Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Second rate reporter says what?

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

We’re not going back!

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

A consequence of cucumbers

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Respite Open Thread: New Fat Bear Winner

Respite Open Thread: New Fat Bear Winner

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A size-acceptance model for the rest of us. Per NPR:

… Fat Bear Week has been an annual event for the past five years in Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwestern Alaska. The idea is to publicize and celebrate the process of bears eating as much as they can to build up crucial fat reserves in advance of winter hibernation.

Park rangers made a game out of the process — a March Madness-style bracket matching bear against bear, each with photos proving girth and inviting the public to vote on the fattest bear in each pair…

Katmai Conservancy Media Ranger Naomi Boak says Holly earned her title.

“It was very hard to get a good picture [of Holly] out of the water,” she says, “because she was a submarine for the entire month. She did not stop fishing, except to dig a belly hole big enough for her to sleep in.”

Holly and all of this year’s 12 contestants are coastal brown bears that forage along the Brooks River. The Alaskan waterway has one of the largest concentrations of sockeye salmon in the world, and the bears there take full advantage.

This year’s weeklong competition was a huge success, with a record total of 187,000 votes cast — more than three times last year’s total…

Reader Interactions

29Comments

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    Fear not, Alaskans. As winter sets in the shortage from bears hoarding lemons and tartar sauce will subside.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax:

    Fear not, Alaskans. As winter sets in the shortage from bears hoarding lemons and tartar sauce will subside.

    Not to mention the raids on flour, eggs, bread crumbs and vegetable oil.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    Open thread?

    Who in this maladministration watched the first Superman movie over and over and then decided implementing a slow motion Lex Luthor on California is the way to go?

    The Trump administration has finalized its plans to open hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land in Central California to oil and gas leasing, paving the way for more fracking to soon begin in the state. Source

    “Fracking = quakes? And a connection can’t absolutely be proven? Cool. Now we don’t have to waste any nukes.That idea never tested well, anyway.”

  10. 10.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: Everyone knows Oklahoma’s shake rattle and roll started after that convoy of Shake Weights mysteriously disappeared.

  13. 13.

    CaseyL

    Respite thread? A bit OT, but a nice bit of good news:

    Remember Thomas Cook, the 200-year old UK travel company that went bust about a week ago? Closed abruptly when they couldn’t find additional funding when the UK government decided not to bail them out, and put 2500 people out of work?

    Well, Hays Travel (another UK company) has bought up all the closed Thomas Cook stores in the UK and rehired everyone who lost their jobs.

    If I ever fulfill my lifelong wish to spend a few weeks in the British Isles, I’ll use Hays Travel as my agent.

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: It was a really interesting documentary. The DNA testing came back that grandfather was a variant of the kodiak variant of grizzlies. Based on the measurements they were able to take, and the brief video footage they got of him, they were estimating that he is the largest bear alive or alive at the time they filmed the documentary.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    @jl:
    In fairness to bears, it’s not really overeating as humans and overfed domestic pets do it. As noted, Holly is eating now so that she can fast through her hibernation.

  27. 27.

    JAFD

    As I once told a young lady who was fretting about her curves…
    “You’re much more fun to play with than the average teddy bear.” ;-)

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