I was wondering around and saw a post about bears getting into bird feeders and it reminded me of this post Idid last year from the news. I just wish I could remeber who had the bears.... Ever worry about squirrels getting into the bird feeder? Well, look at this.  

 

 

 

Good grief, what is that line made of?

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Bear stuns Chuckey (TN) woman by banging on door, walking in
Johnson City Press ^ | June 16, 2006 | By Kristen Swing

Chuckey resident Rela Foshie was on the phone with her son-in-law Thursday afternoon when she heard an unexpected guest banging on her back door.

With a rash of bear sightings in her neighborhood throughout the last two weeks, it didn’t take long for Foshie to realize that her guest was of the non-human variety.

“It beat on my door,” said Foshie, who estimated that her intruder was somewhere between 300 and 400 pounds. “It banged and scared the s--- out of me to be honest.”

For at least the second time in as many weeks, the black bear, apparently in search of a tasty meal, made its way onto the back porch of Foshie’s home located on the aptly named Bearfield Road. But this time, the bear didn’t stop at the porch.

“It came in the back door. I don’t know how it got the door opened, but it did,” Foshie said. “He was in the hallway where the dog food was.”

To read the rest of the story

Hero of the Year Nominees

Animal Planet and Fresh Step are coming together to honor the 10 finalists that have been chosen for the Animal Planet Hero of the Year. Read about the nominees here and cast your vote for Animal Planet Hero of the Year! The winner will receive a $10,000 donation made to the animal welfare organization of the winner's choice and a 7-day/6-night trip for 2 to Hawaii! (nominees are listed in alphabetical order)     Carol Buckey is co-founder and director of the Elephant Sanctuary (TES) in Hohenwald, Tenn. The sanctuary was founded in 1995, and is the nation's largest natural habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered African and Asian elephants. Learn more about Carol now.       Kristin Cheney started and runs a nonprofit charity, Seniors With Pets, in Tacoma, Wash. This charity provides free pet food to people 55 or older who are on a fixed income. Learn more about Kristin now.       Alison Gianotto is the founder of Pet-Abuse.com, which maintains the only nationwide database of animal cruelty cases. Learn more about Alison now.       Tammy Grimes of Tipton, Pa., is the founder of Dogs Deserve Better, a nonprofit organization dedicated to freeing the chained dog, and bringing man's best friend into the home and family. Learn more about Tammy now.       Kelly is the founder and director of the Marathon Wild Bird Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, and has been for the past 10 years. Other Florida Keys rehabers call on her for assistance because her success rate is phenomenal (more than 50 percent of the birds are returned to the wild). Learn more about Kelly now.       Sally is the primary force behind Black Bear Rehabilitation of Idaho. Last year, she rehabilitated some 40 orphaned black bear cubs for the states of Idaho, Utah, Washington and Oregon. Learn more about Sally now.       Dr. William "Doc" Mitchell owned his own vet practice in Maryland and retired to the North Georgia Mountains. He discovered no animal control and an out-of-control pet population. Doc opened a low-cost clinic so people could afford to have pets fixed and vaccinated. Learn more about William now.       Pam Porteous "adopted" the town of Pontiac, Mich., 15 years ago and developed the most innovative urban community outreach program in America, to ensure that every animal has a chance to live a healthy and happy life. Learn more about Pam now.           Mona Rutger, together with her husband Bill, has owned and operated a volunteer wildlife rehabilitation and nature education center, Back to the Wild, for 15 years in Castalia, Ohio. Learn more about Mona now.       Eighty-one year old Anneke Vos started her work twenty-three years ago when she began a program that has provided shelter, medical care, food and other provisions to the pets of homeless people in Sacramento, Calif. Learn more about Anneke now.

Who you calling a duck?

You could say Diane Anheier brought Sammy out of his shell. Now the gregarious denier of his own duckhood dutifully follows her, all the while charming his way through a Largo assisted living facility.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published August 13, 2006

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[Times photos: Douglas R. Clifford]

Residents at the Cypress Palms campus of the Palms of Largo assisted living community — from left, Walter Tucker, Gladys Brown, Mildred Koheler and Margaret Bass — are accustomed to seeing this duck out of water. Sammy has visited there for a year with his adoptive mom, Diane Anheier, a nurse. | Watch video of Sammy at work

	Diane Anheier has raised Sammy since he was first hatched. At night, he rests his head in the crook of her neck and she rocks him. Some Palms residents call her "The Duck Lady."
	"Isn't he something?" asks Palms of Largo resident Ruth Brown. She and Sammy are good friends. Sometimes he will peck at her door, wanting to visit.

Sammy doesn’t swim. He’s not a flier. He doesn’t even really quack. The most ducklike thing about Sammy is his waddle. It’s a whole body effort. He thrusts his long neck up and forward, using the momentum to scoot his webbed feet through the halls of Cypress Palms and into the activity room for bingo.

When Sammy waddles in, the white-haired competitors look away from their bingo boards and greet the 8-pound visitor.

“Isn’t he something?” says Ruth Brown, a resident at the assisted living facility. She reaches out to stroke his blue-gray feathers.

She and Sammy are good friends. Some nights Sammy will peck at her door wanting to visit.

Sammy waddles out of the activity room in search of another open door and the bingo game continues.

“B-5!”

Sammy has worked at the Cypress Palms campus of the Palms of Largo assisted living community for a year, since Diane Anheier, 59, a nurse, found him next to the barn where she boards her horse.

It was May 5, 2005. Diane was picking through some abandoned eggshells. At first, all she saw was a feather, plastered with yolk, stuck in a shell. Until it moved.

“I said, 'This baby is still alive.’ ”

Diane hand-fed him warm chicken mash every two hours. She never took pictures of him during his duckling days. She didn’t intend to keep him.

Four weeks later she took Sammy back to the barn, put him in front of his duck mother and hid behind a bush. Sammy let out a high-pitched chirp and ran around looking for Diane, the only mother he had ever known.

She brought him home. Since Muscovy duck is somewhere below Australian Cattle Dog on the food chain, and Diane owns three cattle dogs, she keeps Sammy in a kennel on top of her refrigerator.

In the mornings, she lets Sammy bathe in the kiddie pool, but he’s never outside for more than an hour or two. He prefers air conditioning.

She dresses him in bandannas and baby bibs. She diapers him using a contraption she ordered on the Internet. At night, he rests his black-and-white feathered head in the crook of her neck and she rocks him in a rocking chair.

“Sammy doesn’t know he’s a duck,” she says.

Now, she has lots of pictures of Sammy:

Sammy splashing in the bathtub.

Sammy dressed as a pumpkin for Halloween.

And Sammy sitting on a desk chair at the office.

Sammy and Diane work double shifts on the weekends and a regular shift every other Wednesday.

The Palms of Largo is a pet-friendly community, said Frank White, executive director of the Cypress Palms campus. Pets belonging to staff and residents must be medically cleared, weigh less than 60 pounds and not be aggressive.

Two employees at Cypress Palms bring their dogs to work, and one used to bring her rabbit, Domino, who has since been adopted by White and lives in the facility.

Sammy is the only pet duck.

Sammy makes elderly women giggle and attracts visitors from other floors. Some residents, trying to reach down to pet him, practically fall from their walkers.

While Diane, who some call “The Duck Lady,” prepares medicine and takes blood sugar readings, Sammy waits in the nurses’ office, behind a baby gate.

Below his ever-wagging tail is his little diaper pouch, which Diane changes every two to four hours in a quick swooping motion. Sammy does not protest.

Before and after dinner time, Sammy and Diane go room to room checking on residents. Sammy’s non-quack makes him sound like a bird with smoker’s cough.

At Gladys Brown’s room, Diane says, “Miss Gladys, I have someone to see you.”

She picks Sammy up and puts him in the bed. Miss Gladys is 87. Sammy makes himself comfortable on her stomach. He holds mostly still, except for his shaking tail. He seems to know to stay quiet for the more fragile residents. Miss Gladys doesn’t say anything. She smiles. She strokes Sammy’s back. Her hand shakes.
Miss Gladys’ daughter, Gladys Ball, is visiting.

“My mother doesn’t remember anyone but Sammy,” she says. “It’s quite remarkable.”

Sometimes, Diane leads the way down the third floor’s carpeted hallways; other times, Sammy will forge ahead, stopping at an open door and looking to Diane for permission to enter.

When he’s not calling on residents, the residents are calling him.

“Come on, Sammy,” says Ruth Brown. Bingo is over and she’s waiting for dinner. Sammy stops to flap his wings and Diane lifts him onto the bench so Miss Ruth can pet him. Miss Ruth turns to another resident.

“Do you know Sammy?” she asks.

“Yes,” the woman replies. “We all know Sammy.”

Sometimes, at the end of a 16-hour shift, Diane takes Sammy outside to the pond. If he sees a wild duck, he hides behind her leg.

Diane tosses Sammy into the deep end of the pond.

Then she reminds him, “Sammy, you’re a duck!”

Tamara El-Khoury can be reached at (727) 445-4181 or tel-khoury@sptimes.com.

Tampa, Florida  (AP) — A federal judge in Tampa seems to think a game of 'rock- paper- scissors' will settle a dispute.

In an order, U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell scolded lawyers for their inability to agree on a location where they can take the sworn statement of a witness in an insurance lawsuit.

Presnell ordered both sides to meet at a neutral location at 4 p.m. June 30th to play a round of the hand-gesture game often used to settle childhood disputes. If they can't agree on the neutral location, they'll play on the steps of the federal courthouse.

The winner gets to choose the location for the witness statement.

If the loser disputes the game's outcome, that lawyer can appeal to the judge at a hearing on July seventh.

Rock-paper-scissors has become serious competitive business in recent years, with regional tournaments determining the players in a world championship.

 

 

A small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to babysit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. The man can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."

At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you'll be jailed for contempt!"

 

How did your representative vote?

 

September 19, 2005

SHOULD IMPENDING UPPER-INCOME TAX CUTS BE IMPLEMENTED WHILE KATRINA
COSTS MOUNT AND OTHER DOMESTIC PROGRAMS MAY BE CUT?
By Robert Greenstein, Joel Friedman, and Isaac Shapiro

Summary

Even before Hurricane Katrina, large deficits were projected far into the future, with the nation’s debt burden ultimately swelling to unsustainable levels.  The relief and recovery from Hurricane Katrina is estimated to cost $100 billion to $200 billion, adding to the nation’s mounting debt.  Debate has now begun about whether in the face of these costs and the grim long-term fiscal outlook, some belt-tightening and “shared sacrifice” are in order.

The budget reconciliation bills that Congress is slated to consider this fall will not help.  Taken together, the two bills will increase deficits by more than $35 billion over five years.  Under these bills, $35 billion in cuts in programs such as Medicaid and food stamps will be used not to reduce the deficit, but to offset a portion of the $70 billion that the reconciliation tax-cut bill will cost. 

On September 16, President Bush said further budget cuts will be needed.  The Administration presumably intends these cuts to come primarily in domestic programs.  One obvious step, however, is being overlooked:  Two tax cuts enacted in 2001 that are not yet in effect — and will only start taking effect on January 1 — could be reconsidered as a way of helping to defray some of the costs of Katrina relief and recovery.  These two tax cuts will benefit only high-income households (primarily millionaires), will do little for the economy beyond further increasing the deficit, and were not even requested by President Bush in the first place.  (They were added by Congress.)

The highly respected Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center reports that households with incomes of more than $1 million a year — the richest 0.2 percent of the U.S. population — already are receiving tax cuts averaging $103,000 this year, before these two new tax cuts take effect.  The Tax Policy Center finds that the two tax-cut measures in question will give these “millionaires” nearly another $20,000 a year in tax cuts, when the measures are phased in fully.

This raises the question of whether the nation should proceed with these tax cuts at a time when many Katrina survivors remain in difficult straits, when huge sums are being discussed for Katrina relief and recovery, and when cuts in domestic programs — including programs for the poor — are slated for Congressional consideration this fall as part of the reconciliation bills.

Read the rest of the story. It has charts and graphs, ohhhh.  http://www.hodesforcongress.com/twostep.php