So it's almost Christmas

...and Saddam Hussein is in "jail," with certain people hoping like heck he doesn't spill his guts about everything he knows...and we are now at Orange Alert...What I want to know is why Tom Ridge keeps talking about Homeland this and Homeland that. I could have sworn we were in the United States, not some place called "Homeland"...and it snowed like a son of a gun in Anchorage but its cold and clear here in Bethel...

Alaska's first flu fatality?

Health officials suspect flu in death of 17-year-old girl
KOTLIK: Fatality is the first this year in Alaska as vaccine supplies rapidly dwindle.


By ANN POTEMPA
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: December 6, 2003)

As officials scrambled to find more flu vaccines during an unprecedented shortage, the state health department Friday evening reported Alaska's first possible death from the flu this season.

Health officials said a 17-year-old girl from Kotlik died this week in the western Alaska village from a respiratory viral illness that resembles influenza.

Dr. Franc Fallico, the state's acting chief medical examiner, said his staff performed a preliminary autopsy Friday and learned the girl had pneumonia, which can be related to the flu.

Fallico said the death confirms the serious nature of this year's flu season. "Young women don't usually die of respiratory diseases like this," he said.

Dr. Joseph Klejka, medical director for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., said he's seeing a lot of viral illness in that region right now. Influenza typically causes fever, cough, headache, muscle aches and fatigue.

Other states, including Colorado where six children have died, have reported deadly flu outbreaks this year. All the Colorado victims were under 16.

Fallico said state health officials are still running tests on the Kotlik girl to confirm if influenza killed her. During the past 10 years, Alaska has had at least three flu-related deaths annually, the state health department said.

The state Section of Epidemiology reported Friday that it also is struggling to find flu vaccines to meet Alaska's needs.

"We decided to do something we've never done before and try to order some more vaccine," said Dr. Beth Funk, medical epidemiologist. The state got bad news: Its main distributor had none left. On Friday, the two main manufacturers of flu vaccine for the nation announced they had both run out.

Funk said the department ordered 90,000 doses this year -- which is more than it typically orders -- but started hearing from health care providers this week that they had run out. Her staff called around and found 5,000 more doses that should arrive in Alaska next week but at a rising price.

"It probably won't meet demand," she said.

The department also is collecting about 1,000 unused doses from around the state and plans to redistribute them.

The Municipality of Anchorage's health department also is running out of vaccine. It received 3,000 adult doses earlier this fall and then an additional 300 this week, but is already down to 115, said Hisa Fallico, program manager for disease prevention and control. That's unlike past years when the department had to throw out vaccine that never got used, she said.

Klejka said he's also investigating how much vaccine remains in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

As of Friday, the state Section of Epidemiology reported 183 cases of confirmed influenza in the state, with most of them coming from Anchorage, the Valley and the southeast part of the state.

There are likely many more cases of influenza here, she said.

"We're not out to count every single case," Funk said. "We're just out to document that flu is in a community."

The state health department is now reporting widespread influenza because it has detected laboratory-confirmed cases throughout Alaska, she said.

Funk said she's reminding health care providers that people at high risk for complications from influenza should receive the vaccine. Those people include the very young, very old and anyone with medical conditions that affect their immunity.

People should call their health care providers to find out who has remaining flu vaccines, Funk said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More blatant attempts at a Google ranking!

LOOKING FOR THE PARIS HILTON SEX TAPES?
PARIS HILTON NAKED?
PARIS HILTON NUDE?
PARIS HILTON?
HILTON PARIS?
NAKED PARIS HILTON?
PARIS HILTON NAKED SEX VIDEO?
SEX VIDEO PARIS HILTON?

Sorry, it's not here.

"Vituperation"

KCNA Blasts Rumsfeld's Vituperation
Pyongyang, November 22 (KCNA) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld reportedly slandered the DPRK as an "evil country" and an "evil regime" again during his Asian visit. It is nothing surprising that Rumsfeld talked such nonsense as he put Hitler into the shade in man-killing and war hysteria.
But we can never pardon him for malignantly slandering our dignified and inviolable political system whether he is a political dwarf, human scum or hysteric.
His hands are stained with the blood shed by so many people.
He is, indeed, a human butcher and fascist tyrant who puts an ogre to shame.
It was none other than Rumsfeld who set out the theory of "preemptive nuclear attack," massacred innocent people in every part of the world and hurled GIs into the Iraqi war and other abysses of death. Wherever he went he sparked aggression, war and horrible disaster.
It is ridiculous of such a war fanatic to talk about evil and other country's policy.
It is tragedy that he does not know he himself is a kingpin of evil.
Such vituperation was let loose by Rumsfeld known to play a major role in shaping the politics of the U.S. administration at a time when Bush is talking about "written security assurances" to the DPRK. This goes to prove that the "security assurances" are nothing but a farce to deceive the DPRK.
This also clearly proved that the Bush group remains unchanged in its wolfish design to unleash a new war on the Korean peninsula at any cost, far from opting to co-exist with the DPRK in peace, and its inveterate denial of the DPRK system.
If his vituperation represents the stance of the Bush administration, it can not but cast a doubt about the prospect of the six-way talks but only reinforces the conviction that there is no other way but to stand in confrontation with the U.S. to the end.
And this compels us to approach with vigilance the true intention of the Bush administration clamoring for a "peaceful settlement" of the nuclear issue.
The wrong way of thinking and sinister intention of the U.S. bellicose forces to detain us in the conference room and focus on mounting a preemptive nuclear attack on us behind the curtain clearly prove the justice of our decision to increase our nuclear deterrent force.

Honoring Lori Piestewa

Indian Leaders Honor Hopi Servicewoman Killed in War With Iraq
By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press Writer
Published: Nov 17, 2003

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, the first American servicewoman killed in the war with Iraq, was remembered Monday as a brave soldier who made her family and fellow American Indians proud.

Piestewa's mother, father and two small children watched as the National Congress of American Indians signed a proclamation honoring the fallen soldier during its annual conference.

The proclamation said Piestewa served her country valiantly when the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed by Iraqi forces in March. Piestewa, a member of the Hopi tribe in Arizona, and eight other soldiers were killed when their supply convoy became lost and entered Iraqi-held Nasiriyah.

"Today we look to the creator to comfort the parents and the children of Lori and the families of all of these fallen warriors," NCAI President Tex G. Hall said.

Her mother, Percy, wiped tears from her eyes and gave kisses to Piestewa's youngest child, 3-year-old Carla, as she bounced up and down to the beating drums of an honor song played by two members from Taos Pueblo.

The soldier's father, Terry Piestewa, told The Associated Press on Monday that his family was honored to travel to New Mexico to meet with people who have found a place in their hearts for his daughter.

Two of Lori Piestewa's friends, Pfc. Jessica Lynch and Spc. Shoshana Johnson, were captured in the same ambush and survived.

AP-ES-11-17-03 2258EST

SEMINOLE TRIBE
Hopi woman killed in Iraq is honored
In a salute to veterans, the Seminole Tribe hosts ceremonies honoring Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a Hopi, who became the first woman soldier to die during Iraq duty.
BY ASHLEY FANTZ
afantz@herald.com

Sho-na-bish.

That Seminole word, meaning ''thank you,'' was repeated many times Thursday as Native American veterans from around the nation honored one of their own, a Hopi who was the first female soldier to die in Iraq.

Gathered at the Seminole Big Cypress Entertainment Complex on Broward County's western edge for the 16th annual Veterans Day Celebration, about 300 Native Americans were part of a tribute to Pfc. Lori Piestewa.

She was 23 years old in March when Iraqis ambushed her 507th Maintenance Co. and captured her comrades, including her closest friend and roommate, Pfc. Jessica Lynch. On Sunday, NBC will broadcast a TV movie about Lynch's ordeal.

Piestewa has not received the same level of attention, said Seminole spokesman Elrod Bowers, but tribes from across the country have pulled together to show their support for her family.

''In the Seminole culture, it's not accepted to be loud about your accomplishments, to be out there about what you've done,'' he said. ``We are more subdued.''

Nodding in solemn gratitude, Piestewa's parents accepted a hand-carved flute decorated with fringe and American flags.

In Seminole culture, the flute symbolizes healing, tribe member Steven Bowers explained. The dead soldier's father, Percy Piestewa, listened intently as his wife, Terry Piestewa, wrapped her arms around Lori's children, Brandon, 5, and Carla, 3. Piestewa was divorced, and the children now live with her parents.

Highly guarded about the details of their daughter's life, the Piestewas were quiet throughout the day's events, but seemed comfortable joining in a victory dance performed by the Comanche Little Pony Warrior Society, a national group with some Florida members.

''We are very humbled,'' said Percy Piestewa. ``We thank you, and God bless you all.''

Immediately after they received news of their daughter's death, they told the cavalcade of reporters who descended on their town that Lori might be embarrassed by all the attention. Nevertheless, her name and legacy are now etched in American history. For example, Squaw Peak in Phoenix was named after her this summer.

The Seminoles contacted the Piestewa family in June, offering to pay their way from their home in Arizona to South Florida for the ceremony. The tribe traditionally hosts a memorial before Veterans' Day to allow Native American servicemen and women to celebrate with their fellow soldiers of all backgrounds on the national holiday, which this year is on Tuesday.

Military accomplishments were acknowledged proudly Thursday, with four hours of dancing, singing and schoolchildren from the Seminole's Ahfachkee School reading poems and essays with patriotic themes.

A display included photographs of decorated Seminole soldiers. The tribe's members have been awarded purple hearts, and have served multiple tours in Vietnam and World War II. One was a member of the White House staff under three presidents, earning him the President's Service Badge.

Dave Forman, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 23 Broward, said 14 Seminoles gave their life in that war. He served as an Air Police officer from 1964 to 1965.

He said he feels a solidarity with Native American veterans. ''When we came home, we had to fight with the federal government to get everything we got,'' he said. ``And they have fought just as hard to get every honor they deserve.''

Lest We Forget: Veterans Day, 2003

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Browser Wars

Let me say it LOUD AND CLEAR
"I Hate Microsoft Internet Explorer."
I also run a Mac.
Soooooo.....being the openminded browser bigot that I am, I did not hesitate to adopt what used to be called Chimera, now Camino, a fine open-source Mozilla product.
Camino 0.7 has been out and stable since March, and I love it.
The other night I started messing around with Firebird 0.7.1 (for Mac OS X) and the only gripe I have it that it won't use Java 1.4.1, which is the version I have on the machine. Other than that, I must say it is on the verge of being competitive with Camino in several ways, not the least being appearance. I just love color in my toolbar widgets and Firebird has that, even if it doesn't have as many widgets as Camino.
Now, Mark, what about Safari? Good question. I basically use safari for "type-in" java applications and little else. It looks goofy and I like being contrary anyway!
So if you are looking for a good browser, if you are on a Mac use Camino, and if you are a poor windozed user, I recommend Firebird. If you are a Mac user, give Firebird a test drive, too. It has a way to go, but it is fun and fast, important on a dialup no matter where you are.

Shocking news, but TRUE

Salmon, it seems, is GOOD for you. Whoda thunk it?

Running columnist praises Alaska salmon as great endurance food

Melodrama

I trust everyone is following Achewood this week.

DID NASA nuke Jupiter?

I like to take a look at The Enterprise Mission every now and then to see what Marsfan Richard Hoagland has to say. Hoagland is an enigmatic character, to put it mildly, but he is tenacious in his view that the "Face on Mars" is really an artificlal construct conveying a message similar to that ascribed to the Pyramids of Giza.
His latest item, though, stands some serious attention. His headline, Did NASA accidentally "Nuke" Jupiter is based on the coincidental appearance of a mysterious dark spot on the gigantic planet a month after NASA deliberately crashed the Galileo space probe into it. Check it out.

Snow, Finally!

My co-worker looked out the window of our office this afternoon and said, "It looks like we've already gottenas much snow as we had all last winter."
No kiddin'!
We should be hearing snogos zooming around any minute now, although the Kuskowkim River is still running like a faucet.

No, we DON't have the

Treadwell mauling audio
Treadwell bear mauling audio
Grizz-et greenie mauling audio

or any other search criteria you put in
(but we'll put these in here to get a Google ranking!)

Well, it WAS an ENGLISH boy's school...

Schoolboys hospitalised after taking Viagra

October 23, 2003

Six English schoolboys were hospitalised after they took Viagra pills in their lunch-break, education bosses said today.

One of the Year Eight pupils, all aged 12 and 13, is believed to have brought in the tablets and handed them around to five of his pals at the all-boys comprehensive school in Berkshire.

Teachers at the Forest School in Winnersh called 999 when word spread of what they had done.

A spokeswoman from Wokingham District Council, the local education authority, said: "It is believed that a pupil brought the tablets from home into the all-boys school and shared them with five friends. The school responded quickly to the situation and, as a precaution, paramedics were called.

"The pupils were taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. All six have subsequently been discharged and are not expected to suffer any ill-effects.

"All of the tablets have been accounted for. The school has a strict no drugs policy and a pupil will be temporarily excluded for actions which placed other pupils at risk."

The incident happened last week.

Viagra was launched by pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer in 1998 as a breakthrough in the treatment of male impotency and is a prescribed drug, although it is available for sale on the Internet.

Sexual health experts have said the effects of the drug on young people are untested and side effects unknown.

Although it is not thought the boys will be seriously affected, doctors say any reaction with other medication could be dangerous.

- PA

THIS could be fun!

Moans and screams as Germans fall for porno karaoke

October 23, 2003

Germans are screaming, moaning, and panting for the latest nightlife craze: porno karaoke.

Film producers Satt und Durstig organised a premiere in Berlin last month after a successful test run in the northern city of Hamburg, and the trend has already spawned imitators in other major cities.

Porno karaoke is similar to traditional karaoke - but, instead of standing in for Whitney Houston or Frank Sinatra, contestants belt out the soundtracks of adult movie stars.

Players pair off in male-female teams as an XXX film is loaded into the projector. With the sound turned off, each duo is handed two microphones, and has one minute to provide the aural fireworks for the action on the screen.

The crowd, which tends to find the show more comic than erotic, then chooses the couple that has given the most convincing, creative, and ecstatic performance of faking an orgasm before hundreds of strangers.

- AFP

How NOT to camp in bear contry

Biologist believes errors led to attack
BEARS: Californians' choices may have contributed to fatal encounter.

By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: October 10, 2003)

Human remains and clothing found in the stomach of a 28-year-old brown bear killed by National Park Service rangers Monday have confirmed that the animal fed on the bodies of California animal activist Timothy Treadwell and girlfriend Amie Huguenard, authorities reported Thursday.

Fresh details about the attack near Kaflia Bay in Katmai National Park on Alaska's southwest coast also began to emerge.

According to a memo from Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Larry Van Daele, Treadwell set up his bear-viewing camp "in such a way that bears wishing to traverse the area would have had to either wade in the lake or walk right next to the tent. A person could not have designed a more dangerous location to set up a camp.''

In videos found at the scene, Van Daele said, Treadwell described "his campsite as (in) a potentially dangerous location, but he expresses his confidence that he understands these bears and they will not harm him.''

On Wednesday, Fish and Game dispatched Van Daele -- author of a book on the history of the brown bears on Kodiak Island and an authority on the half-ton coastal cousins of the grizzly bear -- to Kaflia to investigate what is believed to be the first deadly bear attack in Katmai park history.

"What caused this individual bear to kill and eat humans is unknown,'' Van Daele concluded. "It was very old but not in remarkably poor condition.''

Most likely, the biologist said, there was a chance encounter between the people and the bear that resulted in the bear attacking and the situation worsening from there. Though authorities who arrived on scene Wednesday found two bears competing to eat the carcass of an adolescent bear also killed by rangers on Monday, Van Daele stressed that he saw nothing to indicate "strange bear behavior occurring in the area.''

Alaska brown bears commonly scavenge any mammal carcasses they find, but attacks on humans are rare and cases of brown bears actually eating humans are so uncommon that even calling them rare would be an overstatement.

Audubon Society biologist John Schoen and other experts on Alaska grizzly and brown bears on Thursday pointed out that Treadwell's proclivity for trying to get close to Alaska bears for more than a decade illustrates nothing so much as the bears' amazing tolerance for humans. The self-proclaimed former drug addict and eco-warrior from Malibu, Calif., regularly approached bears on his summer sojourns here, often easing to within feet of them while talking to them in a sing-song voice.

On videotape recovered at Treadwell's camp, Van Daele said, there is more evidence of this potentially dangerous behavior.

One "video shows Ms. Huguenard within 3 meters (10 feet) of a sow with cubs as they fish,'' Van Daele wrote.

"One of the cubs came even closer to her while (Treadwell) filmed. She seemed uncomfortable but did not move. Some journal entries suggest that she was not as comfortable with the situation as he was. One of the last of his journal entries described his dismay as a large, adult male fought with one of his (Treadwell's) favorite sows near the camp.''

Such fights among bears are not uncommon, particularly late in the year when the bears are scrambling to put on as much fat as possible before winter. A poor berry crop this year and tapering salmon runs would only compound the situation, said Van Daele, who noted that the smaller brown bear killed in the area by park rangers and Alaska State Troopers on Monday had been largely eaten by other bears by Wednesday.

Rangers, troopers and Fish and Game biologists had to drive one bear off what was left of the carcass and shoo away another lurking in the alders nearby in order to investigate Treadwell's camp. They literally battled their way in, firing firecracker shells and using the whoop-whoop-whooping of a helicopter overhead to drive the animals away and keep them away.

From what was found at the campsite in this bear-infested area, and other information, Van Daele said he developed a theory on how Treadwell and Huguenard might have died on Sunday night.

"We will never know exactly what happened, and it is somewhat risky to speculate,'' he warned, but in effort to lend some sense to what happened, he offered this hypothesis based on journals, videotapes and evidence at the scene.

"The most telling piece of information is an audio recording made during the actual bear attack. This goes on for about six minutes and starts with (Treadwell) outside of the tent investigating a bear that came into camp. It was obviously raining very hard at the time and seems to have been twilight or evening, judging from some comments.

"The bear attacks (Treadwell), and he calls for help. Ms. Huguenard opens the tent fly and is very upset. At her urging, he 'plays dead.' It sounds like the bear then retreated for a couple minutes but returned. It again went after him, and he begged her to hit it with something. She in turn screamed for him to fight. The audio ends with his sounds no longer evident and her screams continuing.

"Based on all the evidence, I would guess that this old, large boar had been hanging around the areas getting the last fish of the season. There was little else available to eat, and he competed with the sow for food. Although not in bad condition, he needed more fat for the winter.

"That evening, probably Sunday night, (the male) was walking along a major bear trail and walked by the tent. When he encountered Mr. Treadwell, the bear reacted and either bit him and/or hit him. When he 'played dead,' the bear left, but as is often the case, when Mr. Treadwell started moving again, and/or Ms. Huguenard came to his aid, the bear returned.

"At this time, for some reason, the bear killed and ate him. I suspect that Ms. Huguenard's screams, which sound eerily like a predator call, may have prompted the bear to return and kill her. He then cached her body to be eaten later.''

A predator call is a device hunters use to lure foxes, coyotes and wolves into rifle range. It has a high-pitched tone meant to imitate the call of an injured animal. The calls have been known to attract bears in Alaska.

The old boar that fed upon Treadwell and Huguenard -- and is likely the one that killed them both -- was estimated to weigh more than 1,000 pounds and had broken canine teeth. Van Daele doesn't think the other bear that rangers shot at the scene Monday, an apparent 3-year-old, had anything to do with the killings. That bear's stomach, along with most of its carcass, had already been consumed by other bears.

"In my assessment,'' Van Daele added at the end of a five-page memo, "Mr. Treadwell's actions leading up to the incident, including his behavior around bears, his choice of a campsite and his decision not to have any defensive methods or bear deterrents in the camp, were directly responsible for this catastrophic event.''

Treadwell had carried bear-repelling spray for self-protection when he first began coming to Alaska to commune with the bears but had stopped carrying it in recent years. The founder of Grizzly People, an organization for bear lovers, Treadwell didn't believe it was right to spray bears with the irritating pepper spray -- even if it caused no long-term injuries to the bears.

"He just felt that was an invasive, aggressive mechanism that translated into a kind of attitude. He didn't want to have that attitude,'' said friend Joel Bennett, a Juneau filmmaker. "He kind of wanted to resign himself to whatever happened.''

Daily News Outdoor editor Craig Medred can be reached at cmedred@adn.com.

News from Kotzebue area

The The Northwest Arctic Borough October E-Bulletin

Treadwell: 'Get out here. I'm getting killed'

MAULING: Sound of bear attack that killed two was captured by video camera.


By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: October 9, 2003)

Among the last words Timothy Treadwell uttered to his girlfriend before a bear killed and partially ate both of them were these:

"Get out here. I'm getting killed.''

Words caught on a tape recording of the attack also reveal Treadwell's girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, shouting at him to play dead, then encouraging him to fight back.
Alaska State Troopers report that is what they heard on a videotape recovered Monday at the scene of a bear mauling in Katmai National Park and Preserve. The tape was in a camera found near the bear-buried remains of Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37.
Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said there are no pictures on the tape, leading troopers to believe the attack might have happened while the camera was stuffed in a duffle bag or during the dark of night. Treadwell had talked to an associate in Malibu, Calif., by satellite phone around noon Sunday. He mentioned no problems with any bears.
The remains of the Southern Californians who periodically came to Alaska to live intimately with the bears were found the next day. A large but scrawny old bear with bad teeth that a pilot had seen sitting on the brush and dirt pulled over the bodies was shot and killed by National Park Service rangers at the scene after it charged them.
Troopers Wednesday refused requests to release the audiotape, but said it convinced them the two people had been killed by a bear. Speculation about whether a bear had actually done the killing had been fueled by Treadwell's oft-stated but unsubstantiated claim that he spent summers at Katmai to protect the bears from poachers and sport hunters.
"I'm their lifeguard,'' he told a reporter for The Davis (Calif.) Enterprise in 1999. "I'm there to keep the poachers and sport hunters away. I'm much more likely to be killed by an angry sport hunter than a bear.''
The Kaflia Bay area of Alaska's Gulf Coast -- where Treadwell spent most of his time in the state -- has long been closed to sport hunters, and Katmai rangers said there is no history of poachers killing bears in the area.
When bears die, they are usually killed by other brown bears, said park superintendent Deb Liggett, noting that 90 percent of the cubs each year are killed, and often eaten, by other brown bears. Adult bears sometimes kill each other there, too.
In this case, Wilkinson said, troopers are confident a bear was also responsible for killing the Malibu couple. Troopers are also convinced, he added, that the bear seen feeding on their bodies was the bear killed by Park Service rangers. There is no way, however, of knowing whether that bear or another shot by troopers at the scene did the actual killing.
The tape full of screams and rustling sounds details the attack, Wilkinson said, but adds little to explain exactly what happened or why. The tape, he said, lasts about three minutes. Scratching and dragging noises on it have led troopers to believe Treadwell might have been wearing a body mike when the attack began.
After Treadwell calls for help, Wilkinson said, Huguenard can be heard shouting "play dead.'' That is the recommended response to being grabbed by a brown or grizzly bear, but authorities stress the idea of playing dead should be abandoned if the bear continues to press the attack.
On the tape, shortly after the warning to "play dead,'' Wilkinson said, "Huguenard is heard to scream "fight back.'' Treadwell later yells "hit him with a pan,'' Wilkinson said.
After that, the tape goes dead. Because there are no pictures, troopers believe it is most likely the bear came in the night. The tent in which Treadwell and Huguenard had been camping showed no signs of being ripped open by a bear trying to attack people inside, but a friend of Treadwell's said it was common for him to leave the tent in the dark to confront bears that approached his camp.
"His way of operating was to get out of the tent immediately when he heard a bear around,'' Juneau filmmaker Joel Bennett said Wednesday. "He subscribed to the theory that the worst thing you could do was stay in the tent."
Bennett knew the flamboyant Treadwell well. Only two weeks before Treadwell's death they had spent weeks on Kodiak Island working on a Disney film about bears.
"You probably know that I've done three full-length films with him,'' Bennett said. "There's no question he had a remarkable repertoire with bears and had a remarkable ability for them to tolerate him ... (but) just so people don't get the wrong idea, Tim definitely knew there were bears out there that were bad medicine.
"This incident sounds to me like it had nothing to do with his work during the day to look at bears or photograph bears. It was a campsite situation.''
Dozens of scientists, bear guides and outdoor authorities who have spent their lives around Alaska's bruins have criticized Treadwell's daytime activities. The Californian had a seemingly overwhelming need to get close to bears.
"He was a strange dude,'' said Joe Darminio, a former guide at the Newhalen Lodge who used to take bear-viewing tourists to meet Treadwell. Many of the tourists, Darminio added, recognized Treadwell from television or his book, "Among Grizzlies -- Living with Wild Bears in Alaska.''
Opinions among the tourists were split on whether Treadwell's bear-stalking antics were crazy, but Darminio said there was agreement the blond Californian in the black Carhartt's with the bandana tied around his head like a pirate was entertaining.
It was hard to avoid being shocked or impressed by the fearless way he eased up to within feet of some of the most powerful predators on the continent. Treadwell said he could calm them by talking in his high-pitched sing-song voice and tell from their body language whether they posed any threat.
"He really was a Dian Fossey in that way,'' Bennett said. "She could have been killed by one swipe of a gorilla at any time. Dian Fossey got close to the gorillas. She touched them. Timmy did not encourage other people to do this. He says over and over in his films, 'Do not do this. Do not copy me.' It's obviously not something people should do, but it's something that he did."
Huguenard was exposed to Treadwell's daring antics at a grizzly bear presentation in Boulder, Colo. A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine with a degree in molecular biology from the University of Colorado in Boulder, she knew trying to get close to brown bears was dangerous, but went along with Treadwell anyway.
"It was part of her life,'' sister Kathie Stowell told The Times' newspaper in their old hometown of Valparaiso, Ind. "They had a passion and that overrode everything.
"She definitely died, according to her, in the most beautiful, pristine place on earth.''

Reporter Elizabeth Manning contributed to this story. Daily News outdoor editor Craig Medred can be reached at cmedred@adn.com.

Ahhh....So he didn't REALLY want to be eaten!

The case of Timothy Treadwell and his innocent companion Amie Hugenard is sad, very sad. In her case, tragic because the poor woman really had no idea of what she was getting herself into, following a suicidal lunatic into the Alaskan bush to "live among the grizzly."
Treadwell has opinied on several occasions that he would be honored to be a meal for the ursus, but did he intend for his female companion to be dessert?
Well, truth be told the camera (at least the audio track) doesn't lie. Treadwell, friend of all that walks on two legs and growls, spent his last moments on Earth screaming for help, begging for his life as the jaws of an animal he thought should be elevated to "the kindred state" with a couple of species of marine mammals closed around his fragile human body as an undoubtedly terrified Amie watched in horror and awaiting her own fate.

Katmai bear mauling recorded on tape

By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (October 8, 6:55 p.m. ADT) - The graphic sounds of a fatal bear attack were recorded on tape, Alaska State Troopers discovered Wednesday while reviewing videotape recovered from the campsite where a wildlife author and his girlfriend were killed.

The remains of Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found Monday at Katmai National Park and Preserve on the Alaska Peninsula.

Trooper Chris Hill said the tape suggests the video camera was turned on just before Treadwell was attacked. The recording is audio only and the screen remains blank for all six minutes.

"They're both screaming, she's telling him to play dead, then it changes to fighting back. He asks her to hit the bear," Hill said. "There's so much noise going on. I don't know what's him and what might be an animal.

"It's pretty disturbing. I keep hearing it in my mind."

An air taxi pilot who arrived to pick up the couple near Kaflia Bay contacted the National Park Service and troopers to report a brown bear was apparently sitting on top of human remains in the camp.

A ranger shot and killed a large brown bear when the animal charged at them through the dense brush. Troopers and rangers later killed a smaller bear apparently stalking them.

An autopsy on the human remains confirmed the couple were killed by bears, according to results released Wednesday.

Troopers recovered video and still photography equipment as well as three hours of video footage from the site, which is located across Shelikof Strait from Kodiak Island.

Much of the footage is closeup shots of bears. Treadwell built his reputation as an author and videographer living among Katmai bears each summer for more than a decade. Huguenard, a physician's assistant, had been traveling to the park for the last couple of years with Treadwell - co-author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska."

Some of the recovered footage has bears no more than a few feet away from Treadwell. Others show a more timid Huguenard leaning away as bears come close to her on the bank of a river.

Hill said he was stunned by what he heard.

"The audio starts while he's being mauled and ends while he's being mauled," Hill said.

Perhaps Treadwell heard a bear and asked Huguenard to turn on the camera, which was found with the lens lid on and packed in a camera bag, Hill said.

"At first, she sounds kind of surprised and asks if it's still out there. I'm not sure if she was asking if a bear was outside their tent or in the brush," Hill said. "The audio stops because the tape runs out. Otherwise, it probably would have captured the whole thing."

Hill said he will attempt to transcribe the tape. There are no plans to make the recording or transcripts public, trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said.

On Wednesday, the Park Service focused its investigation on the campsite.

A multi-agency team, including rangers and troopers, flew out to the remote area again after being socked in by bad weather Tuesday. A state biologist was on hand to take tissue samples from the dead bears for necropsies.

Human remains and a T-shirt were found in the stomach of the larger bear. But other bears had eaten most of the smaller bear or buried some of its remains, Hill said.

There's no way to tell if either bear killed Treadwell and Huguenard, said John Quinley, a Park Service spokesman.

"No doubt we'll be looking for evidence of human remains, but there's a difference between killing and consuming," Quinley said. "The fact that those bears consumed humans doesn't mean they did the killing."

Rebecca Dmytryk, who oversees an animal rescue organization in Malibu, said Treadwell was more fearful among humans sometimes than with bears.

She recalled video footage of Treadwell before his death that showed him in a streambed near an older bear he nicknamed "Quincy."

"Quincy, do you remember when you stood over me? You were so hungry, and you should have eaten me, but you didn't. Thanks for not eating me, Quincy," Dmytryk recalled him saying to the bear in the clip. "If Quincy had eaten me, good, 'cause he's a nice bear. Love 'm."

Added Dmytryk: "He did love those bears. They were family. He sacrificed his life to protect them."

Treadwell's family was in shock.

"I was dumbfounded, ready to fall through the floor," said his father, Valentin Dexter, who lives in Pompano Beach, Fla. "Oh God, I was very proud of him."

"We talked about the risk of him living by himself in the woods, but we never dwelled on it because he always came home happy and with so many good stories," said his mother, Carolann Dexter.

"Not too many get to do what they love and he did just that."

"I would be honored to end up in bear scat"

Wildlife author killed, eaten by bears he loved


Wildlife author killed, eaten by bears he loved
KATMAI: Many had warned Treadwell that his encounters with browns were too close.


By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: October 8, 2003)

A California author and filmmaker who became famous for trekking to Alaska's remote Katmai coast to commune with brown bears has fallen victim to the teeth and claws of the wild animals he loved.

Alaska State Troopers and National Park Service officials said Timothy Treadwell, 46, and girlfriend Amie Huguenard, 37, were killed and partially eaten by a bear or bears near Kaflia Bay, about 300 miles southwest of Anchorage, earlier this week.

Scientists who study Alaska brown bears said they had been warning Treadwell for years that he needed to be more careful around the huge and powerful coastal twin of the grizzly.

Treadwell's films of close-up encounters with giant bears brought him a bounty of national media attention. The fearless former drug addict from Malibu, Calif. -- who routinely eased up close to bears to chant "I love you'' in a high-pitched, sing-song voice -- was the subject of a show on the Discovery Channel and a report on "Dateline NBC." Blond, good-looking and charismatic, he appeared for interviews on David Letterman's show and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" to talk about his bears. He even gave them names: Booble, Aunt Melissa, Mr. Chocolate, Freckles and Molly, among others.

A self-proclaimed eco-warrior, he attracted something of a cult following too. Chuck Bartlebaugh of "Be Bear Aware,'' a national bear awareness campaign, called Treadwell one of the leaders of a group of people engaged in "a trend to promote getting close to bears to show they were not dangerous.

"He kept insisting that he wanted to show that bears in thick brush aren't dangerous. The last two people killed (by bears) in Glacier National Park went off the trail into the brush. They said their goal was to find a grizzly bear so they could 'do a Timothy.' We have a trail of dead people and dead bears because of this trend that says, 'Let's show it's not dangerous.' '' (more)

The only good griz is a DEAD griz

They are one of the most, if not THE most dangerous animals in the world.
Timothy Treadwell decided they were more fun than drugs. Well, well... He was found "partially consumed and cached" along with his companion Amie Hugenard yesterday.
"feeding on humanremains"
"partially consumed and cached" "that is not an unusual behavior among bears"
met a bear that challenged his concept of bears as friendly animals
Here's what he thought of bears, from his website
"Grizzly People is a grassroots organization devoted to preserving bears
and their wilderness habitat. Our goal is to elevate the grizzly to the kindred state
of the whale and dolphin through supportive education
in the hopes that humans will learn to live in peace with the bear,
wilderness and fellow humans".
The kindred state of the whale and dolphin? Are you serious? Neither whales nor dolphins feed on "human remains."
Bear Expert and Companion Killed in Bear Attack at Alaska Park
By Rachel D'oro Associated Press Writer
Published: Oct 7, 2003

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska's brown bears harmless was one of two people fatally mauled in a bear attack in the Katmai National Park and Preserve.

The bodies of Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found Monday at their campsite when a pilot arrived who was supposed to take them to Kodiak, state troopers said Tuesday.

Treadwell, co-author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska," spent more than a dozen summers living alone with and videotaping Katmai bears. Information on Huguenard was not immediately available.

The Andrew Airways pilot contacted troopers in Kodiak and the National Park Service after he saw a brown bear, possibly on top of a body, at the camp near Kaflia Bay.

Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear within minutes of arriving. Ranger Joel Ellis said two officers stood by with shotguns as he fired 11 times with a semi-automatic handgun before the animal fell, 12 feet away.

"That was cutting it thin," said Ellis, the lead investigator. "I didn't take the time to count how many times it was hit."

The victims' remains and camping equipment were flown Monday to Kodiak. Ellis said investigators hope to glean some information from video and still cameras.

As the plane was being loaded, another aggressive bear approached and was killed by rangers and troopers. The bear was younger, possibly a 3-year-old, according to Bruce Bartley of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The victims' bodies were flown to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy.

Dean Andrew, owner of Andrew Airways, said the pilot was too upset to comment. The company had been flying Treadwell to Katmai for 13 years and Huguenard for the last couple of years. Andrew said Treadwell was an experienced outdoorsman.

Treadwell was known for his confidence around bears. He often touched them, and gave them names. Once he was filmed crawling along the ground singing as he approached a sow and two cubs.

Over the years, Park Service officials, biologists and others expressed concern about his safety and the message he was sending.

"At best he's misguided," Deb Liggett, superintendent at Katmai, told the Anchorage Daily News in 2001. "At worst he's dangerous. If Timothy models unsafe behavior, that ultimately puts bears and other visitors at risk."

That same year Treadwell was a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman," describing Alaska brown bears as mostly harmless "party animals."

In his book, Treadwell said he decided to devote himself to saving grizzlies after a drug overdose, followed by several close calls with brown bears in early trips to Alaska. He said those experiences inspired him to give up drugs, study bears and establish a nonprofit bear-appreciation group, called Grizzly People.

Grizzly and brown bears are the same species, but "brown" is used to describe bears in coastal areas and "grizzly" for bears in the interior.

The deaths were the first known bear killings in the 4.7-million-acre park on the Alaska Peninsula.

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