SueBears.com Blog

In Prague leading astromers have in their infinite wisdom determined that poor little Pluto is no longer to be called a planet! This poor little body doesn’t fill the requirements for a planet to be “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.” WHAT? That new definition supposedly comes from the prestigious group that met to discuss this issue. Poor little Pluto is disqualified because it’s oribt is oblong and overlaps Neptune’s. Horrors!

Poor little Pluto will be now called a “dwarf planet similar to another term of such bodies, the “minor planet”.

I think immediate plans need to be made to form a support organization to improve the now devastated psyche of poor little Pluto! If you were known as Pluto from 1930 and now you were called a “dwarf planet” or worse “minor” planet your psyche would be seriously damaged too! I will be happy to lead such a support group and think we should meet immediately before poor little Pluto’s life is ruined forever. How about meeting this weekend? Sign up here!

In Southern California we teach our dogs to surf too! On August 20, we had out first ever Surf Dog Small Wave Competition and fundraiser for PAWS in Coronado. Even featured on the local NBC news station last night it looks like fun was held by all. I am waiting to see more pictures from this fun event but in the meantime here is Murphy and Teevan McManus, surfing instructor from the SanDiegoReader.com website. I don’t think Murphy competed because he is an “experienced” surfer and this event was for beginners!

The giant panda population seems to be exploding in China lately and here is the latest! This is either the cutest or ugliest baby I have seen - I am going to go with cutest no matter what you say! Very soon this little one will take on the black and white fur look we are used to but for now just check out that face! On a more serious note, there are about 1600 pandas now in zoos and preserves around the world and they are still seriously endangered.

Some of you reading this blog may know that I spent many years designing, creating and showing my own artist teddy bears so this story from London was a bit of a shock!

In London a guard dog named Barney went beserk and ripped apart a collection of rare teddy
bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a weird rampage at a children’s museum by the name of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England. He ripped off the head of the brown Steiff bear once own by Presley and left bits of it and many others strewn all over the floor. The entire collection is valued at more than $900,000. It is not clear whether he destroyed the whole collection but good grief Barney - what were you thinking?

The heat wave criss-crossing the country has been hard to take lately. In one area very close to me it was 119 just a couple of weeks ago! But here is definitely the way to beat the heat. Jump in the pool and start muching on your polar bearcicle make from apples and other good stuff. Oh wait a minute, I guess you have to be a polar bear to do this! Here is one enjoying his bearcicle in an amusement park in Seoul. Zoos call this behavior enrichment and I have watched a polar bear doing this very thing many times at the LA ZOO. It still looks cool in every way so enjoy!

A very cute little black and white kitten was rescued after falling in a hole at the side of the road in Buffalo NY. Of course, it took Animal Control, utility personnel and finally the fire department to literally flush him out. But all is well and one of the guys is planning to take the kitty home to his daughter.

Here is a link to a video showing the rescue. With the agony going on in this world it is nice for a moment to watch a “feel good” story about people who care for even a tiny little creature in need.

Along with the horrors of the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon, CNN reports that the Bush Administration has reversed its earlier position of proposing to charge American citizens a $3000 “evacuation fee” to get them out of Lebanon! As House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) commented “A nation that can provide more than $300 billion for a war in Iraq can provide the money to get its people out of Lebanon.” This is so mind boggling I can’t think of anything to say. What is the American Embassy in Lebanon thinking? Pelosi also named this the “Katrina mentality”. There is a young boy ( a liver transplant patient) and an American citizen who needs to get out of Lebanon now since he has only 7 days worth of anti-rejection medication left! Apparently his doctor at UCLA and a Congressman have managed to arrange his evacuation over the unbelievable lack of response by our government. Isn’t the Embassy supposed to handle these things and take care of our citizens? I don’t think I like the answer to my question!

Click here for a fun look at some cleverly photoshopped animals. Unfortunately I cannot give proper credit since I don’t know who created them but they are very clever and make for a good laugh! Have Fun!

Recently I enrolled in a 7-week disaster preparedness training class offered by the Los Angeles Fire Department called “CERT” (Community Emergency Response Team). This program developed in Los Angeles is offered in every state and 6 foreign countries. In California you can check here and find a wealth of information. In other states check here. There will be a link for your state. Catastrophic events may severely restrict and absolutely overwhelm fire and police departments, disrupt communications, transportation and major utilities and knowlegeable private citizens will have to be able to respond.

So far I am sure this sounds all very dry but believe me when I the say it has been fascinating, challenging and just plain fun! Maybe it is OUR Firefighter Shapiro who makes it fun but the group I am taking it with is more than pleased. We had an amazing experience last week - we learned to put out a real fire with fire extinguishers! Very empowering if you have never handled one! Two firefighters set up a controlled 3-4 foot fire in a large parking lot and we worked in teams of two to put it out. Other clases will include disaster triage and patient assessment, setting up a incident command system, disaster psychology and probelms with terrorism incidents.

The purpose is to provide private citizens the basic skills needed to handle their own needs and the needs of their community in the aftermath of a disaster. This is crucial where I live (earthquake country) but every area is prone to some kind of disaster. I really encourage you to look at the web sites I listed, take the course and get involved. In case you think this sounds beyond your abilities I actually asked our instructor this question, - Sir, I am a 5′ tall senior who is not going to be much help with search and rescue! And his answer - wrong, you WILL be able, after this course, to assess the needs of your area and can lead us directly to where our skills and equipement are needed when we are able to get to your area. Excellent point! SO, Just Do It!

Happy 4th of July to all you United States readers! The space shuttle Discovery has been blasted into orbit! When we do fireworks, we do fireworks! Good luck and Godspeed to the astronauts!