Dog / Polar Bear encounter

You may have seen this before, but I thought it was fascinating. Snopes
says it's true:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/polardog.asp

Of course, polar bears (and any other wild animals) are not always gentle,
but this shows that creatures of various kinds can coexist peacefully and
even interact closely, if their basic needs (mostly food) are met.
Unfortunately, global warming may soon bring about the demise of these
gentle creatures (sled dogs?).

Those who want to continue in their lifestyles of excessive energy
consumption and lack of environmental responsibility deny humanity's role
in causing the present surge in global warming and the chaotic weather
patterns it has been spawning, but it is better to err on the side of
caution (even if that makes for personal inconvenience and sacrifice),
rather than pass on to our next generations a very unstable environment
that will be unable to sustain even a moderately comfortable lifestyle for
all the people on earth.

I attended the rally in Annapolis last Thursday with about 400 people who
care about the environment. You might (just "bearly") see me wearing a
Sierra Club cap in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K7Gswf3l3A

By the way, if you try to make light of this effort by pointing out the
irony of a Global Warming rally in a snowstorm, realize that the snow was
caused by a warm front that passed over an Arctic air mass, and in the
weeks before we set several records for warm temperatures in January.

Please do your part to help alleviate this impending crisis.

http://maryland.sierraclub.org/action/p0065.asp

Paul and Muttley

In article <4798d39f$0$1213$ecde5a14@news.coretel.net>,
Paul E. Schoen <pstech DeleteThis @smart.net> wrote:
>Of course, polar bears (and any other wild animals) are not always gentle,
>but this shows that creatures of various kinds can coexist peacefully and
>even interact closely, if their basic needs (mostly food) are met.

Paul, you're an idiot. But if you want to go all Tim
Treadwell on the ice, you've got my 100% support. Good
luck!

Also, I don't know what rock you've been living under (and
don't want to) but these photos have been published in a
number of magazines and are sufficiently well-known to have
made Snopes. They've also been discussed right here in this
very spot. Within the last six months, too.

>Unfortunately, global warming may soon bring about the demise of these
>gentle creatures (sled dogs?).

Paul, you're an idiot. There's nothing gentle about polar
bears. You don't have to turn them into fuzzy-wuzzy,
lovey-dovey anthropomorphized big white balls of LURVE to
care about what happens to them. Polar bears stalk and
attack humans and should be respected in their place at the
top of the food chain, not misrepresented as a cuddly toy
for kids. Jeebus, Paul, but you're an idiot. And I don't
know what the hell you're doing with the Sierra Club but
since you've repeatedly demonstrated a profound cluelessness
about the natural world I'd have to guess that it's limited
to roadside trash pickup for a bit of highway they've
sponsored.

Not for the squeamish:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_polar_bear_attack2.htm
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - shore DeleteThis @panix.com

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community