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Listening to Cougar
University Press of Colorado, 2007
Cloth: 978-0-87081-894-3 | Paper: 978-0-87081-936-0 | eISBN: 978-1-60732-036-4
Library of Congress Classification QL737.C23L57 2007
This spellbinding tribute to Puma concolor honors the big cat's presence on the land and in our psyches. In some essays, the puma appears front and center: a lion leaps over Rick Bass's feet, hurtles off a cliff in front of J. Frank Dobie, gazes at Julia Corbett when she opens her eyes after an outdoor meditation, emerges from the fog close enough for poet Gary Gildner to touch. Marc Bekoff opens his car door for a dog that turns out to be a lion. Other works evoke lions indirectly. Biologists describe aspects of cougar ecology, such as its rugged habitat and how males struggle to claim territory. Conservationists relate the political history of America's greatest cat. Short stories and essays consider lions' significance to people, reflecting on accidental encounters, dreams, Navajo beliefs, guided hunts, and how vital mountain lions are to people as symbols of power and wildness.
Contributors include: Rick Bass, Marc Bekoff, Janay Brun, Julia B. Corbett, Deanna Dawn, J. Frank Dobie, Suzanne Duarte, Steve Edwards, Joan Fox, Gary Gildner, Wendy Keefover-Ring, Ted Kerasote, Christina Kohlruss, Barry Lopez, BK Loren, Cara Blessley Lowe, Steve Pavlik, David Stoner, and Linda Sweanor.
Marc Bekoff has published twenty books, including The Emotional Lives of Animals, and is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Writer and photographer Cara Blessley Lowe is author of Spirit of the Rockies and co-founder of The Cougar Fund.
BK Loren, in Listening to Cougar: "If the lion, in all its dark, nocturnal otherness, in all its light, internal sameness, does not exist for future generations, if we destroy its habitat, or call open season on it, what could we possibly find to replace it? It is precisely because we fear large predators that we need them. They hold within them so many things that we have lost, or are on the verge of losing, personally and collectively, permanently and forever. If we sacrifice the fear, we also sacrifice the strength, the wildness, the beauty, the awe." Foreword by Jane Goodall
Marc Bekoff has published twenty books, including The Emotional Lives of Animals, and is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Writer and photographer Cara Blessley Lowe is author of Spirit of the Rockies and co-founder of The Cougar Fund.
Contents Foreword: Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE Introduction Acknowledgments In Absentia: Ted Kerasote The Growl: Steve Edwards Lion Markers: J. Frank Dobie Border Cat: Janay Brun A Puma¿s Journey: Linda Sweanor To Cry for Vision: Christina Kohlruss Closer: Gary Gildner Sanctuary: David C. Stoner Talking with a Cougar: Julia B. Corbett The Sacred Cat: The Role of the Mountain Lion in Navajo Mythology and Traditional Lifeway: Steve Pavlik Lion Story: Rick Bass South Dakota Cougar: Deanna Dawn My Bush Soul, the Mountain Lion: Suzanne Duarte Lion Heart: Cara Blessley Lowe A Lion, a Fox, and a Funeral: Marc Bekoff Hunting at Night: Joan Fox A Short, Unnatural History: Wendy Keefover-Ring The Shifting Light of Shadows: BK Loren Drought: Barry Lopez Cougar Country Safety Tips: Deaths by Cougar Attack, 1890¿Present Cougars Killed by Humans, 1900¿2000 Stakeholders Chart Organizations and Related Web Sites Biographical Notes For Further Reading Biographical Notes Permissions and Sources Foreword Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE When I was about nine years old, I found, in the secondhand bookstore that I haunted as a child, a book about a wonderful friendship between a boy and a wild cougar. I cannot remember the plot, and although I have searched and searched among the hundreds of books that fill every room of our house, I cannot find that little paperback with its orange/red cover. But it gave me a fascination for cougars¿also known as mountain lions or pumas. I wanted to find out more about the beautiful big cat of the Americas, with its dark rounded ears, white muzzle, and glorious sand-colored coat. The cat that would never hurt you, I was sure, unless provoked. I have still never seen a wild cougar¿most people haven¿t. But when a female made her den in a cave in the mountains just opposite the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, a rare opportunity for watching cougars arose. Tom Mangelsen, wildlife photographer extraordinaire, spent days with his long lens trained on that den. He and scores of visitors observed the three kittens as they emerged into the daylight on uncertain legs, and noted how, over the next couple of weeks, they grew stronger and increasingly playful. And then, one morning, they had gone. Led by their mother into the dangers of a world that is, by and large, hostile to cougars. It was Tom who introduced me to the horrible situation of the cougar in North America. First he showed me the photos and video he had taken of that female¿whom we named Spirit¿and her adorable kittens. Playing with mother¿s tail. Playing with a feather. No wonder so many people spent so long watching that den, waiting for the rare glimpses of mother and young. And then, after we had spent a wonderful day in Yellowstone, he showed me the video footage taken by Cara of an outfitter making the decision to ¿harvest¿ the ¿young male¿ who is crouched as high in the tree as he can while the hunting dogs bay and lunge at its base. Such a beautiful animal¿and, as it transpired, a female. One moment vivid with life, the next a dead body. Her beingness evaporated into the cold winter air. I was shocked and sickened. What an ending to an otherwise perfect day in Yellowstone. I had seen wild bears for the first time: a very big male grizzly and a female black bear with cubs. And feasted my eyes on that glorious landscape, watched the sunset over the mountains. And then, suddenly, that video footage of sudden violent death. That was when Tom told me about the Cougar Fund that he had started. I offered to sit on the board and gradually learned more and more about the persecution of the Americas¿ big cat. Horrible facts. Until that day, I did not know that it was legal in many states to hunt cougars with dogs. I had no idea that in some states they are classified as ¿vermin.¿ In Texas, for example, cougars of any age can be killed in any way at any time of year, with guns, bows and arrows, and from cars. They can be trapped and poisoned¿even tiny kittens. I didn¿t know that in many states it only costs $30, and sometimes less, to buy a license to kill a cougar; that annual quotas can be suddenly increased (in one instance from two to twenty) by Fish and Wildlife authorities, even when there has been no sound research behind such a decision. And even when there are regulations, they can be difficult to enforce. Tom explained that in Wyoming it is illegal to kill a female with cubs at her side, or cubs younger than one year, even during the six-month hunting season. But there is a 75 percent chance that a female will have cubs during the hunting season, and cubs will rarely travel with their mother, especially if they are less than four months old. If their mother is shot, her kittens may die and, as a result, the hunter has, perhaps unknowingly, violated the law. As we have seen, even an outfitter who should have known better couldn¿t tell the difference between a male and a female cougar. Only in California is there a ban on hunting mountain lions, thanks initially to the efforts of Margaret Owings. I knew her well, and she asked me to write a letter in support of mountain lion protection¿which I was, of course, delighted to do. But although her efforts were successful, a property owner only needs to complain that a mountain lion has become a ¿nuisance¿ and he or she is usually able to get permission to kill it. And such complaints become ever more common as more and more people crowd into California, many of them, anxious to avoid the fumes and bustle of city life, seeking to establish a closer connection to nature, seeking permission to build their houses ever deeper into the last remaining wildlife habitats. No wonder encounters with cougars are becoming ever more frequent as human beings invade their land. And only too often the human interlopers seek not to establish a connection with a cougar who lives nearby, where he has always lived, but to dispose of it for fear that the animal might harm them or their children or their pets. All too often, the cougar will be shot. Yet across America there have been very few recorded instances of cougar attacks on humans. Prior to 1992, there were only ten. And even though the number of conflicts has risen in recent years (seven between 1992 and 2002) as people move further into cougar country, domestic dogs are still responsible for many more attacks. (People driving cars kill hundreds more people than do cougars¿or any wild animal!) It has always seemed to me that if we choose to move into the territory of cougars¿or bears or any other wild animals¿we should learn to live with them and be prepared, like Marc and many of the people featured in this book, to come to terms with the possibility of meeting a cougar on a hike. Learn how to behave, carry a can of bear spray in case of an emergency. And keep in mind that there is less chance of a cougar (or bear or bison or any other large wild animal) attacking us in the wilderness than there is of being run down by a car, or mugged in a city. Some people understand. Last year I visited Charlie Knowles in his house, which is surrounded by wilderness. He told me how he had come down early one morning and seen his cat staring fixedly through the glass in the living room into the backyard. She was almost touching the glass with her nose. He kept still and followed her gaze. And there, sitting just outside the door and gazing with equal fascination, it seemed, at the cat, was a magnificent young mountain lion. For a moment the tableau held, and then the cougar, sensing his presence perhaps, turned and vanished into the dawn. Charlie would never dream of harming his wild neighbors. Soon after I became involved with the Cougar Fund, we convened an exciting gathering of cougar people from various organizations and different parts of the country to discuss ways of collaboration that would benefit mountain lions as well as all our organizations. It was good to see so much passion and meet some of the people who are working so hard to protect the big cats. The Cougar Fund works in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute¿s environmental and humanitarian youth program Roots & Shoots. In this way we are helping spread educational material to our members and teaching young people about cougars and their behavior and the desperate need to help them. I hope that this book, with its sometimes tragic, sometimes moving accounts of people and cougars, will go a long way to helping people understand what is really going on and how desperately the cougars, and those championing them, need all our help today. I am writing this introduction on New Year¿s Eve, 2006. On the wall opposite me is one of my favorite photos, taken by Tom, of Spirit and her three kittens. A devoted mother struggling to raise her young in a dangerous world. And all the wide-eyed expectations of the young ones, playful and quite unprepared for the harsh, human-dominated world into which their mother must, perforce, lead them. I wonder, as Tom and Cara and I have so often wondered, if any of those four vital cougar beings are still living. I picked up the phone and dialed Tom¿s number. And what an extraordinary coincidence. He is, as I write, sitting in his car with his camera lens trained onto a pair of ears. A female cougar with the silhouette of Jackson Hole buildings behind her in the darkening evening sky. The small group of people watching is keeping quiet about her presence¿she is too close to town. In spite of some progress with the officials, we all still fear that the Wyoming Game and Fish might decide to have her shot, seeing her as a potential danger. In fact she is peacefully waiting for darkness to fall and then, Tom thinks, she will move silently back into the safer mountains. New Year¿s Eve is a time for memories, and I am in my room in the house in England where I grew up. Many of the books I read as a child are on the shelves¿although not the one about the boy and the wild cougar. In my lifetime the world has changed so much. That lost book was written in a time when there were less people on the planet, more areas of wilderness, more hopeful opportunities for such jungle friendships. In the imagination of a child, anything is possible. Where adults so often see fear, children see the potential of adventure, as the boy did with the wild cougar. Perhaps by bridging these two worlds we can come to terms with how to coexist with this animal, for the cougar¿s survival ultimately depends on our tolerance of it living among us. Thankfully, there are still some wild places left. A few years ago, as I sat with a small group of young people, sharing stories around a log fire, a young man told me about a journey he had made in a small boat in an utterly remote part of Central America. One afternoon his guide left the main river and turned up a small tributary that flowed through dense forest. And suddenly there was a puma, crouched on the trunk of a tree that had fallen across the water, drinking. As the boat appeared, he raised his head and, quite calmly, looked at them, with the rays of the sun shining through the canopy and glinting on the drops of water that dripped from his chin. Then he stood and moved away, unafraid, into whatever the evening held for him. Jane Goodall Ph.D., DBE Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace www.janegoodall.org Introducing Cougar We are sorry to hear that Mr. Fred Cole is no better. Miss Ruth Johnson has been in for the past week with an ingrowing toenail. Mr. J. G. Johnson, merchant, is worrying considerable about his hogs eating so much corn and not fattening. Messrs. Winfield Powers and Cleveland Gordon were calling on their lady friends last Sunday night in Loudoun, and on their way home were chased by a panther. Sandy Hook News, October 19, 1906 Winfield Powers was my maternal great-great-grandfather and Sandy Hook is the small hamlet where my mother¿s family hails from. Today, the town is nothing more than a few ramshackle houses along the Potomac River in western Maryland, at the point where the Potomac converges with the Shenandoah River. Dense woods engulf the land, and to this day it remains surprisingly wild. Two hundred fifty miles away and three hundred years earlier in what is now Manhattan, a vast commercial operation was underway. Among the most sought-after items were cougar pelts: warm, soft, prized for their even color, but maneless. American Indians gathered from throughout the New World to trade and sell the bounties of their land to the Dutch West India Company. Europeans and early white settlers, familiar only with the maned skins of African lions, forever asked their indigenous trading partners, Why don¿t you ever bring us male pelts? Amused by the whites¿ ignorance of the New World¿s fauna¿male cougars, after all, have no mane¿the American Indians explained with great emphasis that the male cats were so savage, so inaccessible, that they only lived far, far away, hiding ¿in the mountains.¿ And so it was that during my great-great-grandfathers life, the great cats that early white traders¿suffering a joke at their own expense¿called ¿mountain lion,¿ still roamed this wilderness. Fast forward to the twenty-first century: cougars, where they once were, are no more. The vast eastern portion of the United States and most of the Midwest share this in common with Sandy Hook¿the lineage of the ¿panther¿ that may have chased my great-great-grandfather no longer roams these wooded glens. Where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains, from north to south along the eastern borders of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, cougars were triumphantly and unsparingly trapped, poisoned, shot, baited, hounded, and bounty-hunted from more than half their former U.S. range. Today, just fourteen of our forty-eight contiguous United States have sustaining populations of cougars. Somewhat contradicting this fact, daily Google Alerts hail news of the contrary, that somewhere in the country where cougars are no longer believed to exist someone claims to have seen one. The media simplifies such random, mostly alleged sightings¿in Arkansas, ¿Cougar Sighting Has White County Residents Scared¿ and ¿Panther Seen Near Plainview¿; in Connecticut, ¿Neighbors Spooked by . . . Mountain Lion?¿; in Illinois, ¿Is There a Cougar Among Us?¿ And then invariably come the sound bites from ¿experts¿ claiming that ¿cougars are expanding their range,¿ when in fact what comes closer to the truth is that the great cats are likely attempting to recolonize areas they formerly called home. In these places cougars may be seeking, and finding, refuge where they may be less likely to have to negotiate the threat of sport-hunting or confront the equally deadly threat of another cougar, or where prey may be more plentiful. Giving Voice to Cougar This collection of essays and stories attempts to give voice to a controversial animal that few people have or ever will see. Each piece is introduced by a brief statement that does nothing more than hint at what you, the reader, will discover through these authors¿ eyes. Their experiences are diverse yet connected through the common denominator of awe. They come from varying backgrounds¿some hunters; some academics, artists and poets, researchers; and some simply going about their lives¿and are linked by an encounter with this great cat that has affected the way they view some facet of their lives. Their stories are a testimony to cougar¿s power, both symbolic and literal. The book been compiled in a way that one might experience a cougar in the wild. It is underscored by a hint of cougar¿s presence, a common vein that runs throughout the collection, echoing what a few may have felt or many may imagine feeling¿that pulse of wildness while in the out-of-doors, the desire to see a cougar coupled with a fair dose of realistic hesitation about the possibilities of this actually happening (In Absentia, Lion Markers). It may be that such a ¿sixth sense¿ leads to an encounter that, although not inherently threatening and perhaps even thrilling, gives way to the reality of dealing with a carnivore on your¿or their¿home turf. In The Growl; Lion Story; Talking with a Cougar; and A Lion, a Fox, and a Funeral, things begin to heat up and the authors¿ endorphins stir as they come face-to-face with cougar. Sometimes such interactions prove enough to inspire a latent curiosity on the particulars of the species: its history, how and where it lives, what peoples revere it, what it hunts, and the kinds and functions of the landscapes it depends on to survive (Sanctuary; The Sacred Cat; A Short, Unnatural History). We are fortunate to have the voices of those whose dedication to better understanding this elusive species contributes to its long-term survival. Here, we learn about their work from the inside out; how these authors see, interpret, and react to the challenges that come from studying Puma concolor (South Dakota Cougar, A Puma¿s Journey). Because the boundaries between myth and reality run often close and narrow; two stories speak to the darker side of popular lore in Hunting at Night and Lion Heart. And since this animal, both historically and in the present time, is capable of touching our inner as well as outer lives, we¿ve included pieces that speak to the archetypal and psychological value of cougars, in dreamtime and beyond (To Cry for Vision; Border Cat; My Bush Soul, The Mountain Lion; The Shifting Light of Shadows). Finally, no volume would be complete without those words that are nothing less than poetry and with their clear, precise beauty strike at our very core (Closer, Drought). The Natural History of Cougar Before the widespread extirpation of cougars in the eastern United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these magnificent cats lived most everywhere throughout the Americas. But even though they were widespread, they were relatively few when compared to herds of herbivores like deer, elk, and bison. Cougars are a classic low-density species, meaning that a single animal needs around one hundred square miles to hunt, roam, and call its own. Males are staunch defenders of their territories whereas females, along with their offspring, are more tolerant of overlap from other family groups, allowing a male cougar to roam their territories for the chance to breed with them. When the time comes for cubs to leave their mothers, their goal is to establish territories of their own on land productive enough so that they may hunt their requisite one deer or elk approximately every five days. This proves a greater trial for male cougars. Sometimes, in an attempt to take over another male¿s territory, the two males may fight, often to the death, for the right to live in optimal habitat replete with prey or to mate with local females so that the victor might inject his genes into the pool of cougar DNA. The challenging male, if successful, may kill a mother cougar¿s kittens, who would otherwise remain in her charge until they reach an average age of eighteen months old. Oftentimes, the mother cougar also dies in the battle, trying to save her kittens from the harsh realities of natural order in the complex social structure of cougar life. Coined ¿intraspecific strife,¿ this social mechanism executed by males within cougar ranks helps to keep their numbers in check. Ecologists and renowned researchers Ken Logan and Linda Sweanor, in their seminal book Desert Puma, cite that in their non-hunted study area little more than half¿around 60 percent¿of the kittens survived, a testimony to the tough life of a cougar. Despite the many challenges cougars face in the wild, their first and foremost cause of mortality is due to humans and their whims: deadly roadways slicing through their territories and sport hunting. Even hobby animals¿including smaller-scale domestic livestock like sheep, llamas, and goats, penned but not enclosed, free-ranging but unattended, captive yet not protected¿can prove fatal for a cougar who is tempted by one of these easy targets. Depending on the attitude of the landowner, that cat may be taken out on what¿s called a depredation permit, basically a one-way ticket to death row by a hired gun and his team of dogs. So who is this tawny tiger, this ghost cat, this ¿panther¿? It is, first and foremost, powerful. It is silent. It is large: the smallest adult females weigh around ninety pounds and the largest Boone and Crockett trophy males will tip the scales at over two hundred pounds. It is solitary; only mothers raising cubs form solid family groups and then only for the first fourteen to twenty-two months of their kittens¿ lives. Cougars are capable of killing a 700-pound elk and skinning out a porcupine¿though not without consequence. And since they are gifted with such extreme prowess, such extreme skill at stalk, ambush, and kill, yes, they can also kill a full-grown man. When viewed in motion, a cougar runs with a rocking gesture to its gait, front paws striking the ground nearly in unison as the rear paws follow. Its tail¿long, sometimes as long as its body, so thick it appears to challenge the girth of its neck¿acts like a creature of its own volition, a rudder steering and offsetting the course of stocky, muscular legs and skillet-sized paws with claws like those of housecats, retracting to muffle its steps or flash out to grasp its prey. There is a painting by artist September Vhay that portrays a mule deer doe; her body is in profile, her stance interrupted by a sound coming from the woods. One ear is up, askew, as she probes the environment for any hint of danger, a warning sign that may save her life. This brief moment of awareness may be her last if that sound was made by a cougar. We see this time and again in our lives, on television and often in real life: one being dies, giving another what it needs to survive. No animal evokes this sense of the cycle, this web of nature, on such a grand scale as the cougar. Awesome they are, and no matter how beautiful, they are not to be taken lightly. Likewise, they are not as ferocious nor as eager to attack humans as the rare news event may frighten us into believing. Shy and withdrawn, cougars are charged with the high task of surviving alone. Unlike wolves, they live completely on their own, without the support of a pack to care for their young and help make their kills. Pure carnivores, cougars are meat eaters by nature¿s obligation and so must live without the omnivorous options enjoyed by bears, who are able to survive on roots, berries, pine nuts, and shoots with only the occasional dose of pure protein thrown in when opportune. What has helped craft the narrative of fear surrounding cougar has also allowed this animal to survive, resulting in a fate far better than that of its fellow carnivores: wolves were eradicated and grizzly bears persecuted to the point of earning a place on the list of Endangered Species. Cougars are masters of landscape and can adapt to the rugged isolation of high mountain cliffs or the slimmer pickings of a remote desert habitat. Prairies are no more, no less a challenge than any other place, with riverways and stands of deciduous trees where deer may take shelter, where cougar can wait at meadow¿s edge, crouched in grasses not unlike the lion of Africa¿s savannas. What more could we expect from Puma concolor, the ¿cat of one color,¿ which was once the largest ranging mammal in the western hemisphere? This ability to adapt and to blend in is reinforced by a schedule that falls during the crepuscular hours of sunrise and sunset. The first word used in a scientific text to describe the species is cryptic: infrequently seen, this cat is even rarer a danger. It is astonishing, really, that more people have not come into contact with cougars considering this statistic: eight cougars have been collared and tracked in the Santa Monica Mountains since 2002. A conservative estimate of visitors to the state park is around six million people per year. Amazingly, not more than a handful of visitors have reported seeing these feline residents, and many of the reported sightings were not cougars, according to scientists, but dogs, coyotes, and even housecats masquerading in the imaginations of those viewers as these stellar carnivores so many people simultaneously would love, yet dread, to see. Cougars can powerfully call forth our innermost fears because it is on this very edge that cougars reside in our psyches, straddling both fear and awe. We want to see one¿even just a glimpse, just once¿yet we don¿t want to be confronted with a situation outside our control. But rarely are encounters with cougars on human terms. In the United States, thirty-two people died by dog bite or attack in 2003 alone and around twenty people per year die of bee stings, versus the twenty cougar-caused deaths since 1900 (see table). Cougars draw our interest and spark the imagination just as their presence is capable of quailing even the most seasoned outdoorsmen, the most rational of individuals. Some written accounts capitalize on this primal need to recognize that which can hurt us, to call it out of the dark. Often, the efforts result in a sensationalized view of a creature who is simply trying to survive, to hold its place in the world among habitats that are increasingly fragmented, degraded, or inhabited by humans. Teddy Roosevelt said it best¿about ten years before my great-great-grandfather was reportedly ¿chased by a panther¿¿when he observed, ¿No American beast has been the subject of so much loose writing or of such wild fables as the cougar.¿ Roosevelt¿s critique reminds me of the power of story, and the need for us¿as a civilization and as a community¿to hold our stories, to keep them alive through their telling. At no previous time has Puma concolor needed its stories to be told as much as right now. Listening to Cougar Cougar cries have been likened to a woman screaming or sometimes a baby crying, a sound described as both haunting and haunted, a primal wail that settles into a place that exists within us and that we know to avoid; a sound that awakens a deeper and older side of our humanity, calling forth the instincts of our cavemen predecessors and their ability to survive, relying primarily on instinct. To listen to a cougar is to feel what it means to be wild. In this sound is the beauty and the reminder that we are rarely alone in the wild. And when we most think we are is likely the time when we most owe it to ourselves, and the wild, to know better. Having traveled much of the world, there are few countries more gifted with wild places than the United States. An admirable history of conservation¿although one not immune to criticism¿has mostly protected tens of thousands of acres of land from the fingerprint of mankind. In places like Yellowstone, practically my backyard, one sees this immediately. Leave behind the busy park roads and concession stands and within one half hour you find yourself in some of the rawest, most unbridled backcountry¿complete with the full complement of wildlife¿in a matter of minutes. But with cougar, we don¿t always have to go there. More and more, the wild is a part of many people¿s backyards, we have come to it and it, having no where else to go, has stayed. Now it rubs up against new tract-home developments and the peaceful promise of suburban and rural life, where so many people are seeking refuge from the chaos of other people, traffic, pollution, and noise. In these cases, as more and more people close in on the realm of wildlife, especially large obligate carnivores like cougars, public awareness coupled with human tolerance and a conscious effort to prevent encounters may be this species¿ only hope for long-term survival. As with wildlife in general and carnivores in particular, the stakes run as high as the emotions generated by their presence: will these big cats still be around fifty, one hundred years from now? Will there still be self-sustaining populations of cougars, or will there be only a few random sightings here and there, with some people trying to prove¿while others aim to disprove¿cougar¿s existence, as is now the case in the Midwest and the eastern United States? Or will the United States more closely resemble the European Union, with our states so fragmented by human settlement that large carnivores simply have no place left to roam? The players in this game are made up of a diverse rubric of stakeholders: those invested in conservation, wildlife management, science, stockgrowing, and the enduring livelihood of their families; hunters with their preferred pastimes; urban refugees with second or retirement homes in the New West and other areas; those concerned with ethical issues surrounding wildlife and dedicated to animals and their existence as sentient beings in their own right, and more. In such a climate, the boundaries become blurred. Oftentimes wildlife management veers from doing what is scientifically sound, or prudent, and wanders into the arena of making decisions not principally based on conservation but more heavily on perception, politics, and, most always, the almighty dollar. But the problem begins behind-the-scenes, with statutes in place that hog-tie many state agencies to depend solely on money generated from hunting licenses. The problem with this bureaucratic business model is that each year, fewer and fewer Americans hunt¿already the statistic holds at around a paltry 3 percent. Even so, with the proliferation of media networks broadcasting 24/7 on animal stories and an increased awareness of and care for animals overall, more and more people are interested in wildlife management, in animals and their welfare, and how well state agency professionals may, or may not, be doing their jobs. It is hard to place blame on the increasingly outdated culture of wildlife management, whose origins grew from and whose efforts have historically been funded by the ¿hook and bullet¿ constituency, those who literally consume wildlife, be they hunters or fishermen. At the Cougar Fund, members of the public sometimes contact us because they are concerned about the hunting and pursuit of cougars with dogs for sport. We regularly hear, ¿I hate and disagree with cougar hunting! Why don¿t you just buy all the cougar tags?!¿ But the issue there¿besides ostracizing those who do hold a place at the table, no matter where one¿s ethics lie¿is that cougar tags are sold in unlimited quantities although for meager sums between $5 and $30 for state resident tags. The stopgap measure for actually killing too many cats is set by a quota limit determined by state wildlife agencies and their governing commissioners: political appointees, most of whom have little to no expertise in biology or conservation. A more thoughtful model might involve decreasing the number of cougar tags sold but increasing their cost. Most people who want to kill a cougar hire a professional outfitter to take them to find the cat, and that person will get paid anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000. The financial benefit the state game agency reaps then is only a small fraction of the hunters¿ total dollars spent¿from 0.08 to 1.5 percent of the outfitter¿s fee. This is a pathetic amount, really, considering that the cougar is a rare and enigmatic big game species almost always hunted to provide a trophy. On the other hand, houndsmen¿people who train their dogs to scent track certain animals, especially cougars¿have proved surprising allies in the goal to bring better and more sound science to setting cougar kill quotas. In the purest sense of hounding, the entire activity could be compared to a much larger version of catch-and-release fishing. The cougar is tracked and then treed by dogs. The houndsman may photograph the animal and then call off his dogs and go home for the day. Does the cougar experience stress? Most certainly, just as a housecat would if it were it chased by a neighbor¿s dog. But much of the time with hounding, the cougar is not shot, kittens are likely not orphaned, the hierarchical male territorial society is usually not affected and the greater cougar gene pool is not shortchanged by the loss of one of its individuals. Of course many times houndsmen do contract out as outfitters and will guide hunters, who will kill the cougar, but this is the easiest part of the ¿hunt¿ and anyone who has seen a cougar being shot out of a tree understands this (killing treed cougars has been likened to ¿shooting fish in a barrel¿). In 2000, when Tom Mangelsen and I met with the representative from the Northern Wyoming Houndsmen Association, we compared notes and discovered that we were calling for four out of five of the same things, beginning with strict female sub-quotas, or caps, to prevent the unintentional orphaning of dependent cougar kittens. Winter 2007 found a similar alliance formed between Colorado conservation groups, including Sinapu and houndsmen¿s organizations. Modeled after Montana¿s hunter education program to train outdoorsmen to distinguish between grizzly and black bears, the Colorado Division of Wildlife amended their hunting regulations to include mandatory testing of prospective hunters who must be able to distinguish male from female cougars. These kinds of changes are occurring as the interest and engagement of the general public increases, and with state game agencies accountable, they understand that few people will tolerate orphaned young being left behind by irresponsible policies and practices that may not only compromise the health of a species, but further damage the general public¿s perception of hunting. When it comes to cougars, or any species, the current game management setup provides little opportunity for financial contribution and, thus, buy-in by the non-hunting public. The architecture in most states for an average person sympathetic to any given animal and interested in donating money simply does not exist. Instead, these people look for an outlet that will specifically benefit the species they are concerned about (which is how and why the Cougar Fund came into existence¿with stakeholders who found themselves voiceless and disenfranchised by the current management of Puma concolor). Most venues to support state game agencies come in the form of hunting tags; buy a tag and it counts as a vote for the consumptive¿versus conservative¿use of wildlife. Likewise, those consumptive users¿hunters¿are quick to remind the non-consumptive public that they ¿pay for wildlife.¿ And it is difficult, after all, to find a way to charge a bird watcher or nature photographer or hiker to pay for something that they don¿t technically take with them. What may help, then, is a rebranding effort on the part of these state game agencies to include all stakeholders with the goal to generate a more dependable revenue stream and better funding for both the animals and the state game professionals that are charged with their conservation. No small feat, to be certain. Today, much has been accomplished but much remains at stake. A friend of mine remarked that refocusing state game agencies¿ priorities on science is tantamount to moving glaciers. True progress, like anything of value, takes time. Wyoming, although still concerned with maximizing hunting opportunities, researched and implemented a mountain lion management plan that is based on landscape ecological models, including the idea that habitats that generate wildlife (source areas) may compensate for less productive habitats (sink areas). But as my coeditor, Marc, frequently points out in his talks around the world, ¿Science is not value free.¿ My home state, Wyoming, serves as an excellent example of how professional and personal agendas and biases inform the implementation of wildlife management programs. Recently in Teton County, in spite of sound and quantifiable biological evidence conducted independently of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department that a certain Hunt Area 2 is producing no female recruits to the cougar population¿they are simply being killed, or dying, too fast¿both the department biologists and the governing body, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, suggested and approved continuing with the liberal hunting program that is adversely affecting the area¿s cougars. This point is especially worrisome given that females are considered the ¿biological savings account¿ of any wildlife population. To make matters worse, Teton County¿s governor-appointed commissioner further shunned sound science by appealing, unsuccessfully, to his fellow commissioners to double kill quotas in an adjacent connected area and to do away with the few protections female cougars in the area are given in the form of sub-quotas. This Wyoming case is a classic example of the clash between facts and values, and what still occurs in spite of a populace largely made up of well-educated citizens who grasp the important role of carnivores in ecosystems. Of course, scientists, policy makers, politicians, special interest and animal rights¿ groups, and wildlife bureaucrats will continue to debate whether any animal needs to be ¿managed,¿ along with whether management equals conservation. In the meantime, those who care about wildlife, regardless of their values, are coming closer and closer to arriving at the crucial common ground necessary to make sure this elusive but important predator sticks around into the next century and beyond. At the end of the day, the question is not whether to hunt¿the old arguments for or against have little to do with cougar¿s long-term survival when we, as a society, have the proverbial bigger fish to fry of rapidly diminishing habitat and vanishing wild corridors coupled with attitudes that may or may not be tolerant to the presence of the big cats. One hundred years ago my grandfather probably couldn¿t imagine that the wild panther might not survive the twenty-first century. So now, on behalf of our contributors¿ efforts to shed more light on and bring more awareness to the animal we fondly refer to as America¿s Greatest Cat, Marc and I invite you to read and enjoy listening to cougar. Cara Blessley Lowe, Jackson, Wyoming Acknowledgments In 2005, we were looking for another way to tell the story of an animal whose life is increasingly under siege. The wonderful anthology Shadow Cat served as an early inspiration for this collection. It was within that book¿s pages that my initial interest in and research about cougars began. It is amazing what a single book can spark. Marc Bekoff, with decades of field study under his belt, has authored and edited many such volumes, and it was only natural that I turn to him to guide this relative newcomer through the drill of submissions requests and acceptances, contracts and sheer knowledge. Thank you, Marc. Darrin Pratt, our editor at the University Press of Colorado, embraced the idea from the beginning. We are blessed and lucky to have the gift of such enthusiasm and experience to bring Listening to Cougar to life. Tom Mangelsen, the dearest of friends, is ever-generous in extending the permissions to use his photograph for our cover. All of Tom¿s pictures are taken in the wild, and even though he waited more than fifty years to see a cougar, I can honestly say that his patience paid off. No photographer has a better, more sensitive collection of wild cougar images¿or of any wildlife¿than Tom. They are a rare commodity in today¿s photographic market that is bloated with pictures of captive animals. This book would not exist without the gifted voices of our contributors. The most gracious of thanks to you who have endured the time and effort required to create Listening to Cougar. It was important to us that the range of voices includes all stakeholders, and although state game agency officials may not have been in the position to officially submit their writings, we appreciate your candid conversations, your time, and the fine work you are doing on behalf of this magnificent creature. A million heartfelt thanks to Lyn Daleabout, who, in her poetic and intuitive way, suggested a title that stuck. To Sue Cedarholm, who has helped me in so many ways during this, and other, projects. To Jane Goodall, a friend from the start and ever a source of strength. To Sara Carlson, and her exemplary attention to detail. To Ted Kerasote, for making the time to put your experience on paper. To Susan G. Clark, and all the advice over the years. To Jim McNutt, who suggested the J. Frank Dobie piece. To Ken Logan and Linda Sweanor, my first mentors¿thank you for being there for an endless stream of questions over the years and for guiding us through your Cuyamaca study area so many years ago. To my Antelope Flats neighbors, John Craighead and the late Frank Craighead, who carried the torch for so many years. To Maurice Hornocker, whose work remains an inspiration. To Wayne Suda, who had the courage to include me on a cougar hunting expedition, and the presence to attend the film premier. Thank you for sharing your side of the story. To Rick Hopkins, who is always available at the drop of a hat, and who possesses a lifetime of knowledge of Puma concolor, without whom we¿d be lost. To Corey Rutledge, ¿cat herder¿ extraordinaire. To the Buffetts: Howard, Devon, Howie, and the late Susie, for joining us for breakfast that fortuitous morning in Moose and for standing by this species. To Bob Smith, organizational wonder. To Shawn Meisl; because of you I can sleep at night. To Sharon Negri, who leads by example, and embodies the quiet strength and power of cougar in all her work. Thanks also to our friends and families. To my parents, Beatrice Rose and Oscar Bekoff, for their incredible and unwavering support over the years. To Leslie Goodyear, Thiele Robinson, Michelle Jungquist, Andrea Baxter, Cami Runnalls, Elena Luaces Dryer, Sherrie Watterson, Anna Garcia-Graña, Deb O¿Neill, Kim Eilian, Rick Smolan, Kia Jam, Steven and Adrian Goff, Joe Pytka, Jack and Dana Turner, Bert and Meg Raynes, Brooke Williams and Terry Tempest Williams, Lee and Ed Riddell, Chuck Schneeback, Derek and Sophie Craighead, Al and Jean Lowe, Charlie Craighead, Chuck and Barbara Herz, Lyle and Amy McReynolds, Rob and Tricia Morphew, Ned and Amanda Pinkerton¿fortresses of friendship. To my parents, Webb and Donna Blessley, steadfast in every way. Without the behind-the-scenes support of my first AD, Sonny Lowe, this book would have taken substantially more hours, days, and months¿thank you. To all of you who care so much about this animal, and to you who work so hard to champion its place in our world. No matter our perspectives, may we continue to work together to see that this species survives its challenges. Always, to Spirit. A messenger of the wild, thank you for what you¿ve given us¿may we do your kind justice. Listening to Cougar
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Tiny Survivors Cocktail - 3rd Annual Fundraiser
Mark your Calendar
Wednesday, May 9th 2012 - 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Newtown Restaurant at 1476 Crescent Street, Montreal
For the third consecutive year, Luciano D'Iorio and Karen Aziz, are proud to host the Tiny Survivors Cocktail. This event raises much-needed funds for the Royal Victoria Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
The NICU specializes in caring for extremely premature and critically-ill newborns. Every year, hundreds of babies owe their survival to the NICU. Come join us in celebrating the remarkable success stories of the Tiny Survivors.
For more information, please contact:
Audrey Bonneville 514-934-1934 #35939
Location:Newtown Restaurant at 1476 Crescent Street, Montreal
Date:May 9, 2012 - 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
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Top Definition
It isn't Ukrainian dumbass, it's russian and it's not just a baked potato It is any food object to stick up the tennis player's butt.
I wanna stick something up her ass while she gives me a blow.
ayon kay Andy Grey ika-14 ng Oktubre, 2003
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
As above. Named after the Tennis player Claudia Kuleszka. (What some people would like to do to her)
C'mon people use your imagination
ayon kay Badboyee ika-14 ng Oktubre, 2003
The Ukrainian sexual art of sticking a baked potato up your partners arse while they give you head.
Yeah baby, give me a Kuleszka. Or. Kuleszka me baby!
ayon kay Jeff Hardski ika-02 ng Oktubre, 2003


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Senior Lunch Menu
Available Monday through Friday at the SCV Senior Center in Newhall. Meals are also available when you call one day ahead at Bouquet Canyon Seniors, Monday through Friday, (661) 513-9479, and available Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Masonic Lodge in Friendly Valley (661) 299-4595.
Monday — Sloppy joes
Tuesday — Chicken fajitas
Wednesday — Pork loin roast
Thursday — Herb baked chicken
Friday — Meatloaf with gravy
Note: Menu is subject to change.
The SCV Senior Center is located at 22900 Market St. in Newhall. For a detailed monthly calendar, call the center at (661) 259-9444. All the following activities will occur at the SCV Senior Center, unless otherwise indicated.
'Social Security and the Medicare Extra Help Subsidy Program'
With Miguel Palmer, branch manager of the local Social Security Administration office, who will discuss relative to prescription drug care coverage available through Medicare, 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 6.
'Caring for Your Heart'
Speaker and cardiologist Dr. Sam Kojoglanian will speak on the cause and effects of your diet, lifestyle, stressors, aging and how it all affects your heart's health, free, 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 6, Pacific Senior Living, 24305 Lyons Ave., Newhall. RSVP requested. Info: (661) 255-3100.
'The Healthy
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital presents chiropractor Dr. Roger DeSesa of Valencia Health Care, 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13
Families' seminar
"Empowering Families: Making Difficult Decisions for Mom and Dad" seminar with Viki Kind, author of "The Caregiver's Path to Compassionate Decision Making," addresses end of life matters, alternate senior living options and how to create peace of mind, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13, Pacifica Senior Living, 24305 Lyons Ave., Newhall. RSVP requested. Info: (661) 255-3100.
'Memory Screening Clinic'
With Kathy Tucker, RN, of Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services, lecture in A1 and A2 and private screenings in room A6, 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 20
'Advance Directives: Making Your Wishes Known'
With Providence Health & Services and Facey Medical Group present health educator Ginger Jacobs, 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 27.
Fibromyalgia support group
Support group meeting second Saturday of every month, 10:30 - noon. Info: (661) 270-1961 or email@example.com.
Santa Clarita Swing Jazz Club
Listen and dance along to live swing music from 2-5 p.m., fourth Sunday of every Month. $7-$10. Info: (661) 254-4220 or (661) 298-7865.
Senior Orchestra seeks players
Bring your instrument and join the fun, all instruments and skill levels welcome, 4 p.m, Thursdays, Bouquet Canyon Senior Apartments, multipurpose room, 26705 Bouquet Canyon, Saugus. Info: (661) 298-9553 or (661) 296-4977.
Health lectures and clinics
Free blood pressure screening takes place in activity Room 3 each Wednesday from noon-1 p.m.
Educational and technical training
Archaeology and Anthropology: Wednesday, 9:30-11:10 a.m. with Fred Rice of USC and Cal State Northridge.
Computer Training (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced in Windows and Mac): Call the Center for information.
Computer Training for the Visually Impaired: Monday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Friday, 12-2 p.m.
Ham Radio: Tuesday, 1-2 p.m.
Functional Fitness
At 8:30 a.m. M-W-F, we're movin' and groovin', steppin' and sweatin' to the beat with ACE Certified Exercise Specialist Linda Bennett. We're the new and improved "middle age" 50-plus active adults. The program encompasses functional fitness – moves are designed to simulate ADLs (activities of daily living), and sports moves like golf, tennis, and skiing. We do cardiovascular training, muscle and bone building, core stabilization, and spatial awareness for balance – all within one hour. If you're not quite ready for the fast and furious fitness, at 9:45 a.m. there is a great 30-minute chair class that will suit you. Call the Senior Center at 259-9444, or Linda Bennett at 993-3969.


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What can you do when the mere mention of poetry elicits groans from students? This 90-minute KET professional development workshop provides positive strategies that help students (even the reluctant ones) develop poems while promoting a better understanding of the characteristics and types of poetry. Featuring Starr Lewis of the Kentucky Writing Program and high school teacher Dewey Hensley, the seminar explores such topics as teaching students to distinguish between concrete and abstract language and to use precise descriptive words, comparing the process of revising poetry with the process of revising prose, and assessing poems written by students.
Audience: secondary English/language arts teachers


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Authorities confiscated $75,000 in so-called designer drugs from 30 retailers during a statewide push to rid New Jersey of "bath salts," "K2" and other once-legal substances known to mimic the effects of street drugs, officials said today.
Under its Safe Summer 2011 initiative, the state Division of Consumer Affairs has been conducting undercover buys and in-person visits to boardwalk shops known to sell the substances, the Attorney General's Office said.
During that time, some shop owners agreed to surrender packets of drugs like K2, a synthetic marijuana, or bath salts, a powder that can simulate the effects of cocaine and methamphetamines, authorities said. Others refused and were later arrested when they unwittingly sold the drugs to undercover investigators.
All told, more than 3,000 packets of designer drugs have been seized since June, with an estimated value of $75,000, according to Thomas Calcagni, acting director of Consumer Affairs.
Officials believe the flurry of law enforcement activity helped lessen bath salts abuse in New Jersey after a reported spike in the drug's usage earlier this year.
"The message was sent loud and clear — the manufacture, sale and possession of these dangerous drugs are illegal in New Jersey, and we intend to pursue violators to the full extent of the law," Attorney General Paula Dow said.
K2 was outlawed by the federal government in March, and the state adopted that ban a month later. On April 28, Consumer Affairs also banned bath salts after the drug was linked to scattered acts of violence and self-mutilation in New Jersey and as reports of abuse of the powders surged throughout the state.
The largest single seizure happened last week in Stafford Township, when police arrested Ritesh Kumar Patel after confiscating 655 packets of bath salts and synthetic marijuana valued at $16,000 from his store, officials said. They also said three retailers have been arrested after selling the banned substances since June.
Previous coverage:
• N.J. moves closer to criminalizing 'bath salts'
• Six chemicals used to make 'bath salts' are added to N.J. list of banned substances
• Designer drug 'Bath salts' could be taking hold in N.J.
• N.J. lawmakers to introduce bill banning 'bath salts' powder
• Cranford man charged with killing Rutgers student


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Gilded Lilyby Delphine Dryden
HIDDEN IDENTITIES, SCANDALOUS SECRETS... DEADLY ATTRACTION. Frederique Murcheson's introduction into society hasn't gone smoothly--some would even call it a disaster. Only Freddie considers her debut a success. Her scheme to become a makesmith has gone off flawlessly. The only thing that could upset her plans now would be if someone discovered that brilliant tinker Fred Merchant is, in fact, a lady in disguise. Wooing a spoiled heiress is not exactly Barnabas Smith-Grenville's idea of high espionage. However, considering his brother disappeared on the job, supposedly into the most iniquitous of opium dens, he cannot expect much better. At least the assignment will afford him time to search for his brother, whom he suspects is in spy-related trouble rather than a drug-addled haze. But when Freddie proves to be both irresistible and the key to the answers he seeks, Barnabas finds himself not only entwined in a scandalous mystery involving lethal submersibles and deranged dirigibles, but also in a dangerous game of the heart...
Gossamer Wingby Delphine Dryden
A SPY. AN AIRSHIP. AND A BROKEN HEART. After losing her husband to a rogue French agent, Charlotte Moncrieffe wants to make her mark in international espionage. And what could be better for recovering secret long-lost documents from the Palais Garnier than her stealth dirigible, Gossamer Wing? Her spymaster father has one condition: He won't send her to Paris without an ironclad cover. Dexter Hardison prefers inventing to politics, but his title as Makesmith Baron and his formidable skills make him an ideal husband-imposter for Charlotte. And the unorthodox undercover arrangement would help him in his own field of discovery. But from Charlotte and Dexter's marriage of convenience comes a distraction--a passion that complicates an increasingly dangerous mission. For Charlotte, however, the thought of losing Dexter also opens her heart to a thrilling new future of love and adventure.
Mai Tai for Twoby Delphine Dryden
Julie's Hawaiian Vacay Itinerary!You and your "work husband" have just won an all-expenses-paid vacation in Oahu. Now the fun begins...1. Get lei'd. (With flowers, obvi.)2. Settle into your gorgeous ocean-side cabin. Contemplate living in Hawaii forever.3. Become overwhelmed with hideous unexplained jealousy when your bestie decides to make sexy moves on your work husband, Alan.4. Dismiss jealousy. After all, you're not interested in Alan "that" way...are you?5. Avoid joyous dancing when bestie's ex arrives and sweeps her off her feet-leaving Alan completely and totally available.6. Now you're alone with Alan. Alone. In paradise. Take a deep breath, have a mai tai-or two-and (gulp!) make your move. Be classy.7. "Accidentally" let Alan peek under your grass skirt.8. Take off grass skirt.9. Do Incredibly Naughty and Sexy Things everywhere.10. And do not think about what happens when you and your work husband go back to reality....
The Principle of Desireby Delphine Dryden
Book three of The Science of Temptation1 sexy switch + 1 nerdy newbie = a master class in seductionAfter several years as a submissive, psychology lecturer Beth is eager to experience being on the other end of the whip for a change. When she meets sweet but socially awkward Ed at a party, it's obvious the aerospace engineer is interested-and obvious he's way too vanilla.When tracking down a friend lands him in a BDSM club, Ed's eyes are opened to a whole other world-and a whole other side of Beth. Then Beth's former Master shows up, and Ed agrees to play along as her sub in exchange for a real date. The biggest surprise of the evening? How much he enjoys letting her take control...Beth's ex makes it clear he wants her back, but she needs more from a relationship than he can offer-and not just the freedom to explore her switch side. At first Ed is just an enthusiastic student. But the more she gets to know him, in and out of the bedroom, the more Beth wonders if he's everything she desires...Includes Solving for X, an all-new Science of Temptation bonus scene36,000 words
Ride 'Emby Delphine Dryden
SADDLE UP Mindy has come to Logan's dude ranch to convince him to sign away his land's mineral rights to her stepfather. She doesn't want to beg, but she will if she has to, like she does Friday nights when she submits to her master's desire . . . BUCKLE DOWN Logan doesn't like to be jerked around, in business or pleasure. And when he learns what Mindy is up to, he's ready to teach her a lesson. In fact, he'd like to tie her up, strip her down, and give her a spanking she'll never forget . . . RIDE HARD With passion riding high, Logan and Mindy indulge in carnal play that leaves them both wanting more. And with their jobs on the line, they realize that their erotic fantasies might be their ticket to success . . .
Scarlet Devicesby Delphine Dryden
DRIVEN TO WIN. DRAWN TO LOVE. Fresh from university, Eliza Hardison is determined to crusade for workers' rights until her cousin Dexter, the Makesmith Baron, prevails on her to represent Hardison House in the American Dominion Sky and Steam Rally. The competition is fierce, but only one opponent really matters to Eliza. Dexter's protégé, Matthew Pence, was always like a big brother to her. But now she's grown up, and Matthew has made a break from Hardison House with his own business venture--and made his own entry in the rally. Matthew intends to win while keeping Eliza safe on the perilous route from New York to San Francisco. As the threats escalate through treacherous skies and uncharted American wilds, though, Eliza and Matthew must work together, discovering a bond deeper than either could have imagined...but is winning the rally more important than winning at love?
The Seduction Hypothesisby Delphine Dryden
Book two in the Science of Temptation.(1 Curious Sub + 1 Dom in Denial) - Inhibitions = 4 Naughty NightsWildlife biologist Lindsey thought attending a fan convention with her new boyfriend Ben was a great idea-until their relationship imploded. Lindsey still lusts after her ex-but if he wants her, he's going to have to prove he can give her what she needs.Ben will do anything to win Lindsey back, and when he sees her in her skimpy black vinyl convention getup, he realizes what she's been craving all along. And he's inspired to finally give in to his own dark desire to take complete sexual control...Lindsey is surprised by her reaction to Ben's kinky new seduction techniques, and suddenly sees the brilliant but boring code guru in a different light. After several erotic encounters in hotel rooms and stairwells, she's falling for him all over again. And wondering if the intimate connection will last once they head home...Love smart, sexy heroes & heroines? Check out The Theory of Attraction, available now!38,000 words
Sex on the Beachby Delphine Dryden
Hawaiian Vacation To-Do List:Bikini up! You're in Oahu, and it's time for fruit drinks with umbrellas in them!Being obsessively organized doesn't work during a Hawaiian vacation. Relax. Seriously.Scan the resort for hot dudes. Huh. That hot jogger who ran by looks a lot like your ex, Jeremy-only fitter, harder and sexier.Moonlit walks mean bumping into Hot Jogger Guy. Who is your ex.Don't panic. Instead, think with your libido! Also debate the merits of ex sex.Ignore the consequences. Go for it.Revel in the afterglow. Go for rounds two and three.Ooh, kayaking!Round four. Oops!Definitely do not think about why you broke up in the first place. Or that you're having wicked-hot nookie with the man you were here to forget...
The Theory of Attractionby Christine D'Abo Delphine Dryden Jodie Griffin
"With BDSM erotica all the rage right now, it's a pleasure to find a story that's a perfect example of how good these books can be when crafted by a talented author."--RT Book Reviews on The Theory of AttractionThe Theory of Attractionby Delphine DrydenCamilla can set her watch by her sexy rocket-scientist neighbor's schedule...but she soon learns that isn't the only thing Ivan likes to be strict about. He needs to be in charge in the bedroom as well-and Cami discovers there can be more pleasure in submitting than she ever imagined....A Shot in the Darkby Christine d'AboCarter is one of the hottest men ever to walk into Paige Long's coffee shop. Firefighter by day, Dom by night, he's her ultimate fantasy. But can Carter convince Paige to submit to happiness outside the bedroom, too?Forbidden Fantasiesby Jodie GriffinAfter fifteen years of marriage, Jessica and Alex's sex life is, well, a little predictable. It just can't compare with the hot new world Jessica discovers in the pages of erotic romances. Until their fantasies are brought to life during a special weekend at a unique B and B: Bondage and Breakfast...107,000 words
The Theory of Attractionby Delphine Dryden
Camilla can set her watch by her hunky rocket-scientist neighbor who jogs past her window each day. She relishes each glimpse of his shirtless abs, and is dying to see more. But it's hard to connect with a man who doesn't seem to know she exists...Ivan feels at home in the lab, not in social situations. When he finally approaches his attractive neighbor, it's not for a date-he wants tutoring in how to behave at an important fundraiser. Ivan doesn't expect the chemistry between them to be quite so explosive, and is surprised when Cami actually accepts his proposal to embark on a series of "lessons."Cami soon discovers Ivan's schedule isn't the only thing he likes to be strict about-he needs to be charge in the bedroom as well. She's shocked at how much she comes to enjoy her submissive side, but wonders if a real relationship is in the equation...47,000 words
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text:
I have a Windows2000 server with Exhange2000, all updates. I have "Veritas
Backup Exec 9" with "Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server", so I can backup
individual mailboxes. But I'm told that it's a good idea to backup the
storer themselves. Furthermore, backup of stores will purge the committed
logs, I have more than 6GB of logs !
The problem is, that I can't see the "Microsoft Information Store" in the
Backup Exec !! I can see all the harddisk drive, "Microsoft Exchange
Mailboxes" and "Microsoft Exchange Public Folders"...............the
Exchange server is running !!
Where is the "Microsoft Information Store" i Veritas Backup Exec 9 ? How can
I select it to backup ?


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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Manhattan residents Lia Cohen and Alexander Judka are engaged.
The future bride's parents, Dr. Diana Barone and Dr. Randy E. Cohen of Bulls Head, have made the announcement. The bridegroom-to-be is the son of Judy and Dr. Henry Judka of New City, N.Y.
Ms. Cohen is a graduate of St. Joseph by-the-Sea, Huguenot. She earned a bachelor of science degree in human development and a master of science degree in public administration from Binghamton (N.Y.) University, where she was named to the dean's list. She also earned a bachelor of science degree, cum laude, in nursing from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, and is pursuing a nurse practitioner degree from Hunter College, Manhattan. She is a registered nurse with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Manhattan.
Mr. Judka is a graduate of Clarkstown High School North, New City. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science, with a concentration in economics, from Binghamton University and a juris doctorate, cum laude, with a concentration in criminal law, from Brooklyn Law School. He is assistant district attorney of Bronx County.
The couple is planning to wed in the autumn of 2014.


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Yevgeniya Kaganovich
Professor, Department of Art & Design
Head, Jewelry & Metalsmithing Area
MFA (metal) State University of New York-New Paltz
BFA (metal/jewelry) University of Illinois-Urbanan-Champaign
Art 358
Yevgeniya Kaganovich is a Belarus born, Milwaukee, Wisconsin based artist, whose hybrid practice encompasses Jewelry and Metalsmithing, sculpture and installation. Yevgeniya has received a Masters of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Metal/Jewelry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Yevgeniya has been an active art practitioner since 1992, exhibiting her work nationally and internationally. Her work has received a number of awards and has been published widely. Yevgeniya has worked as a Designer/Goldsmith at Peggie Robinson Designs, Studio of Handcrafted Jewelry in Evanston, Illinois and has taught Metalsmithing at Chicago State University, Chicago, Illinois, and Lill Street Studios, Chicago Illinois. Currently Yevgeniya is a Professor of Art and Design at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee heading in a thriving Jewelry and Metalsmithing Area with a graduate and undergraduate program.


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Northwest NEWS
ctober 30, 2000
City of Carnation collectable ornaments go on sale
The City of Carnation's new Christmas ornament depicting the Hjertoos home built in 1907 will be on sale after Nov. 1, at Simply Grand and Bank of America located on Tolt Avenue.
The pictured home is located at the Carnation Tree Farm, across from Tolt Middle School.
The ornaments sell for $10, and are numbered for collectors. Past years ornaments will also be available, except for the first and much sought-after Bob Andrealli ornament.
Proceeds from sales of the ornaments go to the Carnation Chamber of Commerce.
For more information call Isabel at (425) 333-4436, or (425) 788-3501.


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Mortgage giant Fannie Mae asked the federal government for nearly in $4.6 billion last week in aid, after taxpayers spent more approximately $150 billion on a 2008 bailout, and local Santa Clarita industry experts are weighing in on the subject.
Fannie Mae lost some $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 as a result of declining home prices, according to Fannie Mae officials.
In September 2008, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were rescued by the federal government and placed under the control of the Federal Housing Finance Agency after receiving the federal aid.
Government estimates the cost of financial assistance for the two companies through 2014 could cost $259 billion, according to the Associated Press. Fannie Mae has received the lion's share of the aid so far, nearly $116 billion. The largest portion of that money was allocated in 2009, as the housing market collapsed.
Local Realtor Sam Heller of Keller Williams VIP Properties believes the federal government must bail out Fannie Mae, but only because it has failed to push the banks to negotiate or give homeowners more time, resulting in foreclosures.
According to RealtyTrac, 1-in-256 homes in California during January 2012 received a foreclosure filing representing 253,878 homes.
Founded in 1938, Fannie Mae was designed to raise the levels of home ownership and improve the options for affordable housing.
Both Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac guarantee many of the loans made to home buyers and as home prices dropped and homeowners defaulted, the two organizations have been forced to pay for the losses, which, in many cases, were created by poor lending prices and subprime loans during the real-estate boom years.
The losses increased in the past two quarters because some homeowners are now paying less interest after refinancing and others are defaulting on their mortgages, according to Fannie Mae officials. Fannie Mae, a publically traded company, was only trading at 30 cents per share as the market opened Monday.
"We need Fannie Mae, we just need to change the way the banks that were bailed out do business," Heller said.
The lenders, and, in particular, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been opposed to writing down the principles on underwater mortgages for homeowners, according to Richard Szerman of Silver Creek Realty. For that reason, he opposes any additional tax dollars used for bailouts when the financial institutions have been unwilling to bail out the consumers.
"The absolute silver bullet solution to the problems with the housing market is principle reductions for underwater homeowners. It saves homes and grows consumer confidence in the markets," Silverman said.
Giving Fannie Mae more money is just another example of the extreme disconnect between banks, the government-sponsored Fannie Mae and the consumers they are supposed to be serving, he said.
One year ago, the White House unveiled a plan to shrink the government's role in the mortgage system. In February 2012, the FHFA submitted a plan to Congress that would put more of the credit risks on the lenders. That plan might also make home loans more expensive and reverse decades of public policy aimed at increasing homeownership.
The FHFA just announced another increase in their mortgage insurance, said Jeffrey Milat, mortgage loan consultant with Augusta Financial. Effective April 1, the rate is going from 1 to 1.75 percent, and the rate for yearly premiums is going from 1.15 to 1.25 percent, he said.
"I think the bigger story is the higher interest rates are being charged to all borrowers who get Fannie and Freddie loans," Milat said. "All of this to pay for a 2 percent reduction in the payroll tax that funds Social Security."


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One more post tonight. As I get older, I notice more and more how much I am like my mother (my father too in some ways but, thats a different post). I got my knack for all things vintage from my mother. I've always been a collector of trinkets and pretty things. I decorate all the little nooks in my home, just like my mother does. Recently, I was at my parents' house & photographed a few of hers. She has been upcycling lots of things & creating cute new spaces, around the house. When I got home, I noticed how similar we are with the things we collect(cherish). We like to have them around us, to enjoy and share with others. I'm happy to share this passion for memorabilia, antiques and such, with my mother. I'm thankful that she passed these things down to me. Thank you for reading. Have a great weekend & please come back by soon!
Stevi 💋
p.s. the Chubby bunny was just too cute... I had to show him off a little too 😉
that new new. - *equipment top; vintage pants; vintage bag; free people sandals; elizabeth & james sunglasses.* as we segue in to fall, my favorite season to dress for, i...
4 weeks ago


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According to Cap Geek, the Rangers have signed free agent defenseman Troy Donnay of the Erie Otters (OHL) to a three-year, entry level contract.
The 6' 8", 185lb defenseman had participated in the Rangers rookie camp at the beginning of the month and will participate in the Traverse City Prospect Tournament in September for the Blueshirts.
Donnay, 19, has 17 points, a minus-65 rating and 104 penalty minutes in 143 career OHL games.
Huge dman decent skater. Not much else there. RT @surlysailor: @coreypronman any info on Troy Donnay? Rangers just signed him
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) July 31, 2013
Unbelievable experience at my first NHL camp with the @NYRangers . Can't wait for Rookie camp in Travers City!
— Troy Donnay (@TroyDonnay) July 5, 2013
The Rangers now have 47 players under contract with Derek Stepan and Brandon Mashinter still left to sign. An NHL team can not exceed fifty players under contract.
…a minus-65 in 143 games!!!!! Sounds like the missing piece to a Stanley Cup run to me.
Remember to follow me on Twitter & Facebook or e-mail me at email@example.com.


text:
I sat down to my computer as was my daily custom and began to look for ways to entertain myself. Aaron and Dave, as always, joined a call over Skype with me and we started to play Starcraft 2 together, which had become our primary source of distraction in the early months of 2011. One game after another blurred together and by the time the last one had finished, I was ready for bed. This routine began to get tiresome, and after some months had passed by, the three of us began to try some of the many custom maps created by players and fans of the game.
Nexus Wars, a game suited for eight players, was our first discovery. For those faithful readers who do not know much about Starcraft or video games in general, the best explanation I can give of Nexus Wars is that armies get produced automatically based on some decisions the players make, and the armies attack each other continuously until one side defeats the other's primary building; a Nexus, hence the name. This sort of map is often called a tug-of-war game precisely because the winner and loser change spots like the traditional game of the same name, back and forth until a victor emerges. Our enthusiasm for Nexus Wars waned as update upon update from the creator caused the gameplay to become broken in ever more subtle ways that were increasingly difficult to discover and compensate for.
One evening, the three of us loaded up a game called Desert Strike. The idea was fairly similar to Nexus Wars, although the variety of choices in determining army composition was far superior, the matches were more balanced, and the game inherently prioritized strategy over luck. An added bonus was that the game was optimally designed for two teams of three, meaning we didn't need to find a fourth friend or guest to join us. We started the match and proceeded to be annihilated by the opposing team. As it was our first match, we wrote it off to inexperience and tried again.
It became increasingly frustrating when, after several weeks, we had not managed to win a single game. I was determined to learn some of the strategy in what seemed like a relatively simple game and came across a tutorial on a website that I've since forgotten. The three of us slowly adopted the strategies that were written in the tutorial and tweaked them as we went along. Finally, after all of the failures, we won a match.
For a few days, we would win and lose alternatively, until finally, we had mastered the game. The three of us were unbeatable. Our strategies were nearly perfect. We began to refer to the experience as "Teaching a Lesson"; a service we offered generously to any who would play with us. Our goal as teachers usually came down to one priority: to teach other teams that they ought not to play against us. This has continued for two years.
I'm afraid that readers unacquainted with Starcraft may find the following to be a bit boring or technical, but you are invited to press on if you'd like as I briefly outline the strategy.
Almost always, Aaron plays Zerg, I play Protoss, and Dave plays Terran. This order is also the order that we join the party (Aaron invites myself, and then Dave). The order is important, as it also determines in which order the armies spawn in the game. In the opening move, Dave builds a bunker (or Bonker, as we have renamed it), on the enemy's side of our silo. Aaron builds speedlings to counter any initial enemy rush, and I wait to build my first geyser.
The first few minutes following this consist of slowly building all of our geysers, repairing the Bonker, and building very small forces to slowly defeat the enemy. By round 20, each of us has built a core of basic units and we determine which sorts of players we are competing against. If the enemy appears competent, we waste no time whatsoever building the strongest possible counters to their forces as modifications to our primary strategies that we seldom waver from. If the enemy appears to have little idea of how to play, we often take greater risks and sometimes even ignore our primary strategies in order to experiment. These variations are a bit difficult to describe, but our traditional decisions are not.
Aaron builds swarm guardians, corrupters, and a ground force of infesters and hydralisks. I build a "critical mass" of colossi and a retirement community's worth of high templar, supported by fade initiates, archons, and immortals. Dave builds a wide variety of units, focusing on tanks, point defense drones, infantry and supporting medivacs, and a salute of airborne vikings. We have found this strategy to work so often that defeat occurs as an anomaly.
We continue to offer free lessons to any three willing students who happen to be matched against us. If you play, maybe we'll run into you sometime as well.


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I can't believe those dance holds from V/T
Good news:
#SA2013 must be trending on Twitter, because ...
Bad news:
Suddenly a flood of spam tweets are coming through.
LOTS of new PB's, very generous judging.
Who is the mighty lady sitting in the Kiss & Cry with V/T?
I think that it is clear that I think that V/T PCS is TOO TOO TOO TOO high
Looks like it is going to be a battle for the bronze medal!
She also coaches Bazarova and Larionov now. The whole Russian team is with her ;-)
I love the SP of Max and Tatiana!! Their PCS was super high, I was expecting 36-37. Their long programme is another thing, I do not like it much. And the yellow pants! If I see yet another pair of yellow pants on the ice, I will scream.


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|EcommerceBytes-NewsFlash, Number 1894 - October 13, 2008 - ISSN 1539-5065 1 of 3
Beginning January 27, 2009, eBay UK will require sellers to offer free shipping & handling for domestic deliveries of all DVDs. The requirement is part of a new policy in which all sellers will need to specify domestic Postage and Packaging (P&P) charges.
eBay UK will impose maximum charges for domestic S&H in media, games and phones categories. In a FAQs section about the policy, eBay stated the reason for requiring free S&H for DVDs: "DVDs are an extremely competitive category in the UK with online retailers increasingly offering free delivery. We believe this is the market price for P&P for a DVD in the UK."
eBay.com imposed maximum S&H charges in the media category in the U.S. this month, and eBay Australia will impose limits on flat-rate on domestic S&H for the following categories early next month: Books Fiction, Literature AU $6; Books Non-Fiction AU $6; Comic books AU $5; CDs AU $5; and DVDs AU $8. But of the three sites, the UK is the only one requiring free S&H for any product category.
eBay UK said S&H costs are not required for items listed in the following categories: Cars, Parts and Vehicles; Businesses for Sale; Residential Property, Containers & Pre-Fab Buildings; and Local Services. It also said that items in all categories that are extremely heavy or bulky and require a courier for delivery could be exempted from the policy.
eBay UK also announced a new dispute console and feedback revision policy (previously announced on eBay.com) and announced it would anonymize email addresses in correspondence between shoppers and sellers until a transaction took place. "Email addresses sent through the system (i.e. Ask Seller a Question, Reply to Question and Contact eBay Member links on the site) will be made anonymous in emails sent before a sale takes place. Sellers will also now be able to respond directly to all customer emails from their own email client (eg: Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail) by simply replying to the email without using the yellow Respond button."
Tell us what you think in our survey
About the author:
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to firstname.lastname@example.com.
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EcommerceBytes.com and either link to the original article or to www.EcommerceBytes.com.
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Email this story to a friend.
1 of 3
eBay Takes Blackthorne Software In-house - November 24, 2008
eBay Rolls Back 'Identical Listings' Policy - November 19, 2008
eBay Briefs Top Sellers on Strategies, Search - November 14, 2008
eBay Says Site Now Ready for 'Paperless Payments' Policy - October 31, 2008


text:
On Thursday, a month after locking lips with former flame Kirsten Dunst, his Virgin Suicides costar, at New York City's Beatrice Inn, Hartnett, 30, was spotted sharing lunch at West Village eatery the Spotted Pig with another on-and-off paramour, supermodel Helena Christensen.
So who do you think the smoldering actor should date?
Sorry! This poll has closed.


text:
Gil Shefler writes for Religion News Service.
c. 2014 Religion News Service
(RNS) Senior leaders in Iraq's minority Yazidi community say their wives and daughters, forcibly held by Islamic militants, are being given a choice: Convert to Islam and marry jihadists—or else.
The Century's work relies primarily on subscriptions and donations. Thank you for supporting nonprofit journalism.
Support us by buying books:


text:
I'm always up for activities that take my mind off of Epilepsy…at least on a personal level. Don't get me wrong, I'm forever an advocate and I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure I spread the word. I'm always talking about living life with Epilepsy either on this blog, EverydayHealth.com, Facebook, Twitter…or the interviews I do.
Still, with weekly, and most of the time daily seizures…it's pretty special when you can lose yourself in something, with someone, and for the moment you don't have to think about 'the E word'.
I have a friend who makes sure of this. She and I have been friends for several years and our daughters, both only children, have been friends since they were little more than 2-years-old, and we met in 'Mom & Tot Class'. With the girls heading back to school this month (different schools), we committed to seeing each other once a week, with the girls, by planning various 'field trips'.
She has a personal association with seizure disorders (family), so she understands many of the challenges and the issues I face. Still, she has this amazing ability to make me forget about Epilepsy, at least for a few hours when we get the kids together or when we do something, just the two of us Moms. And, it's amazing…she doesn't ignore Epilepsy, but she manages our friendship 'around' Epilepsy. In other words, I'm sure you might have the same experience, but I can classify my relationships in a few different categories:
–Those I've lost because I live with a chronic illness (extreme, yes…but it has happened)
–Those who walk on eggshells with me because they are petrified that I will drop to the floor at any moment with a seizure (I don't see these friends much)
–Those who completely ignore the fact that I do live with Epilepsy because it's much easier to not ask than to understand the ins and outs of this condition
–Those who treat me like any other wife, mother, friend, co-worker and occasionally ask how I'm feeling, but don't limit activities, invitations, associations
If you do live with Epilepsy, or any chronic condition/illness for that matter…do you have friends who recognize your challenges, but are able to push the issues aside? Think…I bet you do. If so, make sure you recognize how lucky you are…


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The Giants may face Michael Vick in Week 17, needing a win to keep their postseason chances alive.
Eagles rookie quarterback Nick Foles has a broken hand and is out, coach Andy Reid announced to reporters in Philadelphia today, opening the door for Vick's return. Reid said there is a "pretty good chance" Vick will start against the Giants.
"He feels good, and I think he deserves that opportunity to play," Reid said at his press conference this morning. "He's excited about it, and I've had a chance to talk to him this morning. He'll be ready to go."
Foles took over the Eagles' starting job when Vick suffered a concussion and kept it after Vick was cleared to return. His injury, a hairline fracture, showed up in an MRI the morning after Foles and the Eagles played a tight loss against the Redskins yesterday.
Vick and the Eagles beat the Giants in Week 4. Vick hasn't played since a Week 10 loss to Dallas.
"It changes the nature of how you have to prepare," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "Obviously, for the two quarterbacks, there's a different scenario for how you prepare. If that's the case, then we will focus on Michael Vick."
Jenny Vrentas: firstname.lastname@example.com; twitter.com/JennyVrentas
NJ.com has free mobile phone apps for Giants, Jets and Rutgers football. Download today for iPhone or Android.


text:
So you didn't update your Apple TV 2 firmware to version 6.0 (iOS 7) when it came in September, hoping for a jailbreak for 5.3 software (iOS 6.1.4 – 10B809) to come sooner or later? The wait is finally over as an updated version of FireCore's Seas0nPass now allows for an untethered jailbreak of Apple TV 5.3 (Apple TV 2 only).
SHSH blobs
AppleInsider discoverd a growing thread at the Apple Support Communities website where users report issues after updating their Apple TVs (2nd and 3rd generation) to the latest Apple TV 5.1 software. It looks like many Apple TVs are getting bricked after running the update:
Apple TV hacker and developer nitoTV has recently shared some thoughts on the Apple TV 2 5.0 (iOS 5.1) and Apple TV 3 jailbreak. According to him, without an A5 bootrom exploit being found, an Apple TV 3 jailbreak "will be an uphill battle." That's mainly because the "attack surface" on Apple TV is much smaller:
Downgrading to older version of Apple TV 2 firmware just got easier, thanks to a new version of Seas0nPass. Recently released by FireCore, Seas0nPass 0.8.2 uses previously saved firmware signatures (SHSH blobs) to jailbreak and restore an Apple TV version that Apple may no longer be signing.
FireCore has released a new version of aTV Flash (black) for Apple TV 2. Version 1.3 comes with firmware backup option, new translations, playback enhancements and some other improvements and fixes.
aTV Flash 1.3 automatically backups Apple TV firmware signatures (SHSH) to the cloud. Backing up firmware signatures allows older Apple TV firmware versions to be reinstalled in the future. According to FireCore, this feature will integrate seamlessly with the upcoming version of Seas0nPass, allowing for one-click restores to the firmware of your choosing.
Apple TV 2 software has been updated to version 4.2 (iOS 4.3), which brings new capabilities to those tiny black boxes that are still not jailbroken or are ready to lose the jailbreak. MLB.TV and NBA Game Time are now available as streaming content options, AirPlay has been updated to support video from iOS apps and websites and the support for Dolby Digital 5.1 on Netflix has been added (the full list of new features is below).
As you already know, if you don't want to lose your jailbreak (and all the apps/plugins/add-ons you've already installed) you can't update. But if you have SHSH blobs saved you can update to 4.2, check out the new features and then decide whether you stay with these ones or you prefer to go back to your old jailbreakable 4.1.1 (iOS 4.2.1) to enjoy some other great features it offers (XBMC, Hulu, aTV Flash and many more).


text:
Intussusception (cont.)
David Perlstein, MD, MBA, FAAP
Dr. Perlstein received his Medical Degree from the University of Cincinnati and then completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at The New York Hospital, Cornell medical Center in New York City. After serving an additional year as Chief Pediatric Resident, he worked as a private practitioner and then was appointed Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
In this Article
- Intussusception facts
- What is intussusception?
- What happens during intussusception?
- Is intussusception an urgent problem?
- Who is at greatest risk for intussusception?
- What causes intussusception?
- Why is rapid diagnosis of intussusception important?
- What are the symptoms of intussusception?
- How is intussusception diagnosed?
- Is it necessary to operate when there is intussusception?
- What is the prognosis (outlook) for patients with intussusception?
- Find a local Gastroenterologist in your town
How is intussusception diagnosed?
The history of abdominal pain and vomiting as described above, may suggest the diagnosis of intussusception. Additionally, the examining doctor may feel an abdominal "sausage-shaped" mass (the intussusception itself) or upon auscultation with a stethoscope, may hear diminished or absent bowel sounds. Lab tests are usually not helpful, although plain abdominal X-rays can reveal signs of an intestinal obstruction, including air-fluid levels, decreased gas, and unexplained masses, usually seen in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. Ultrasound and CT scans are generally not required to make the diagnosis.
A barium, water-soluble contrast or air enema is considered both diagnostic and therapeutic in the management of intussusception. This radiologic procedure involves the introduction of the contrast into the lower intestine. If an intussusception is present, it will be seen during the imaging. Often just the introduction of the contrast will reduce the telescoped bowel to its normal position and shape. In these cases there is a high risk of for re-intussusception in the first 24 hours following the enema, though, less commonly, recurrence may be seen several days and even months later.
Is it necessary to operate when there is intussusception?
The treatment of intussusception may or may not require surgery. In some cases, the intestinal obstruction can be reversed with an enema. The enema carries a risk of intestinal rupture and cannot be done if the bowel has already perforated. The procedure also requires the availability of a surgeon, in case the patient's bowel ruptures or the intussusception cannot be reduced.
If the intestinal obstruction cannot be reversed by an enema, surgery is necessary to reverse the intussusception and relieve the obstruction. If a portion of the intestine has become gangrenous, it must be removed. After surgery, intravenous feeding and fluids are continued until normal bowel movements resume. Because of the risk of recurrence, patients who are successfully reduced by enema usually are admitted for observation during the first 24 hours post procedure, and have no ill effects. Recently, research has suggested that a select population of the children may be observed for shorter periods of time (6 hours) after undergoing reduction of the intussesception by enema, but currently, most patients stay the full 24 hours.
Parenting and Pregnancy
Get tips for baby and you.


text:
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) reported earnings yesterday that showed the e-commerce giant is just barely eking out a living, with an operating profit margin of 0.5% (and a negative net). And now, Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK ) has announced a plan that might squeeze Amazon's profit margin even further.
Overstock declared yesterday that for at least "a limited time," it intends to sell books to its online customers at prices "at least 10-percent below" what Amazon charges. As Overstock explains, it's chopping the prices on literally hundreds of thousands of titles.
Of course, Amazon shoppers may still find they get a better deal on eligible purchases of $25 or more (which get free shipping) or Kindle e-book purchases. On the other hand, Overstock points out that truly avid readers can avoid its shipping charges as well so long as they order more than $50 worth of merchandise. Shipping on orders under that amount is $2.95 per order.
As Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne noted: "If you're going to buy a book this week, you're crazy not to shop Overstock.com first. And if you weren't going to buy a book this week, you should reconsider."