 of "News & Tales from the Eye of the Storm--[Ivan Can't Keep a Good Badger Down]" should be posted within the next coupla days- let's go with a working title of "The Night the Storm Came to Town"...

9/21/04 - more on this one later- of course there aren't hundreds of dead being hidden! it's bodies of the UNDEAD! they were zombies, vampires, their familiars, & ghouls, that were exterminated, mistaken for looters & shot, or burst into flame when their safe-houses were rendered unsafe! and the NO BURN order is designed, in part, to consolidate the operation to dispose of the filthy, disease-ridden remains in areas easily secured by the National Guard! JUST KIDDING! man, the crazy stuff that people dream up in the midst of crisis!
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBO8V9XEZD.html
&
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBHAUETFZD.html

9/20/04 - They're savages! "...If their bodies are found, they are rarely intact, as some of their organs have been cut out, to be used in human sacrifices...During May's local elections, the body of seven-year-old Souleymane Camara was found in a bag...His genitals, heart and liver had been removed..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3663292.stm

various stories about the aftermath- "Ivan Brings More Misery to Florida's Poorest County..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBB3WU3DZD.html
"...the girls weren't scared, especially when a flashlight revealed fish swimming through their house..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGB7J7U3DZD.html
"...The storm is now one of the deadliest in U.S. history..."
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2004-09-20-ivan-1a_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

Installment #2
"News & Tales from the Eye of the Storm--
[Ivan Can't Keep a Good Badger Down]"
CHAINSAWS, TRACTORS, & BONFIRES

    Lotsa chainsaws singing, their rasp-throated voices wafting on the breezes, as folks work at opening up areas around their homes, up and down their driveways, or just cutting the debris down to size, so it can be carried off by workers, or stuffed into a "burn barrel" & set ablaze, even though we're under a NO BURN order. We've also got crews clearing debris offa power lines and the roads- people from at least as far as Houston. I know this because I talked with some of them today.
    Like that's gonna stop people who are frenziedly attempting to clear their yards so they can get on with their lives.
    If you've got running water restored, and know what you're doing, owing to LONG years of experience clearing land & cleaning deadfall, you do what you gotta do.
    In my neck of the woods, you gotta cut those longleaf pine logs into sections small enough to lift by hand, so's you can stack 'em on a trailer, along with all the larger branches, to take off to the middle of a field & make a pile. Push 'em up into a thick mass with the blade on the back of the tractor, then return with the boom attachment to lift the REALLY big sections.
    Those big piles are still greenwood, so it'll be a coupla weeks, at least, before the BIG bonfires get lit. We're thinking about spacing 'em out- Halloween will probably be a MONSTER, maybe a couple- depends on how many piles we actually make. I'd like to save one or two big ones for Thanksgiving- let 'em burn all weekend, invite some friends over to help work Fire Control, roast potatoes & toast marshmallows.
    The HARD work is gonna be all the oak, dogwood, cypress, cedar, and holly that will be cut to firewood size, or cut to lengths for lumber-making. I'm gonna save a few of the choice pieces for carving- totems, walking sticks, sculptures of various shapes & sizes- no telling what kinda artwork I'm gonna get out of all this...
    I'm pretty wrung out, so I'm gonna cut this one short- I'll tell y'all later about the fella I had to chase off who was obviously casing the place...

Installment #1
"News & Tales from the Eye of the Storm--
[Ivan Can't Keep a Good Badger Down]"
SHOOT FIRST & ASK QUESTIONS LATER
This particular BadgerLOG is a work of
FICTION, based VERY loosely on events in
Northwest Florida & South Alabama in the days
immediately after Hurricane Ivan

9/19/04 - Warm beers & mean talk at the Mom&Pop quick stop- I walked in on the middle of a conversation that had just shifted into high gear.
    "...hadda shoot a couple of looters last night- the first one was trying to siphon gas outta my 4x4. He had a coupla stolen generators in his truck, and I guess he figgered he'd swipe some gas for 'em while he was at it."
    "How'd you know the generators was stolen, Tommy?"
    "Well, old man Huff had just called to let me know there were thieves runnin' around the neighborhood, and Aunt Boochie heard from her daughter that less than an hour earlier, someone had ripped one off from a deacon in the church."
    "Ha! Reckon the dumbass didn't know that us country folk keep in touch!"
    "Yeah, then the little [expletive deleted] had the nerve to pull a .32 on me! I had snuck up on him without a light- been eatin' my carrots the last few days, heh heh, and when I hit the switch on my flashlight, he dropped the hose he was suckin' on- looked like he'd had some practice there..."
    A burst of raucous laughter interrupted Tommy's story for a moment.
    "...whipped this piece out, cocked the hammer, and then he was dead."
    "Just what I'da done. What about the other one?"
    "Less than 3 hours later, I heard a shot in the back field. Same thing, I crept down there in the darkness and found a guy tryin' to winch one of my steers into the bed of his truck. I popped the light on him, he raised up with little pistol, and I drilled him right between the eyes."
    "What'd ya' do with 'em?"
    "Luckily, one of the fellas in my hunting club has been working with a crew that's clearing trees and limbs offa the power lines. He's in charge of the truck that pulls the industrial-strength wood-chipper, and Wah-lah! Them boys just disappeared."
    More harsh laughter, and Pop spoke up.
    "I heard a fella in here a while ago, and he said something that struck a chord with me..."
    He paused to take a long swallow from his can of beer, then continued.
    "He said, 'We're under martial law, and I'm the Marshall!'"
    We all shared a laugh over that.
    "Yeah," Riley said, "They're so concerned about down in town, and out at the beach, all those National Guardsmen posted at filling stations and such, and it's damn near anarchy everywhere else!"
    I spoke up, "Riley, do you really think that we need the Guard out here?"
    More laughter and a general consensus that we're more than capable of handling our bidnezz quite nicely, thank you very much.
    Ferdie led off the next round of talk with a story about some pinhead pulling a knife in an ice'n'water line at an aid station, south of Interstate 10.
    "...And my buddy's nephew said that one of the cops working security took the knife away from him, kicked him outta the line, and let him GO! "
    "Ferdie," Pop spoke up once more, "I'll bet that's what they've been told to do- if they tried to lock up every nimrod that gets a little hot under the collar in the next week or two, they'd have to use the Civic Center for a holding pen!"
    "Handle 'em like Tommy did, 's what I say," Riley muttered.
    Mom was tired of the tough talk, and said so.
    "You boys need to change the subject! Y'all are starting to get a little hot under the collar yourselves!"
    "Yes ma'am," I said, in the most sheepish voice I could muster.
    "Hey!" Ferdie's face brightened, and his voice got excited, "Momma told me today that ever since Ivan blew through, she's had to fill the hummingbird feeders two, maybe three times a day! Said they swarm around like bees on a peach tree!"
    "That's better, boys," Mom finally began to smile again.

NEXT INSTALLMENT - CHAINSAWS, TRACTORS, & BONFIRES

9/18/04 - short, post-Ivan BadgerLOG here! made it through without too much damage- wish I could say the same for everyone else locally! beaches got REALLY whacked hard, and we don't have near as many trees as we did! well, lots of cleaning & clearing to do, so GOTTA GO!!!

9/13/04 - man, this is just the kind of thing that burns the ol' Badger's short ones! guy spends 22 years in jail for a rape he didn't commit, then doesn't even get a bus ticket home! I hope he sues the Brevard County Jail, the state of Florida, and whomever else he has to, in order to get some sort of monetary compensation for the best years of his life, which are GONE [he was 20 when convicted] - "... Eight witnesses testified Dedge was working miles away, in New Smyrna Beach, at the time of the attack. Still, he was convicted in May 1982 despite the prosecution's shaky case..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBFLCNT1ZD.html

Batman is one mad Dad! "...campaigning for greater custody rights for divorced or separated fathers...", he scaled Buckingham Palace as his personal protest - and Spidey started things off over the weekend - "... On Saturday, another member of the group who dressed as Spider-man climbed atop the 450-foot tall London Eye Ferris wheel beside the River Thames..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB31FCV2ZD.html
or watch the BBC video [RealPlayer compliant]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/40066000/rm/_40066094_f4j16_wilcox13_vi.ram

why does it concern me that children in Thailand are contracting the lethal H5N1 strain of "bird flu"? well, besides the fact that any danger to children, anybody's children, concerns me, these things, like West Nile, migrate across oceans, continents and affect EVERYBODY!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10745682%255E1702,00.html

9/11/04 - ahh, some good news on the space science front! here at the BadgerLOG, I was worried that the Genesis mission would turn out to be a complete "bust", after that awful crash in the Utah desert- but no! usable data is available!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3646154.stm

and West Nile virus is truly nationwide, according to Oregon's state epidemiologist - I remember the year that it made its way across the Atlantic, a huge, ugly storm cloud from the west coast of Africa that showed up very plainly on the satellite photos - I knew, even then, that it was going to be trouble... some folks would tell you it was the start of some very bad "juju", and maybe, in a way, they're correct...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRF_WEST_NILE_OREGON?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Five-Oh on the way! Bah bah bah bah baahh baaaahhhh, bah bah bah bah baaaahhhhh... hip-shaking hula dancers, majestic scenic shots of "da' big island", intrigue, crime, justice & retribution in paradise! how will they find someone to portray Jack Lord's character? it'll be like trying to fill Sean Connery's shoes - impossible, and maybe they shouldn't even consider the idea of "replacing" an American archetype - if they go the "update" route, let's hope they don't try to play it in the "cute, kitschy, campy" vein...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HAWAII_FIVE_0?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

it takes a tuff guy to get necrophilia outlawed in Kal-ee-Foh-nee-ahh - thank God that Ahhnuld is on the job! "...'Prosecutors didn't have anything to charge these people with other than breaking and entering. But if they worked in a mortuary in the first place, prosecutors couldn't even charge them with that,' Ochoa said..."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3031527a12,00.html

1st installment of Hippos In The News for the BadgerLOG! not a "hungry, hungry Hippo", but certainly, an "aggravated hippo", "...who broke free after thieves destroyed a perimeter fence..." you'd probably get aggravated, also, if "...bullied by a dominant male..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3641226.stm

9/09/04 - from Richard Brautigan's "Trout Fishing in America", Dell Publishing, copyright 1967 - "So Art went out and got a .32 pistol, and the next time the pimp broke in, Art pulled the gun out from underneath the covers and jammed it into the pimp's mouth and said, 'You'll be out of luck the next time you come through that door, Jack.' This broke the pimp up. He never came back. The pimp certainly lost a good thing...The pistol's right there beside the bed, just in case the pimp has an attack of amnesia and wants to have his shoes shined in a funeral parlor..." [emphasis mine]

update on a previous story - "...A man who swung an alligator at his girlfriend during an argument was sentenced to six months in jail..." sometimes, when you get so mad at your "old lady" that you wanna slap her with your gator, you need to just step off and count to ten, or a hundred, then go on the beer run by yourself-
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGB9HXXMWYD.html

DOG SHOOTS MAN! when you go to shootin' puppies, you'd best keep a close eye on 'em- they're wily little buggers and will turn on ya' in a second! puppies DO NOT appreciate being shot- "... On Monday, he was holding two puppies, one in his arms and another in his left hand, when the dog in his hand wiggled and put its paw on the trigger, making the gun discharge, the sheriff's report said..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBMNGUKWYD.html

nazi-hunters prepare another trial - with occult connections - still researching this one, but here are the two main things I've found so far- spooky stuff, especially when you consider that the nazis perverted the basis of Nordic mythos...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3640468.stm
&
"...Yet another mystical group was the Edelweiss Society, which preached the coming of a 'Nordic messiah'....Herman Göring had become an active member of the Edelweiss Society in 1921 while living and working in Sweden. Göring believed Hitler to be the Nordic messiah... William Bramley, The Gods of Eden..."
http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/masons/nazi.html

9/06/04 - early Bears In The News Update! a coupla things on "Mainichi Interactive - Top News" - one, kinda neat "bubble view" of polar bear compound, the other, possibly a disturbing poacher-related item - "...OSAKA -- A man who tried to sell a stuffed giant panda on an Internet auction site was arrested Monday for violating Japan's species protection law, police said..."
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/photojournal/images/2004/09/06bear267.jpg
&
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040906p2a00m0dm003000c.html

9/05/04 - political junkies, take note! more quotes from 1972's "Dark Horse", by Fletcher Knebel - [see BadgerLOG, 8/16/04] - "...A century from now, unless something is done soon, people will be living jammed elbow-to-elbow. And if we don't have room to live and breathe - human beings need space - we'll become as vicious as rats...We'll wind up with a country paved with ocean-to-ocean people, no land to grow food on and our resources exhausted. It will be an ugly, hungry world for all our grandchildren..."
and later in the book, an eerie echo from the past that rings especially true today - "...Of course, if you're saying the intelligence outfits need a good overhaul, I'd go along..."

cannibals in the news - here's an update on a story that the BadgerLOG has been following for some time - "...Armin Meiwes, who was jailed in January for killing and eating the flesh of a willing victim, is already the focus of a rock song and a film script...The band Rammstein has written a song about Meiwes called Mein Teil, or My Part..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3626000.stm

more political cheese & rats in the news - this protester was evidently "cheesed off" at the Australian PM, stating, "...'On behalf of the working class people in the Tweed I'm going to present this cheese to you because you and your mate are past your use by date and you'll soon be looking for jobs...'...the protest came just days after allegations surfaced that one of Howard's lawmakers had branded him a 'lying rodent...'"
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2004/09/03/protester_hurls_cheese_at_australian_pm/

and this, in keeping with the true nature of politics, is just as cheesy - "...Box of convention mac and cheese goes for more than $29 on EBay...Kraft Foods North America Inc. produced two versions of its 'limited convention edition' mac and cheese, one for each political party. Instead of the traditional elbow-shaped pasta, the Republican version has elephants and stars; the Democrats got donkeys..."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/fringe/sfl-903macaroni,0,7173626.story?coll=sfla-news-fringe

late-breaking cats'n'birds flus news! "...Professor John Oxford...'H5N1 is getting more and more worrisome,' he said...'If any virus is going to cause a great human pandemic in the near future, then it is likely to be H5N1...'"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3620532.stm

late-breaking B.I.T.N.U. - "...A mountain biker on Togwotee Pass fought off a grizzly bear that repeatedly charged him until a companion drove the animal off with pepper spray. Kirk Speckhals escaped his encounter without a scratch; he had only four dirt marks from the bear's claws on his forearm, a punctured bicycle tire and a bent rim..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4476395,00.html
& a different kind of Bears In The News item -
http://www.kazunderworld.com/archive.html/608.html

9/04/04 - B.I.T.N.U. - Japanese black bear today!
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040904p2a00m0dm001002c.html

9/03/04 - just another fella enjoying carnal knowledge with his sister's pot-bellied pig -
http://courttv.com/people/scm/090204_ctv.html

B.I.T.N.U. - brown Bucharest bears "terrorising" Transylvania! "...Villagers are afraid to let their children go outside, with the bold bears making off with domestic animals in broad daylight..."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3022891a4560,00.html

9/01/04 - tres gruesome! if you're gonna be the victim of a hit, though, you might as well be found in pieces in designer luggage washing up on better beaches everywhere, eh? "...The dismembered body of William T. McGuire, 39, washed up in the Chesapeake Bay in early May in his own matching luggage..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBAIO8PKYD.html

Jim Croce - "...you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind..." and, apparently, you don't mess with the Doobie Brothers!
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGB9HB0VKYD.html

always love a good astronomy story! 2, maybe 3, new planets spotted - "...It is the fourth planet found around 55 Cancri, a yellow G-class star not unlike the Sun and only 41 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cancer...The larger planet, with a minimum size 21 times the mass of the Earth, orbits a red M star, Gliese 436, which is about 50 times dimmer than our Sun and located 33 light-years away in the constellation Leo..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3615940.stm

Beam me up for the last time, Scotty...if only we could give Mr. Doohan "more power" -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3616818.stm

along with the latest bombings in Israel & Moscow, executions of Nepalese contract workers in Iraq, our "wonderful" [heavy sarcasm]
terrorist "freedom fighters" [more heavy sarcasm] have taken a bunch of children hostage in Russia - oh yeah, THAT'S how you win friends and influence people - I don't remember where the line comes from, but it goes something like, "...shootin's too good for 'em, hangin's too good for 'em..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3616868.stm

we're talking about disasters & weirdness of Biblical proportions, people! cats living with dogs, bears eating World War II food & little old Japanese men, drinking cases of beer, mutilating & devouring cattle, extraterrestrial neo-nazi hookers hopped up on methamphetamine/cocaine fixes drinking tractor trailers full of Canadian ale to cut the edge before infecting unsuspecting "tricks" with bizarre off-world STDs, twisted priests & preistesses of strange sectarian religious cults practicing reconstructed witchcraft rituals & peddling human flesh & organs as cure-alls, or even aphrodisiacs - can a rain of frogs be far behind?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3615688.stm

late-breaking bears in the news story! by now, regular readers of the BadgerLOG should know that the MaximumBadger LOVES a good B.I.T.N.U.pdate! "...'Spectacled bears eat both vegetables and meat but children tend not to be on their menu'...Heiner Kloes,
Berlin Zoo..." rather than the abridged attempt at alliteration that the BBC used for its headline, I would have gone with -
"Bold Berlin Bear Baffled By Brooms Bungles Bicycle Break-out Bid..." - HA! The MaximumBadger has spoken!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3612706.stm

8/26/04 - talk about back-biting! life in the Brave New World is one great big freak show, baby! can it get weirder? don't even ask, you prob'ly don't wanna know! "New jaw grown on patient's back... A German man has been able to eat his first proper meal in nine years after surgeons rebuilt his face using a pioneering jaw-bone graft...The 56-year-old man - who tucked into bread and sausages..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3598710.stm

food safety alert! 42.8 tons of chicken products that MIGHT contain pieces of metal recalled by ConAgra - FORTY-TWO point EIGHT TONS - THAT is a LOT of chicken -
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB93V0NDYD.html

8/23/04 - this one is great, if only for the alliteration of the headline - "...The mounties are searching for 50,000 cans of Moosehead along with the driver of a tractor-trailer that was hauling the brew...The abandoned truck has been found -- along with two empty beer cans..." offhand, I'd say they need to look for the world's largest lobster-boil, being as this took place in Maine -
http://www.nbc4i.com/food/3673754/detail.html

more cocaine in the news - well, actually a "kingpin" is apprehended - "...According to Mexico's Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha, Mr Higuera Guerrero was 'a legend' in the drugs trafficking world...an operation codenamed Thunder...However, according to the US drug tsar, so far this has had little impact on the quantity of drugs flowing into the United States."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3592612.stm

a new version of "Mars Needs Women"? first, read about the film [as Danny Aykroyd, aka Leonard-Pinth Garnell would say, "...exquisitely BAAAD!], then check out the "news" items - when I saw the headline & foto during a [sing it with me!] Bee-Dubble-E-Dubble-R-U-N, I almost wet my pants from spontaneous laughter!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mars_needs_women/
& [cover photo - story not online yet]
http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/newsstand/61645
& [a previous incarnation of the basic story]
http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/aliens/10518

8/22/04 - "lobsters in hot water"! for a serious story, they sure use a bad pun for the address! global warming endangering lobsters?
overfishing stocks? disease? a bit of each? and this piece of history - "...In early America, demand was low, and lobster was plentiful. In those days, it was fed to servants and prisoners. Sometimes it was just thrown down as crop fertilizer. Philip Bramhall's grandfather told him that even in his time, bars sometimes served lobster like popcorn..." man, I'd like to sit down for a pitcher and have the bartender bring out a bowl of lobsters instead of a bowl of salted peanuts anyday! add some waitresses in skimpy shorts and tight-fitting tee-shirts, and you could give Hooters a run for their money!
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lobsters-in-hot-water,0,7134752.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Genesis spacecraft to return with particles from the "solar wind" -
http://www.local6.com/technology/3668896/detail.html

Ahh-nuld uses proceeds from lawsuit to help fund after-school program -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3588746.stm

8/21/04 - even the "aminals" are in a state of crisis in Central Florida - luckily, there are people on the scene to help out - "...they've had their hands full with calls involving lions, goats, parrots and macaws, a days-old squirrel, baby raccoons, cows, horses, a ferret, llamas and cobras..." and some of the livestock is apparently mischievous - "...about 10 cows were penned into a youth baseball field that had building debris strewn along its fences, including one that insisted on hanging out in the dugout...'They were wandering the streets, causing trouble...'"
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBAHRMI4YD.html

uh-oh! the real "Soup Nazi" may be moving on your neighborhood! by chain or by can, he's begun his campaign!
http://www.wsbtv.com/food/3668763/detail.html

and the real things get rousted by da' MAN! why they even let this march take place in Wunsiedel is beyond me- I know that we allow even these guys to parade around spewing their swill, but that's the 1st Amendment... I thought Germany had laws against this sort of thing, but I reckon it's just the symbols & paraphernalia...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3587340.stm

THIS isn't just disturbing, it's just PLAIN WRONG! I don' t care what anyone else says or thinks about this, it's not CUTE, it's not FUNNY, and this "Brands on Sale" outfit should be reviled, boycotted, bombarded with e-mails, maybe even pilloried!
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/brandsonsale-store/51104-costumes.html

be on the lookout for rogue Sea Monkeys! they have a fanatical legion of worshippers & are bent on world domination! it says so right on the website!
http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/

we here at the BadgerLOG are enjoying the spate of recent "Bear facts" news stories & hope that no one is injured as the big boys'n'girls get ready for their winter nap - "Eldon and Gerry Nihues hung a radio from the plum tree, tuned it into a rock station and turned it up loud in hopes of scaring off the bear, which helped itself to about 50 watermelons, including 11 in one night..."
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0804/167582.html

heh heh heh! how many lobsters can YOU eat? "...38 lobsters in 12 minutes...Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., won $500 and a trophy belt for her efforts, consuming 9.76 pounds of lobster meat..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBCLHIB6YD.html

8/20/04 - more bears in the news! "The smash-and-grab raids are the work of polar bears, who force open windows and doors or tear straight through walls...The food, dating back to World War II, is probably still edible and it would be a shame if those treasures ended up in a bear's stomach..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3584210.stm

pigs in the news, and it's not good- avian flu seems to have made another species jump, and since pigs share many human characteristics, mutations that are even more devastating could occur- avian flu, when it makes the leap to humans from birds, is VERY NASTY BIDNEZZ -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3583856.stm
& background
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3391899.stm
&
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/

8/19/04 - Colombians, cocaine, guns, smashed plumbing, etc.- a continuing, comedy of errors story- "...trying to buy $4 million in grenade launchers, machine guns, other high-powered weapons and munitions for a leftist rebel group and promising 2 tons of cocaine as partial payment... The gunrunning operation was uncovered innocently enough when boxes of guns hidden in a false ceiling broke through, fell onto a toilet and flooded a warehouse..."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBVMTNX1YD.html

prominent Pensacolians, cocaine & bushwhackers - I just wanna know if Jackie Seale is related to the late Barry Seale - [tons of coke through Mena, Arkansas, if I remember correctly] - in this article, they forget to mention the drug education counselor & probation officer -
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGB8AXE72YD.html

pigs in the news update - did this guy take the wrong message [not that there's a right one] from the Manson murders? I guess not -
"...a man convicted of stabbing a potbellied pig, then blurting out in drunkenness that he wanted pork chops...Deason was covered in blood and pig feces when he said, 'I cut it, so what?'"
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBQBS6O2YD.html

I want one! for bird-watching [wink!], to check the garden without walking to it, keep tabs on the feral dog&cat populations - I can think of dozens of uses for this thing!
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040819/D84IAAL81.html

more about duct tape than prob'ly anyone needs to know! but, as the saying goes, "I can't count the numer of times duct tape has saved the universe..."
http://octanecreative.com/ducttape/index.html

8/18/04 - and when da' bear thirsty, he drinks! [see BadgerLOG, 8/14/04] apparently he's no bargain basement lush, either! "He drank the Rainier and wouldn't drink the Busch beer...Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort...A wildlife agent tried to chase the bear from the campground but the animal just climbed a tree to sleep it off for another four hours...Agents then used a large, humane trap to capture it for relocation, baiting the trap with the usual: doughnuts, honey and, in this case, two open cans of Rainier. That did the trick..." a rack-and-a-half! woooooo! howdya' like to go partying with THIS fella?!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BEER_BEAR?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT

cruise the Captain Ribman site- here's the link to the Superhero Swimsuit pages- dated [2000], but still HOT!
http://www.supercomics.com/swimsuit/index.html

8/17/04 - man, what some people will do with a hundred-dollar bar tab & a live mouse! "McGee had also set off a mouse trap with his tongue, eaten a cup of maggots, sucked up chillies through a straw, drunk a pint of anchovies and downed a pint of mouthwash..." it doesn't mention what the competition was about, what prizes were to be awarded, or if it was endorsed by the originators of "Jackass"-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3573198.stm

new bird news-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3569160.stm

8/16/04 - I've been reading, & re-reading a couple of "political books" lately - it being prime-time for the season... 1972's "Dark Horse", by Fletcher Knebel, of which the Washington Post said @ the time - "Vastly entertaining...watching Eddie [the main character] doublecross the bosses and the fat cats...the plot twists and turns like a demonic slalom racer."
& 1994's "Better Than Sex", by H.S. Thompson, whom I quote - "The joke is over when even victory is a downhill run into hardship, disappointment and a queasy sense of betrayal...The humor of the campaign trail is relentlessly cruel & brutal...They would burn us at the stake on network TV if they thought it would put them in the White House..."

here's a harsh headline that it wouldn't break my heart to see - laughter wells up in my throat just thinking about it...
"DEA & BATF Descend on Cocaine, Moonshine Trafficking Ring - Locals Played for Patsies Vindicated, Prominent Citizens with Ties to Neo-Nazi Groups Carted Off to Jail in Manacles, More Arrests Expected..."

bug fights! gambling! cricket lovers! I guess my #1 question would be - how do the people in the back row see the action?
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-hong-kong-cricket-fighting,0,4991615.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

8/15/04 - DAMN cancer news - "'Cannabis' brain tumour drug hope...Samples were taken before and after the patients were treated with cannabinoid solution infused directly into the tumour...In both patients, VEGF levels in the tumour were reduced following treatment with cannabinoids..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3561686.stm

and say a prayer for Charlie Watts, one of the coolest rock'n'roll drummers of all time -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3566160.stm

8/14/04 - today is going to be devoted to news about our friends in the animal kingdom-

some good news about the orangutang kick-boxing squad! update to BadgerLOG items of 8/4/04 & 8/10/04-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3563042.stm

bear facts! when da' bear hongry, da' bear eat! "An official of the Iriya Stock Farming ranch... called police early Saturday saying, 'I think a bear has taken one of our dairy cows...'"
and don't think that a dog will be any help if you're an old man on a walk and a bear decides it's time for you to go- "...the dog returned home alone..."
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040814p2a00m0dm010001c.html
&
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040814p2a00m0dm003001c.html

talk about a "wascawwy wabbit"!"Blazing Bunny Spreads Fire at Cricket Club" [not REALLY funny, or for the squeamish]
http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/420983|oddlyenough|08-14-2004%3A%3A12%3A46|reuters.html

spooky? or just plain silly? "Powell, Black Cat to Cross Paths on Friday 13th...The cat's owner, Sig Hauck, said he was a 'very, very laid back' cat and was called 'Wolfman Jack' at first..."
what gets me is the reference to "recognizing a cat of outstanding ability...", but they never say what that "ability" is-
http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/420991|oddlyenough|08-13-2004%3A%3A09%3A06|reuters.html

8/10/04 - Ubercafe? Schnell! Was dieses ist? those Brazilians have done it again--
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3553950.stm

your fine furry friend might not be so welcome on the flight deck, still, you should never kick the cat..."One possible reason for the creature's sudden fit of fury may have been an unconfirmed report that it was 'kicked by somebody in business class...'"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3551672.stm

ohhhh, the shame! the humiliation! Australia's udder-tampering scandal-- "The four offenders, and their cows, have been sent home in disgrace...Some farmers are also suspected of gluing their cows' teats shut, to stop milk leakage..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3551292.stm

WAAACCKKK!! KWWAAACCKK-KKKK-KWAK-KWAK-KWAK!!! "He has brought tremendous joy and laughter to people around the world, with his charm and explosive temper-tantrums..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3552790.stm

"Koko, who has an IQ of between 75 and 95, was found to be in good health...'It's not often we get to work with a celebrity...Probably Koko is less demanding...'"
probably better-behaved, brighter, and, I'm wagering, does not have the term "prima donna" in her vocabulary--
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3548246.stm

hopefully this is NOT the case-- an update to a previous BadgerLOG entry [8/4/04]... "Bangkok police are investigating the apparent deaths of 41 orang-utans at the city's Safari World wildlife park..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3548600.stm

8/6/04 - well, at least the King of the Superfreaks got it right before he died- "Cocaine is a hell of a drug..." see ya' later, Rick...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/06/rick.james/

more madcap, crazy MD hijinx! "Bonnie Valle often complained about an odd feeling in her chest...During dissection, a faculty member discovered a green surgical cloth the size of a large hand towel behind her left lung...Her body was literally growing around it..."
just soaking up excess fluid, right, Doc?
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB2HH2RKXD.html

A**hole serial killer on the loose! They even killed the dog!
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGB0ZYIMKXD.html

RangerBadger has ALWAYS loathed & despised poachers, and always loved the majestic White Rhino-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3542060.stm

he's new & improved! he's "Fluffy, Too"!
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040806/D849ULO80.html

8/5/04 - "witch doctor" update - "Ritual killing is common in some parts of Nigeria where many people believe they can become instant millionaires by using human organs to make potent charms...The priests may have killed the people for ritual, or to obtain their property by false pretence or they may have been running a human parts market...quoted...a villager...saying the sorcerers ate the flesh of some of their victims..."
http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/419259|oddlyenough|08-05-2004%3A%3A08%3A48|reuters.html

ahh, dumb criminals- where is the assembly line for "ee-jots" like this?
http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/419251|oddlyenough|08-05-2004%3A%3A08%3A07|reuters.html

8/4/04 - "'Bout" damn time! " A Thai wildlife park has suspended orang-utan kickboxing fights following a warning from police and complaints from animal rights groups..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3534872.stm

uh-oh! as "Thing-Fish" [arcane Frank Zappa reference] sed, "I 'speck dey be practicking witchcraft!"- gruesome foto of human skin in formaldehyde[sp?] included...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3535218.stm

8/3/04 - more hi-tension lobster chuckles- luckily, no one was hurt- "A woman who was upset about lobster divers in the canal behind her house in the Florida Keys was arrested after allegedly shooting at them with a handgun..."
http://www.local6.com/news/3605190/detail.html

tech-heads! check this one out!
http://www.uclinux.com/hand-powered_web_server/

8/2/04 - now here's a sensible Muslim cleric behaving like a man of God- there may be hope yet- "Iraq's most influential Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, yesterday denounced the recent wave of bomb attacks on churches...'We condemn and reproach these hideous crimes...We assert the importance of respecting the rights of Christian civilians and other religious minorities and reaffirm their right to live in their home country, Iraq, in security and peace...'- They were also condemned by Sheikh Raed al-Khadimi, an influential supporter of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1274751,00.html

not funny, just weird- a job-related hazard for a drug dog, or poor handling?
http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/48128|oddlyenough|08-02-2004%3A%3A10%3A08|reuters.html

8/1/04 - let's see - this has to be the number 1 thing that's pissing me off today - "'Seeing Raza (Mohammad Khan) handcuffed and jailed gives me eternal satisfaction.' This is exactly what 14-year-old Manju Lama (name changed) told Worldpress.org...Trafficked to the Great Roman Circus in Gonda, India -- one of many districts where only local gangsters have their say -- from her Maoist rebel-infested home in the Makwanpur district of Nepal, Manju had been sold there last year for $432 by a Nepali broker and neighbor...Raza and his accomplice Shafi Khan were arrested and booked on rape charges..."
http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/1903.cfm

this, however, is WAY COOL! Let the sun move you along... photo journal on index page @
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/
& info on the OSU Solar Car Project @
http://www.ojc.osaka-sandai.ac.jp/solar/english/index-e.html

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