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State wildlife biologists are hoping an aggressive moose hunt this season will help cut in half the number of animals in the Northeast Kingdom where the population has far exceeded the ability of the land to provide for them and moose conflicts with people are increasing, officials say. The season is off to a good start. After the first two days, the number of animals reported killed statewide exceeded the number taken during the same period last year by about 40 percent. "The hunters seem pretty happy about that," said Forrest Hammond, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Department of...

Northern Michigan University residence hall had an unwelcome visitor when a moose broke through a first-floor window on Tuesday night. The animal was caught on tape by a surveillance camera. The bull moose was chased away by police. They aren't sure if he actually got into the building. Wildlife experts said it's the middle of the moose mating season and the bull simply picked the wrong place to look for love. Bulls will travel long distances in search of a cow for mating. Wildlife officials said bull moose are more aggressive during mating season and should be avoided.

Mice, contrary to popular belief and cartoons like Tom and Jerry, don't actually like cheese, British researchers said after studying their diet and those of other animals. Instead, the tiny rodents prefer foods with a high sugar content like grains and fruit and would turn their noses up at something as strong in smell and rich in taste as cheese, scientists in Manchester in northwest England said. Animal behaviourist David Holmes, from Manchester Metropolitan University, said: "Clearly the supposition of mice liking cheese is a popular premise. Mice have evolved almost entirely without cheese or anything resembling it. "Mice respond...

<p>Every once in a while I see Freeper lingo I don't understand and have to research to figure out the meaning/background.</p> <p>Today, I thought it would be helpful for newbies (and 'seasoned' Freepers) to have a 'reference' for the lingo specifically related to FR (ie not stuff like LOL etc you can get everywhere else).</p>

Service on Norway's northern train line (Nordlandsbanen) wasn't expected to resume until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest, after a train collided with a moose and derailed. The train, designed to carry loads of iron ore, derailed after it hit the moose on the tracks Monday evening. "It must have been a monster moose," said Harry Korslund of the agency in charge of the rails, Jernbaneverket. "It all depends, of couse, on how the train hit the moose, but in this case it was enough that it derailed." The accident occurred between Dunderland and Mo i Rana. Passengers were being transported...

I was just wondering, do you think that 10 guys could turn over a Dodge minivan by rocking it from side to side? I was just wondering.

LOVELAND — A moose that has wandered around Loveland and other nearby towns appears headed back to the mountains, and Division of Wildlife officers urged residents to enjoy watching the animal from a safe distance. The division has no plans to tranquilize and relocate the young adult female as long as she behaves herself, said Tyler Baskfield, public information officer. Tranquilizing and relocating such a large animal in the summer heat could harm the moose, Baskfield said. She seems to be working her way along irrigation ditches toward the Big Thompson River. Young moose away from their mothers for the...

From the OFST Education FIles: Subgroup The Sexes and Silliness and Sex Women Like Funny Men Women Like Funny Men--The Study: “The influence of humor on desirability,” Evolution and Human Behavior, Jan. 2006 The Findings: Psychologists Eric Bressler and Sigal Balshine enlisted 210 undergraduate psychology students at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, to consider, for class credit, photographs of campus peers. Each photo was paired with a remark that was ostensibly funny (“My high school was so rough, we had our own coroner”) or ostensibly dull (“I like having friends over for dinner”). Women found the “funny” men most desirable,...

I see so many people asking to be put on the 'ping list', what does that mean? I also see that you can be 'pinged' if something you are interested in is posted. Are you notified someway? Thanks

"Moose don't nibble, they gulp," Mary Shier said. She should know. A master gardener for 25 years, she's been cultivating her 2 ½ acres on lower DeArmoun Road since the early 1970s. She knows firsthand the heartbreaking loss of a beloved tree or shrub to a hungry ungulate. And hungry they are this time of year. According to state wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott, an adult moose has to regain 30 percent of its body weight (300-plus pounds) during the warm months. Sinnott estimates there are 200 to 300 moose now in the Anchorage Bowl. "There aren't any fruit or veggies...

Am I the only one to notice the problem with FR's program?

Single-issue people. They're out there... on every thread. No matter what the topic, they try to link it to their pet issue in some way, shape, or form. They are... The Thread Hijackersâ„¢. While little can be done to stop them, and it is probably best to ignore them, I find it much, much more fun to mock them. Sure, being passionate about an issue you care about is a good thing, but thread hijacking is annoying and, to be honest, turns off people who might otherwise agree with you. So, on to the mocking. I'd like to coin the...

"We got 70 phone calls from people who were afraid of the moose. Because there were several of them. At least three moose had strayed into the city. Unfortunately one of these had to be put down by the wildlife committee, near the Skien Library," operation leader Åge Halvorsen of the Telemark police told news agency NTB. "It's unusual for three moose to be downtown at the same time," Helge Røssaker told newspaper Varden after felling the moose. "It is important that people keep their dogs leashed, you can't be reminded of that often enough. And a moose in the...

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was thrust back into the spotlight Wednesday, when a Nation of Islam activist claimed the governor knew about her affiliation to Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader known for his attacks on Jews, gays and other groups, before appointing her to the state's hate crimes commission earlier this year. Sister Claudette Muhammad, blasted Blagojevich for saying he did not know her or realize she was an official in the Nation of Islam before appointing her to the anti-discrimination panel. "You and I spoke. We took pictures. ... I have written to you numerous times, all...

OUR DEAREST KITTY MITTENS WILL BE HAVING BACK SURGERY ON APRIL 3RD.THE PROCEDURE IS MICRODECOMPRESSION AND IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF DETERIORATING AND PAINFULL COMPLICATIONS DUE TO A AUTO ACCIDENT. ALSO THIS FRIDAY HER HUSBAND WILL BE HAVING A CARDIAC SCAN DUE TO SHORTNESS OF BREATH. GODSPEED!

A former Grand Lake mayor and town trustee was critically injured yesterday when he was attacked by a bull moose in an alleyway in Grand Lake. Louis Heckert, 91, was taken to St. Anthony Hospital Central where he remains in critical condition with head injuries. State wildlife officials say the moose appeared agitated after the encounter and was shot to protect medical personnel. The moose was cut open and it was found to have five broken ribs, one that punctured its chest cavity, and a broken spinal cord. State Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said the injuries were consistent...

MILAN, N.H. - It was a tempting green hedgerow for the hungry young moose. Somehow, a child's swingset got in the way. The moose, who was trying to snack on a backyard hedge Thursday, got tangled in the swingset's chains. The homeowner called police for help. Lt. Jean LeBlanc decided he needed backup, so he called Don Valliere, maintenance man for the Berlin Police, and asked him to bring a pair of bolt cutters. It was up to Valliere, 54, to free the moose. Photos snapped by LeBlanc show Valliere balanced on a beam of the swingset, snipping the chains...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A woman pleaded guilty Monday to attempted murder charges for trying to hire a hit man to rob and kill four men for what she thought was cocaine, but turned out to be cheese. Jessice Sandy Booth, 18, hatched the plot after she visited the home of the men, and mistook queso fresco - a white, crumbly cheese common in Mexican cuisine. But the hit man she hired turned out to be an undercover police officer. "They asked her numerous times 'Do you really want to go through with this?'" prosecutor Paul Hagerman said. "They gave...

Please pray for my sister, who is 22 years old. She recently had a routine examination, and the person that was performing part of her examination became concerned when doing an examination of one of her breasts. They ordered an ultrasound for the area, and they found a mass of some sorts. My sister, who lives in Phildelphia, is going home to my parents to find a surgeon that will do a biopsy on the area. This has been a stressful time for my family health-wise. My mom had minor surgery earlier this year, my father had his kidney removed...

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

It all started over an innocent lunchroom conversation. A co-worker’s wife is a gourmet cheese maker in Maine. She had just been written up in the New York Times for her cheese-making ability and knew a thing or two about cheese. But there was some news in the cheese-making world that had her cheese-making juices flowing, my co-worker told us. A man was apparently milking a moose and making cheese. He was charging $500 a pound. The cheese community was in "abuzz" over this moose-milking man. (Warning: If you try to say moose milking repeatedly, it becomes mook a milse)....

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee mother woke up Thursday morning to find an intruder in her house, but she was more than equipped to defend herself, her children and her little brother. The man went through a window into the woman's house. Her first instinct, she told 12 News, on hearing the breaking glass downstairs at the front door was to call 911, which she did. However, with her young son and teenage brother downstairs, she decided she couldn't wait and had to take things into her own hands. At 6 a.m., she was awakened by the sound of broken glass,...

In this war freedom should come first not after! In New Hampshire the Motto is Live free or Die! I don't need Bush spying on law abiding americans and taking our freedoms. Anyone who surrenders a square inch of freedom to the government in the name of saftey is a traitor and should be treated like one! Let the Bush Fashists all drop dead! Filthy Commys! LET FREEDOM RING!

Authorities seized 600 pounds of "bathtub cheese" from a small ranch in southwest Riverside County last week. The seizure of the illegally produced cheese was one of the largest on record in California, according to the Department of Food and Agriculture. The cheese was seized last Saturday by a multiagency task force that included CDFA officers, Ontario police and Riverside and San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies. Also seized were wooden cheese presses, molds and other items used in production. Two men at the ranch were cited for illegal cheese production. Officials refer to illegally produced cheese as "bathtub cheese" because...

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

SIERRA VISTA — When Jay Record woke up this morning, he already had the gift he wanted — a new kidney. Now the Sierra Vista dad hopes to be starting 2006 with a new lease of life after receiving the kidney from his sister Juliann. The siblings are now recovering from the Dec. 15 operation, which took place at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. “I felt great knowing that I would be getting a healthy kidney, especially coming from a family member. That made it really special,” said Jay, 34, who first learned his kidneys were not...

Aliens landed in Palmdale last week. At least that's what it looked like from the Antelope Valley Freeway. An eerie green glow emanated from hangar 703, near Plant 42, shining across miles of sleepy houses. From the Vista Point, it looked like Venus had descended from the night sky and taken up residence on Avenue P. I followed the light. Because that's what you do with ominous and unexplained lights, right? You follow them. Besides, it was only 2:30 in the morning. OK, full disclosure, I had directions to the source of the green light. I didn't need them, but...

Cleared: the bomber's sister 'who praised bin Laden' By John Steele, Crime Correspondent (Filed: 29/11/2005) The brother and sister of one of the first two British suicide bombers were cleared at the Old Bailey yesterday of knowing about his mission and failing to alert the authorities before the attack. Parveen and Zahid Sharif, whose brother, Omar Sharif, joined Asif Hanif in a suicide mission to Israel in 2003, were found not guilty in a retrial after the first jury failed to reach a verdict. Zahid and Parveen Sharif leave the Old Bailey yesterday Parveen, 37, a supply teacher in Derby,...

Swedish family is being plagued by a fairly common Norwegian problem, the drunken moose. Laila von Scheele no longer dares let her children out of the house, for fear of an unfortunate encounter with the plastered visitor that frequents their garden. "I am terrified. It can be dangerous when it's drunk," von Scheele told Swedish newspaper Expressen. The last five nights in a row the same moose has entered their property in Ekerö, west of Stockholm. It helps itself to the fallen fruit from the family's ten apple trees. As frequently is the case in Norway, the decomposing fruit have...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - They rarely have problems with drunks or rowdy animals, but residents of an elderly home in southern Sweden had to deal with both when a pair of intoxicated moose invaded the premises. The moose — a cow and her calf — had become drunk over the weekend by eating fermented apples they found outside the home in Sibbhult, southern Sweden, said Anna Karlsson, who works there. Police managed to scare them off once, but the large mammals returned to get more of the tempting fruits. This time the moose were drunk and aggressive, forcing police to send...

A family in the coastal Telemark town of Bamble had erected a statue of a moose in their garden, but a pair of the real thing apparently didn't approve. Anne Marie and Lars Johan Tveten heard some noise one night last week in the garden of their farm, which lies in the heart of moose terrain. "We thought it was the clothesline that had blown down, Anne Marie Tveten told Aftenposten.no. But when the couple woke up the next morning, "two moose were staring at us just a meter-and-a-half from our bedroom window," she said. The two moose then turned...

A family in the coastal Telemark town of Bamble had erected a statue of a moose in their garden, but a pair of the real thing apparently didn't approve. Anne Marie and Lars Johan Tveten heard some noise one night last week in the garden of their farm, which lies in the heart of moose terrain. "We thought it was the clothesline that had blown down, Anne Marie Tveten told Aftenposten.no. But when the couple woke up the next morning, "two moose were staring at us just a meter-and-a-half from our bedroom window," she said. The two moose then turned...

Ok, let me get a couple critical things out of the way first. Yes, I am logged in. Never met a moose. I don't have a sister. I do like cheese. I am not running CP/M. I have Googled this. I'm pretty sure it's Bush's fault. I hope I got everything out of the way, but I'm sure if I didn't, it will be pointed out in a bold, 24 point font. Yesterday, I had two machines, one running XP Home, one running Win2k. After fixing a friend of mine's computer (why is it that the only time women ever...

BATON ROUGE, La. — In the chaos that was Causeway Boulevard, this group of refugees stood out: a 6-year-old boy walking down the road, holding a 5-month-old, surrounded by five toddlers who followed him around as if he were their leader. They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2 years old, and one was wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl, who wore colorful barrettes on the ends of her braids, had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he told rescuers his name was Deamonte Love. Thousands of human stories have...

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Police in Hattiesburg, Miss., said a man fatally shot his sister in the head over a bag of ice.

If we are at war like your socialist neocon idol suggests, then why is he going on vacation. Shouldn't he be manning the command post? AND closing down the borders. Geez, I bet enough illegals swam into Texas just this week to pick a year's supply of lettuce. Yeah, I know, go back to DU or whatever. I just figured that since this is BOT Central, I'd just like to see you Bots try and defend this. And those of you who are eligible for military service shouldn't be here anyway. You should be over in Iraq helping to fight...

Ophelia Ford won a razor-thin 20-vote victory in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 29 Thursday, while Terry Roland crushed his opponent in the Republican primary. Ford's win puts her a step closer to winning the state Senate seat her brother John Ford held for 31 years. He resigned following his indictment on federal bribery charges in May. Ophelia Ford will face Roland in the general election Sept. 15. "This is a joyous night," said Ford, 55, surrounded by family and friends at her campaign headquarters in the Southgate Shopping Center. "I want to say to all my opponents,...

They have been playing the movie on the tube here recently. What a great movie that is! We could use a few more like it. I am sorry Christoher Reeve died.

This has nothing to to do with anything. I just got myself a new pair of river-walking shoes from Lands End. The intention was to replace the pair I used to have, which I threw away. Those were trash before they got out the door. This new pair is REALLY nice. Not just for river-walking. They are light, comfortable, and nice looking. They may be the nicest shoes-ies I have ever owned. http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_1931_55293_117571_96018_5:view=-1,00.html?CM_MERCH=PAGE_55281&sid=8128111198338129990 $39.95. Highly recommended.

Can't get on to Google, yes I am logged on.

Headline test

TO: THOMAS. YOU ARE THE BEST LITTLE BROTHER! I -- On a sign posted in Thomas Tatem's hospital room. DURHAM, N.C. When a nurse finally delivered the bag of deep-red liquid to Lisa Tatem, she cradled it like the most fragile piece of glass. She stood motionless in the hospital hallway and stared. "My God," Tatem whispered. "That's really it." Inside the pouch decorated with a "Finding Nemo" sticker were cells from her daughter's bone marrow, the soft tissue that makes blood cells needed to fight disease. Those cells, invisible to the eye, could heal her two other children -...

I had quite a busy day running about today, scouting for prime locations, trying to secure supplies and doing my best to get my All American gourmet hot dog kiosks up and running by the end of this month. Next week I will have to deal with the authorities here to secure my licenses and such which will be another drama altogether. Thank goodness my Malay is close to fluent, because it really helps a lot. Since my Chile Con Carne and hot dogs have had such a good reception, I've decided to do nachos as well (ballpark style) the...

I doubt that Mel Gibson will have as difficult a time in finding a willing distributor for his next film - even if it will upset secular Hollywood again. Mel Gibson recently bought the rights to the book, “Stealing from Angels,” which involves the three secrets of Fatima. The last surviving witness to whom the Virgin Mary appeared near Fatima, Sister Lucia de Jesus de Santos, died two weeks ago at age 97 in Portugal. The first two parts of the three Fatima prophecies have been known for decades and are interpreted as predicting World War I and World War...

<p>What is this palce? Are you peeple for reel? Is this some kind of joke?</p>

Mother of us all, or sister? Olmecs a puzzle By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD, New York Times First published: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 On a coastal flood plain etched by rivers flowing through swamps and alongside fields of maize and beans, the people archaeologists call the Olmecs lived in a society of emergent complexity. It was more than 3,000 years ago, along the Gulf of Mexico around Veracruz. The Olmecs moved a veritable mountain of earth to create a plateau above the plain, and there planted a city, the ruins of which are known today as San Lorenzo. The Olmecs are...

I would like to introduce you to my sister, Alexis the Bengal Kitty. She's a staunch conservative who has lurked ever since I signed up in April, 2001. She finally decided to take the plunge and join today. Please go easy on her since this is her first time on a political board. Oh, did I mention she loves the information she finds on FReeRepublic? The majority of our conversations revolve around things we've read on FR. She's been a bit nervous about signing up and participating because there are so many intelligent, articulate people on FR that she was...

Hmm...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A brother and sister were charged Wednesday with murder for allegedly killing their mother and grandparents, burying their bodies in a basement and heading off to Las Vegas with the victims' cash. The siblings were charged with three counts each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of robbery. Authorities removed the dismembered bodies of their mother and grandmother and the intact body of their grandfather from under concrete in the basement of the grandparents' home. All three had been killed about five weeks ago, authorities said. "It's the most horrific thing I've ever...