And we thought ferrets were cute...

While going through one of the sites that links to my blog, I found this little gem of cuteness.

What is it??? Is it that critter from Lilo & Stitch?

It's a baby sugar glider.

And just what is that??? Wikipedia tells us:

The Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps), sometimes called the Flying Sugar, is a small gliding possum native to eastern and northern mainland Australia, New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago, and introduced to Tasmania. ...

Now you know.

Fuzzball knows her name!

Fuzzball comes when I call her! Hmm...maybe she'd come when I call Chaos too...I'm not sure. At any rate, I called her, and she came, and Chaos didn't.

OK...so maybe she just knows the tone of voice that means "treat forthcoming". I just called Chaos and they both came.


*shrugs* At least she comes.

Super Psycho Chaos Boy!

So, I went over to James' apartment to chat and mentioned that the ferrets were awake and hyper. I'm like, 'what? Can't you hear them?' To demonstrate, I opened the door. Fuzzball tawdled out and Chaos came racing/hopping/flopping out, and tore into James' apartment. He flopped around for a few seconds in the living room, and then he ran around the corner, and I heard James say 'oh, shit!' Ratboy had run into James' room. And he knew he wasn't supposed to be there. He played hide-and-seek with us for a while. He stuck his nose out and ducked back under the bed. Then he dashed back behind the dresser. Then he was in the closet. James had wet nail-polish, he didn't really want to grab him, and failed when he tried. There I was, holding Fuzzball in one hand, trying to catch Chaos with the other. He dashed past, I just felt his tail brush between my fingers. Finally I caught him and brought him back to my place, where he is currently climbing all over creation, taking frequent grooming breaks. I hadn't laughed so hard in I don't know how long!

Fuzzball wants to eat...string?

So, I was sitting on the couch reading, and I heard Fuzzball coughing/choking. I got up and went over to investigate and expected to find a hairball, since it seems to be shedding season (in the fall?). Anyway, I found her with a ball of cotton string that she had gotten to start coming undone.

Get ready for the "ewwww! factor":

About the last 18 inches of it were completely inundated with what I can only assume is ferret saliva/digestive juices. Apparently, she tried to eat the string, but then coughed it back up again...go figure.

"Reverse Graffiti"

So, if you're making graffiti art with soap and water, is it still illegal?

Thanks, Steffen, for this link to http://stylespion.de/reverse-graffiti-ich-mach-doch-nur-sauber/67/, which further links to Soap Not Spray Can: Reverse Graffiti Art.

Murder she wrote

So, the other day, there were half a dozen police cars in the parking lot of my building and on the street outside. Apparently, a body was found of a 20-30 year old man about 75 yards from where I live. Exciting. Here's a map per http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/. The body was found under the bridge over the creek next to the property.

So, the autopsy isn't until Monday, but the police are calling it a suspicious death.

Jesus Camp

So...what do you think about radicalizing Christian kids to 'die for their faith' like kids in Pakistan, Israel, etc? Well according to this pastor, that is desireable.

I got this link per http://yigg.de/8437_Vorbereitung_fuer_Kreuzzuege_20, which I got from Steffen.

I don't think that anyone should be declaring religious wars!

Poor little doggie!

I just read that a Dutchman's dog accidentally got left behind in Sicily. After a lot of confusion and phoning, the dog made it home, "shaken, soaking-wet, and thirsty". Poor little thing!

However, the state of the dog after this odyssey is not what makes me write this blog entry. The thing that really caught my attention was a Dutch word that I didn't understand, and since my "Word of the Day" news source is intended for Germans, it only gave the German definition. The Dutch word was "vuilnisbakje", literally 'little trashcan'. The German word was "Promenadenmischung", something like 'promenade mix'. It turns out that these words translate as "mutt" or "mongrel" in English. Based soley on this word, I would guess the Dutch traditionally don't put much stock in non-purebreds!

Source of the orginal article:
Nieuwsservice van Radio Nederland Wereldomroep
Editie: Nederlands Nieuws, 28 augustus 2006
http://www.rnw.nl/

Casualties in Iraq have exceeded those from 9/11/01

Steffen sent me this link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060912/cm_huffpost/029234

Basically, Bush's vengence has cost more American lives than the original provocation, not to mention the deaths of other allies and Iraqi civilians.

So, it's clear that the loss of life has been excessive.

Now the question is, how do we get out of Iraq, without leaving the area in a power vacuum for a new dictatorial (theocratic or otherwise) regime?

As long as we're talking about messed up countries, how about Afghanistan? Show of hands: Who can find Afghanistan on a map? We should figure that one out too and stop allowing more lives to be lost.