What immortal hand or eye...

Trackers Kill Tiger in Ventura County

The decision by government trackers to use high-powered rifles instead of tranquilizer darts to bring down the elusive cat outraged animal rights activists. But state officials said they had no alternative but to shoot to kill, because the animal could have attacked or bolted onto a highway or into a public park nearby.

I agree with Tippi Hedren, though... They could have at least tried sedating it first with the big guns at the ready.

I just want them to string up whomever brought the cat to suburbia in the first place.

The Great White Hope

Mesi to Submit Further Medical Tests; Hearing on Hold

Mesi (29-0) was the WBC's top-ranked contender before falling out of the ratings entirely in October. The suburban Buffalo native has been suspended indefinitely, pending a review of his medical records, since winning a unanimous decision over Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas last March.

Mesi hung on for the win, knocked down three times in the final two rounds, and sustained a subdural hematoma - bleeding on the brain.

I enjoyed the one Mesi fight I've seen (don't remember if it was the Jirov contest, but you'd assume so). He's the first heavyweight in a while to really pique my interest.

Ooh! Regarding the title, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson is a fantastic show.

Good Hockey News

Since the NHL sucks, let's review some nice happenings in the hockey world, shall we?

Now, if only I could get NESN broadcasts of BU hockey games here in Denver...

Joel Stein is a funny guy

Someone Has To Miss Hockey

Being a hockey fan was my way of seeming special. So I hope when the NHL comes back, probably not until 2007, it doesn’t try to revamp itself for the masses. There are lots of suggestions: making the goals bigger or the goalie pads smaller; getting rid of the red line; eliminating fighting; having monkeys drive Zambonis; putting strippers in the penalty box. Some of those ideas might be mine.

Oh, no... Keep the Simianistas away from our Zamboni technology, son.

Big Drama in Small Town, USA

Newspaper Ad Leads To Home Invasion, Robbery

James Reynolds told investigators that around 8:30 p.m. three gunmen burst into his apartment at the Cascade Village complex in Westminster and staged a take-over style robbery. They bound him and then took off with a lot of his electronic equipment, including a plasma TV that he had advertised for sale in the newspaper, Westminster police said.

When the robbers fled, Reynolds freed himself of his restraints, ran to a neighbor's apartment for help and called police. He told investigators that he recognized one of the attackers as a prospective buyer whom he had invited into his apartment and shown his TV to earlier in the day.

The North Denver suburbs are becoming more and more like a soap opera every day.

The folks at Engadget might just have a point when they say maybe he should have used eBay...

Cyborg Monkeys Are Here!

Brain controls robot arm in monkey, University of Pittsburgh researcher reports at AAAS

The concept is that, through thought alone, a person could direct a robotic arm – a neural prosthesis – to reach and manipulate a desired object.

As a step toward that goal, University of Pittsburgh researchers report that a monkey outfitted with a child-sized robotic arm controlled directly by its own brain signals is able to feed itself chunks of fruits and vegetables. The researchers trained the monkey to feed itself by using signals from its brain that are passed through tiny electrodes, thinner than a human hair, and fed into a specially designed algorithm that tells the arm how to move.

Um... Holy crap!

Next thing you know, they'll have frickin' LASER beams mounted to their skulls!

Conserve! No, wait...

States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile

And that saves him almost $300 a month in gas. It's great for Just but bad for the roads he's driving on, because he also pays a lot less in gasoline taxes which fund highway projects and road repairs. As more and more hybrids hit the road, cash-strapped states are warning of rough roads ahead.

This stuff makes me batty.

Here in Colorado, we've had a drought going for the past several years. Of course, all the powers that be tell us we have to conserve water — even going so far as to start up police patrols to ticket people who water their lwans on the wrong days. Then what happens? Well, the water people lose revenue and have to raise water rates!

It's like nobody is thinking about the consequences of conservation. I mean, really. Conservation means consuming less. That's going to cost someone some money. The "powers that be" need to think about these things before it becomes an issue.

Reactionary Big Brother shenanigans are not a proper incentive for beneficial (and important) behavior changes.

Hell yeah!

BOSTON UNIVERSITY CLAIMS 26TH BEANPOT TITLE WITH 3-2 OVERTIME WIN AGAINST NORTHEASTERN

Freshman Chris Bourque scored with 5:50 remaining in the first overtime to lift Boston University to a 3-2 victory in the title game of the 53rd Annual Beanpot Tournament in front of 17,565 fans at the FleetCenter. It marks the 26th time that Boston University has captured the Beanpot title.

Wow. Ray's boy does us proud with the Beanpot winner? Good times.

Mind you, that's 26/53... I call that half (with a little rounding) out of a four team tourney — Wow! Go BU!