2005/10/26
Bears again
I might as well keep track of this year's bear sightings here. At least I know I won't lose the notebook.
Tonight at 9:45 I heard the garbage cans go down, so I went to the front door to see what was up. Because of last year I already knew what to expect, so I made sure to shut the inner door behind me so our dog wouldn't get out and cause trouble. I flicked on the light, opened the outer door, and stuck my head out while holding a flashlight.
Lo', three bears investigating our empty garbage cans--two cubs and their momma. Damn! One bear doesn't make me nervous, but moms with their cubs sure do.
"Shoo! Shoo! G'way, cubs!"
The cubs both bleated in surprise and jerked around to see who the dork with the flashlight was. They looked up at me, tucked their tails in, and ran down the driveway and around the corner out of sight. Mom followed. Maybe they're scared of people who look like Jesus.
I closed the door, went downstairs and dragged the cans in, feeling guilty the whole time for not bringing them inside a month ago. I knew bear season was coming.
Crap. Last year momma bear must have learned where the easy food was (in town) and is now teaching her cubs all the tricks. If Animal Control can't scare them off fast enough they'll have to kill them off. It's going to be a sad year if that happens.
Anyway, the score so far this year is 3.
Tonight at 9:45 I heard the garbage cans go down, so I went to the front door to see what was up. Because of last year I already knew what to expect, so I made sure to shut the inner door behind me so our dog wouldn't get out and cause trouble. I flicked on the light, opened the outer door, and stuck my head out while holding a flashlight.
Lo', three bears investigating our empty garbage cans--two cubs and their momma. Damn! One bear doesn't make me nervous, but moms with their cubs sure do.
"Shoo! Shoo! G'way, cubs!"
The cubs both bleated in surprise and jerked around to see who the dork with the flashlight was. They looked up at me, tucked their tails in, and ran down the driveway and around the corner out of sight. Mom followed. Maybe they're scared of people who look like Jesus.
I closed the door, went downstairs and dragged the cans in, feeling guilty the whole time for not bringing them inside a month ago. I knew bear season was coming.
Crap. Last year momma bear must have learned where the easy food was (in town) and is now teaching her cubs all the tricks. If Animal Control can't scare them off fast enough they'll have to kill them off. It's going to be a sad year if that happens.
Anyway, the score so far this year is 3.
2005/10/20
PBS
According to the CBC, the Republican Study Committee recommends cutting all funding to PBS. That's right, the channel that brought you those radical left-wing shows like NOVA and Cosmos (science! gasp!), as well as Masterpiece Theatre and Sesame Street (arts and education! gasp!) is threatened by the same administration that wants to force schools to teach creationism--er, "Intelligent Design"--alongside the theory of evolution; the same party that feels the public network has "liberal bias." What a shocker!
This will enable Bush to save $400 million, all of which he will generously funnel into the rebuilding of New Orleans, the fight against AIDS, stem cell research, ending human rights violations, the environment, research into cleaner fuels--Ah, who the fuck am I kidding. It'll all go into pounding Iraq even flatter. Way to go, Dubya.
Actually, the article says that PBS is 85 per cent supported by other sources, mainly subscribers. I say let the "generous corporate sponsors and viewers like you" fund it entirely. The way things are going down there, America needs a government-funded network like it needs a hole in the White House. I can just imagine what they would do with Sesame Street given half a chance: The Cookie Monster as a thinly veiled symbol of Liberal spending, Oscar the Grouch popping out of his can wearing a turban, the Count enumerating, "...FIVE dead fetuses murdered by their godless mothers! Ah-ah-ah-ah!," Ernie and Bert forced to live apart...
On the other hand, This Old House won't change at all. They'll still only fix SUV owners' homes.
Let 'em cut off funding. PBS should be free of government strings anyway, no matter which side of the fence you stand on.
Oh yeah, they're targeting The National Endowment for the Arts, too. Imagine that, huh?
This will enable Bush to save $400 million, all of which he will generously funnel into the rebuilding of New Orleans, the fight against AIDS, stem cell research, ending human rights violations, the environment, research into cleaner fuels--Ah, who the fuck am I kidding. It'll all go into pounding Iraq even flatter. Way to go, Dubya.
Actually, the article says that PBS is 85 per cent supported by other sources, mainly subscribers. I say let the "generous corporate sponsors and viewers like you" fund it entirely. The way things are going down there, America needs a government-funded network like it needs a hole in the White House. I can just imagine what they would do with Sesame Street given half a chance: The Cookie Monster as a thinly veiled symbol of Liberal spending, Oscar the Grouch popping out of his can wearing a turban, the Count enumerating, "...FIVE dead fetuses murdered by their godless mothers! Ah-ah-ah-ah!," Ernie and Bert forced to live apart...
On the other hand, This Old House won't change at all. They'll still only fix SUV owners' homes.
Let 'em cut off funding. PBS should be free of government strings anyway, no matter which side of the fence you stand on.
Oh yeah, they're targeting The National Endowment for the Arts, too. Imagine that, huh?
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