Sam the Koala

Gotta love this girl all right..

Koala love story wins hearts after deadly fires
By Belinda Goldsmith

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A love story between two badly burned koalas rescued from Australia's deadliest bushfires has provided some heart-warming relief after days of devastation and the loss of over 180 lives.

The story of Sam and her new boyfriend Bob emerged after volunteer firefighter Dave Tree used a mobile phone to film the rescue of the bewildered female found cowering in a burned out forest at Mirboo North, 150 km (90 miles) southeast of Melbourne.

Photos and a video of Tree, 44, approaching Sam while talking gently to her, and feeding her water from a plastic bottle as she put her burned claw in his cold, wet hand quickly hit video sharing website YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSPx7S4jr4), making her an Internet sensation.

But it was after reaching a wildlife shelter that Sam met and befriended Bob, who was saved by wildlife workers on Friday, two days before Sam, in Boolarra, about 180 km from Melbourne.

Tree, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 26 years, said it was extremely rare to get so close to a koala so he asked his colleague Brayden Groen, 20, to film him.

"You can how she stops and moves forward and looks at me. It was like a look saying "I can't run, I'm weak and sore, put me out of my misery,"" Tree told Reuters.

"I yelled out for some water and I sat down with her and tipped the water up. It was in my hand and she reached for the bottle then put her right claw into my left hand which was cold so it must have given her some pain relief and she just left it there. It was just amazing."

INSPIRING LOVE STORY

Sam was taken to the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson. Her story was reminiscent of a koala named Lucky who survived the 2003 bushfires that destroyed about 500 homes and killed four people in the capital of Canberra. Lucky became a symbol of hope.

Colleen Wood from the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter that is caring for Sam and Bob said both koalas were doing well while other animals like possums, kangaroos, and wallabies were also starting to emerge from the debris.

She said Sam had suffered second degree burns to her paws and would take seven to eight months to recover while Bob had three burned paws with third degree burns and should be well enough to return to the bush in about four months.

"They keep putting their arms around each other and giving each other hugs. They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful to see after all this. It's been horrific," said Wood.

"Sam is probably aged between two to four going by her teeth and Bob is about four so they have a muchness with each other."

Wood said about 20 koalas had been brought into her shelter in recent days, several of whom had bonded as koalas are known to clump together, but none had garnered the same attention as the new Internet star Sam.

Tree, a volunteer with the Country Fire Authority Victoria, has visited Sam since her rescue and was delighted to see she had found a boyfriend in Bob.
Continued

Don't forget to watch Karma Kula Mystic Warrior!

AAAS: Living near trees 'makes people live longer and feel happier'

AAAS: Living near trees 'makes people live longer and feel happier'
Leafy streets also encourage a lower crime rate and a more "civilised" atmosphere, even in poor areas, researchers found.

They believe that living close to parks and other green spaces is "essential to our physical, psychological and social well-being".

"Nature calms people and it also helps them psychologically rejuvenate. They are better able to handle challenges which come their way," said Prof Frances Kuo, from the University of Illinois, who led a review of studies into the effects of trees and parklands.

The research also shows that people have happier relationships and perform better in tests when they live in tree-filled neighbourhoods.

Other studies showed that health levels could be "predicted by the amount of green space within a one-mile radius".

Research in Japan also found that older people lived for longer when their homes were within walking distance of a park or other green space.

Prof Kuo said: "In our studies, people with less access to nature show relatively poor attention or cognitive function, poor management of major life issues, and poor impulse control."

She added: "The relationship between crime and vegetation is very clear: the more trees, the fewer crimes.

"It actually encourages people to use the spaces outside their homes which provides a natural form of surveillance.

"In fact, the data seem to indicate that if you have a landscape where you introduce well-maintained trees and grass, people will find that a safer environment."

One study showed that the presence of trees could cut crime by as much as seven per cent, according to the research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference (AAAS) in Chicago.

Children with attention deficit disorders also behaved better after a walk in a park compared to those who exercised indoors or in treeless areas, the review found.
Source

Sure thing. These guys should read Richard Louv's "Last Child In the Woods" and they'll understand better.

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Boy fathers, mystic warriors, etc

Oh and happy valentines! It's never been a special day for me or anything but.. what the heck.

My god what is the world coming to? I'm referring to the 13 year old "father". This is what happens when nobody wants to discipline anybody and they're wondering why there's all these teenage problems and what not. It's depressing!

Then here's Karma Kula Mystic Warrior. they've got some new trailers up it seems.

Don't forget to watch the little ninja

Another trailer.. Karma Kula Mystic Warrior

So here's another trailer from karma kula mystic warrior.

Haven't been online for a few days. I've been partying a lot. Tonight I'm just dead tired. I don't think I could take another party even if I wanted to.. zzz
Don't forget to watch your daily Ninjai chapter

Mystic Warrior, Mystic events

Check out the karma kula trailer! And damn this is freaky:

- Daniel Pharr says he was in the middle of his first-ever skydive, thousands of feet over South Carolina, when the instructor strapped to his back stopped talking to him Saturday.

The instructor, George "Chip" Steele of Skydive Carolina, was later pronounced dead. But as they were falling, Pharr -- an Army soldier taking a private skydiving lesson -- knew only that Steele wasn't responding.

Pharr said he "went into survival mode," using his military training to calm himself as he tried to get to ground safely.

"We're just taught to deal with adversity, whether it be on the battlefront or at home or ... up in the air, and you just do what you have to do -- assess the situation and keep a calm head about you because it doesn't do anybody any good to panic," said Pharr, a private in the Army.

Pharr, able to steer himself only in right circles because he could use only the parachute's right steering mechanism, managed to maneuver away from some obstructions and landed safely in Chester, South Carolina.

When they landed, Pharr attempted CPR, but it was too late.

Steele, 49, appeared to have died of a heart attack, Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker told the Rock Hill (South Carolina) Herald. An autopsy was being conducted Monday.

Everything seemed to be normal at the beginning of the jump, Pharr said. He asked a question and Steele responded. They chatted for a moment in the air, but when Pharr asked another question about 5,500 feet above ground, Steele did not respond.

Pharr asked the question again. When he still got no response, he didn't panic -- he realized to get down safely he had to remain calm, he said.

"The likelihood of you surviving, you know, decreases absolutely amazingly by factors exponentially if you panic," he said.

The skydive was a Christmas gift from Pharr's girlfriend, who he said is now having regrets about it. But Pharr assured her there was no reason for regret.

"It's a lifelong experience now, not to be turned around into a bad thing," he said. "I just hate it for the family."

Pharr -- based at Georgia's Fort Gordon, according to CNN affiliate WJBF -- said his focus was just to get down to the ground and help Steele.

Pharr said his family won't let him go near skydiving again, and he isn't arguing with them.

Source