A group of Russians at an Arctic weather station spent two nerve-wracking days hiding in an attic while waiting for permission from Moscow to shoot a hungry polar bear rampaging through their house, a newspaper has said.
The meteorologists and two gamekeepers were among the latest in Russia's far north-eastern Chukotka region to encounter polar bears stranded by melting ice while following their winter migration routes across the Arctic. "The hungry bear broke into the weather station, tore apart two dogs and went in to find food in the house," the Izvestia daily reported Thursday. The inhabitants "hid in the attic, where they sat two days. They waited until they got permission to shoot the animal, which was given by the environmental ministry in Moscow."
The newspaper reported that about 170 polar bears, which are a protected species, have been stranded along Russia's Arctic shore during unseasonally warm temperatures. "Every year the ice forms later. For example, right now the ice is not thick enough to support the polar bear and the animal is being forced to look for food where people are," Anatoly Kochnyov, an expert with the Pacific Fisheries and Oceanography Scientific Institute, was quoted as saying.
Locals in far-flung villages have been warned not to go out at night or to leave their vehicles when traveling, while rubbish tips have been masked with oil to cover the scent, Izvestia said.
#1
Only in freakin' Russia would you call and wait 3 days to know whether or not you could shoot a menace coming after you. Of course, if Bush had signed Kyoto....
Posted by: BA ||
12/14/2006 9:40 Comments ||
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#3
They must have had a phone or radio or something. What would they do if they had no phone ? Kill the bear ? Well then, kill the bear and make up a story about the phone later, or spend another round on it.
Can Russians be that dumb ?
#1
If a single staff member doesn't properly sanitize, there is an e-coli threat. Hey, I make my old salads. I don't touch organic (s*it fertilized) lettuce.
#2
Important note for the executives of Taco Bell. Next time you send out an urgent immediate to implement directive make sure you communicate with the staff effectively.
Lava su manos!
How many exec's at Taco Bell [north of the border] speak the dialect of their rank employees?
Rick Lisko hunts deer with a bow but got his most unusual one driving his truck down his mile-long driveway in southern Fond du Lac County. The young buck had nub antlers _ and seven legs. Lisko said it also had both male and female reproductive organs. He says it definitely was a freak of nature, a real rarity.
He says he slowed down as the buck and two does ran across the driveway November 22nd, but the buck ran under the truck and got hit. When he looked at the animal, he noticed three- to four-inch appendages growing from the rear legs. Later, he found a smaller appendage growing from one of the front legs.
Warden Doug Bilgo of the state Department of Natural Resources came to Lisko's property near Mud Lake in the town of Osceola to tag the deer. He says he's never seen anything like it. Bilgo took photos and sent information on the animal to D-N-R wildlife managers.
Lisko, meanwhile, wasn't going to waste the venison. He says he used the deer for meat ... and it was tasty. I'm hoping I might be able to get this posted under my usual nick, ryuge. I managed to mangle my cookies somehow and, temporarily, seem to be stuck with the nom de guerre (pardon my French) Grotch Flaviling7365. I've e-mailed Fred at his lair deep within the Fortress of Snarkitude about this problem - but that was only a few hours ago, so I'm sure he has not had a chance to look into it yet.
#1
Kill your RB cookies. There may be 2 files: rantburg.com and www.rantburg.com. Zap 'em. Then go to the OClub and use the little dohickey text box cookie reset tool. That seems to be the req'd magic when the cookies get obstinate.
#3
The young buck had nub antlers _ and seven legs. Lisko said it also had both male and female reproductive organs. He says it definitely was a freak of nature, a real rarity.
*no shiite*
..he noticed three- to four-inch appendages growing from the rear legs. Later, he found a smaller appendage growing from one of the front legs. He says he used the deer for meat ... and it was tasty.
WAYNESBORO, PA - Many are drawn to the decadent scent of chocolate wafting from the Candy Kitchen. Even, it seems, four-legged creatures like deer. Workers were preparing gift boxes for the busy holiday season Saturday afternoon when a loud noise stopped them in their tracks.
ÂWe heard a loud bang, Angela Costlow said.
Despina Leos, owner John Leos' mother, said she thought it was a gunshot at first. She was sitting behind the counter and could not see that a doe was trying to jump into the recently replaced window on the west side of the building.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/14/2006 6:41 Comments ||
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#3
John Leos, owner of the store, and his mother feel the deer is good luck. ÂEverything happens for a reason, John Leos said. ÂIt is good luck when nature comes to your doorstep.Â
You'd think this guy lives in touchy-feely San Fran with that quote. I'll try and remember how it's "good luck" next time I see a lion, tiger, or heck, a bald eagle come screaming through my front door, lol! Future PETA CEO, this guy is.
Posted by: BA ||
12/14/2006 9:37 Comments ||
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#6
The deer ran toward Sheffler's Uniform Shop and attempted to jump inside that window, too, according to Waynesboro police. Police did not receive any other calls about the deer and the animal was not found.
A uniform has been reported missing, however.
.com's the newest mod, he has to stay and lock up.
Oh yah shure, fry me up.
Space weather forecasters revised their predictions for storminess after a major flare erupted on the Sun overnight threatening damage to communication systems and power grids while offering up the wonder of Northern Lights.
"We're looking for very strong, severe geomagnetic storming" to begin probably around mid-day Thursday, Joe Kunches, Lead Forecaster at the NOAA Space Environment Center, told SPACE.com this afternoon.
The storm is expected to generate aurora or Northern Lights, as far south as the northern United States Thursday night. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are not expected to be put at additional risk, Kunches said.
Continued on Page 49
So far this week at work, we've lost a processor and 3/4ths the memory on a testing database, and lost ALL user access to one of the two production servers. We have about 15,000 users across the US; Thursday is one of the two busiest days of the week; last I heard, we're running on 1/2 capacity.
This Thursday, around noon, is our team Christmas lunch.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/14/2006 7:24 Comments ||
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#5
I think I'l strip butt-naked, and go lay my pale, soft body on the snow outside. If I'm bathed in enough of those cosmic radiations, I just might develop a few superpowers of my own. It really works, I read this in the Fantasfic Four.
#6
Some are also accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CME), clouds of charged particles that arrive in a day or two. This flare unleashed a strong CME that's aimed squarely at Earth.
Sounds to me like NASA has hired an ex porn writer to do their news releases.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/14/2006 8:46 Comments ||
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#7
I think we can agree that "coronal mass ejection" is much more highbrow than "spurts of solar jism'.
#8
"storminess"? Is that a word? If so, I nominate it above "truthiness" for the word of the year. Hey, it's not New Year's yet, there's still time, right?
Posted by: BA ||
12/14/2006 9:34 Comments ||
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#9
I love the tinfoil hat pic!
Oh, by the way, NASA is doing a major spacewalk today! Guess they have good insurance policies on the poor guinea pigs astronauts.
British detectives probing the deaths of five women by a feared serial killer are hunting a mystery man in a blue BMW who may provide a key to the affair, a top policeman said.
The focus on a "chubby" driver seen by witnesses came as police were expected to confirm formally the identity of two bodies believed to be victims of the so-called "Suffolk Strangler," centred on the quiet town of Ipswich.
Other new lines of inquiry being followed by detectives include pieces of clothing possibly belonging to the dead women, whose bodies were all dumped naked in streams and fields near Ipswich over the last two weeks.
A Russian court on Wednesday held hearings in an unprecedented lawsuit brought by a 15-year-old student who says being taught the theory of evolution in school violates her rights and insults her religious beliefs. The suit is the first of its kind in Russia.
Maria Shreiber sued the St. Petersburg city education committee, claiming the 10th-grade biology textbook used at the Cervantes Gymnasium was offensive to believers and that teachers should offer an alternative to Darwin's famous theory. "The biology textbook generally refers to religion and the existence of God in a negative way. It infringes on believers' rights," she said in comments carried by Russian television stations.
Shreiber could not be immediately located for further comment. Her father, Kiril Schreiber, who represented her in court Wednesday, said he wants the biology textbook revised.
School officials, meanwhile, were dismissive of the suit. Principal Andrei Polozov said he doubted Shreiber had "serious religions beliefs." "It seems to everyone that this is stupid and serves no purpose," he said of the lawsuit in televised comments. "Pupils and teachers are more amused than concerned about it."
Deputy Principal Olga Makarova told The Associated Press that the biology teacher had mentioned alternative theories to evolution. "When starting the course on the matter, the biology teacher said that there are other versions of humanity's origin," she said.
A high-profile young Sydney member of the Federal Government's Muslim Community Reference Group is fighting off tabloid media claims about a drug raid.
Twenty-two-year-old Iktimal Hage-Ali from the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl was announced as the New South Wales Young Australian of the Year last month.
Where's your burkha, uncovered meat?
She now works in the NSW Attorney-General's Department.
But today it was revealed Ms Hage-Ali was one of four people questioned by Sydney detectives after a drug bust.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper says she was one of four people arrested by detectives from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad last month.
Continued on Page 49
"I haven't been charged, I was taken in but I was released a few hours later without charge and I think throughout all this reporting, that is one thing that seems to get lost is that I was not charged."
The Dixie Chicks are getting ready to fly the coop!
The controversial country superstars have secretly decided to split up after the Grammy Awards - because Emily Robison and Martie Maguire no longer want to share the nest with outspoken Natalie Maines, say sources.
"The Chicks are tired and wrung out," said a group insider. "They feel they've come to the end, and they want a break from each other to spend more time with their families."
The three women, who have seven children among them, are at odds over Natalie's blunt political ramblings. And while sources say sisters Emily and Martie share many of Natalie's anti-George W. Bush views, they feel her public rants have taken the focus off their music.
"They've supported many of her political beliefs, even though it's put their lives and the lives of their families in jeopardy," said the insider. "They've received death threats, and it's made them all nervous wrecks." Of course, losing huge sums of money while on tour may have something to do with it, too. No problem, Natalie can always get her old job back at the truck stop off I-20.
#4
....In fairness, Robison and Maguire are at least doing the minimum we ask of our performing favorites: shutting up and singing. It's a shame that Maines simply can NOT get it through her head that this is all her fans really ask.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/14/2006 10:09 Comments ||
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#5
Natalie Maines, coming soon to a Flying-J Truck Stop near you!
#18
As much as most of us detest Natalie Maines, let's not impugn Adrian Pasdar without cause. While his father is an immigrant from Iran, Adrian was not raised muslim. Many Iranian immigrants are not even muslim (e.g. Bahai, Christian, Zoroastrian). In fact the kids all had Christian names and a German mother. Same for Natalie and Adrian's kids.
Posted by: ed ||
12/14/2006 19:32 Comments ||
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#19
Natalie's new truck stop life: 8 stools and a promise
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/14/2006 21:32 Comments ||
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#20
sorry but Adrian married a stump and deserves all the ridicule that he gets
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2006 22:49 Comments ||
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Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials are trying to figure out why a 1,000 mallard ducks turned up dead along Land Creek Springs, about 15 miles southeast of Burley.
A hunter found the first ducks last Friday and notified Fish and Game officials. When officers arrived they found 10 dead ducks near the spring and along the stream's edge. When they returned two days later, they found more than 500 dead ducks. That number has now grown to more than 1,000, and more are dying.
Symptom do not appear to be avian influenza, but local, state and federal investigators have collected tissue and water samples for testing. Some were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife laboratory in Wisconsin and water samples were sent to the University of Idaho and Washington and Washington State University laboratories to screen for pesticides.
"Preliminary diagnosis is a bacterial infection is the likely cause of mortality," said David Parrish, Magic Valley regional supervisor for Fish and Game. "State veterinarians in Boise have found the lung tissue of the ducks to be full of white and yellowish bacterial abscesses. They also found hemorrhaging around the heart. At this point in time, however, we are not ruling out any potential cause."
Signs have been posted in the area warning hunters not to eat the waterfowl until the cause of death has been determined. Fish and Game also is collecting and disposing of carcasses.
"We will continue to monitor the area for any additional mortality," Parrish said. "We would appreciate the public reporting concentrations of dead waterfowl to any of the above listed agencies."
This just might have something to do with how he became Class President, lol.
Cooper City, FL - Cooper City High School's senior class president was arrested Tuesday and charged in a grade-tampering scandal that has rocked the campus.
Ryan C. Shrouder, 18, of Cooper City, was taken to jail from school and charged with two counts of computer crime with intent to defraud, a second-degree felony, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office report. He was released from jail on bail, has been suspended from school and will be recommended for expulsion, said Joe Melita, head of the Broward County School District's investigative unit.
Shrouder serves as the alternate student advisor to the Broward School Board. He often sits in on board meetings and was issued a school district laptop computer. Sheriff's Office investigators say Shrouder took advantage of that access and used an employee password to access the district's network and change the grades of 19 students. It's unclear whether authorities think he changed his own grades.
Continued on Page 49
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 group of Russians at an Arctic weather station spent two nerve-wracking days hiding in an attic while waiting for permission from Moscow to shoot a hungry polar bear rampaging through their house, a newspaper has said. 
Rick Lisko hunts deer with a bow but got his most unusual one driving his truck down his mile-long driveway in southern Fond du Lac County. The young buck had nub antlers _ and seven legs. Lisko said it also had both male and female reproductive organs. He says it definitely was a freak of nature, a real rarity.
British detectives probing the deaths of five women by a feared serial killer are hunting a mystery man in a blue BMW who may provide a key to the affair, a top policeman said. 
A high-profile young Sydney member of the Federal Government's Muslim Community Reference Group is fighting off tabloid media claims about a drug raid.
The Dixie Chicks are getting ready to fly the coop!
