Running Fast with the Cheetahs

U.S. Troops Rescue Ethiopian Cheetah Cubs
By ANTHONY MITCHELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -

U.S. troops flew two endangered cheetah cubs to the Ethiopian capital Tuesday after instigating their rescue from a remote village where a restaurant owner had held them captive and abused them.

The male and female cubs - whom the soldiers named Scout and Patch - were released on the grounds of the Ethiopian president's official residence after their 680-mile journey from the eastern hamlet of Gode.

"This is the first kind of rescue of animals, let alone cheetahs, that we have done," said Sgt. Leah Cobble, 26, of Washington, as she cuddled the two purring cubs on the runway of Bole International Airport before handing them to government veterinarian Fekadu Shiferaw.

The saga of the cubs started last month when U.S. counterterrorism troops, carrying out humanitarian work in the Gode region, discovered the animals' owner was keeping them tied up with ropes around their necks at his restaurant and forcing them to fight each other for the amusement of patrons and village children. One cub is blind in one eye.

The soldiers alerted the Ethiopian government and a U.S.-based cheetah rescue organization, drawing international attention to the cubs' plight. They also tried to persuade restaurant owner Mohamed Hudle to hand over the cubs, but he wanted $1,000 for each animal - 10 times the average income in this impoverished nation of 77 million people.

Fekadu, the veterinarian, intervened. He flew to the village Saturday, confiscated the cubs, and handed them over to U.S. forces for Tuesday's transport. The vet said Mohamed was not paid for the animals and that both had received antibiotic treatment and appeared in good health.

"Had we not had the help of the U.S. military, it would not have been possible to rescue these animals," Fekadu said after arriving with the cubs aboard the U.S. plane.

The cheetah is endangered worldwide because of loss of habitat, poaching and other factors, according to the Ohio-based Cheetah Conservation Fund.

Keeping wild animals is illegal without a license, but Ethiopia's wildlife laws are rarely enforced. Fekadu said the cubs eventually may have been sent to the Middle East as part of the wildlife trafficking trade in this part of Africa.

Mohamed said he bought the cubs from poachers who had kicked the female cub - Patch - in the face, blinding her.

The cubs will now live at the National Palace, home to President Girma Woldegirogis, along with three rescued lions and some vervet monkeys.

But palace animal keeper Kura Tulu said financial help may be needed to give the cubs the best of care. There is only an annual budget of $3,500 to look after all the animals at the palace, Kura said.

U.S. soldiers in the Horn of Africa are part of a task force that provides intelligence-gathering help to countries in the region, tries to bolster cooperation and border protection, and carries out humanitarian projects - digging wells, building bridges, helping construct schools - aimed at improving the U.S. military's image among Muslims.

"This is not the usual kind of support we offer," Cobble said of the cheetah rescue. "This was a way to support the Ethiopian authorities and local leaders and we were happy to do that. It has turned out very well for everyone, but mostly the cheetahs."

Soldiers said the cheetahs, riding in a cardboard box, purred throughout their 1 1/2-hour flight from Gode.

"The cheetahs really brought the soft side out in the troops," Cobble said. "They were all cooing over the cats like children."

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Got to Love the Locals for Hanging Out with Tourists

cummings and goings

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go,my dear;
and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate
(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world
(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root
and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky
of a tree called life;
which grows higher than
the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Happy 203rd Birthday Marines

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks that nothing is worth fighting for is
much worse.

The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself..."

-John Stuart Mill (1868)

On this day we celebrate the 230th Birthday of our "Corps" - take a moment and remember those that have gone before us and fought for our nation in "every clime and place", pray for those Marines that are in harms way today fighting for our American way of life and call your Marine "Buds" and wish them well on our birthday.

Semper Fidelis

Cousin Loren dings me again

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and was pulled over by a woman police officer who was also a blonde.

The blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver's license. She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated.

"What does it look like?" she finally asked.

The policewoman replied, "It's square and it has your picture on it."

The driver finally found a square mirror, looked at it and handed it to the policewoman. "Here it is," she said.

Q and A

Someone who actually follows my blog (I was really shocked that such people exist, God bless you) asked why recently I have just been running jokes instead of writing about my comings and goings.

The answer is: I have really been in a blue funk lately and rather needing all these jokes. I miss my Grandma Mom terribly. Find myself crying at some point every day. Asked a friend when that would end, she told me never. Very reassuring.

I am not one of those lucky few who has little experience with death. I go to a wedding every decade or so, but several funerals a year. I've lost family before, far too many, and far too many recently. People I have known and loved the whole of my lifetime.

But loosing her was very different. Part of living in Alaska is that people wander in and out of your life, you may out hear from them for years. Then they appear again, and it is like they never left.

I think my coping mechanism is to pretend that dead people are gone on a trip. They have just left for a while, and will be back soon. Pleasant thought in the meanwhiles.

With Grandma Mom I held her hand, watched her take her last breathes, saw the life ebb from her face until she was almost unrecognizable. It was too real, it haunts me, and I am unable to put it away and believe that she is just traveling somewhere.

So I am not feeling much like writing right now, it is too raw and I need to heal a bit. But thanks for asking.

Beckie, Beckie, Beckie

A drunk gets up from the bar and heads for the bathroom. A few minutes later, a loud, blood-curdling scream is heard coming from the bathroom.

A few minutes after that, another loud scream echo's through the bar. The bartender goes into the bathroom to investigate what the drunk is screaming about.

The bartender yells, "What's all the screaming about in there? You're scaring my customers!"

The drunk responds, "I'm just sitting here on the toilet and every time I try to flush, something comes up and squeezes the hell out of my balls."

The bartender opens the door and looks in.

You idiot! You're sitting on the mop bucket

Force Recon John Joke

A young Marine officer was in a serious car accident, but the only visible permanent injury was to both of his ears, which were amputated.

Since he wasn't physically impaired he remained in the Marine Corps and eventually rose to the rank of General. He was, however very sensitive about his appearance. One day the General was interviewing three Marines for his personal aide. The first was an aviator, and it was a great interview.

At the end of the interview the General asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?"

The young officer answered," why yes, sir. I couldn't help but notice that you have no ears." The general got very angry at the lack of tact and threw him out.

The second interview was with a female Lieutenant, and she was even better.

The General asked her the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?"

She replied, "Well, sir, you have no ears." The General threw her out also.

The third interview was with a Marine Gunny. He was articulate, looked extremely sharp and seemed to know more than the two officers combined (surprise).

The General wanted this guy, and went ahead with the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?"

To his surprise the Gunny said, "Yes sir; you wear contacts lenses."

The General was very impressed and thought, what an incredibly observant Gunny, and he didn't mention my ears. "And how do you know that I wear contacts?" The General asked.

The Gunny replied, "Well, sir, it's pretty hard to wear glasses when ya got no fricking' ears."