Pope Francis

Habemus Papam! Whether or not you are Catholic, it is a historic day. The Catholic Church elected a new pope.

Pope Francis, the first Pope from Argentina and actually the first Pope ever from outside of Europe.

It is indeed a historic day!

What were most media outlets commenting on earlier today? Why, the Sistine Seagull of course:

(Business Insider)

(CTV)

This Seagull was perched atop the chimney which issues the smoke from the papal conclave vote burning, black smoke means no new pope and white smoke means a new pope has been elected.

The White Smoke which announced the new pope’s election earlier today:

(New York Times)

There were actually a couple seagulls to perch on the chimney, and they are a common side around the Vatican. I guess it might be a bit boring to just watch and wait, but the gull was not that interesting. You can check out one of his many news story at CTV News.

The seagull also got its own Twitter account….yep, that happens these days. You can see it at SistineSeagull (warning: may contain offensive content).

If you would like to read a bit more about the new Pope, check out the National Catholic Reporter.

Monopoly Dog Game Piece Saved!

Good news everyone, the Dog piece was saved during the “Save Your Token” contest! I did not ever really think the dog was in danger, but you never know and it was fun to participate in the contest.

The piece that was voted out? The Iron. I am not sure how I feel about that, I always thought the Iron was cool and even chose it as my piece when I could not be the dog. The Iron, Wheelbarrow, and shoe were all close in votes until the very end of the contest. I guess some companies got behind their favorite pieces with Ames True Temper making a video to support the Wheelbarrow.  Hasbro will immediately stop production of the Iron game piece.

The piece that won to replace the Iron? The Cat.

The options people got to choose from were the robot, ring, cat, helicopter, and guitar:

Sad about the loss of the Iron, or that your new favorite was not chosen? Hasbro will release a special edition of the Monopoly game which will include all the old pieces as well as all of the new candidates on February 15. The new version of the game, with the Iron replaced by the Cat, will be released in the Fall.

To read the full story visit ABCnews.go.com

We Will Never Forget

Today in the US we remember all those who lost their lives, and gave their service to help, on September 11, 2001.

Transit of Venus

Last night the planet Venus took a path between the Earth and the Sun, an event not to be witnessed for another 105 years. Did you get to see it? I did not get to see it in person, but there are amazing pictures of it online at the dailymail:

An amazing shot with a bird on a dome of the Taj Mahal in the foreground and Venus in the back:

Venus passing by as seen in Kathmandu:

Here is the Nasa high resolution image of the event:

All images found on Mail Online: “Once in a lifetime: Transit of Venus puts on spectacular show for the last time until 2117” I would encourage you to click the link and go see more of these amazing images!

Tim Tebow’s Dog

Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Jets, has decided to change the name of his dog. Once Bronco, Tebow’s Rhodesian Ridgeback is now Bronx.

I do not feel like he needed to rename the dog – I mean at least the name is close so the dog might not be that confused by it. The topic has come up on Twitter with people suggesting other possible but funny names with #RejectedTebowDogNames. Some of the suggestions include Elway, Champ, Starter, and Spiral.

As a puppy:

You can read more about the story on Yahoo! Sports.

Iditarod

Yesterday marked the beginning of the 40th Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska. Sixty-six mushers and their teams of dogs will race for 8 days, beginning in the town of Willow, to reach the town of Nome. The race covers around 1000 miles, with the actual mileage different as start points are changed around. Mushers have teams of 12 – 16 dogs, and must have 6 on the tow line in front of the sled when they reach Nome. The first 30 to finish split $550,000 – with the first team to cross the line receiving $50,400 and a new truck.

The race is loosely based off the 1925 serum run in which a diphtheria epidemic threatened the town of Nome. The closest available serum to treat the disease was in Anchorage. No safe planes were available to transport it, so it made the trip first by train and then my a relay team of 20 mushers and over 100 dogs. No dog ran over 100 miles. The famous Balto was lead dog of the team which arrived in town with the serum – just five and a half days after it left Anchorage.

Teams of dogs starting the race:

(REUTERS/Wayde Carroll)

The dogs wear booties to protect their paws:

(AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

I think sled dogs are amazing, a wonderful example of a dog doing what it was bred to do in some of the harshest conditions possible. These dogs spend much of their lives outdoors, having thick fur which allows them to withstand freezing temperatures.

National Geographic also has a great set of pictures featuring military sled dogs. This is currently the only military dog sled team in the world which operates in Greenland, paroling the frozen coastline. There are 12 men who make up the team, and they complete a full investigation of the coast at least once every 5 years.

Here is a close up of two of the dogs:

Ariel shot out on the ice:

Dogs being transported by plane to the northern coast of Greenland:

Dogs kenneled outside, far apart so that they do not fight with each other:

(All photos taken by Fritz Hoffman)

SOPA/PIPA

Today many of the larger websites in the US have gone dark today to bring attention to legislation currently going through congress that would hurt the internet if passed as is. I encourage you today to look at and understand SOPA and PIPA, and if you can sign a petition or contact your representatives so that this does not pass as is.

Articles with links for further info: Mashable talks about why this legislation is dangerous, CNN Money discusses the legislation and why it matters, and a  New York Times article about the event today.

Here is a petition from Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

I support the effort to protect intellectual property online and to make laws better in that regard. However, I cannot support these bills as they are with the ability to take down a website without having to prove that there is actually a problem. And doing it in a way that the website would not be able to recover or really even fight for its own reputation.

Here is what Wikipedia says about the legislation:

“SOPA and PIPA would put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won’t have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn’t being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won’t show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA would build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

In a world in which politicians regulate the Internet based on the influence of big money, Wikipedia — and sites like it — cannot survive.

Congress says it’s trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the “cure” that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease. SOPA and PIPA are not the answer: they would fatally damage the free and open Internet.”

Some websites that are taking part in the blackout: Google (take a look at the censor bar over their logo)

Wikipedia has a blackout page on the english language version of their site (see it here)

wordpress.com has censor bars all over the main page stories, Moveon.org, Craigslist, Reddit, Boing Boing, Firefox browser creator Mozilla, and the Cheezburger network are all participating today.

Again, here is one of the easiest ways to voice your opinion - from Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

10 Years Later

Today in the US we remember 9/11/2001 – to honor all those who died, their families, and everyone who helped in the aftermath.

Animal planet today posted a very nice article about the search and rescue dogs (SAR dogs) who aided in the rescue efforts. If you get a chance it is worth reading.

 

$10,000 Dog

My dogs have eaten a lot of things they should not have, but nothing ever worth thousands of dollars:

In Albany, GA, a dog ate $10,000 worth of diamonds!

The Pomeranian named Honey Bun goes with his owner to work at John Ross jewelers. When the store’s co-owner got up to meet a customer  he left a chair open in a location allowing Honey access to a desk where 4 packs of loose diamonds were laying open. Honey only left one pouch untouched.

With the diamonds missing it was apparent that the dog must have eaten them and was immediately taken for x-rays. The check up cannot show carbon, but it did show a couple spots that were likely the diamonds. A day later, after nature took its course, the two one carat diamonds were recovered.

I am not sure that I would want diamonds that had taken such a strange journey!

Read the whole story at wsmv.com.

Royal Dog

Prince Charles and Camilla have adopted a puppy named Beth!

The puppy, a Jack Russel Terrier, was adopted from the Battersea Dogs and Cat Home animal rescue in London.  Camilla’s choice of dog was no surprise, she helped the rescue open a cattery last fall and mentioned that she was interested in a Jack Russel. Once the staff recieved one, they emailed photos to the Duchess.

The rescue’s website describes Beth as “…a charming, confident little puppy and we know she will be very happy in her new home.”

Beth will join the two Jack Russels that Charles and Camilla already have, Tosca and Rosie.

You can read the shelters story at battersea.org  and CNN’s story here.