Randon stuff about nothing

Dec. 12: Memories of wolf attacks

2009-02-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

Dec. 12: Memories of wolf attacks

Today's news for the Last Frontier

Published: December 12, 2007
Last Modified: December 13, 2007 at 10:09 AM

"Canine carnage" of 30 years ago. With wolf attacks on dogs making the news these days in Anchorage and Fairbanks, a Fairbanks Daily News-Miner story today looks back at the winter of 1974-75, when a "wolf pack spent the entire winter stalking the Goldstream Valley, killing dozens of dogs as residents armed with guns kept nightly vigils for the wolves."

That winter's toll, according to a musher who was around then: 165 dead dogs, 13 dead wolves.

The recent dog deaths - three have been killed in the Fairbanks area, two in the Anchorage area - have stirred talk in the Two Rivers/North Pole region of hunting the wolves or putting a bounty on them. The same debate appeared to swell in the 1970s, according to the News-Miner story. The story takes note of two petitions from back then. One, "signed by only a handful of people, requested Fish and Game use helicopters to shoot the wolves from the air. Another petition directing Fish and Game not to use aerial shooting was signed by more than 100 people."

What did they do to my old Sailor Boy pilot bread label?

2009-02-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

CHANGE: Buy product and help young Alaskans get books.

By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com

Published: February 4th, 2009 08:50 PM
Last Modified: February 4th, 2009 09:19 PM

Inspect a box of Sailor Boy pilot bread crackers on grocery shelves in March and you'll note something different. In addition to the smirking cartoon sailor on the familiar navy blue background, the package will carry the logo of First Book, a group that gives books to young Alaskans.

The slight -- and temporary -- redesign includes an invitation for cracker crunchers to "help share the magic of reading."

One side of the container will carry the full pitch for the "Feeding Hungry Minds" campaign. For every "limited edition" box of Sailor Boy sold during March, 50 cents will be donated to First Book "to provide new books to children in need throughout Alaska."

There's nothing unique about the fundraiser: Food companies often partner with charities. Nor is there anything fancy about the announcement itself, which is block blue letters in a big white rectangle.

But pilot bread glories in its plainness. Made from flour and shortening and almost nothing else, the commercial version of hardtack has long been a staple throughout rural Alaska precisely because it lacks any flavor that might offend (some would say any flavor whatsoever) and because it's just about impossible for it to go bad.

Left in a remote and seldom-tended cabin, it will taste the same season after season. Toss it in the bow of a boat where moisture melts or rots anything that's not in a can and it will remain chewable. Dry it out after dropping it in a lake and it miraculously resumes the same tough texture and taste that it had when you first took it out of the box.

No, the news is that there is any change, however slight, in the design of the classic, old-fashioned cardboard packaging. (No change in the recipe: Connoisseurs can relax.) Jeff Poirier of Interbake Foods, which produces the crackers in Virginia, says it's the first time the product has been involved with this kind of promotion.

Maybe that's because, while Sailor Boy has been a fixture in Alaska kitchens for generations, it's little-known anywhere else. An overwhelming 98 percent of the company's pilot crackers are sold and consumed in Alaska.

Last year Karen Jenkins, chair of Anchorage's First Book program, was strolling through a grocery store trying to think of a way to raise funds and promote First Book's new Rural Alaska arm. Her eyes lit on the Sailor Boy display and she got the idea of calling the company.

It was a long shot, but it paid off. Interbake "loved the idea," she said. She followed up by sending her proposal to First Book's national office along with a box of pilot bread, "because they had no idea what I was talking about."

March was selected for the promotion because "that month is big in literacy," with Dr. Seuss' Birthday, Read Across America day and the Anchorage School District's Iditaread. A "launch event" is planned for March 5 at the Costco on DeBarr Road.

Feeding Hungry Minds funds will go to First Book advisory boards throughout Alaska. A majority of the money will support programs in rural Alaska. Jenkins said the group believes that, in many quarters, lack of access to books squelches love of reading and, hence, literacy.

With the promotion, First Book is sponsoring a contest for students to send self-produced videos weaving pilot bread into a favorite story. For instance, the organizers suggest, substituting pilot bread for porridge in "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

Pearls of Wisdom

2009-01-12T00:48:00.000-08:00

"Fourteen Things That It Took Me Over
50 Years To Learn" by Dave Barry

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
You should not confuse your career with your life.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
Never lick a steak knife.
The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.
A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
Your friends love you anyway.

Thought for the day: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Interesting photos

2009-01-11T03:00:00.001-08:00

Okay
___________________________

No kidding, what is that?
___________________________

Looks like Pac-man to me.
_________________________________

I get the idea, Ape.
___________________________

Okay
__________________________

Funny.
____________________________________

Goat Porn?
________________________________________

Nice.
_________________________________

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
______________________________

Good luck, Frog.
_______________________________

Damn cats!
________________________________

Very true.
____________________________________

I remember those days. This is why floppies stayed around for so long.
_________________________________

I'd be looking too.
________________________________

Jumping sometimes just won't help.
__________________________________

Giant snowman rises again in Alaska

2009-01-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A giant snowman named Snowzilla has mysteriously appeared again this year — despite the city’s cease-and-desist order.

It is the third year running that Snowzilla has appeared in Billy Powers’ yard in east Anchorage, to the delight of some and the chagrin of others. Powers is not taking credit. When questioned Tuesday afternoon, he insisted Snowzilla just somehow happened, again.

In 2005, Snowzilla rose nearly five metres. He had a corncob pipe and a carrot nose and two eyes made out of beer bottles. This year, Snowzilla is estimated to be 7.6 metres tall. He’s wearing a black stovepipe hat and scarf.

“Have you seen him?” Powers asked when reached by telephone at his home, the sound of excited children in the background. “He’s handsome.”

Snowzilla has consistently risen outside Powers’ modest home. His children — he is the father of seven — collected snow from neighbours’ yards to make the snowman big enough. Each year, Snowzilla got a bit bigger.

Not everybody in the neighbourhood liked all the cars and visitors who came to see him.

City officials this year deemed Snowzilla a public nuisance and safety hazard. A cease-and-desist order was issued. The city tacked a public notice on Powers’ door.

City officials said the structure increased traffic to the point of endangerment and that the snowman itself was unsafe.

The mayor’s office on Tuesday issued a statement defending its move against Snowzilla.

“This property owner has repeatedly ignored city attempts to find ways to accommodate his desire to build a giant snowman without affecting the quiet, residential quality of the neighbourhood,” said the statement from Mayor Mark Begich’s office. “This is a neighbourhood of small homes on small lots connected by small streets. It can’t support the volume of traffic and revellers that are interested in Snowzilla.”

The mayor’s office says Powers appears to run a large junk and salvage operation from his home. He has violated land use codes for 13 years, the city said. He owes the city more than $100,000 in fines and other assessments.

Powers said it is the city that has been difficult, not him.

“I have tried to jump through every goofy hoop they have sent to me. I have never been confrontational and it goes on and on and on and it is so goofy,” he said. “Some of it is unfounded, some is just outrageous.”

The city said it did not expect to take any further action until after Christmas.

http://www.snowzilla.org

Webcam shows 24 hours of lava lamps

2009-01-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

SEATTLE, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A Seattle bar code-technology entrepreneur said his 24-hour lava lamp Webcam fills an Internet void -- but he doesn't know who would watch it.

Jerry Whiting, 55, founder of Azalea Software, said he put the live video of two lava lamps on the Internet simply because he could not find anything else like it, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Tuesday.

"I'm a nerdy guy. I got to wondering if there was a lava lamp Webcam. And when I realized there wasn't, I had to fix that," he said.

"I thought about (a Webcam) with Sea-Monkeys," Whiting said. "But that would have been too weird."

While Whiting was unable to say what sort of person would be attracted to a lava lamp Webcam, the site was picked by judges including TV's "Bones" producer Barry Josephson, comedian Pauly Shore and recording artist

Tommy James as one of EarthCam's 25 most interesting Webcams on the Internet in 2008.

http://www.jetcityorange.com/Lava-Lamp/

Blundering funeral firm buries wrong man despite vicar's protests... then secretly digs up and replaces coffin

2009-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

Mourners were gathered, and family members paid their last respects as the coffin was lowered into the grave.

But the upset for Brendan Kilkelly's family was to get a whole lot worse when they learned they had buried the wrong man.

Vicar Andrew Mannings spotted that the name and age on the coffin were wrong, and also that it bore a crucifix emblem normally associated with Roman Catholic burials, not with the Anglican service he was conducting.

But, after reassurances from the undertakers, he went on with the service.

'I noticed it was a Catholic-style coffin, and my eyes dropped to the nameplate, and I thought, oh my goodness!' he said yesterday.

'I went straight to the sexton and said, "There's been a terrible mistake". But I was told that Mr Kilkelly was known by the other name as well.'

Mr Mannings said he felt he had no choice but to assume the professionals knew what they were doing. 'One has to trust that the funeral director has brought the right coffin,' he added.

He went ahead but a few days later was horrified to be told by the undertakers, Co-operative Funeralcare, that they had buried the wrong man after all.

Equally shocking was that, after waiting for the vicar and the Kilkelly family to leave, officials had hastily exhumed the body of the 62-year-old Roman Catholic man buried in error.

It was taken back to the chapel of rest and the coffin containing Mr Kilkelly, a father-of-three from Wallasey, Wirral, who died aged 55, was brought and interred instead - with no service and no one else present. Mr Mannings later contacted the family and conducted a new funeral service at Mr Kilkelly's graveside at Frankby cemetery although the relatives were too upset to attend for a second time.

Yesterday his widow Susan, 49, said: 'I'm happy with the outcome and I'd rather not pursue it further.'

The body of the second man has been cremated in accordance with his family's wishes.

Yesterday, as it emerged that the extraordinary swap may have breached the Burial Act of 1857, the sexton - the council official who authorised it - was suspended, while the funeral directors launched an urgent investigation.

Under the Burial Act, which was passed to deter grave-robbers, burial is said to have taken place once the committal is concluded.

An exhumation order is required if it is subsequently discovered that a mistake has been made and the unlawful removal of a corpse can carry a fine of up to £200.

Co-operative Funeralcare said it had applied for an order retrospectively and believed that its actions were in line with the legislation.

It insisted there had never been an attempt at a cover-up, stressing that both families had been informed within 24 hours and that its staff had acted in good faith.

A spokesman said: 'Regrettably we can confirm that as a result of an unfortunate error the wrong deceased was taken for burial.'

He added: 'We apologised to both families at the earliest opportunity.'

Pa. man opens neighbor's door with chain saw

2009-01-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

SCRANTON, Pa. – An eastern Pennsylvania man may face up to 37 years in prison for tearing open a neighbor's door with a chain saw. Police say 34-year-old Robert Kane began sawing through the front door of Jamie Zaleski's apartment in Scranton while Zaleski and several friends ran out the back.

Kane was angry because a friend of Zaleski's parked in front of his house across the street. Police said when Zaleski asked who was at the door, Kane said it was his worst nightmare, told him, "Open the door or I'll cut it down," and started sawing.

A jury convicted Kane on Tuesday of charges including attempted burglary, attempted criminal trespass and terroristic threats.

He was held in lieu of $20,000 bail. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.

Man arrested for urinating on bouncer

2009-01-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

By Chris Freiberg

Published Wednesday, January 7, 2009

FAIRBANKS — A Fairbanks man was arrested Sunday morning after allegedly urinating on a Kodiak Jack’s bouncer.

Luke Benson, 22, has been charged with harassment, indecent exposure and making a false report.

The bouncer told police that he was trying to remove Samuel Durkik, 22, of Fairbanks, from the bar for causing a disruption around 2:45 a.m. when the alleged incident occurred.

Durkik allegedly struck the bouncer in the face twice in the course of the confrontation. As the bouncer tried to calm Durkik down, he noticed that Benson was behind him urinating on his leg, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. Durkik also has been charged with fourth-degree assault.

Benson was apparently angry that his friend was being thrown out of the bar.

The bouncer was “extremely upset” that someone had urinated on him, and other bouncers had to prevent him from “going after” Benson. Benson at first gave police a false name according to the complaint. Police noted that both men appeared intoxicated.

Why Population Matters

2007-12-25T22:25:00.000-08:00

The trend is to reduce personal resource consumption. But it's only half the solution and the other half has faded from prominence - that is the need to end population growth. This received a good deal of press in the 1970s, but since then, it's become a taboo subject. Pressure from groups who saw the population issue as a distraction from their preferred causes saw to that. Over a decade ago an article by John Holdren shows us precisely what determines our total energy consumption. It says total energy consumption, equals population size times the average per capita energy use. So if E * total energy use, P * population size, and e * energy use per capita, we can say E * P x e. It means we have little chance of tackling our energy and environmental challenges if we ignore both per capita consumption and population. Today's "ecological footprint" measure is an elaboration of Holdren's equation. The equation above shows comparing population growth to the growth in total energy or resource use is to compare one factor in the equation to the product. In the US, per capita consumption is higher than in developing countries. Holdren's equation tells us it's never wise to ignore either population or per person consumption. With regard to oil use, for example, adding one person to the US population is like adding about 15 in China. Ignoring population growth in the US is perilous. Solutions include programs to reduce unplanned pregnancies, lowering fertility rates to the sub-replacement levels and assistance to Mexico to improve economic opportunities so they're not forced to come to the U.S. to earn a subsistence wage. Consumption levels in the developing world are growing fast, in line with economic growth. Without attention to population, rising per capita consumption multiplied by large and growing populations puts the Third World on a course toward disaster. We can assist with humane programs to hasten lowering fertility rates. Developing countries need to increase girls' educational opportunities and women's economic and health care options. They must increase family planning services and improve child survival rates. Having overshot the earth's capacity to sustain our current numbers, we must act now to avert catastrophe. If we fail to reduce both per capita consumption and to halt the growth of our population no new technology will prevent an unimaginable loss of life.

Our civilization is being squeezed between advancing deserts and rising seas. Mounting population densities, once generated by the addition of over 70 million people per year, are now also fueled by the advance of deserts and the rise in sea level. Expanding deserts are primarily the result of overstocking grasslands and overplowing land. Rising seas result from temperature increases from the burning of fossil fuels. China is losing productive land at an accelerating rate. From 1950 to 1975 China lost an average of 600 square miles to desert each year. By 2000, 1,400 square miles were going to desert annually. Satellite images show two deserts in north-central China expanding and merging to form a single, larger desert overlapping Inner Mongolia and Gansu provinces. To the west in Xinjiang Province, two even larger deserts--the Taklimakan and Kumtag--are also heading for a merger. Further east, the Gobi Desert is within 150 miles of Beijing. Chinese scientists report that over the last half-century, 24,000 villages in northern and western China were abandoned as they were overrun by drifting sand. Kazakhstan, site of the vast Soviet Virgin Lands Project, has abandoned nearly half of its cropland since 1980. In Afghanistan, with a population of 31 million, the Registan Desert is encroaching on agricultural areas. A UNEP team reports that up to 100 villages have been submerged by windblown dust and sand. In the northwest, sand dunes are moving onto agricultural land, from the loss of stabilizing vegetation due to firewood gathering and overgrazing. Iran, which has 70 million people and 80 million goats and sheep, is losing its battle with the desert. In 2002 sand storms buried 124 villages in the southeastern province forcing their abandonment. Drifting sands had covered grazing areas, starving livestock and depriving villagers of their livelihood. The Sahara Desert is pushing the populations of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria northward toward the Mediterranean. In countries from Senegal and Mauritania in the west to Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia in the east, the demands of growing human and livestock numbers are converting land into desert. Nigeria is losing 1,355 square miles to desertification each year. While Nigeria's human population grew from 33 million in 1950 to 134 million in 2006, its livestock population grew from 6 million to 66 million. The food needs forced the plowing of marginal land and the forage needs of livestock exceeded the carrying capacity of its grasslands. Nigeria's population is being squeezed into an ever-smaller area. In Mexico, the degradation of cropland forces some 700,000 Mexicans off the land each year in search of jobs in nearby cities or in the United States. Rising seas promise to displace greater numbers in the future. During the twentieth century, sea level rose by 6 inches. During this century seas may rise by 4 to 35 inches. Since 2001, record-high temperatures have accelerated ice melting making it likely that the future rise in sea level will be even greater. If the Greenland ice sheet, a mile thick in some places, were to melt entirely it would raise sea level by 23 feet, or 7 meters. A one-meter rise would inundate many of the rice-growing river deltas and floodplains of India, Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and China. A one-meter rise in sea level would cause some 30 million Bangladeshis to migrate, internally or to other countries. Hundreds of cities would be at least partly inundated, including London, Alexandria, and Bangkok. More than a third of Shanghai, would be under water. A one-meter rise combined with a 50-year storm surge would leave large portions of Lower Manhattan and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., flooded. If the Greenland ice sheet should melt, it would force the abandonment of thousands of coastal cities and communities. Rising seas and desertification will present the world with an unprecedented flow of environmental refugees and the potential for civil strife. We must deal with rapid population growth, advancing deserts, and rising seas. Growth in the human population is accompanied by a growth of livestock populations of more than 35 million per year. The rising concentrations of carbon dioxide that are destabilizing the earth's climate are driven by the burning of fossil fuels. Reverse these trends or risk being overwhelmed by them.

The Population Reference Bureau's latest projections show that by 2025, Uganda's population will almost double to 56 million, and in 44 years its numbers will grow by nearly as many as China's. In Uganda more than a third of all women say they would like to stop or delay having children, but reproductive health experts say a lack of information and female contraceptives plays a major role. Donors must share in the blame, said the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Donors have shifted their focus to HIV and nobody is talking about it any more. Population is off the development agenda and that's a tragedy for Africa.

The population of the US is projected to reach 300 million by October - a population growth rate comparable to that of China. Because of immigration, the number of people in the US could reach 400 million by 2050. About 76 million people are being added annually. This year's world grain harvest will fall short of consumption by 61 million tons. That's the sixth time in the past seven years that production has failed to satisfy demand. The world carry-over stocks of grain will fall to 57 days of consumption by the end of this year, the shortest buffer since a 56-day-low in 1956 doubled grain prices. Despite continued growth in world food output, the developing world had 815 million hungry people in 2002, 9 million less than in 1990. Population pressure in Mexico, Central America, and elsewhere has encouraged the flood of illegal immigrants in the US. Warren Buffett recognized population-related problems in announcing last week plans to donate $37.4 billion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to several foundations including some he's created that emphasize family planning, abortion rights, environmental and conservation issues, and education for low-income children. Human beings are similar to other animals. As food availability increases, the population will grow. And some animals regulate their fertility if food gets scarce. In the case of humans, there must be recognition that population growth is a function of increases in food availability. Otherwise, increased disease and death rates may ultimately control population growth. Other factors will brake population growth, including environmental changes, resource restraints, and a decline in the quality of life. World oil output is predicted to peak within 15 years. Fresh water in some areas is in short supply. Farmland is being chewed up by suburbia. Global warming will force hundreds of millions of people out of coastal regions in the next century or so. One way to boost the world's food supply would be if people ate more grains and vegetables and less meat, the world could then feed another billion people. The average American consumes 20 times as much in natural resources as the average African and if all the people consumed at the level of high-income countries, the planet could support only 1.8 billion people, not the actual 6.5 billion. It is doubtful if measures to encourage family planning will restrain the world's population. Leaders must come up with intelligent, creative, inventive measures to discourage births. Every 11 seconds another person is added to the US population.

As many as 400 million people are at risk of starvation because of drought and crop failure. Britain will face flooding through increased rainfall and parts of the coastline could be washed away by rising seas. Saving the environment is a top priority. The US has 5% of the world's population but accounts for nearly a quarter of global emissions. Blair and Bush must act now to save the planet for future generations.