Guard dog rips head off Presleys $75,000 toy in stuffed-animal rampage
A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.
Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff. The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936.
The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had loaned it to the museum. "I've spoken to the bear's owner and he is not very pleased at all," Medley said.
A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground
#2
Do we know for certain the dog didn't act in self defense?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/03/2006 6:35 Comments ||
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#3
Since he tore up my teddy bear
My dog has a new place to dwell
He's down on the end of lonely street
In the Heartbreak Kennel . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
08/03/2006 7:43 Comments ||
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#4
Reminds me of a Beetles song, Elanor's Frisbie. Elanor's frisbie
Lay on the ground in the park where she played
Nobody came
To throw it back to her
The a big dog came along and he chewed it all up
Naughty ole pup
It's all in little pieces
Where do they all belong
Ahhh look at all the little pieces
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 8:26 Comments ||
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised on Wednesday to supply impoverished Mali with $100 million worth of petroleum products a year, partly in return for bauxite, gold and other minerals. The firebrand Venezuelan leader visited his Malian counterpart Amadou Toumani Toure as he approached the end of a marathon world tour that has seen him shore up key alliances with friendly states including Russia, Iran and Vietnam.
In Mali, dirt poor despite being Africa's third biggest gold producer, Chavez visited a social housing project and vowed his oil aid would help lift the landlocked country out of poverty -- as well as buying in much-needed supplies for his own economy.
"I will give Mali $100 million a year in petroleum products and I do not want payment in cash. I don't want you even to say thank you," Chavez said through an interpreter. "But I need your mineral products like bauxite, gold and fertiliser, and the rest of the total will help you combat poverty." Chavez said he had already made $500,000 available to microfinance projects in Mali and pledged $10 million more. He also offered to build a new social housing project in Mali, on the condition it be named "The Bolivarian" in honour of his country, officially "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela".
Continued on Page 49
#4
Right you are, GA. From Ye Olde CIA World Fact Book on Mali:
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited
Kaolin might help with El Presidente's case of the runs, but I expect it is indeed the uranium he's hoping for.
MIAMI, Aug. 2, 2006 On the streets of Cuba today there is a mystery where's the boss? Since Raul Castro officially became Cuba's interim president Monday, filling in for his ailing brother, Fidel Castro, no one has seen him. "He should have appeared by now," said bookseller Rolando Anderson. No one has seen Fidel Castro either, whose health has been failing in public for several years.
The leader's signature now appears on a statement saying, "I am in good spirits." But for security reasons his true condition remains a state secret.
But why is the new interim president keeping his own whereabouts a state secret?
"In the next few days, he should step forward and let people see him. Otherwise there will be all kinds of speculation," said Wayne Smith the former chief U.S. diplomat to Havana.
In Miami, the news of Fidel Castro's improving help has dampened the celebrations that surged through Little Havana when the Cuban president's illness was announced. The parties have been replaced by a new preoccupation conspiracy theories. Questions are swirling about whether Castro's signature might have been forged, or if a power struggle is under way.
"It's always been a conspiracy. They'll tell you one thing and do another," said Cuban-American Armando Villasuso. Clearly something is going on in Cuba. Some day we will know what it means.
Possibilities:
1. Raul is sitting by Fidel's bedside, cheering his recovery
2. Raul is sitting by Fidel's bedside, holding a pillow over his face
3. Gone to the mattresses, transfer of power didn't go 'smoothly'
4. Checking on flights to Switzerland, just in case
5. Kegger at Fidel's!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006 11:10 ||
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#1
6. Suha Arafat screaming outside the door to Fidel's hospital room.
#3
Hugo summoned Raul for, ahem, consulations. Cuba will henceforth be a Venezuela's Puerto Rico.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
08/03/2006 12:05 Comments ||
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#4
1. Raul knows better than to upstage Fidel.
2. Raul would make a great target right about now.
3. Better to keep the masses and the CIA guessing than to risk unrest. Fidel might have difficulty escaping a mob right now.
#5
1. Raul was injured in the same attack as Fidel, they thought he was okay but had complications.
2. Raul was going to take power but a General killed him first and now there is a power-play going on.
3. Raul is still taking instructions from his long-winded brother on how to run the government.
#6
RAUL: Here's one.
CART MASTER: Nine Pesos.
FIDEL: I'm not dead!
CART MASTER: What?
RAUL: Nothing. Here's your nine Pesos.
FIDEL: I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:'Ere. He says he's not dead!
RAUL: Yes, he is.
FIDEL: I'm not!
CART MASTER: He isn't?
RAUL: Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.
FIDEL: I'm getting better!
RAUL: No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER: Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
FIDEL: I don't want to go on the cart!
RAUL: Oh, don't be such a baby.
Cuba's Fidel Castro is "very alert" and resting after stomach surgery, a senior aide said on Wednesday, but the man who has governed for 47 years has not appeared in public since standing down temporarily this week. There was also no sign of younger brother Raul, who took over power provisionally on Monday from Castro, 79, the world's longest-ruling head of government.
Ricardo Alarcon, head of the national assembly and a close Castro aide, told a U.S. radio program he had spoken to the veteran communist leader on Tuesday. "He's in, I would say, a normal period of recovery after an important surgery, that's essentially what I would say, but very alive and very alert," Alarcon told the Democracy Now! show.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Still no photos? Well, either all our hopes will be dashed soon or they'll announce an 'unexpected turn' in El Supremo's health. I wonder how long Arafat was 'stable' before they finally admitted his demise.
Posted by: DanNY ||
08/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure it's only for the benefit of mankind
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:43 Comments ||
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#2
Wanna walk in space a'fore they can walk, a'fore they learn to land planes or helos from a carrier. Unless they wanna do what the USSR did and engage in massive budget write-offs every year or COSPLAN, aka "Iff we Commies pretend we have $$$, we do".
The clash of values between the new Polish government and the liberal elites who have long dominated the social policies of the European Union is becoming serious. An EU spokesman Wednesday rebuffed the proposal for a referendum on capital punishment from Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, stating "the death penalty is not compatible with European values."
Not one of the 25 current member states of the EU operates the death penalty, and other countries that seek to associate with the EU through the Council of Europe (the parent body of the European Court of Human Rights) is required to relinquish it. Both Russia and Turkey have dropped the use of the death penalty to safeguard their Council of Europe status.
But President Kaczynski's Law and Justice party, with strong roots in the conservative wing of the Roman Catholic church, fought and won the last election on a tough law and order platform that also opposed abortion and homosexuality. Last week in what aides described as "a major policy speech," President Kaczynski said that Europeans would come to understand that the death penalty was "the fit and proper punishment for murder." His junior coalition partner in government, the populist and anti-EU party known as the League of Polish Families, immediately called for a referendum in Poland on the return of the death penalty for pedophile murders, which opinion polls suggest would be almost certain to pass.
At the same time, the former director of EU affairs in the Polish foreign ministry, Pawel Swieboda, has resigned along with several senior colleagues, complaining of the new Polish government's anti-EU attitudes. "The government do not trust people with documented pro-EU views. If you have demonstrated engagement with Europe over the past few years, you are not part of the inner circle," Swieboda told the EUObserver information agency in an interview Thursday. "This government is focused on internal politics and EU affairs are a distant question. They don't adequately identify the impact of European policies on national politics," Swieboda said. "The cost of this is that Poland won't be among those EU countries shaping new political realities."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006 11:31 ||
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#1
Poles are not going to be dhimmi to anyone EU or Muzzies.
#3
Out of step with the EU? One might better ask if the Poles are one of the few members of the EU that have a clue. Funny how the the eastern European countries that had close encounters with the fUSSR have a better grasp of what tyranny is all about.
#4
Poland got into the EU because of the trade possibilties (same as us). They didn't get into it to have their culture and sovereignty handed over to a bunch of shysters in Brussels and Strasbourg.
I wonder if this could be the beginning of the end?
GW, if you want to really screw the EU, start offering places in NAFTA to countries in Europe ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 12:32 Comments ||
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#6
I think Poland got the Most Favored Nation status a few years back. They know what it feels like to be abandoned by the west and are now firmly in charge of their future. Don't expect them to give in on anything.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/03/2006 14:19 Comments ||
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#7
How undemocratic of the elites to define "EU values" without putting it to a vote. What is the Politburo afraid of?
Exactly Tony, and the US should definitely be redirecting trade (tariffs should be used to advance national policy) from enemies (e.g. China who is arming NK, Pakistan, and Iran with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons) to spur economic growth and open government with those who want to be our friends. In addition, the US should help eastern Europe and the former USSR republics to become energy independent from Russia by financing 3-4 dozen large nuclear reactors. As long as they are dependent on Moscow to not freeze or power their industry, then they will never be independent. The same goes for the US energy independence and it's cheaper than what the US doing now.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 15:07 Comments ||
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#8
The clash of values between the new Polish government and the liberal elites who have long dominated the social policies of the European Union is becoming serious.
Much could be said about Americans after they threw off the yoke of their former masters in 1776 too.
#9
Outstanding book, BP. For those without the time to read it (fascinating, but very dense), visit the author's blog, EU Referendum, the first to note the discrepanices in the MSM pictures from Qana.
Posted by: ST ||
08/03/2006 16:52 Comments ||
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#10
"Are Poles out of EU step?"
The Poles are just fine. The EU, however, is out of step with reality.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 20:59 Comments ||
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#1
some stern messages from constituents when they got home this summer. Once in a while, the politicians realize who's the boss. 66 changed votes = royal ass kicking
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 21:03 Comments ||
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#3
LOL - even Boxer and Feinstein tasted the lash!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 21:24 Comments ||
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#4
I agree Frank. Too bad most senators are so far removed from their constituents that it takes a mallet to their head to get them to do the common sense thing.
#1
Amazing. I had two years of college level accounting and know of the difference between the two accounting methods that were discussed, and had NO idea that they were not using the accrual method.
I used to suspect I would not get a Social Security check. Now I KNOW I won't get one!
The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season wont be as bad as earlier predicted. Thats according to the noted hurricane research team from Colorado State University which has revised its hurricane predictions.
In May, the CSU team formed by pioneer forecaster William Gray had predicted the 2006 season would bring 17 storms and that nine would become hurricanes.
The team has reduced the number of named storms from seventeen to fifteen. It also reduced the number of likely hurricanes from nine to seven and intense hurricanes from five to three.
The CSU forecast is updated several times each year.
The fact that there have only been two named storms in July is not the reason for the revision, Professor William Gray said.
Several factors suggest less activity, he said. Atlantic sea surface temperatures are not quite as warm and surface pressure is not quite as low. Also, the eastern equatorial Pacific has warmed some and trade winds in the tropical Atlantic are slightly stronger.
Gray and his team say hurricane activity will continue to be above average and will continue to be for another 15 to 20 years.
Last year produced a record 28 tropical storms, topping the old mark of 21 set in 1933. Fifteen turned into hurricanes and four of those were Category 5, the most destructive type.
#3
"And in other news: due to the downsizing of the hurricane prediction, there has been an increase in crude oil by all the major producers as well as rate increase by a majority of the insurance companies. While the reasons are complex, the underlying reason appears to be greed."
#6
I predict there will be more inaccurate predictions.
I'll go out on that limb with you.
The team has reduced the number of named storms from seventeen to fifteen. It also reduced the number of likely hurricanes from nine to seven and intense hurricanes from five to three.
Moving the goalposts? The fact that we're only on storm Chris well into the first week of August is a pretty good clue that the earlier prediction was off.
/I realize climate forecasting is not an exact science - I just wish the MSM would admit as much.
#7
I always question a team of scientists based in Colorado trying to predict stuff in the Gulf of Mexico or eastern seaboard.
Now, the Nat'l Hurricane Center? After their increased accuracies of projections just the last 10 years or so, I'll listen to them. And, they're in the eye of the storm literally (Miami, FL).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 15:44 Comments ||
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#8
...How inconveniant for my royalty check
Posted by: Al Gore ||
08/03/2006 15:54 Comments ||
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#9
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Center is in Boulder, right close by the University of Colorado. Don't diss the NOAA people - they've got at least two Cray-3s at work up there. The CSU team works hand in hand with NOAA, and with several other groups in the Denver-Boulder-Fort Collins area.
Of course, it could all be BS, too...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2006 16:08 Comments ||
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#10
Gray's team actually does a pretty good job overall at predicting the unpredictable.
Remember the year of Hurricane Andrew? First hurricane of the year, didn't strike until August.
I can do without a bad hurricane in Virginia this year - we've been hit pretty hard the last few years. (Yeah, yeah - I know it's lots worse in Florida and on the Gulf Coast, but I live here. I'm sure they can do without bad hurricanes there, too.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#11
Yea it would be nice not have a year when the electric is not off for a week or two.
#13
My baby brother is involved in improving the weather predictions, at Oklahoma U @Norman. He set them up with massively parallel something-or-others, threw chaos theory into the mix, and has been quite pleased with the results thus far.
You on the coast of VA? I've gotta tell ya, after being to the gulf coast of Mississippi 3 times since Katrina, those people need NO MORE. Heck, one of my co-workers was just down there last weekend and even now (mind you we're almost a year since Katrina hit) he said there's only 1 house on 2 of the 3 gulf coast counties in Miss. that has even started reframing. Cleaned down to the slab most of them and even almost 1/2 mile inland. Now, N.O. on the other hand...I almost wish another would hit and just do her in (apologies to any N.O. RBers out there).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 20:07 Comments ||
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#15
#14 BA - I'm actually in Richmond. We got our clocks cleaned by Isabel (worse than the coast), and Gaston - though it didn't cause enough wide-spread damage to have its name retired - dumped 10-14 inches of rain over Richmond in a few hours. Couldn't get home, cars and trucks floating, etc. (When I topped a small hill in my relentless search for a way to get home and saw a box delivery truck in the intersection ahead with the water ponding half-way up the box and rising, I gave up and went back to work.)
I think we'll all settle for a quiet year this year.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 20:57 Comments ||
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#16
Heres my take on it all. The Sun drives the weather on earth. If the Sun wasnt there, this rock would look like Jupiters moon Europa. Now the buried info on the net shows that the Sun has been increasing in output for many years. That energy has to be absorbed within the environment to include the oceans and atmosphere. It just built up enough to unleash the great hurricane onslaught of 05. However, in doing so the natural balance of system dissipated a lot of latent energy., like a fault giving way or a volcano blowing. I suspect that the predictors are going to have to continue to adjust their numbers even more this year. Of course, no one will question the word of the experts even in the face of trouble with numbers. Now Im not a qualified predictor, just another poster on Rantburg [and I slept at Holiday Inn last night].
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.
Cuba's Fidel Castro is "very alert" and resting after stomach surgery, a senior aide said on Wednesday, but the man who has governed for 47 years has not appeared in public since standing down temporarily this week. There was also no sign of younger brother Raul, who took over power provisionally on Monday from Castro, 79, the world's longest-ruling head of government.
The clash of values between the new Polish government and the liberal elites who have long dominated the social policies of the European Union is becoming serious. An EU spokesman Wednesday rebuffed the proposal for a referendum on capital punishment from Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, stating "the death penalty is not compatible with European values." 
