Kinda Funny

• me
• George Bush
• Luke Perry in the season (series?) finale of John from Cincinnati

Here are a couple of stories that caught my eye back in June that share a common theme: From boing boing:

Dale Rippy, 62, killed a rabid bobcat with his bare hands when it attacked him on his porch in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The Vietnam vet was later treated for bites, scratches, and exposure to rabies. From Associated Press: Dale Rippy endured the (25 pound) bobcat's slashes and bites until it clawed into a position where he could grab it by the throat. Then he strangled it.

and from the Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer:

Swan allegedly attacks jet skiers at Goguac Lake
The Enquirer Michigan Department of Natural Resources is investigating reports of an aggressive male swan attacking jet skiers on the south side of Goguac Lake. Christine Hanaburgh, Michigan DNR wildlife biologist for Calhoun, Berry and Kalamazoo counties, said she's heard conflicting reports and is looking into the issue. "We're determining if the swan is a danger to humans," she said. Some lakeside residents are worried that the DNR will euthanize the male swan, who they believe is overly aggressive because his female partner has a broken beak. "That's a possible explanation, however, I would gravitate to another explanation," said John Lerg, acting supervisor for the state DNR Wildlife Division, southwest management unit. Swans often pair for life, or until one bird dies then the other finds a new mate. They also tend to nest in the same area year after year, he said. "Regardless of the condition of the female, it's not out of character to find the male, the cob, to be the more aggressive of the two," he said.

Who knew male swans were called cobs?

In an article of the same title in The Washington Post by Dana Milbank describing President Bush's Thursday press conference:

The session was called to draw attention to the fact that Democratic leaders had just caved in to Bush's demand that the Iraq spending bill have no withdrawal timeline. But as frequently happens at presidential events these days, it quickly became al-Qaeda, all the time. Bush invoked the terrorist group 19 times and even suggested it was going after individual reporters' kids. "They are a threat to your children, David," he advised NBC's David Gregory. "It's a danger to your children, Jim," Bush informed the New York Times' Jim Rutenberg. This last warning was perplexing, because Rutenberg has no children, only a brown chow chow named Little Bear. It was unclear whether Bush was referring to a specific and credible threat to Little Bear or merely indicating there was increased "chatter in the system" about chow chows in general.

As I walked down the hall at work this morning, I passed a TV playing CNN. There was a close-up of a woman's face as she struggled to get her words out through sobs and tears. The caption read: "Pet monkey confiscated." I kept walking.

You folks who are giving Al Gore and other environmentalists a hard time for talking the talk but not walking the walk (as you see it) should be careful about what you ask for...you might get it. From an article of the same title by Penelope Green in the NY Times:

...Colin Beavan, 43, a writer of historical nonfiction, and Michelle Conlin, 39, a senior writer at Business Week, are four months into a yearlong lifestyle experiment they call No Impact. Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping for anything except said food; producing no trash (except compost, see above); using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation.

Ms. Conlin, acknowledging that she sees her husband as No Impact Man and herself as simply inside his experiment...Ms. Conlin is clearly more than just a good sport - giving up toilet paper seems a fairly profound gesture of commitment...

Don't push them, please! You don't want your neighbors giving up toilet paper, do you?!?