That's No Pussycat - It's a Bobcat!

Driving in the rural town of Veazie, Maine, after midnight, a woman accidentally hits what she thinks is an oversized cat. She puts the unconscious animal in her car and drives several miles.

In the town of Bangor, Maine, the cat regains consciousness. That's when the woman realizes it's no house cat.

She's riding with a wild bobcat.

It may seem like a scenario for a road-trip comedy at the movies, but it really happened early Wednesday morning, police said. The woman immediately pulled over in downtown Bangor and got out of her car.

"It jumped out of her vehicle and immediately went underneath it. It was trying to find the most immediate protection," Maine Warden Service Lt. Dan Scott told ABC News over the phone. "Several police officers responded and one happened to have a catch pole that you put around the animal's neck."

After removing the bobcat from underneath the car, Game Warden Jim Fahey evaluated the animal and confirmed that the strike from the car was fatal. The bobcat was euthanized in what Sgt. Paul Edwards from the Bangor Police Department described over the phone as "the most humane way possible."

"Some people are concerned that we killed the bobcat, but it was wounded and suffering. This is normal procedure that we engage in," said Scott. "Maine is a big state. We have a staff of 100 game wardens and people are routinely hitting animals by accident. We don't often have citizens driving them around in their vehicles." The woman involved in the incident declined to comment to ABC News, and police declined to publicly identify her.

Bobcats can range in size anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds and often have spots or stripes covering their grey and brown coats, according to Adam Zorn, a naturalist at Westmoreland Sanctuary in Mount Kisco, N.Y. They are shy and secretive, with only rare reported incidents of direct human contact, he said.

But does a bobcat look sort of like an oversized house cat?

"That would be a really big house cat," he said. "Most cats have long tails, and a bobcat does not. They have short, stubby tails. Also, their appearance is an indicator. They look like they are built to live in the wilderness." Edwards emphasized the danger of approaching a wild animal in his police report.

"Although this seems amusing," he wrote, "one should always be careful handling injured animals and call local animal control officer or game wardens when in doubt."

New film: “The Hobbit” An unexpected disappointment

TO MOST fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth books, “The Hobbit” always felt like a bit of throat-clearing before the epic quest of “The Lord of the Rings”. Published in 1937, it was his first stab at describing his invented world. Not to Peter Jackson, apparently. In the hands of the director of the wildly successful Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Tolkien’s shorter, picaresque tale takes on the bloated dimensions of a mountain troll.

The story takes place 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings” begins, in a “brighter, happier Middle Earth.” Yet the film staggers under the weight of all the menacing material that Mr Jackson has injected in an effort to tie it to his darker sequels. Equally menacing, perhaps, is the fact that this film, subtitled “An Unexpected Journey”, is the first of another long trilogy that Mr Jackson plans to pump out of this slender novel.

It starts promisingly enough. Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, is recruited by a band of dwarves to help reclaim their lost kingdom from the dragon, Smaug. Martin Freeman plays a perfect Bilbo, incarnating the quintessential English qualities of pluck and decency with which Tolkien endowed his hobbits. A comedic pile-up of dwarves at his door sets the befuddled tone. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, played more kindly than wizardly this time. Adventures pile up thick and fast, starting with the party’s capture and near-roasting by mountain trolls, one of whom is a bit of a foodie.

The trouble starts when Mr Jackson starts to shoehorn in the back story. Many wondered how the director would get three films out of a 272-page book. Now they know. It makes some sense to put the dwarves’ quest into the larger context of the gathering storm in Middle Earth—the parallel activities of elves and wizards are sprinkled throughout the book and Tolkien indulged his imagination further in a lengthy appendix to “The Lord of the Rings”. But Mr Jackson has avidly seized on this material and dropped it in rather clunkily.

The “shadow of an ancient horror”—the evil force that returns as the ultimate baddie, Sauron, in “The Lord of the Rings”—appears here as a pack of pursuing wolves, orcs and the evil goblin Azog. Meanwhile, the guardians of Middle Earth, a group of elves and wizards known as “The White Council”, are brought out of the footnotes and on to the stage. The elves Galadriel and Elrond, and the wizard Saruman, reprised by their famous actors, convene in a wooden meeting in which Saruman dismisses their fears of a rising menace. Other oddities obscure the party’s basic quest. There is a lengthy new role for a wizard barely mentioned in the tales, Radagast the Brown, whose addled appearances made this correspondent cringe, and a bizarrely camp performance by the Great Goblin which makes sense only upon learning that the monster is voiced by Barry Humphries, better known as Dame Edna.

Mr Jackson has said that Tolkien’s story runs at break-neck pace and he wanted to develop the characters more. The film accordingly builds up Thorin Oakenshield, the exiled dwarf king, as a pale echo of Aragorn, the exiled king in “The Lord of the Rings”. An opening flashback shows him bent on avenging the loss of his kingdom. Yet his motivation is obvious and there is little depth to this character, or many others. Too many chases and schmaltzy good-and-evil dialogue make it rather standard Hollywood fare.

By far the most affecting part of the film is the long underground confrontation between Bilbo and the creature Gollum, a riddling match of wits played just as Tolkien wrote it. The amazing Andy Serkis returns as the emaciated freak in CGI with glowing blue eyes. This Gollum is complex, by turns endearing and vicious, and truly tragic in the loss of his “precious”, the One Ring of power. The ring itself is vividly depicted: slipping almost with intention from Gollum’s rags to be found by Bilbo. It spins magically onto his finger and sets off the quest to save Middle Earth.

Those unacquainted with the book may well find the film thrilling, stuffed with rollercoaster action scenes, familiar musical motifs, first-rate costumes and panoramas as sweeping and impressive as ever. The production company has tripled in size—and it shows. The film is shot at 48 frames per second instead of the usual 24. This heightens the detail, but can leave sets and actors looking fake and bleached. There is a depressing sameness to the dazzling surface of these heavily digitalised action films; at times this feels like “Avatar” meets “Harry Potter”.

“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy was close to perfect, and it has the Oscars and diehard fans to prove it. In “The Hobbit” Mr Jackson seems to have let his love for the material blind him to the merits of a simpler story. The result is more an instalment of a franchise than a compelling film.

North Korea carries out controversial rocket launch

Hong Kong (CNN) -- North Korea surprised and angered the international community Wednesday by launching a long-range rocket that may have put an object in orbit.

The secretive North Korean regime said the rocket had successfully blasted off from a space center on its west coast and claimed the satellite it was carrying had entered its intended orbit. The launch followed a botched attempt in April and came just days after Pyongyang suggested it could be delayed.

Initial indications suggest the rocket "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit," the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace agency, said in a statement.

North Korea has previously claimed that two other rockets fired in the past 15 years had successfully launched satellites, but other countries say they fell into the ocean before completing the task.

Many nations, such as the United States and South Korea, consider the launch to be a cover for testing ballistic missile technology. The nuclear-armed North has insisted its aim was to place a scientific satellite in space.

Countries around the world quickly condemned Pyongyang's move on Wednesday, saying it breached U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The South Korean government said the launch was confrontational and a "threat to the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the world."

The United States called it "a highly provocative act" that is "yet another example of North Korea's pattern of irresponsible behavior."

Washington will work with other countries -- including China, Russia and other Security Council members -- "to pursue appropriate action," said Tommy Vietor, a U.S. National Security Council spokesman.

The launch came as a surprise to the United States, which did not expect it to take place Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he deplored the fact that North Korea "has chosen to prioritize this launch over improving the livelihood of its people."

Read: Launch driven by political pressures

Neighboring countries said the rocket had taken off Wednesday morning and flown south over the Japanese island of Okinawa.

The Japanese government said it believed one part of the rocket came down in the sea off the Korean Peninsula, a second part dropped into the East China Sea and a third fell into waters near the Philippines.

Read more: What does North Korea's planned rocket launch mean?

"It is extremely regrettable that North Korea forced the launch despite our protest," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said at a news conference in Tokyo. "It is not acceptable, and we strongly protest against it."

South Korea's semi-official news agency Yonhap reported that President Lee Myung-bak has convened an emergency security meeting in Seoul.

A launch had seemed unlikely to take place so soon after North Korea announced Monday that it was extending the launch window into late December, citing technical issues in an engine.

Previous launch attempts by the North in 1998, 2006, 2009 and April this year failed to achieve their stated goal of putting a satellite into orbit and provoked international condemnation.

Pyongyang had said this rocket launch would be "true to the behests" of Kim Jong Il, the late North Korean leader and father of Kim Jong Un, head of the ruling regime.

Kim Jong Il died on December 17 last year, so the first anniversary of his death falls within the launch window that North Korea has announced.

Experts had also speculated that Pyongyang wanted this launch to happen before the end of 2012, the year that marks the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of Kim Jong Un.

Great singer: STING ! Enjoy this song: "the shape of my heart"

Born 2 October 1951, in Wallsend, north-east England, Gordon Sumner's life started to change the evening a fellow musician in the Phoenix Jazzmen caught sight of his black and yellow striped sweater and decided to re-christen him Sting. Sting paid his early dues playing bass with local outfits The Newcastle Big Band, The Phoenix Jazzmen, Earthrise and Last Exit, the latter of which featured his first efforts at song writing. Last Exit were big in the North East, but their jazz fusion was doomed to fail when punk rock exploded onto the music scene in 1976. Stewart Copeland, drummer with Curved Air, saw Last Exit on a visit to Newcastle and while the music did nothing for him he did recognise the potential and charisma of the bass player. The two hooked up shortly afterwards and within months, Sting had left his teaching job and moved to London.

French airport protesters seek safety in the trees

Dairy farmers, locals and eco-warriors face eviction over plans to build second airport in Nantes on top of precious woodland

 

 

 

 

A judge is due to decide whether to authorise a fresh round of forced police evictions in Notre-Dame-des-Landes. 

 

"This is a special place; it's a shame it is at war," sighed Marie and Alain as they sat at the wooden table of their historic stone farmhouse gazing out at the autumn colours of the forest of Rohanne.
Yet they were proud their idyllic view was now punctuated by scores of tents, yurts, rainbow camper vans and makeshift wooden cabins as
a growing front of local dairy farmers, residents and international eco-warriors unite against plans to build an ambitious second airport for the western French city of Nantes.
The vast stretch of woodland outside the tiny village of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, six times the surface of Monaco, is now Europe's biggest open air squat, according to the local police chief. Road signs spray-painted "Defence Zone" and bails of hay as roadblocks ring the proposed construction site.
On Tuesday a French judge will decide whether to authorise a fresh round of forced police evictions. Previous attempts to dislodge protesters brought hundreds of French riot police who fired teargas and rubber bullets, some climbing trees and teargassing people down from tree-houses, sparking dozens of injuries and what locals described as "war scenes".
In recent months, police swoops have razed wooden huts and vegetable gardens, immediately inspiring hundreds more squatters to arrive from across Europe to rebuild the camps and strengthen the protests.
The protesters, including farmers, locals and green politicians, argue that building a brand new airport for France's sixth largest city, which already has an award-winning airport, is both an environmental disaster and a waste of public money during an economic crisis. Support groups have sprung up across France.
"We are the resistance," said Alain, an electricity technician, who has rented his farmhouse for 20 years and whose dairy farmers ancestors have been rooted here since the 17th century. But the kitchen sits on the exact spot where the planned control tower will go. He, his partner, Marie, and their children should have left in July to allow the house to be demolished. They stayed, and are now considered squatters. Marie, a secretary, said: "Some of the environmental protesters living in self-built wood cabins have been here for years with their families and children. They refuse to give up and so do we. I can't believe the French left is acting like this, refusing to listen to the ecological arguments, and sending in totally disproportionate force against us."
From the house, a long, muddy walk deep through the forest leads to a series of intricate, makeshift roadblocks, manned at all hours. In a clearing, 40 tractors are chained together to protect the entrance to the Châtaignerie, a forest camp and communal living headquarters, with elaborate wooden huts. Volunteers are dishing out vegetable soup, activists are discussing schemes to plant vegetables, there is a bar, sanitary block and communications office with pirate radio frequency. If, as protesters say, the codename for the gendarmes' eviction operation is Operation Caesar, the squat is a kind of Asterix village, surrounded on all sides but holding out.
If a court this week orders the Châtaignerie camp to be forcefully evicted, locals fear another stand-off and injuries. At the heart of the camp, Camille, 42, not his real name, used to work in the French film industry. He was an activist during the Heathrow airport expansion protests and has been squatting in the Notre-Dame-des-Landes forest for a year and a half.
"All we can do is be present," he said. "We want to produce our own food, be auto-sufficient, show an alternative way for society."
Plans to build an airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, 12 miles (20km) north of Nantes, date back 45 years, and so does the opposition. At first the idea was a Nantes international air hub, which would compete with Paris and host Concorde, but that was dropped. The current plans are for a €556m (£446m) airport which would open in 2017 and host 9 million passengers a year in 2050.
Socialists say it is crucial for jobs and the development of the fast-growing city of Nantes, tucked away near France's Atlantic coast. Yannick Vaugrenard, Socialist senator for Loire-Atlantique, argued that without proper infrastructure, the area would be the "far west" of Europe, and the crucial new airport would respect the environment.
Opponents, including the Green party, which has two ministers in the government, say the project will destroy crucial humid woodland and hedgerow habitats and is totally unnecessary because Nantes's current airport, to the south of the city, was not at saturation point and could be expanded.
The row has become a major thorn in the side of the government. The Socialist prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, is a former mayor of Nantes and personal champion of the project. He is facing record unpopularity and to shelve the airport plans would be too much of a capitulation, observers say.
"This airport will happen," he told Paris Match last month. But Ayrault's latest attempts to call a six-month truce in which a new scientific report is conducted alongside a "dialogue commission" have not calmed the mood.
Demonstrators marched on the streets of central Nantes again this weekend.
"This airport is the prime example of what we shouldn't do anymore: it's about global warming, damaging the environment and setting the wrong example for society," said Julien Durand, a retired dairy farmer leading opposition in the village from a tiny drop-in centre near the town hall.
He backed local farmers who went on hunger-strike against it earlier this year. "In times of financial crisis, does Nantes need a new airport? No," said one village protester. Françoise Verchère, from the Parti de Gauche, leading a protest group of local politicians, said: "This the worst possible choice of site for an airport because we now know this type of important, humid wetland must be preserved."
Notre-Dame-des-Landes has become a national symbol, inspiring struggles against all types of development projects from transport to shopping centres. In a farm shed on the airport zone, a 23-year-old northern European treehouse activist, who wouldn't be named, was preparing to move back up to trees if police arrived this week. He had been squatting here for two years, after similar action in England and Scotland.
"The problem is this airport would be a ticket for even more urbanisation. Occupation is the last line of defence."

Les Misérables : new movie

 
It's two years since Oscar bowed down before Tom Hooper to crown The King's Speech best picture. Now Hooper bobs obligingly back, offering the Academy not just what it wants to see but a mirror of sorts; a movie that takes its cues from the greatest Oscar night hits, recalling that glorious night last year when Hooper was honoured four times and host Anne Hathaway belted out On My Own to Hugh Jackman. It also bids to anticipate the highlights of the next one.

For the few uninitiated (the stage show has been seen by 60 million people), Les Misérables is Cameron Mackintosh's adaptation of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's musical based on the Victor Hugo saga set in early 19th century France.
But beware: it's not strictly a musical. There's no dancing, there are no jazz hands and there is next to no speech. Rather, it is lobotomised opera, in which incidental dialogue like "I don't understand" and "I don't know what to say" is warbled, liturgy-style. The phrase "We will nip it in the bud" becomes a rousing chorus; presumably "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched" doesn't scan so well.
Hooper's big innovation is that his actors sing "live" – that is, they taped the vocal tracks while shooting, rather than in post-production – to amp up the realism. One might argue that if you were struggling to suspend your disbelief with Les Mis, it'd probably take more than a dubbing tweak to convince you.
But it's a canny move that allows Hooper to wring Oscar-contending turns from his cast and inject some X Factor-style tension. Will Hugh Jackman hit that opening high-note? Yes! He will! And so accustomed are audiences to applauding after the first bar they dutifully follow suit here. It's almost a shock Simon Cowell doesn't stalk on afterwards.
Les Mis's best known song is I Dreamed a Dream – the heroine Fantine's death-rattle rail against her new life of poverty and prostitution; aka the Susan Boyle song. Anne Hathaway sobs her way gamely through it, togs ripped, gnashers stained (the backstreet dentist she's just flogged a few teeth to left the front ones intact). In one unbroken take, she turns the tune into a symphony of phlegmy upset, climaxing in a panic attack of bloke woe ("He took my childhood in his stride / But he was gone when autumn came"). It's a performance of monumental welly.
Such a potentially exposing conceit has its pitfalls – and word online suggested Russell Crowe might have tumbled into them. But his low-key vocals as bad cop Javert are a happy contrast to the coshing professionalism elsewhere. When Crowe bleats out Stars beneath a twinkly CGI sky, resplendent in a blue fez with massive tassle, the karaoke vibe feels friendly, not risible.
Yes, Jackman (as our bona fide hero, ex-con Valjean) is unimpeachable, but best-actor chat seems premature. More of a revelation is Eddie Redmayne, an actor apparently incapable of a look that is other than longing, well cast as revolutionary dreamboat Marius. Meanwhile Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter effortlessly steal the show as the cackling Thénardiers (seldom has a film called out so urgently for comic relief).
Hooper's grand canvas is impressive, and your temples throb at the logistics of those final scenes; all those extras and horses, flags and cannons, not to mention an elephant and castle. In fact, other than a bit of a thing for distressed paintwork, it's all but impossible to detect his thumbprints.
You can't blame him for wanting to marshall a parade, to march out of the low-budget ghetto. But the experience of sitting through all 160 minutes of Les Mis can feel less like an awards bash than an epic wake, at which the band is always playing and women forever wailing. By the end, you feel like a piñata: in pieces, the victim of prolonged assault by killer pipes.