tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23867617596961103322024-02-18T18:18:48.678-08:00Smiley's NewsThe weekly paper that puts the SMILE in NEWS.Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-56569514075838646972016-02-11T07:29:00.001-08:002016-02-15T05:57:03.395-08:00Let's All Dance Like a Caudipteryx!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Caudipteryx2mmartyniuk.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Caudipteryx2mmartyniuk.png" width="320" /><i></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Though Chen the Caudipteryx looks like a wacky bird, he can pull off some sweet moves on the dance floor! By Matt Martyniuk Dinoguy2 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5894652</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Alongside modern animals, dinosaurs and Dr. Dodo are given a lot of attention here at Animal Adventures Inc. (AAI.) But dinosaurs aren't the only animals that have been genetically engineered thanks to Animal Adventures Institute (a division of AAI.). One of these creatures in none other than a colorful animal called Caudipteryx zoui. Since we haven't really devoted much (or any) attention to this creature, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I decided to pay him a little visit to help our readers get familiar with him.<br />
<br />
The Caudipteryx living at AAI. goes by the name of Chen, and when asked to describe himself, he is quoted for saying, “Well, firstly, I'm quite flattered that you'd be doing a special newspaper article about me, I'm poorly known. Anyways, I'm a Caudipteryx, as you already know. I'm a species of bird that's been found in Cretaceous China.” I asked why he was so poorly known. His response was. “Frankly, I'm not sure. Most extinct creatures aren't very well-known in the public eye. They only usually get famous if they've been in a movie or two. I mean, take Velociraptors. Before 1993, most people wouldn't have a clue what a raptor was. But after the movie Jurassic Park was made, based on the Jurassic Park Incident of the same year, Velociraptor is almost as famous as T. rex!”<br />
<br />
Chen said that even though his species hasn't appeared in practically any movies, he is famous for being one of the first feathered “dinosaurs” found. “It's crazy,” he says, “evolutionists so anxious to prove their theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds believe that I am a feathered theropod (carnivorous) dinosaur!” So I asked Chen what the truth about his identification is. “Well, I'm actually a bird. See, in order for the theory of dino-to-bird evolution to be true, evolutionists believe they only need feathered dinosaurs to prove their theory. Therefore, any bird that has any similarity to dinosaurs is regarded as a transitional form. This is what Archaeopteryx – a true bird – is famous for: being the much-needed transitional form between dinosaurs and birds.” But Chen explained that his species really isn't good evidence that dinosaurs evolved into birds because according to evolutionists, Caudipteryx lived in the early Cretaceous Period, long after the first birds were around! “Even Archaeopteryx is a problem for evolutionists,” Chen says. “Evolutionists believe that Archaeopteryx – a true bird – lived in the late Jurassic Period, before the bird-like dinosaurs that supposedly evolved into birds. In fact, the earliest in the dino-to-bird evolutionary line (according to evolutionists) was a dinosaur that lived at the same time as Archaeopteryx with no confirmed evidence for the presence of feathers on it.” In closing of the topic of dino-to-bird evolution, Chen is quoted for saying, “Whatever evolutionists try to make of me, I am a unique species of bird, with a mosaic of non-transitional features. I have fully-formed feathers, a toothed beak and clawed wings. Other birds that aren't claimed to be transitional forms also have these features.”<br />
<br />
I decided to question Chen upon the subject of his diet. “Well, I'm an omnivore,” says Chen. “Here at AAI. I eat a mixture of fruits, nuts and insects. Chef Rack-Coon fixes some of the best fruit and insect salads in the entire tri-state area! Here's an interesting tidbit about me: I may have teeth, but they're useless for chewing. So I'm designed to swallow small stones. The stones – called gastroliths – sit in my stomach, rolling around in order to grind up my food.”<br />
<br />
Daniel couldn't help but inquire about Chen's feathers and whether or not he could fly. “No, I don't fly,” said Chen. “My wings are too short to get my body off the ground for long. Evolutionists love this fact, because to them, I'm still practically a dinosaur since I can't fly. But in truth, many modern birds are flightless, such as the ostrich (which, I might add, also bears clawed wings, but no one considers them missing links!). My feathers are able to keep me aloft long enough some extended leaping. My species also uses them for impressing the females. Unfortunately, Dr. Steve hasn't cloned any other Caudipteryx yet. I should talk to him about that...anyway, these feathers are also really wonderful for busting some moves. When trying to attract a date, male Caudipteryx would often dance, flashing around their feathers in a brilliant display. They're also good at dancing at other times of the year too, check these moves out!” Then Chen demonstrated some of his dance moves. He waves his wings around in the air while lifting his beautiful tail (which has a feather-fan on the end). He also bobs his head and leaps into the air while performing his dance. I don't know about you, but I think he's pretty good at dancing.<br />
<br />
So there you have it; now you know a little bit about the beautiful Caudipteryx, a unique species of ancient bird that also knows how to dance. In closing, Chen said, “I may not be the proof that dinosaurs evolved into birds that evolutionists are looking for (and thank goodness I'm not!), but I am still a wonderfully designed bird, fearfully and wonderfully made, by God Himself, our loving Creator!”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/416.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b> </div>
<br />
<b>Next Issue: Ligers Born at Riverville Zoo!</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-49833588547104644282016-01-20T06:25:00.002-08:002016-02-11T07:29:49.532-08:00Dr. Steve's New Dinosaurs of 2016<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dinosaurs/images/8/81/120404-LidaDino-BANNER.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141226161939" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dinosaurs/images/8/81/120404-LidaDino-BANNER.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141226161939" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yue-Yan the Yutyrannus is just one of the creatures Dr. Steve brought back from extinction.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ah yes! The new year is upon us! And as usual, Dr. Steve Stevenson – head geneticist of Animal Adventures Institute – and his colleagues, especially his assistant Oliver <i>Oviraptor </i>have genetically-engineered a new batch of ancient creatures from the realms of the past thanks to fossils and amber discovered by paleontologist Dr. Samuel Adamson last summer. So my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I headed over to AAI to check out the new terrible lizards roaming the earth for the first time in over 4,000 years.<br />
<br />
Dr. Steve is quoted for saying, “We're especially excited to announce the births of three extinct creatures we've brought back to life. This year, we successfully cloned Yue-Yan, a large Chinese predator called the <i>Yutyrannus</i>, Peter, a small parrot-beaked dinosaur called <i>Psittacosaurus </i>and Adeline, an ancient bird called <i>Archaeopteryx</i>.”<br />
<br />
I decided to ask Dr. Steve what <i>Yutyrannus </i>actually was. He told me that <i>Yutyrannus </i>was a species of tyrannosaur, a cousin to the larger <i>Tyrannosaurus rex</i>. “I'm particularly glad to add <i>Yutyrannus </i>to our batch of genetically-engineered creatures because it is actually a rather new discovery,” Dr. Steve explains. “It's discovery was only announced in 2012. What also makes <i>Yutyrannus </i>unique is that even though it is a tyrannosaur, it's much more lightweight than T. rex, and has three fingers on relatively long arms rather than the two-fingered tiny arms we're used to seeing on T. rex.” <i>Yutyrannus </i>reaches about 30 feet in length and would have stalked the forests of ancient Cretaceous China, looking for prey. What did it eat? “We haven't found very many large species of herbivores in this region of China,” Dr. Steve explains, “but we do know <i>Yutyrannus </i>co-existed with a host of sauropods and a strange herbivorous dinosaur with sharp claws called <i>Beipiaosaurus</i>.”<br />
<br />
Surprisingly, another dinosaur Dr. Steve and his assistants cloned is also from the same region of China: <i>Psittacosaurus</i>. “<i>Psittacosaurus </i>is a small member of the ceratopsian (horned) kind of dinosaur,” Oliver <i>Oviraptor </i>told me. “Ceratopsians were a much more varied group of dinosaurs than most people realize. While <i>Triceratops </i>is the most famous member of the group, with its two large brow horns and smaller nose horn, some ceratopsians have one large horn on the nose and no brow horns like <i>Centrosaurus </i>and <i>Styracosaurus</i>. Others have no nose horn at all, but instead possess cattle-like horns, as seen in <i>Nasutoceratops</i>. Some have a large bump on the end of the nose and not a horn at all, like <i>Pachyrhinosaurus</i>. And finally there are some ceratopsians that lack a horn, have a very small frill, like little sheep-sized <i>Psittacosaurus</i>.” He went on to explain that a feature all ceratopsians share with each other is a parrot-like beak. “Their beaks are rather similar to mine,” Oliver explained. “But while I use mine to scoop up fruits, nuts and small animals (none of whom reside here at Animal Adventures Inc.!), ceratopsians use their beaks to crop vegetation to eat. In fact, <i>Psittacosaurus </i>actually means “parrot lizard”, in reference to its parrot-like beak.”<br />
<br />
It is also worth noting that <i>Psittacosaurus </i>is an interesting dinosaur in many other ways. For example, its tail is endowed with a double row of porcupine-like quills. As Peter has demonstrated, his species uses these quills for both display and for defense; upon shaking his tail, Peter can cast out loose quills. This is similar to what modern porcupines can do with their quills. But juts like modern porcupines, <i>Psittacosaurus </i>can't exactly aim and shoot their quills, contrary to popular belief, meaning they tend to fly in all directions...better stay out of the way when <i>Psittacosaurus </i>gets angry!<br />
<br />
Dr. Steve said regarding <i>Psittacosaurus </i>that, “I didn't even know we would get the opportunity to clone this dinosaur. See, when Dr. Samuel Adamson came back from China, in addition to the fossils of <i>Yutyrannus</i>, he also found amber containing fossilized biting insects. It turned out that one of those insects was holding <i>Psittacosaurus </i>DNA inside its gut. Of course, we couldn't know what species it had sucked the blood from until we cloned it. Imagine my surprise when we got our first look at the <i>Psittacosaurus</i>. Absolute wonder.”<br />
<br />
And finally, Dr. Steve wanted to show me a creature he is particularly proud of – an <i>Archaeopteryx</i> named Adeline. “I haven't been able to clone very many extinct birds,” he explained. “Until last year, the only one we've successfully cloned was <i>Caudipteryx</i>. Adding <i>Archaeopteryx </i>to our collection is a real treat.” <i>Archaeopteryx </i>was a species of perching bird uncovered from the Jurassic rock layers of Germany. When discovered in the 1800's, what made this creature such an incredible find was that <i>Archaeopteryx </i>represents the first fossil skeleton ever found with feathers. “Evolutionists like to use <i>Archaeopteryx </i>as proof that evolution occurred in the past,” Dr. Steve explained. “Proof that dinosaurs evolved into birds; because <i>Archaeopteryx </i>has many reptilian features, including a toothy jaw, clawed wings, a long bony tail and so on. However, these features occur in other extinct or living birds. Plus, <i>Archaeopteryx's</i> DNA, which we analyzed, clearly makes it distinct from dinosaurs.”<br />
<br />
The wonders of paleontology, geology and genetics have once again allowed Dr. Steve Stevenson and his lab assistants to bring just a few more creatures back to life. “I hear Dr. Adamson will be going to Africa this summer,” Dr. Steve said. “I can't wait to see what fossils he brings back so that we may bring yet more animals out of extinction.”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/077.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b> </div>
<br />
<b>Next Issue: Let's All Dance Like a Caudipteryx!</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-85003554682093752292016-01-15T07:30:00.000-08:002016-02-11T07:30:04.679-08:00Rerun Article: School's Buzzing at Snowflake's Christian School for Animals<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Academy_School_Building.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Academy_School_Building.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Snowflake's Christian School for Animals is a
newly opened school, a great place for animals to learn Mathematics,
English, Science and many other skills.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Note:
The article you are about to read describes the actions and what was
said during Lizzy's first television interview with Snowflake's
Christian School for Animals.</i><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>A Lizard is seen playing a game on her iPod.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Umm, Miss we're on the air!” exclaims a voice behind the camera.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Oops umm...Hi, this is Lizzy the Lizard and today I'm going to <b>Mrs. Snowflake's Christian School for Animals </b>(or <b>SCSA</b>),
where the school year has started a bit earlier than usual. I, Lizzy,
decided to interview some of the students and staff to see their opinion
on the school.” “It's great, there's so many sports like Basketball,
volleyball, track, and soccer,” exclaims an anxious joey, named Roo, as
we walk down the hallway. “I'm trying out for basketball. The games area
totally awesome! There's flags and banners...the best part is the food,
there's...”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Thanks for showing such enthusiasm, Roo,” I say.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It's
fun, Mrs. Hippo...I mean Mrs. Snowflake makes sure that kids in my
grade get the education they need, but my favorite time is snack time!”
states a first grader name, Jelly the Field Mouse. “You should go talk
to my mom, Peanut or Butter, my little sister.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Peanut, Butter, and Jelly, huh um... How original,” I remark <i>into the camera</i>.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It's
time to go into the teacher's lounge,” I declare as I continue down the
hallway. “Hello Lumpy," I ask a heffalump (elephant), "what do you
think of the education here at <b>SCSA</b>?”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Lizzy, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?” questions the heffalump.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Umm I'm kind of doing a documentary of the school for a blog,” I answer <i>before turning to the camera man</i>, “We can delete that part, right?”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Here
we have the cafeteria, where the students eat and . . . um . . .” I
walk over to the kitchen area. “What's you're take on the food here.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It's
the best” exclaims the Penny the penguin as he slaps some fish-smelling
paste with bits of fish parts in it on some bread. “I make it myself.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“I think I'm gonna be sick!” I exclaim, <i>camera zooms at me as I rush out of the room.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I finally return. The camera man takes a close up of my face as</i> I say, “You don't....umm.. like regurgitate the food and serve it...right?”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Nonsense, I only do that for Penguinia-Ann, my little sister.” the penguin reassures me.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“That's nice to know,” I exclaim, “Now let's get some feedback on how the food tastes.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It's magical!” exclaims a kindergartner name, Puff (the magic dragon).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“My mom's cooking is better,” remarks fourth grader, Snowball Hippo.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“I'll like peanuts,” states another fourth grader named, Butter the chipmunk.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I'm seen taking a spoonful of mac& cheese.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“This
is good,” I exclaim, checking my watch. “Well it's almost time to go so
this is Lizzy the Lizard coming from the Mrs. Snowflake's school for
animals!”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>The video ends with Lizzy gobbling up the Mac & cheese.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Written by: Lizzy the Lizard</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Photographed by: Daniel P. Smithwater</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a>, Joy Hammond & Mr. Smiley</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Weekly Cartoons</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/134.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Next Issue: Dr. Steve's New Dinosaurs of 2016</span></b></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-52821410739309896272015-12-30T07:54:00.002-08:002016-01-15T07:30:26.178-08:00Rerun Article: Lizzy the Singing Lizard<div style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVs2ugdeoI_Z4JSBsV91BnqerqbcaiNowuXrCZMTo_jYs1reLbANenQrysd7bwgdrUI6RFu_z4i9B_HRiKcI3QkyPiCb7XH12pPMwi5GRZ1OZApuypZUxpjS09FofocADWuIKL-1Mi0KJ/s1600/IMG_20130925_132102+-+Copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVs2ugdeoI_Z4JSBsV91BnqerqbcaiNowuXrCZMTo_jYs1reLbANenQrysd7bwgdrUI6RFu_z4i9B_HRiKcI3QkyPiCb7XH12pPMwi5GRZ1OZApuypZUxpjS09FofocADWuIKL-1Mi0KJ/s320/IMG_20130925_132102+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: .Helvetica NeueUI;"><i>Lizzy the Lizard loves her music!</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
Hey everyone, Lizzy here and I've been busy this week. I got home and I started listening to music on this app: <i>Pandora</i>.
I found many of my favorite songs on it. I have no clue what I'd do if
music was never here. I listen to music constantly, like when I'm
writing my stories, cleaning around the house and my room, and before
going to bed. Sometimes I love the song so much that I play it over and
over. Lily, my sister, is a little annoyed when I play the same song
over and over again but I can't help it. I've tried to write a song but
Lily read it and said it wasn't very good, even though I think it is.
Anyway, our topic today is music (as you can tell). I decided to have
fun today and I looked up what music was and here's what came up:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>The
art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to
produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotions.</i>"</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
Here's
my definition of music: music can either lift our spirits or trash
them. There are clean and uplifting songs and then their are in
appropriate and dirty ones. Today I will show you some of my favorite
song and why I like them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
I have so many good songs but I decided to pick the top seven. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; min-height: 20px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. It's time for Africa by Shakira</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
Most
of the time when I listen to songs on YouTube, I usually look for the
lyrics video instead of the music video because I like seeing what words
are in the song first. Anyway, I like this song, not only because its
energetic but because its feels encouraging to me. You'll see why after
reading the first verse.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-LightOblique; font-style: italic;">You're
a good soldier, choosing your battles. Pick yourself up and dust
yourself off, and back on the saddle. You're on the frontline,
Everyone's watching. You know it's serious, we're getting closer. This
isn't over. The pressure's on, You feel it. But you've got it all,
Believe it.</span></blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
It
seems encouraging to me, maybe you have a different opinion but when
I'm out on the field playing soccer or anything else that's a
competition or hard, I'm gonna have this song in my head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; min-height: 20px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Radioactive by imagine dragons</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
I
wasn't sure how to explain how I feel about this song. It may seem dark
but that's not how I feel about it. Trying to look for the right words,
I looked up what the song means. Dan Reynolds, who sang the song has
this to say, "Radioactive to me, it's a very powerful-sounding song, and
the lyrics behind it, there's a lot of personal story behind it, but
generally speaking, it's a song about having an awakening; kind of
waking up one day and deciding to do something new, and see life in a
fresh way. A lot of people hear it in a dark way, but, I think, without
saying the word too many times, it's empowering, and so we wanted to
display that in a way that the listener wouldn't see normally."
Reynold's had been struggling with depression and anxiety issues for
most of his life. He put it like this: "Coming out of a pretty serious
spell of depression and having a new awakening and real vigor for life."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Tell the World by Lacrae</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
This
song also has a very powerful message to it. I've listened to it over
six times in a row. That's how much I like it! The message is about
being brand new in Christ. Near the end of the song, it says,
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has
passed away, Behold, the new has come." That is based on one of my
favorite verses, reminding me that I'm new in Christ and nothing should
ever change me back. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Fingerprints of God by Steven Curtis Chapman</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
Although
this song seems to be meant for girls, the song has many important
statements. My favorite is, "never has there been and never again, will
there be another you." It makes makes me feel special and unique,
knowing that no one is like me.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">5-6. Fearless </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Nothing's gonna stop me now both by Olivia Holt.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
Both
these song are upbeat and encouraging. I feel confident when I hear
these songs. I find myself singing the songs, often. I guess songs can
have that effect on you. Songs will change your attitude about things,
that would also be why you have to be careful what you listen to.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Good time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepson</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
This
is the last song I'm going to talk about. It's all about having a
positive attitude throughout the whole day. "It's always a good time",
is the phrase used throughout song. Yep, this song is very catchy,
especially the chorus.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
Well that's all the time I have for today so this is Lizzy signing off!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Photographer: Daniel P.
Smithwater</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/047.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20121116.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!</span></b></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: School's Buzzing at Snowflake's Christian School for Animals</b></span></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-38289953362253601752015-12-24T13:50:00.003-08:002015-12-30T07:55:48.725-08:00Christmas of the Nativity Fever!<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">It's happening all around us,” said Nigel Milligan,
CEO of <b>Animal Adventures Inc.</b> when my trusty, junior
photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I interviewed him last
Tuesday. “Every year, I get more concerned about Christmas because
it seems that with each passing year, the true meaning for this
season gets lost in the shuffle, even by those who claim to proclaim
it!” Nigel knows that way back when, America as a country
considered Christmastime a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. (Though Jesus existed before He was born on
earth – because He is One with God the Father – Christmas is the
time we celebrate when Jesus was born as a human being – because He
is also human) “But times are changing,” Nigel explains. “If
you talk about Jesus Christ, people call you intolerant; nativity
scenes and other Christian symbols are being removed and forgotten,
and it's even often times forbidden to say something as simple as
'Merry Christmas'. My girlfriend was shopping in some of the
department stores the other day, and she said she couldn't find one
Christmas card with the Nativity, or Mary and Jesus on it? 'What is
this world coming to?' she said. In fact, it's so bad that some have
begun calling it 'The War on Christmas'.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As Christians should know, Christmas is the time we set
aside to celebrate Jesus' birth. But even many Christians seem to
forget this. Nigel is quoted for saying, “Department stores and
other businesses are trying to sell things as quickly as possible,
and we the consumers are running around like dodo birds in a
thunderstorm trying to buy, buy, buy and find that perfect gift for
our friends and family. While giving to others is a good thing, we
tend to focus more on ourselves during this time of year rather than
on Christ. Without Him, there <i>is</i> no Christmas.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I asked Nigel if there is any connection between the
lack of focus on Christ during Christmas and Santa Claus, a popular
icon for this time of year. “Yes and no,” Nigel answered. “No,
I don't think Santa Claus is intentionally trying to lead people away
from God. However, people, children especially, are always focusing
on Kris Kringle...[They're] trying to be good so they can get
presents on Christmas Eve when he flies their way. Parents,
television and friends of these children sow the seeds of
commercialism in them during Christmastime. Sure, many parents may
assume their children already know about the true meaning of
Christmas, but what if they've been paying for attention to the false
meaning of Christmas; what if when asked Who the center of Christmas
is, they answer, 'Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the
red-nosed reindeer?'; what if when it's time to sing Christmas songs
together, they can't seem to remember the words to 'O Holy Night',
'Mary, Did You Know' or 'Away in a Manger', but know 'Jingle Bells'
and 'Santa is Coming To Town' perfectly well? I've seen it happen so
often in children of this generation.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Adults too, Nigel explains, fall into the world's trap
of commercialism and focus on everything but Christ during Christmas.
“It's saddening,” Nigel says, “to see how many parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles and other family members remind their
children that they need to rush out of church so they can get home
and fix a meal before the family comes over, or so they can run to
the store and get that last minute Christmas gift.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Nigel says, “For this Christmas, I have some advice
for everyone: slow down! Slow down and consider what you are doing
for the holidays. As Christians, we should show those around us
through our actions Who are focus is on and who we are in Christ. Are
we really doing that when we're acting just like the rest of the
world this time of year? That's why, we at <b>AAI. </b>have decided
to start the 'Nativity Fever'!”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Nativity Fever, is, as Nigel's calling it, an attempt to
get people thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. “Jesus was
a radical person,” Nigel explains, “and I believe that He wants
us to follow in His footsteps, so we should be radical too, even if
other people don't like it. Hey, I mean, not everyone liked Jesus in
His time either!” Inspired by the recent <i><b>Minnesota Nativity
Scene</b></i><i> </i>occurrence, Nigel and everyone at <b>AAI.</b>
will be setting up nativity scenes around the property and several
designated areas around the town. In addition to that, they will be
conducting a mini-parade through the streets of Riverville featuring
a live nativity. “We will have many human residents participating,
as well as many animals: sheep, donkeys, cows, goats and camels,
things like that. However, we'll be careful to be as biblically
accurate as we can in our portrayal of the Nativity; for example, we
will not show the wise men and their camels near baby Jesus, Mary and
Joseph in the manger because, according to the Bible, they didn't
visit Jesus until He was a 'child', perhaps a year or two old.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It's a small step, but what Nigel believes that this
parade and the Nativity scenes he and his company will set up will be
a good witnessing tool. Lord-willing, it will get people thinking
about Jesus, the real meaning of the season, and give Nigel and the
others a chance to share with unbelievers (and remind believers) that
Jesus Christ came into the world as a baby almost 2,000 years ago so
that, 33 years later, He could sacrifice Himself by dying on a cross
for the sins that each and everyone one of us commit each day so that
if we call upon His name to save us, we will not have to suffer the
penalty of sin – eternal separation from God – and exist with God
after we die. And to prove what He said He came to earth to do was
true, He rose again.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">To coin the phrase,” Nigel says, “it's time to
put <i>Christmas</i> back
in <i>Christ</i>!”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Photographer: Daniel P.
Smithwater</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian
Ryan</a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/254.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: Lizzy the Singing Lizard</b></span>
</div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-28882625854836216182015-12-16T06:20:00.003-08:002015-12-16T06:21:03.240-08:00Rerun Article: Star of Wonder, Star of Treasure Discovered!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Tom1H9b1L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Tom1H9b1L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The three gifts the wise men gave long ago</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">“Through mountains and valleys it
led them each night, a star of most radiant light. The wise men rejoiced as
they journeyed afar, to behold such a beautiful star!”</span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">sung by Kathy Mattea</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">These are the words to a beautiful song called “When They Saw
the Star”. This song talks about the wise men that had visited baby Jesus and
presented him with gifts. But this is where many people get the Nativity Story
wrong: if you were to go out and ask a bunch of people walking down the street
right now and asked what they know about the wise men in the Bible, most, if
not all of them would say that they visited Jesus in Bethlehem as He laid in
the manger. Well, go get your Bible and look in the book of Matthew in the
second chapter. That’s where it talks about the wise men. Does it say they
visited Jesus in the manger? Read it for yourself in verse 11: “<i>And when they were come into the <b>house</b>, they saw the young child with
Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him . . .</i>” Does that say
anything about a manger? Noooooo! It clearly says that they visited Jesus when
he was living in a house with His mother (and His dad too). Yet, we see the
wise men visiting Jesus in the manger in television shows, movies, plays,
nativity sets and so forth. However, the wise men really did follow a star to
find the Child. They followed this star until they finally reached the place
where Jesus was. Then they presented Him with three gifts: gold, frankincense
and myrrh. We don’t really know how many wise men there were, but since three
gifts were given, it is assumed by many that there were three. However, after
the gifts are given to Jesus, they mysteriously disappear. As far as we know,
they don’t appear in scripture anywhere. They kind of just floated off into the
unknown . . . right? That’s what everyone thought until one day, that famed
explorer and archaeologist, Indiana James, took a little trip to Vermont to
visit his grandparents. While visiting, he went in a little antique shop and
saw something in the corner of his eye sitting in a box in the very back of the
store (the store was <i>really</i> junky,
the antique dealer just bought antiques and piled them into piles or onto
shelves in the store, so for the most part she really didn’t know what she had
to sell). He took a look at three little “jars” in the box and realized there
was something very peculiar about them . . . they looked strangely familiar. “I
don’t know how on earth these would have looked familiar to me,” says Indiana
James, “considering I really had never seen them before. Maybe it was just pure
providence. Yeah, it probably was.” After taking a few minutes looking at the
beautiful objects, he opened one of them up to reveal some strong smelling
spices. He recognized it as frankincense. He opened another container and
realized it was a bright, shiny object called gold. And the final container was
filled with myrrh. He instantly knew the kind of find he had made and quickly
bought the objects he found. He tried asking the antique store owner how on
earth these three objects got from the Middle East to Vermont, she shrugged. So
it was up to Indiana James to find the origins of these little “jars” to see if
they were in fact the same ones given to Jesus. How would he find out? Well, he
first found out where the antique store owner bought the pieces from. She said
she had bought them from an old lady who lived up by Champlain Lake. This is
what Indiana did with all of the people who had once owned these valuable artifacts.
After doing his research (and eventually flying all the way to the Holy Lands),
he believes he knows how on earth these pieces made it here to the U.S.: the
lady at the antique shop bought the “jars” from an old lady. The old lady got
it from a friend of hers who had had it in her family for at least three
generations. The “three-generation” family kept the artifacts because a man in
their family named Pilot Gorge Kingston, had it in his possessions during his
piloting during World War II. How did he receive the treasures? Well, he bought
it from a merchant in the Middle East who found the treasures in an old shed.
The shed used to belong to a “police” who had confiscated the treasures from
thieves who stole it from an emperor who had received the “jars” from a poor
man. This is where the story is abrupt. “I looked in all the resources I could
find,” says Indiana James, “but nowhere could I find how the treasures got from
Jesus’ family to the poor man. All I know is that this poor man lived in the
area Jesus grew up in. This mystery will have to wait for future generations to
solve it . . . if I don’t discover it before I am dead and gone, that is!” So
as the archaeologist says, this mystery will have to wait to be solved. But
regardless of how it got from Jesus’ family to the antique dealer, we mustn’t
forget that this is not the reason for Christmas in the first place. The real
reason for the season is not the wise men’s gifts, instead, it commemorates the
birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who left His throne in heaven and
humbled Himself. He came to earth for one main reason – to die for our sins. He
took the punishment for our sins so that we don’t have to. Thanks to Jesus,
when we die, we can go to heaven to live with God. Thanks to Jesus, all we have
to do to get admittance in heaven is admit that we have sinned and need Jesus’s
salvation, next we have to believe that Jesus is 100% God (yet he’s also 100%
man), and last but certainly not least, we must confess our faith in Jesus and
chose to live for Him. And that’s what Christmas is all about! Have a merry,
merry Christmas from all of us here at Smiley’s News!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">PS: The wise men’s treasures are now safe and sound in the
Riverville Museum of Natural History, thank goodness for that!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Photographed by: Daniel P. Smithwater</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Weekly Cartoons</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/414.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Next Issue: TBD</span></b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-59796639532899610342015-12-09T05:58:00.004-08:002015-12-16T06:21:34.964-08:00Rerun Article: Reindeer Girl Power!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv6drHp_dSAWa1tiVg8XAkBbBrv-XzGSLLqBBL7_8gLiMfdB26b0V76ZsbmdcWUNUx3iOqQd5nozHARiad3kdCRHl2VYE0FD9rMntJ4I3AcxrunUEyJ-OuZCr9wVg5V6JJ2uIU3ex0osj/s1600/IMG_20121120_074236.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv6drHp_dSAWa1tiVg8XAkBbBrv-XzGSLLqBBL7_8gLiMfdB26b0V76ZsbmdcWUNUx3iOqQd5nozHARiad3kdCRHl2VYE0FD9rMntJ4I3AcxrunUEyJ-OuZCr9wVg5V6JJ2uIU3ex0osj/s320/IMG_20121120_074236.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Elizabeth
Sorkin and a pair of reindeer, Elizabeth is one of the scientists
involved in explaining how Santa's reindeer do certain things, such as
fly</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">You know their names, we all know their names. I think just
about everybody knows the names of those helpful little animals that, come
every Christmas Eve, help Santa Claus pull his sleigh. You know – Dasher,
Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. Those nine
reindeer faithfully, every year pull Santa Claus’s sleigh to help him deliver
presents to all the children of the world. Over the years, a lot of myths have
come up about these deer. One of the biggest myths of all is also the most
surprising. How can I break it to you? After careful research, scientists have
concluded that Santa’s reindeer buddies aren’t the majestic, awe-inspiring
bucks we often see depicted. Instead, these reindeer are majestic awe-inspiring
. . . does (pronounced as <i>doehs</i>)!
Yes, you did read right. Santa’s reindeer that haul the sleigh full of toys are
actually female! How is this possible? Well, my trusty junior photographer,
Daniel P. Smithwater and I headed over to Dr. Elizabeth Sorkin, the
veterinarian at Animal Adventures Institute to learn about this reindeer myth.
Dr. Elizabeth says, “The reason why we now know Santa’s reindeer are female is
because of a few reasons. First of all, right after the rut in the winter, male
reindeer, like all other deer, lost their antlers, while females keep their
antlers all year long. Also, soon after the rut, reindeer bucks are tired from
the fighting with other males over females. The reindeer pulling the sleigh
have to contend with a load of toys AND a plump little man while they fly
through the night air.” After asking why male reindeer are normally what is
seen in Christmas movies, she says, “This is because most Christmas movies are
actually filmed in the summer. Very few Christmas movies are filmed in the
winter. During the summer, reindeer bucks are big and strong, even stronger
than the does. So naturally, they choose these deer for the movies and ever
since, people have always been confused.” Wow, this is shocking, I mean, we’ve
all grown up thinking these deer were male. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">On the topic of reindeer, I decided to ask Dr. Elizabeth
another popular question came to mind: How do reindeer fly? Dr. Elizabeth is
quoted to saying, “A lot of people have different ideas about how reindeer fly.
This is because no one knows. I have my own theory: if you’ve ever seen the
movie “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Wonka_and_the_Chocolate_Factory">Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory</a>”, you’ll recall that Charlie and
his grandpa were able to float because of this special drink they drunk. The
drink filled them with gas and this was how they could float. (However, unlike
the movie, reindeer have more control in the air and don’t have to burp to get
the gas out of their body). I did my research and found out that the drink was
made from a special type of corn that grows only in below freezing temperatures.
It is called <i>Zea mays hellifer</i>,
a.k.a. “Magic Feed Corn”. I believe that “Magic Feed Corn” is fed to the
reindeer and this is what lifts them off the ground and helps Santa deliver
presents to children all over the world.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Then yet <i>another</i> question
that has puzzled me since forever: how does Rudolph’s nose glow? “No one is
quite sure why Rudolph’s nose glows the way it does,” she says, “but there are
many theories. One theory – the Sun-to-Nose Theory – is that light from the
sun, moon, or whatever light source is around hits the nose and something
inside the nose makes the light bounce back from the nose and to every other
direction. One problem with this theory is that the light from Rudolph’s nose
shines on and off, with or without another light source. Another possibly
theory is the Hot Nose Theory. This theory suggests that Rudolph’s nose is lit
up by the hot air coming out of her nose. Another theory – the Firefly-Nose
Theory – is that perhaps inside Rudolph’s nose, there are two chemicals, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciferase"><b>luciferase</b> <b>and</b></a> <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciferin">luciferin</a></b>, the same
chemicals that make a firefly’s tail shine. So perhaps this is why her nose
glows.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Wow! We learned a lot about Santa’s Best Friends. Now you
know how they fly, what gender they <i>really</i>
are and why Rudolph’s nose glows. Most of the reindeers’ names are unisex, so
there’s no problem with most of them. If the name “Rudolph” sounds a bit boyish
to you, you can simply call her the name in the song that we can now all sing,
“Rudolpha, the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose . . .”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UkygkXdXepVWuA6E8njCwUbEW-bWVxQmvWEcQGDtFh7gWlF31fbDewE20Eh5xAS7gen2njD6nl13T6Rh7xDxGqvTef0A7pvDYnAipSwoXa2Zmn22wZIe6aYses15jp9Lo7vukugSzSB8/s1600/IMG_20121120_074320.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UkygkXdXepVWuA6E8njCwUbEW-bWVxQmvWEcQGDtFh7gWlF31fbDewE20Eh5xAS7gen2njD6nl13T6Rh7xDxGqvTef0A7pvDYnAipSwoXa2Zmn22wZIe6aYses15jp9Lo7vukugSzSB8/s320/IMG_20121120_074320.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A reindeer</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Photographed by: Daniel P. Smithwater</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Weekly Cartoons</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/413.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Next Issue: Rerun Article: Star of Wonder, Star of Treasure Discovered!</span></b></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-58591649981975182612015-12-02T06:33:00.002-08:002015-12-16T06:21:54.788-08:00Rerun Article: The Mysteries of Saint Nicholas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/M_C-014.JPG/450px-M_C-014.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/M_C-014.JPG/450px-M_C-014.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Does
Santa Claus exist? There's plenty of "evidence" that he doesn't . . .
but how valid is it? Read this week's article to find out!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Saint Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus and Kris
Kringle, is a hot topic this time of year. (And by hot, I mean HOT!)
Many people firmly believe in him, others do not. But what's the truth? I
mean, how else do all those presents get under the Christmas tree? I've
heard plenty and plenty of so-called evidences that Santa Claus doesn't
exist. I've heard them time and time again and it gets awful annoying. I
seriously believe some people are paid to prove Santa Claus doesn't
exist. This past Monday, I was bored in my office at Smiley's News
(which, as you might recall is a part of Animal Adventures Inc.) with my
trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, Lizzy the Lizard,
another writer at Smiley's News and a ton of arguments on the internet
that Santa Claus doesn't exist and what was I to do? Well, my
photographer and I decided to get to the bottom of this and find out
evidence that Santa exists! I firmly believe that he exists with little
or no evidence, but other people aren't so convinced so . . . oh, my
photographer just informed me that I'm babbling so I'll get right to the
point. Daniel, Lizzy and I did our own research to find a conclusion.
First of all, I'll refresh your memory on just what Santa Claus has to
do every Christmas Eve – as we all know, Santa jumps into his sleigh
with his red bag and tons of presents and he flies into the sky thanks
to his nine reindeer. Now, let's look at each of the arguments against
Santa Claus' existence and I'll put my arguments forth and we'll prove
once and for all that old Saint Nick exists!<br />
<br />
<b>Argument #1 – No one can deliver presents all over the world in one night, not even Santa Claus</b><br />
<br />
Well,
let's look at the facts: there are around seven billion people in the
world and around one billion are kids. Here's the math: Santa has 24
hours to deliver all the presents, and one billion divided by 24 equals
41,666,666 kids per hour! And we're not finished yet! After dividing
41,666,666 by 60 (as there are 60 minutes in an hour), you get 649,444
kids to be visited per minute. After dividing 649,444 by 60 (as there
are 60 seconds in one minute). That's <b>11,5574</b> kids per second!
How does the old guy do it? Many Santa-disbelievers object to his
existence because they think it's impossible to visit that many kids in
one night because the day's simply not long enough. So, how do I
counterattack this? Well, my assistants and I visited Dr. Dodo Bird,
Animal Adventures Inc.'s psychiatrist (he does other stuff as well) to
offer a few theories as to how this could be done. “First of all, a lot
of people believe that Santa can't deliver presents to all the children
of the world,” Dr. Dodo says, “but many people forget that not everyone
celebrates Christmas in the first place! So if you count out those kids
that don't celebrate Christmas, you still have a lot of kids left to
visit. That's where the Time-Continuum Theory comes in!” Dr. Dodo
explained that in the Time-Continuum Theory, Santa Claus could travel in
his sleigh in the direction of the setting sun. So if he leaves the
North Pole at 12:00 pm. he would start in Australia, in the earliest
time zone, and then fly west. As he passes through different time zones
going westward, he gains an hour each time he enters a new time zone.
Dr. Dodo is quoted for saying, “Even though this theory is quite popular
among Santa-believers, it's probably not enough time for Santa Claus to
make his delivery. That's why I invented an all-new theory of my own:
meet (*drum roll*) . . . the Time-Travel Theory!” According to the Dodo
bird (who isn't much of a dodo after all!), Santa would have to travel
extremely fast and thanks to a presumably reindeer AND jet-powered
sleigh, this can be done. Dr. Dodo explains, “If Santa could travel
extremely fast – say, jet-airplane-speed – strange things could happen.
Going at extremely fast speeds could possibly result in the ability of
time travel! (It might seem weird, but flying at light-speed might
actually accomplish time-travel) And if Santa is time-traveling, he
might be able to travel back in time and therefore add time to his time
limit!” So much for this argument!<br />
<br />
<b>Argument #2 – Reindeer can't fly</b><br />
<br />
Obviously,
most reindeer can't fly. So how would Santa's Dasher, Dancer, Prancer,
Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Doner, Blitzen and Rudolph take to the air? Since
it turns out we already covered this article last year in an article all
about Santa's best buds, I'll just sum it all up: it's theorized that
the reindeer gain their power of flight by consuming a special type of
corn (called Magic Feed Corn) that fills their bodies with gas (not the
rude kind of gas) and they can float into the air. By kicking their legs
while in the air, they can move quite gracefully through the air. If
you're thinking about trying some of this corn, I wouldn't advise it –
side effects may include throat rashes, hair loss and strange
hallucinations and dreams concerning Santa Claus and the North
Pole-themed shopping centers.<br />
<br />
<b>Argument #3 – The North Pole's in the middle of the Arctic ocean</b><br />
<br />
It's
true, if you look at a map of the world and look at the North Pole,
you'll realize that it's smack dab in the middle of the deep, blue
ocean. How can Santa Claus's workshop be in the middle of the ocean?
Well, it turns out that up in the pole, it's obviously bitterly cold, so
icebergs often floats in the ocean all year round. My sources have led
me to conclude that Santa Claus might have special techniques not only
to keep the icebergs the size they need to keep the workshop floating,
but also to keep the iceberg in the same location so we don't find
Santa's workshop floating somewhere in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Many
have also wondered why we don't find satellite-imaging evidence for
Santa's existence, but perhaps his workshop's inside instead of on top
of the iceberg? Something like in the Santa Clause franchise? Then we
might never know he's there (which is kind of the point). While doing my
research, Lizzy brought up another suggestion: “What if he's not in the
North Pole at all?” “What do you mean?” I asked. “What if we think he's
in the North Pole? He could be living in the South Pole for all we
know, and we'd never know to look there because we think he's up north!”
Then it hit me – Lizzy's got a point! So in summary, Santa's workshop
could be either in or on top of an iceberg in the North Pole or at the
South Pole in Antarctica.<br />
<br />
<b>Argument #4 – “I saw my parents putting 'presents from Santa' under the Christmas tree.”</b><br />
<br />
One
of the most common arguments of all is that kids claim to have
witnessed their parents putting “Santa's” presents underneath the
Christmas tree. How on earth can we argue against this? Well, my
assistants and I thought long and hard about this . . . and we finally
thought of an incredible solution! Santa Claus needs to be kept secret,
right? And nonbelievers in Santa wouldn't be so inclined to find him,
especially if they remember putting presents underneath the tree for
their kids. What if Santa has an ingenious invention to ensure people
don't make serious searches for him by causing them to forget with –
what else? – an amnesia-inator? If this supposed amnesia-inator exists,
one of Santa's elves could easily press a “global-extent” button and
people would not only forget not-putting presents under the tree and
“remember” doing just that, but (some) kids might “remember” seeing
their parents doing the deed. Isn't it ingenious? Of course, it must not
effect everyone, or we'd have one too many unbelievers and that's not
good.<br />
<br />
So there you have it! Four evidences against the
four most common arguments against Santa's existence. So you readers can
now scream to your unbelieving friends, “Ha! Mr. Smiley told me
evidence that Santa does exist!” Now that you've read this article, I
have a question: do you (now) believe in Santa Claus? My assistants and I
know our answer full and well, and it was the same one given to a
certain young girl who asked about Old St. Nicks existence: “Yes
[Virginia], there is a Santa Claus!”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a>, Joy Hammond<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoons</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/20001211.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/20001211.gif" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: Reindeer Girl Power</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-84300490199128098372015-11-23T06:35:00.002-08:002015-12-16T06:22:15.441-08:00Rerun Article: A Gobbler's Protest<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LytRUwBeXJJYfkzz8b4QQCCSI2wIiRLlVF0FeqtFfQDMCsIqBeRSpizOEncaDvF8iwRAUK-7hyphenhypheng_DbAqtJqnnNANvSW9j_ioacu2U_fUex18ySr-qgqU3LMO_6wbyDlBa5SgFISzFbgk/s1600/IMG_20121020_125126.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LytRUwBeXJJYfkzz8b4QQCCSI2wIiRLlVF0FeqtFfQDMCsIqBeRSpizOEncaDvF8iwRAUK-7hyphenhypheng_DbAqtJqnnNANvSW9j_ioacu2U_fUex18ySr-qgqU3LMO_6wbyDlBa5SgFISzFbgk/s320/IMG_20121020_125126.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Disclaimer: The views
presented in the following article do not represent the views of
Smiley’s News. Please note that they are merely the views of the
interviewee.</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Thanksgiving is rounding
the corner. Wait, I’m wrong, it’s </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>here! </b></span><span style="font-size: small;">Oh
the joy! A lot of people will be doing special things for
Thanksgiving this year. Some will be watching football, some will be
doing something special with other family members, some will go over
to a friend’s house. But no matter where you are, there’s one
thing we probably all will be doing this Thanksgiving - eating
turkey! Turkey is prepared in dozens of different ways, most will
probably just lay it out on the table, others will be putting their
turkey in sandwiches, others will have turkey slices, others will eat
theirs right off the bone, and some will even be eating it inside
Apple Pie like my grandma does. Boy, she makes her pie weird too.
Take her crust for instance. In order to get it just perfect, she
takes her false teeth out and . . . wait a minute, I’m getting off
topic here! Anyways, this Thanksgiving, some citizens will be going
to turn Thanksgiving upside-down! At Animal Adventures Inc. (AAI.),
in Riverville, New York, a fowl by the name of Dr. Turkey Curkey
wishes to (naturally) change the Thanksgiving tradition of, you
guessed it: turkey hunting! He’s quoted for saying, “I don’t
like turkey season. Never have. I mean, I’m safe here at AAI., but
I have to be careful where I go when fall comes because it’s not
often that you see a turkey just walking on the sidewalk. I have to
be careful in the spring too.” Dr. Turkey has PhD. in psychology
and human behavioral studies and views turkey season as just a chance
for humans to go crazy. Recently, he had a speech in which hundreds
of regularly hunted and eaten fowl (along with myself and my trusty,
junior photographer Daniel P. Smithwater) gathered to hear him. On
the issue of turkey season (and fowl season in general), he said, “I
believe that the hunting of fowl has gone out of hand. I mean
seriously, turkeys and other fowl are living things just like humans.
We may not be made in God’s image, so it would make since that we
are not treated the same, but still, I firmly believed we are
undertreated.” He also went on to say that even living conditions
for turkeys and chickens on farms are not satisfactory. He believes
they should be cleaned out much more often and they should not be fed
that GMO stuff. “Turkey’s hate the taste of GMO and growth
hormones,” Dr. Turkey says, “but the only reason why we eat it is
because that’s all we’re given.” Dr. Turkey isn’t really for
the eating turkey on Thanksgiving, but he understands that humans
just have a habit of doing that. Not only that, but he also recalls
God’s words to humans in Genesis 9:3, “” On Thanksgiving Day
though, he recommends another thing to do instead of killing “poor
and innocent” turkeys. “Instead of killing turkeys,” he says,
“humans should be generous and adopt a baby turkey for a
Thanksgiving tradition. I mean, compared to animals such as dogs and
cats, turkeys require much less care. Humans don’t have to brush
them, pay for weekly visits to the vet, pet them often, play with
them often, buy toys for them and etc. Turkeys, chickens and other
fowl make much better pets than food. We turkeys are generally looked
down on, but it wasn’t always this way. As a matter of fact,
Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey instead of
a bald eagle. Here, check out this quote from a letter he wrote to
his daughter named Sarah Bache on January 26, 1784. He wrote:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> ‘Others object to the
Bald Eagle, as looking too much like a Dindon . . . For my own part I
wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our
country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his
living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree near
the river, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labour
of the fishing hawk[Osprey]; and when that diligent bird has at
length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of
his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from
him. . . . he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is
a rank coward: the little king bird not bigger than a sparrow attacks
him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is by no means a
proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have
driven all the king birds from our country . . .</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I am on this account . . .
displeased that the figure is . . . known as a bald eagle . . . For
in truth the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird,
and withal a true original Native of America. . . He is besides . . .
a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of
the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a
red coat on.’</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So as you can see, I
firmly believe the turkey, and all other hunting/eating birds, need
more respect than they are getting.” Wow! What a powerful speech
for such an . . . amazing bird. So why not get a pet turkey? Look around the area where you live for farms that sell turkeys</span><span style="font-size: small;">. Before the
interview, I had no idea how game birds felt. I guess Dr. Turkey
really is a motivational speaker . . . or is that gobbler?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Photographer: Daniel P.
Smithwater</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian
Ryan</a>, Joy Hammond</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20130607.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20130607.gif" height="320" width="271" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: The Mysteries of Saint Nicholas</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-47386542601627933332015-11-16T06:13:00.000-08:002015-12-16T06:22:38.932-08:00Rerun Article: Mac Dee Dee's First Harvest<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/NPP_Vosek,_pohled_polem.jpg/800px-NPP_Vosek,_pohled_polem.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/NPP_Vosek,_pohled_polem.jpg/800px-NPP_Vosek,_pohled_polem.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here is a section of Mac Dee Dee's farmland. Corn is very popular this time of year!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="Standard">
On 7, 2013, Mac Dee Dee and his family opened a farm in
Riverville, New York with a mission – to use “old-fashioned” and organic
methods of farming to grow and produce food that wouldn't harbor evil growth
hormones and would also be a good place for the animals and plants they grow to
spend their lives (until the day they're butchered of course). Remember that
Bible verse that explains how we “shall reap what we sow”? Well, Mac Dee Dee
did just that – that is, his first major harvest – on the 17<sup>th</sup> of
September. My trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I went to
get an exclusive interview with Mac Dee Dee himself to learn more about the
operation. He's quoted for saying, “I've always been so excited about this day!
Of course, we've been harvesting vegetables, fruits and animal meats and animal
products since we opened. But as everyone knows, most of the things farmers
grow and produce (corn for example) are harvested big-time in the fall. So this
is our first major harvest! I for one am so excited about event.” Mac Dee Dee
went on to explain that their farm is approximately 50,000 acres of land and is
the perfect place for growing all sorts of food to feed a large population of
people. Many health food stores, organic grocers and local buyers have already
started buying and (in the case of stores) reselling his products and, in
Riverville at least, he's becoming quite popular. While my photographer and I
were at the farm, Mac Dee Dee and the others were harvesting potatoes in one
part of the farm, cantaloupes in another and corn in yet another. It looked
like a lot of work to do! “You have to be so careful when you're doing potatoes,”
says Mac Dee Dee. “When we harvest potatoes, we use a large hoe-like piece of
machinery and drive it pull it across the potato fields using a tractor.” He
went on to explain that they plant the potatoes in long rows. Earlier in the
season, they had dug out long trenches and placed the potatoes in each trench.
Then they cover the trenches with soil. As the season wears on, the potatoes
they planted (called Mother potatoes) sprout baby potatoes of their own and
since they grow outwards instead of straight down into the dirt, Mac Dee Dee
and the other farmers pile more and more dirt on to keep them covered. “A green
potato is a bad potato,” Mac Dee Dee explains. “Green potatoes are toxic, so we
don't pick them for consumption and put them in compost instead.” Finally,
during the harvest season, Mac Dee Dee and the other farmers work together and
use the hoe-like machinery to pull the potatoes out of the soil and remove the
top soil-layer. After this is done, they grab the potatoes and place them in
their crates to prepare them to ship out. Compared to potatoes, harvesting
corn, cantaloupes and the rest of the lot sounds like a piece of cake! (I think
I'm going to make some cake this afternoon by the way . . . wait, I'm getting
off topic!) Apples are also among the fruits to be harvested during this time
of year. While we were at the farm, Mac Dee Dee let Daniel and I eat one, and
boy was it sweet! I would have loved to share it with you guys, my readers, but
it's kind of hard to do that in writing, sorry about that! In yet <i>another</i>
part of this large farm, Mac Dee Dee's farmers were butchering cows, turkeys,
chickens, pigs and other animals and gathering the eggs of chickens, geese and
others. “We plan on selling <i>a lot</i> of turkey this year,” Mac Dee Dee
tells me. “We all know how much people like to eat turkey during Thanksgiving
and Christmas, and it's also organic. That's why we're produced hundreds and
hundreds of turkeys in addition to the other animals we produce. But unlike
most farms that keep them all cooped up, our animals are free-ranging within a
(<b>REALLY </b>big) fenced area for them to live and feed naturally – that's
why we need 50,000 acres of land.” We also checked out the milking area for the
dairy cows. It's a huge place to house their hundreds of milking cows when it's
milking time. While I was there, I got to hear the deafening sound of Mozart's
music playing from large speakers. Mac Dee Dee says, “There's a rumor that cows
produce more and better milk when Mozart music is playing, so we figured we might
as well have it playing just in case it proves to be true!” But after milking
time's over, not only is it a great relief to my eardrums, but also it's time
for the cows to go back out to the pastures where they can graze, just like
their ancestors did before the big commercial farms that keep cows locked up in
tiny stalls all day long came about. Mac Dee Dee's farm is part of a growing
movement to make America's eating habits better and therefore in prove better
lives. “Our farm is so big that we're rivaling other non-organic farms. And
that's a good thing, because it's time that we as farmers turn this eating
thing around and get people to eat a better way, especially during the upcoming
holiday season – to eat organic!”</div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
Written by: Mr. Smiley</div>
<div class="Standard">
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater</div>
<div class="Standard">
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Christian
Ryan</span></a>, Joy Hammond</div>
<div class="Standard" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weekly Cartoons</b></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cms/content/contentnode/image/after-eden/409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cms/content/contentnode/image/after-eden/409.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Next Issue: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Rerun Article: A Gobler's Protest</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"></span></span></b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-67155608427416251992015-11-09T05:55:00.002-08:002015-12-16T06:23:22.866-08:00Rerun Article: Pie in a Glass and Turkeys?! Oh My!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Our_%28Almost_Traditional%29_Thanksgiving_Dinner.jpg/800px-Our_%28Almost_Traditional%29_Thanksgiving_Dinner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Our_(Almost_Traditional)_Thanksgiving_Dinner.jpg/800px-Our_(Almost_Traditional)_Thanksgiving_Dinner.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanksgiving
centers around food . . . and so does today's article! Read on to learn
from Lizzy the Lizard how to bake some yummy Thanksgiving-themed
treats!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hey
there everyone! Lizzy here! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and
here's a recipe that will definitely make your mouth water . . . if you
like pumpkin pie. It's practically like a smoothie!</div>
<ol>
<li>Gather 15-ounce can pumpkin, if you can't get a fresher form of it (not pumpkin pie mix!)</li>
<li>12-ounce can evaporated milk</li>
<li>1 cup of vanilla yogurt</li>
<li>¼ cup of sugar</li>
<li>¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice</li>
<li>whipped cream</li>
<li>cinnamon</li>
</ol>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Here's what needs to be done to create this treat:</div>
<ol>
<li>First pour the canned pumpkin and evaporated milk into a bowl</li>
<li>Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight</li>
<li>Second, combine pumpkin, milk, yogurt, sugar, and spice into a blender</li>
<li>Blend until smooth</li>
<li>Then pour into a cup</li>
<li>Lastly, top with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.</li>
</ol>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Wait, don't go yet! This lizard's got another recipe and this is a fun one for kids. TURKEYS!</div>
<ol>
<li>Gather 4 tablespoons (½ stick) of butter</li>
<li>10-ounce bag of marshmallows</li>
<li>6 cups of Rice Krispies</li>
<li>Chocolate sandwich cookies (you can use Oreo cookies if you like)</li>
<li>Chocolate frosting</li>
<li>And candy corn.</li>
</ol>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
First . . .:</div>
<ol>
<li>Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan</li>
<li>Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted</li>
<li>Remove the pan from heat and stir in cereal</li>
<li>Let cool for 10 minutes</li>
<li>While the mixture is cooling, twist apart the cookies and removing the filling (this is easier if the cookies are warm)</li>
<li>Now you butter you're hands and shape the gooey cereal into 1 ½ -inch balls</li>
<li>Next, make the tail by frosting the inside of the cookie half and pressing three candies into the frosting to make a fan shape</li>
<li>Create the body by frosting the other cookie half and sticking it to the bottom of the Rice Krispie ball</li>
<li>Add a little frosting below the candy corn and stick the tail onto the body</li>
<li>Then stick another corn on the front of the Rice Krispie ball to make a head</li>
</ol>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
You can use them to decorate the table and after dinner you can gobble them up! Happy Thanksgiving from Lizzy the Lizard!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Photographer: Daniel P.
Smithwater</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian
Ryan</a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/408-deaf-day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/408-deaf-day.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: Mac Dee Dee's First Harvest</b></span></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-50743048614455660602015-10-30T06:58:00.003-07:002015-11-09T05:55:12.656-08:00Rerun Article: The Great Pumpkin - Myth or Reality?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVO2fSoRjaNraQCLVYixDBSa5Uwr9-DkbOV0vruwIVPfbamIx6lrBjUw_Eld49Xlwz8eUbG5ODdkGqPod0ey47Q9NT3E3rutA3JKZewkJoNywSGg8kN6OOYe3LycPI2CaDbFYO-W9CWJO/s1600/The+Great+Pumpkin+Edited.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVO2fSoRjaNraQCLVYixDBSa5Uwr9-DkbOV0vruwIVPfbamIx6lrBjUw_Eld49Xlwz8eUbG5ODdkGqPod0ey47Q9NT3E3rutA3JKZewkJoNywSGg8kN6OOYe3LycPI2CaDbFYO-W9CWJO/s320/The+Great+Pumpkin+Edited.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Great Pumpkin spotted walking back to the pumpkin patch.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">One character surrounds Harvest Day more than any others, and
that character is no doubt the Great Pumpkin. Who’s the Great Pumpkin? Well for
those of you who don’t know who the Great Pumpkin is, I’ll tell you. The Great
Pumpkin supposedly a large pumpkin that spends most of his time sitting in the
pumpkin patch until Harvest Day night when he rises out of the pumpkin patch
and gives toys to all the good little children. There are a group of people
known as the Great Pumpkin Foundation (GPF) who are determined to prove that
the Great Pumpkin exists. The president of this group is none other than Linus
van Pelt. You know him well, remember that kid on Charlie Brown who’s always carrying
a blanket? Yep, that’s him. He has always been a strong believer in the Great
Pumpkin. Every Harvest Day night, he still waits by the pumpkin patch hoping
for his arrival. When asked how long he’d believe in something that supposedly
wasn’t true, his response was, “When you stop believing in a fat man with a
white beard in a red coat that says, ‘Ho, ho, ho!’” He also is famous for
saying, “</span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">There
are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion,
politics, and the Great Pumpkin.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">” The Great Pumpkin tale has been
around for a long time, but there has been no firm proof of the Great Pumpkin’s
existence . . . until now! Another advocate of the Great Pumpkin, Jack
Stevenson has got firm proof of the Great Pumpkin, so he says. Jack Stevenson
is the son of Dr. Steve Stevenson who appeared in our paper a few weeks ago. “I
was merely taking a walk by myself one day,” he recalls, “When suddenly I saw
something big and orange walking by. I almost didn’t believe my eyes, it must
have been the Great Pumpkin!” That is when he took the picture you see <b>above</b>. There are basically two views of
the Great Pumpkin, one of course is that of Linus and Jack, they firmly believe
in him (they even suggest singing pumpkin carols). But others, such as Lucy van
Pelt believes that the Great Pumpkin does not exist but instead, people such as
Linus and Jack are confusing the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus. Anyway, to
continue the story of Jack and the Great Pumpkin, Jack says, “So I took the
picture and the Great Pumpkin dashed back over to the pumpkin patch. I followed
him but by the time he reached the patch, he was already camouflaged with the
other pumpkins.” This is the first actual recorded appearance of what could be
the Great Pumpkin. We also had a brief interview with Sarah Bus Stop Guy, a
13-year old that lives here in Riverville, near the Great Pumpkin sighting and
has the same point of view as Lucy. Sarah doesn’t believe in the Great Pumpkin
at all (even though a supposed picture of the Great Pumpkin was found), when
asked what her opinion on the Great Pumpkin was, she was quoted to saying, “</span>I
think Jack and Linus . . . [have] got the Great Pumpkin mixed up with Santa
Claus, cause he’s a myth. Ok, that’s it. You said this was the last question,
goodbye!<span style="line-height: 115%;">” (She then erupted from her chair and ran to her room) Unfortunately for
the GPF, many other people believe that the picture is counterfeit. However,
because of Jack’s picture, many scientists, called cryptozoologists, are
starting to have greater studies of the Great Pumpkin to see if this vegetable
really exists or if instead of a Great Pumpkin, it is really just a Great
Fairytale.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Photographed by: Jack Stevenson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/20051031.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/20051031.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Next Article: Rerun Article: Pie in a Glass and Turkeys?! Oh My!</b></span></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-86333422259838954932015-10-23T07:05:00.001-07:002015-11-09T05:54:30.807-08:00It's Colombus, I mean...Leif Erikson Day?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Portrait_of_a_Man%2C_Said_to_be_Christopher_Columbus.jpg/800px-Portrait_of_a_Man%2C_Said_to_be_Christopher_Columbus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Portrait_of_a_Man%2C_Said_to_be_Christopher_Columbus.jpg/800px-Portrait_of_a_Man%2C_Said_to_be_Christopher_Columbus.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What if I told you that everything you knew about Christopher Colombus was wrong? Well, thankfully that's not the case, except what you learned about him discovering America!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the August of the year 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus left the docks of Spain and set sail for the west. His mission was to find an easy route to Asia. People had warned him not to go on this voyage because it was common knowledge at the time that the earth was flat – if Columbus sailed too far west, he'd sail right off the earth! Thankfully, Columbus proved everyone wrong when he landed on the shores of the America's. He was the first person ever to discover it. So we celebrate his discovery every 12th of October to commemorate his voyage of adventure and exploration.<br />
<br />
That's the typical story we've all heard in school, but I found out something very interesting this Columbus Day: most of the story is a flat-out myth! While it's true that Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who sailed from Spain in 1492, he didn't discover the Earth was round and he wasn't the first one to reach America. After learning this, I felt betrayed by all those history books I read during grade school.<br />
<br />
To learn more about the truth about Christopher Columbus' “discovery”, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I went to Animal Adventures Inc.'s very own historian (and newest resident) Aanisah the Aldabra giant tortoise. Her species naturally can get to be quite old; indeed, quite possibly the oldest known reptile on earth is named Jonathan. He's believed to have been born in 1832, making him 183 at the time of publishing. Aanisah doesn't break the record, at only 150, but she still has required quite some knowledge about the world in her time. (We'll be doing a full article about her in two weeks, so stay tuned!) Upon asking Aanisah about who first discovered North America, she was quoted for saying, “Many people believe Christopher Columbus was responsible for making that revolutionary discovery, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, the first people to make it here were clans that arrived here during the Ice Age, about 4,050 years ago. They came here from from Russia, migrating across the Beringia land bridge that formed when the water level was several hundred feet lower at that time. They were probably following the herds of animals they commonly hunted – reindeer, musk ox, woolly mammoths...just to name a few species. These were the ancestors of modern Native Americans.”<br />
<br />
So we know Native Americans (well, not Native Americans themselves because they weren't “native” to America yet, but their ancestors) were likely the first people to reach the Americas. But Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover it, right? “Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!” Aanisah exclaimed as I tried to jump to conclusions. “Christopher Columbus wasn't the first European to reach America either, not by a long shot! A much better candidate for one of the first European to find American shores is Leif Erikson.” Aanisah explained to me that Leif Erikson was an Icelandic explorer who was born in 970 in Iceland of Erik the Red, founder of the Norse settlement Thjodhild in Greenland. “He and other vikings around his time sailed to and explored Vinland (that's the area of coastal North America and Newfoundland) around the year 1000 AD, some 500 years before Columbus 'discovered' America. Other vikings are known to have explored the area as well. Other Europeans might have landed in America before Erikson, but Leif Erikson and his crew are the first ones that we know for sure walked upon American shores.”<br />
<br />
“And Christopher Columbus didn't make the discovery that the earth was round, not flat, either,” Aanisah added. “A round earth wasn't news to the people of that day. Even people back in the days of Aristotle, during the 4th century (quite some time before Jesus entered history), it was well understood that the earth was shaped like a sphere.” It turns out that the myth of the flat earth myth seems to have come about from Washington Irving's 1828 biography about Christopher Columbus. In the biography, Columbus' trip was viewed as extremely dangerous by people at the time because they believed in a flat earth. In truth, there wasn't a single knowledgeable person of Aristotle's time who didn't believe in a round planet.<br />
<br />
So this year, I learned that the old wisdom rings true: don't believe everything you read. Having learned that Christopher Columbus didn't really discover America, I have to wonder, is it worth celebrating Columbus Day at all?<br />
<br />
“Indeed it is,” Aanisah assured me. “Christopher Columbus did one thing that the vikings failed to do: he shared the knowledge of the New World to the other Europeans. And that's why we celebrate Columbus Day all these years later, and will continue to do so for a long time to come.”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoons</b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/266.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: The Great Pumpkin - Myth or Reality?</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-32733479423426277632015-10-16T07:13:00.002-07:002015-10-16T07:13:37.118-07:00Rerun Article: Candy...How I Love Thee!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Chocolate_brownies_without_table.jpg/800px-Chocolate_brownies_without_table.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Chocolate_brownies_without_table.jpg/800px-Chocolate_brownies_without_table.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Brownies
are one of my all time favorite desserts! Read today's article to learn
how to make these tasty treats, straight from the lizard's mouth . . .
literally!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Today
I was originally going to talk about trees . . . but then I decided to talk
about Halloween. That got me thinking about candy. Oh I love candy!
That's right, this lizard loves candy; especially chocolate. Oh
speaking of which, my little sister was trying to reach a cook book
on the shelf. Being a little taller than her, I reached up to get it
when somehow it ended up hitting me on the head and landing on the
floor. Miraculously the cook book had opened to a certain recipe.
Well my sister and I decided to make the recipe and it was delicious.
Oh sorry, I forgot to tell you what it was! Haha! Here it is: Fudgy
Brownies by Mary Ellen Cooper.
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
You'll need: </div>
<ul>
<li>¾ c. cocoa</li>
<li>½ tsp.
Baking soda</li>
<li>2/3 c. vegetable oil</li>
<li>½ c. boiling water</li>
<li>2 c. sugar</li>
<li>2
eggs</li>
<li>1 1/3 c. flour</li>
<li>1 tsp. Vanilla</li>
<li>¼ tsp. Salt.
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
First, stir cocoa and baking soda
together. Then stir in 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Add the boiling water
and mixture thickens. Add the sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup
vegetable oil and mix well. Put in flour, vanilla, and salt. Then mix
until it's smooth. Finally pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake
for 25 to 40 minutes. That's what I call a tasty Harvest Time treat!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
Written by:Lizzy the Lizard</div>
<div class="Standard">
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater</div>
<div class="Standard">
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Christian
Ryan</span></a>, Joy Hammond, Mr. Smiley</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/266.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Next Issue: It's Columbus, I Mean...Leif Erikson Day?</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-11874587215251375582015-10-09T07:03:00.001-07:002015-10-09T07:32:09.157-07:00Dr. Steve Creates Biblical Leviathan? AKA, Super Croc!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/976x549/p01w83gv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/976x549/p01w83gv.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Seti the Sarcosuchus is the newest creature to come out of Dr. Steve's lab! Continue reading to learn about the surprising discoveries surrounding this creature. </i>(<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01w83h5">Photo Credits</a>)<i><br /></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Over the past several years, Dr. Steve Stevenson has cooked up some strange and bizarre creatures in his lab in the Animal Adventures Institute (AAI). Like in 2012, he brought the saber-toothed mammal-like reptile <i>Inostrancevia</i>. I didn't even know there were other animals with saber-teeth other than the famous saber-toothed cats! Another instance was in 2014 when he and his assistants cloned the strange semi-aquatic fish-eating <i>Suchomimus</i>. But all that pales in comparison with the creature accidentally released last Saturday!<br />
<br />
It was a normal day (isn't that how most bizarre or really unusual days start?) in Animal Adventures Inc. when some loud noises were coming from AAI. Confused, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, myself, Lizzy the Lizard, one of my reporters, and Jack the Jack Rabbit, our intern, and some other Animal Adventures Inc. residents headed over to the institute to find out what was going on in there! “We've heard strange noises coming from the institute before,” says resident vet Elizabeth Sorkin, “but nothing like we heard today!” We were shocked by what we found!<br />
<br />
After reaching the building, the doors to the entrance were being hammered against by something inside, and it was big...really big. A few seconds later, the doors flung off their hinges and mist poured out of the lab as a large reptile came out into the open. With a long toothy snout, scaly hide and a long flexible tail, the creature we saw was a crocodile, but this was no ordinary crocodile: it was longer than a school bus! The crocodile released a loud intimidating bellow and Dr. Steve and his main assistant Oliver <i>Oviraptor </i>followed the beast out so they could explain to everyone what just happened. When asked what was going on, Dr. Steve was quoted for saying, “We're sorry for the inconvenience everyone. He was a bit too determined to get out.” Later, he explained what this monster crocodile was: “He's a<i> Sarcosuchus imperator</i>, meaning 'flesh crocodile emperor', and his name is Seti, after the ancient Egyptian pharaoh. Some people call <i>Sarcosuchus </i>'Super Croc', because of its size. I guess he really wanted to get out of the institute, so he barged out the door. He's one of the most powerful animals we've ever cloned in this facility.” Fortunately, Seti had been “tamed” so that he wouldn't start attacking people. I then asked him why Seti was released so early (Dr. Steve usually releases his animals from the hatchery sometime in December or January). He is quoted for saying, “It wasn't really up to us. For some strange reason...”(he glared at Oliver)“...it appears someone, and I'm not saying who, but someone fed Seti the wrong amounts of organic growth enhancers, allowing the animal to grow quicker and mature faster. Our other cloning projects haven't left their eggs yet!”<br />
<br />
One of the residents present last week was Dr. Samuel Adamson, the company's chief paleontologist. He was astounded by this impressive beast. “I'm glad to see the <i>Sarcosuchus </i>specimen we brought back not long ago contained usable <i>Sarcosuchus </i>DNA,” he said. I asked the paleontologist what information he could give me about Sarcosuchus. He said, “<i>Sarcosuchus </i>is the largest crocodile that ever existed and its fossils have been discovered in northern Africa. It lived in the world before Noah's Flood, about 4,350 years ago and grew over 40 feet long and weighed 8-10 tons! It's simply a huge beast! This crocodile lived in the same environment as many African dinosaurs that we've discovered; and unlike many of <i>Sarcosuchus</i>' Cretaceous crocodilian cousins, it didn't walk with dinosaurs, it ate them! This was a reptile capable of taking down medium-sized dinosaurs!”<br />
<br />
Seti the <i>Sarcosuchus </i>was certainly an impressive creature, but there was something else about this crocodile that amazed us: it actually breathed fire! Yes, you read that right! <i>Sarcosuchus </i>is a giant fire-breathing crocodile! I was blown away and speechless (thankfully, no one caught on fire that day!). Of all the animals I've seen in my life, I've never seen one that breathes fire! It was almost like Dr. Steve had brought a fire-breathing dragon of ancient myth and lore to life. That's not the only incredible thing Dr. Steve and Oliver discovered about the crocodile they cloned. Oliver is quoted for saying, “We found Seti unusually tricky to manage. He didn't try to eat us or anything, but when he was a youngster, we had to keep him in a designated area so he wouldn't accidentally burn down the place or our other research. Thankfully, <i>Sarcosuchus </i>seems [to have] a limit on how much fire it can dispel at one time. We're still looking for what part of its body this creature uses to create fire, however. In...addition to the discovery that the animal can breathe fire and smoke, we also discovered its hide is extremely tough. The <i>Sarcosuchus </i>has almost impenetrable scales, or osteoderms, on its back that act like shields. Even its underbelly is protected with tough scales, unlike the underbelly of modern crocodiles. Most of this we'd never know if we hadn't seen the live animal.”<br />
<br />
Upon observing Seti, Dr. Samuel Adamson quickly realized that Super Croc was very similar to an animal described in the Bible, specifically Job chapter 41. “In the book of Job,” Dr. Samuel explains, “God is talking to a man – who's name is Job – about many of the animals He'd made. The last creature He discusses is a creature He calls 'Leviathan'. Now the Bible says that Leviathan was a semi-aquatic monster that terrified even the mightiest and bravest men. Its mouth was ringed with fierce teeth and its body was covered in tough scales (some Bible translations actually describe them as shields) that were so closely-knit that not even a sword or javelin could pierce through it. But...what was unique about this creature was that it could actually breathe fire and smoke!” I asked the scientist what most people identified Leviathan as. He is quoted for saying, “Most identify Leviathan as being a modern crocodile. But no crocodile today breathes fire! So Leviathan must have been a creature that's now extinct. Some creation scientists have proposed that Leviathan is a marine reptile such as the pliosaur <i>Kronosaurus </i>or the giant sea-going lizard <i>Tylosaurus</i>. However, the Bible talks about Leviathan leaving trails reminiscent of potsherds in the mud – meaning this animal was able to come on land. The creature I believe Leviathan may have been was the giant crocodile <i>Sarcosuchus</i>. Super Croc certainly fits the bill!”<br />
<br />
As <i>Sarcosuchus </i>is essentially a large crocodile, it will move into the crocodiles' apartment room in the Animal Adventures Inc. main building, which features a pool, underwater tunnel that connects to the property's lake and a heat pad so the cold-blooded reptiles can warm themselves easily. Of course, it will be substantially larger than the now-second largest crocodile on the property, 16-foot Dylan, the Nile Crocodile.<br />
<br />
“We might have to make some adjustments to the crocodile apartment room to account for Seti,” Dr. Steve Stevenson said. “But I think we're all glad to welcome this creature to this property, because <i>Sarcosuchus imperator</i> – Super Croc – is, simply put, a beautiful and awe-inspiring reptile!”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/063.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b></div>
<br />
<b>Next Issue: TBD</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-31006977152493303702015-09-25T07:15:00.000-07:002015-09-25T07:15:17.407-07:00Rerun Article: Dinosaur Park: Invader...Is It Worth It?<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cloXpwWu0Jb398KYLDFrNNJZ1nJ4QwHuhgKbg5dRvdrlZNZKmAo0sAfAkH3j66UX_jaCR6ZXwsHsiqBslztGiUJO9FpPDRY_5WaK5Ti3Gv7WxUEawhKN7SqxsfzlHOJQ6kMAW-mUujOC/s1600/Dino+Park+-+Invader+%28Is+It+Worth+It%29.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cloXpwWu0Jb398KYLDFrNNJZ1nJ4QwHuhgKbg5dRvdrlZNZKmAo0sAfAkH3j66UX_jaCR6ZXwsHsiqBslztGiUJO9FpPDRY_5WaK5Ti3Gv7WxUEawhKN7SqxsfzlHOJQ6kMAW-mUujOC/s1600/Dino+Park+-+Invader+(Is+It+Worth+It).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A screenshot from the game Dino Park: Invader, a game which could have been one of the best games ever created.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Several weeks ago, I wrote an article concerning a new game that just
came out on May 21, 2014 called <i>Dino Park: Invader</i>, created by
the computer game company <i>Unimaginable ©. </i>As I said in the
previous article about the <i>Dino Park: Invader</i>, it's supposed
to be an action-packed dinosaur adventure game where your character
has to try and make it off the island alive. I especially was excited
about the game because . . . you guessed it: the dinosaurs! Dinosaurs
are awesome!<i> </i>Well, the game has been released and people were
so excited about it, that they bought a copy of the game in droves.
They knew they were going to love it!</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, Lizzy the
Lizard and I also bought a copy of the game. I was so excited to
finally be able to play it . . . when my computer crashed! So I
rebooted my computer and tried it again. But it crashed! So I tried
it a third time and it crashed again! I was getting really
disappointed. So I had our <b>Animal Adventures Inc.</b> computer
specialist, Mango the orangutan come and take a look. He figured out
that I couldn't press any of the keys on the keyboard for the first
few seconds while the game was loading up. Go figure!</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
While Mango was checking out my computer, Lizzy phoned a few friends
who had also bought the game; some of Lizzy's friends were having
trouble with their computers too! Mango told me that my computer
wasn't the problem – the CD-ROM itself was. Oh well. Fortunately, I
was able to play the game . . . finally! I wasn't able to finish it
before I had to get the article you're reading done, so I'll
summarize the game experience based on what I've played so far, what
other people have told me and what the game's head developer Tyson
Cortes has to say.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
First of all, you might recall from the previous article we wrote
about the game was that the game was originally pitched to have 16
exciting levels. Well, there aren't quite as many levels as initially
planned! You can look at the list of the levels supposed to be in the
game by clicking <i><b>this link</b></i>, and below you can see the
levels that made it into the game:</div>
<ul>
<li>
The Beach</li>
<li>
The Open Woodland</li>
<li>
The Jungle</li>
<li>
The Jungle #2</li>
<li>
The Worker Village</li>
<li>The Laboratories</li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">The Mountain Forest</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">The High Cliffs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">The Communication Center</span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;">The Race to the Helipad</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Six levels were taken out! Many levels were combined in
the game's final cut. For instance, a level known as The Sauropod
Valley was mixed into the Open Woodland level. Also, I and many other
people had to work through a few more computer crashes to play!
Fortunately, I didn't have any more after I finished The Beach level.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The 3D environments in the game are very nice, but you
can't always enjoy them. In one level – The High Cliffs – there's
this overlook where you're supposed to be able to look over the edge
of the cliff and admire the view. I didn't get to that point in the
game yet, but for many people, their computers crashed when they
tried to look!</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Each level also has a certain amount of puzzles to
solve; some are cool, but others are so many and close to each other
that they get kind of annoying.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Some of my friends who played the game found it hard to
move Annie (the only playable character in the game) around without
killing her. Sometimes a fall of only three feet would drop her
health level to zero. I never had that problem though.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sooner or later, I just had to mention the dinosaurs
that the game features. The original pitch for the game was for there
to be 27 dinosaurs that you'd have to encounter throughout the game.
You can see that list <i><b>here</b></i>. And you guessed it, the
number of dinosaurs is far less in the actual game:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Tyrannosaurus rex</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Velociraptor</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Triceratops</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Brachiosaurus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Parasaurolophus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Acrocanthosaurus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Albertosaurus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stegosaurus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sinornithosaurus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Spinosaurus</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Ceratosaurus</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Only 10 of the original
dinosaurs remain in the game. A new one – <i>Parasaurolophus</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
– was added, however. Now, according to Tyson, the different
dinosaur individuals were supposed to have different “emotions”;
I'm not talking about emotions like happy, sad or embarrassed though,
I'm talking about ones like: hungry, territorial, placid, sleepy and
etc. But there are only two in the game: a combination of
territorial/hungry (for carnivores) and placid (for herbivores).</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Now
about the graphics of the dinosaurs – they move pretty
unrealistically. Most of them walk almost as if they're on stilts!
Their legs are stiff and there's no knee to speak of. However, there
are some positives concerning the dinosaurs in the game: they can
surprise you when they're on the hunt. Raptors will work as a pack to
bring you down, </span><i>Ceratosaurus</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
ambushes from the shadows, </span><i>Sinornithosaurus</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
tries to attack you from the trees and </span><i>Tyrannosaurus</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and </span><i>Acrocanthosaurus</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
are better at strategy hunting than you might expect!</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">So
why was the game so buggy and worse than it was supposed to be? Well,
I put that question to the game's developer, who's quoted for saying,
“</span><i>Dino Park: Invader</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
was supposed to be one of the greatest games ever created. It was
supposed to combine great storytelling with wonderful graphics. As we
kept telling the public about the game to get their expectations
high, we realized that we needed to continue pushing the envelope. It
turned out that we'd pushed it too far; the deadline was close and we
bug issues to resolve. Unfortunately, time wouldn't permit and we had
to release a buggy game to the public.” He went on to explain that
he wasn't too happy with the results, but he had no choice, as he
didn't want to keep the public waiting. And concerning why so many
levels and dinosaurs were missing, he said, “We were having more
computer bug problems with those dinosaurs and levels than the ones
we included in the game.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
then asked him if he considered improving the game any and if he
thought it would help the games now-infamous reputation. He smiled
and shook his head. “I'm afraid not,” he explains, “you see,
the game's already been officially released. The critics have said
their final words and that's how the game will likely be remembered.
However, we do plan to release patches for people to download. These
patches will help fix up the game so it's less buggy.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Despite
his failure, Tyson doesn't feel as if it's a total loss. “Sure I
wanted the game to be a success, but it wasn't. We failed. There's no
denying that. I like to look at this as a learning experience.
</span><i>Unimaginable © </i><span style="font-style: normal;">learned
from its mistakes and will do better with its next game.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">In
closing, I decided to ask what game his company was going to create
next. “</span><i>The Lost World</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,”
he says, “based on Arthur Connon Doyles book and the 1925 movie
version and 2001 television version inspired by it. We're going to do
something with dinosaurs once again, and this time we'll get it
right!”</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Photographer: Daniel P.
Smithwater</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian
Ryan</a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/406.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Next Issue: AAI Clones Biblical Leviathan?</b></span>
</div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-84120251021925046422015-09-18T07:47:00.000-07:002015-09-18T07:47:39.484-07:00Polar Bear Plight Exaggerated?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/1991_polar-bear_hg.jpg/800px-1991_polar-bear_hg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/1991_polar-bear_hg.jpg/800px-1991_polar-bear_hg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are polar bear numbers declining from global warming as much as we think? Perhaps not! Read on to find out the truth!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We've all seen the popular images of polar bears floating on fractured sea blocks in the Arctic, or seen those video clips of polar bears swimming miles out to see, trying to find fragments of sea ice for them to live upon. If alarmists are to be believed, polar bears are dying out at an alarming rate because the icecaps they need for survival are disappearing; and it's all our fault because we release deadly amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere via automobiles via factories. But how much of this is true? Well, recent studies of polar bear populations in Pamiuq Peninsula about 50 miles northwest of Nome, Alaska suggests that this might not actually be the case.<br /><br />First of all, what is this Pamiuq Peninsula? Well, it's a relatively small peninsula, “about 200 miles north of freezing and 200 south of frostbite”, as the locals say. Pamiuq Peninsula gets its name from the Inuit (otherwise known as an Eskimo) word “Pamiuq”, which means “seal tail”, because the Inuits who first arrived in this area about 4,120 years ago thought it looked like the tail of a seal. One of the animals these Inuit pioneers encountered still strikes us with fear and wonder today, the polar bear. Polar bears began to inhabit the northern polar regions of our world around 4,150 years ago; <a href="https://answersingenesis.org/creation-science/baraminology/variety-within-created-kinds/">descending from a population of brown bears, Ursus maritimus adapted to survive in one of the coldest climates on earth</a>. Everything about the polar bear is designed to keep it alive in the frigid arctic: it has two layers of fur (one for warmth and the other to keep its body dry when swimming), black skin (which helps it to retain warmth), claws for digging through snow, catching prey or to keep them upright on slippery ice and an excellent sense of smell, capable of sniffing something out from over 20 miles away.<br /><br />With all these adaptations, it makes sense that people would get worry about the polar bear's survival if global warming caused the ice and snow in their habitat to melt. Many of these alarmists, such as meteorologist Dr. Bill Manly, is quoted for saying, “Global warming...[is] a real problem that is occurring as we speak! Resent studies have concluded that if global warming doesn't stop, the sea ice in the polar regions will be gone by 2040, polar bears won't have a place to live and sea levels will rise to over 20 feet above their present level. We must act now to save our planet from [this] global crisis! Polar bears will suffer! We will suffer! The planet suffer!” But how true are these claims in regards to polar bears? Well, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I went to Animal Adventures Institute's head zoologist (and certified ecologist) Dr. Arizona Stevenson, who was actually involved in the recent polar bear population study in Pamiuq, to find out the truth.<br /><br />“In 2012,” Dr. Arizona explained, “I became involved with PESP, the Pamiuq Ecological Surveillance Project. Set up in 1985, this project started it up so that scientists could constantly keep track of how healthy the animal population is in that part of Alaska. We especially wanted to find out how the animals were doing despite threats of global warming.” And according to Dr. Arizona, the results are nonetheless surprising. One of their primary focuses was the apex predator of the region: polar bears. In order to learn how the polar bears were coping, they looked at everything: how many cubs were being birthed each year, how were the fish and seal stocks (seals are the favorite food of polar bears), and how much the climate and environment (e.g. amounts of sea ice developing each year) had changed in the past several years to see if a warming trend was visible.<br /><br />Dr. Arizona is quoted for saying, “Essentially, what we found that the reports – even peer-reviewed ones – that spoke of doom for polar bear populations as sea ice vanished were a bunch of hogwash, (or rather, bear-wash).” The original studies done on polar bear populations in the Pamiuq area and the other 18 bear populations worldwide, concluded that, yes, polar bear numbers did drop...but the drop was between the years 2004 and 2006. “But what they didn't mention,” Dr. Arizona further explained, “was that polar bear numbers worldwide (especially in Davis Strait, in northeastern Canada and Pamiuq Peninsula) actually increased in 2007, and again in 2010. Yet, the decline in sea ice remained the same.” In fact, polar bear populations in Pamiuq had grown from a measly 850 bears when the research here began in the mid-80's, to over 2,100 as of last year! Talk about population BOOM! “Many people try to claim that polar bears are endangered,” Dr. Arizona says. “But they're not.” In addition to this, Dr. Arizona's team concluded that the assertions that sea ice would be absent by 2040 and that the sea levels would rise 20 feet to be unfounded.<br /><br />Animal Adventures Institute's chief paleontologist Dr. Samuel Adamson, also had something to say regarding the study. “We shouldn't really be surprised to find an unstable climate,” he says, “in fact, it's been changing ever since the Genesis Flood described in Genesis 6-9 in the Bible occurred! Soon after the Flood, we find evidence of rainforests stretching as far north as Alaska and Germany, all the way down to Antarctica. It was literally a 'greenhouse earth'. Afterward, the planet got cooler and drier as the Ice Age came forth; this time in history, the earth was held in an icy grip. Enormous glaciers, some over 2,000 feet high, covered 1/3 of the total land area. Since the Flood, earth's climate has never been stable.”<br /><br />Since polar bears clearly aren't threatened by global warming as we once thought, that must mean we don't need to be concerned about them, right? Dr. Arizona doesn't think so. “Polar bears are considered a vulnerable species,” Dr. Arizona explains, “meaning they could become endangered in the future if we're not careful about our actions. There are many things threatening the lives of polar bears that have nothing to do with global warming. Pollution in general, oil and gas development, habitat loss, and with some populations, illegal hunting practices, are doing these bears harm. If we want to have polar bears in our future, they must continued to be monitored and protected.”<br /><br />Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
For more information on how polar bear populations are <i>really</i> fairing, please visit the two links below:<br />
<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0503/p13s01-wogi.html">http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0503/p13s01-wogi.html</a><br />
<a href="https://answersingenesis.org/reviews/movies/arctic-tale-exaggerating-the-effects-of-global-warming/">https://answersingenesis.org/reviews/movies/arctic-tale-exaggerating-the-effects-of-global-warming/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/405.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Next Issue: TBD</b> </div>
<br />
<br />
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-7684992253779113532015-09-11T07:24:00.001-07:002015-09-18T07:47:53.554-07:00The Rampage of the Tusked Maurader<div class="Standard">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7Qzj0dr81kqjfmtVkmq94j9i7Tm_0lzzPnmyIDPQ4dWW7fWInutnQjH8KSj0PFPe21F7lys6RifsMcQKO651Pe7Vw_vo2d0y050saziToqg-QH11fmmAZwYfg8_XjHj-kXazw0VcUQud/s1600/Mammoth+Large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7Qzj0dr81kqjfmtVkmq94j9i7Tm_0lzzPnmyIDPQ4dWW7fWInutnQjH8KSj0PFPe21F7lys6RifsMcQKO651Pe7Vw_vo2d0y050saziToqg-QH11fmmAZwYfg8_XjHj-kXazw0VcUQud/s400/Mammoth+Large.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A creature known as the "Tusked Maurader" supposedly terrorized a busy highway a few years ago.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Note: I was rummaging through some old files when I found this article someone had written years ago. Because I could not confirm who wrote this report, its authenticity is up in the air. Lizzy the Lizard thinks its a fraud. Even though this article claims I wrote and did the interviews it features, I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I conducted the interviews, don't you think? Despite having its authenticity in question, I still thought that this article would be a good read.</b></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
The Great Pumpkin, the Saber-toothed Assassin, the Mouse Lake
Monster . . . these are all cryptids that have been recently cited in and
around Riverville. Now we have another cryptid report from I-52 that
leads into Riverville itself, but this time it made its appearance in front of
a lot of people! About 10:00pm, droves of cars were riding along the highway
when they started experiencing major delays and road jams. The cause? Some
large mammal was said to be causing all the commotion. As soon as I heard about
the incident, my trusty junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I rushed
out to the interstate to get some exclusive interviews. Unfortunately for us
reporters, the authorities kept us away from the apparent creature sighting
site until much later, so instead I merely interviewed some eye witnesses to
wrap my head around what happened that night. One such eye witness, Janet
Cutter, was quoted for saying, “I was driving along the interstate at around
10:00pm to pick up my husband from the airport with my five-year old son, Jake
when we had a huge traffic jam. I waited for about five minutes and that's when
people started running past my car as if they were terrified of something.” She
then explained that she was parked behind a large truck at the time, so she
couldn't see what was going on ahead of her when suddenly, a small car came
whizzing through the air from in front of the truck and landed on the side of
the road (thank goodness no one was in it!). “That's when I started screaming,”
says Janet. “Then a heard a loud trumpeting sound and . . . [it] sounded like
an elephant's, but I wasn't sure. As I waited in the car, the truck in front of
me was knocked to the side and I saw the culprit, though it was hard to see
because it was so dark.” When asked what the creature looked like, she said
that when she saw it, she continued screaming. Janet described the beast as very
elephant-like in appearance; complete with a long trunk, tusks of almost
imaginable proportions, and a large body, much larger than any elephant she'd
seen before. “It was too large to be an elephant,” Janet told me. That was all
Janet had to say so I interviewed a man by the name of Noah Tompkins, who was
stuck in traffic with two of his friends while trying to get home and was also
surprised by what he saw. Noah is quoted for saying, “It was way too big to be
an elephant, dude. But it was like, totally awesome! It had the typical
elephant shape, but its tusks were super long, dude.” When asked what he saw of
the creature, he responded saying, “. . . it was like, way too dark, dude. But
one of my friend's, Timothy Carter was like, “Come on, what'up dude? What ya
wait'in for? Snap a picture before it gets away!' Fortunately I was able to
snap a picture of the animal on the highway before the authorities rescued us
from our car.” When I got a hold of the photograph Noah took, Daniel and I had
a hard time making out what it was, but we could see that it was definitely an
elephant like creature. This is the time many people started calling it the
“Tusked Marauder”, even though it didn't kill anybody. However, the animal did
upset a few people – trucker Danny Phelps was driving his fruit-filled truck
down the highway when he got stuck in traffic and after the authorities rescued
him, he went back to his truck to find it busted open and many of the fruits
were either squashed or gone. “It must have eaten all the fruit!” Danny says.
“I had a variety of mangoes, bananas, strawberries, blueberries . . . [a lot of
other stuff] and all two tons of it was history! After a long five-hour drive
from my supplier, I wasn't expected Jimmy's Grocery Store's next fruit shipment
to bite the dust.” None of my interviewees were able to tell me what happened
to the animal after the authorities rescued them from their vehicles, so it is
therefore assumed that the authorities did something with the Tusked Marauder
before reporters like me could go in and get a good photograph of it. Upon
going back to <b>Animal Adventures Inc.</b>, I showed the photograph to the
company's head paleontologist, Dr. Samuel Adamson. He said, “I must say, it
looks a lot like an elephant. It doesn't look anything like the elephants we
have around today though, so I'm assuming that it's a mammoth . . . if the
photo has not been photo-shopped, that is.” When asked what type of mammoth, he
replied, “I believe that if the photo is accurate, this creature is a Colombian
mammoth, one of the largest elephants that ever existed. There were still many
of them roaming around southern North America 2,000 B.C. Unlike the more famous
woolly mammoth normally found further north, Colombian mammoths were a fairly
hairless species.” It seems that these cryptids keep coming and coming. As your
trusty reporter Mr. Smiley, I can safely assure you that whenever the next one
appears, I will be on the case, ready to get a good story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
Written by: Mr. Smiley<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Standard">
Photographer: Noah Tompkins<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Standard">
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Christian
Ryan</span></a>, Joy Hammond<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Standard" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<b>*Advertisement*<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
We here at Smiley’s News, I have been working night and day
to get articles ready. I could <i>really </i>use
some help! So we are looking for people interested in writing (especially <b><i><u>kids</u></i></b><u>
and <b><i>teens</i></b></u>).
If you are interested, PLEASE(!) send an email to <a href="mailto:animaladventures@aol.com"><span class="Internetlink">animaladventures@aol.com</span></a>
and save me from working night and day! I’m exhausted!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoons<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20121102.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20121102.gif" height="320" width="285" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20121109.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/media/cartoons/after-eden/20121109.gif" height="320" width="285" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="Standard">
<b>Next Issue: Polar Bear Plight Exaggerated?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-3329806122672305982015-09-04T07:02:00.001-07:002015-09-04T07:02:32.273-07:00Dr. Samuel Adamson's Fossil Discovery Report for 2015<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Sarcosuchus_imperator_skull.jpg/1280px-Sarcosuchus_imperator_skull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Sarcosuchus_imperator_skull.jpg/1280px-Sarcosuchus_imperator_skull.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Samuel's life-long dream of discovering the fossils of <i>Sarcosuchus</i>, one of the biggest crocodiles ever to exist, finally came true this past summer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As with several years in the past, Dr. Samuel Adamson (head of Animal Adventures Institute, aka AAI paleontology department) and his dig team spent the summer months exploring different regions (rock formations to be more specific) of the world to look for fossils of dinosaurs and other extinct animals. Every time they go out, they've returned with many great fossil discoveries. For example, in 2012 they brought back the rare fossils of the saber-toothed gorgonopsid Inostrancevia and the even rarer fossils of the dragon-headed Dracorex; in 2013, he and his wife accidentally discovered what appear to be a pair of baby Spinosaurus turned into mummies by ancient Egyptians, dug up some of the first fossils of the at-the-time new dinosaur from Alberta, Albertadromeus, and found soft tissue-yielding remains of an Acrocanthosaurus; and 2014 brought on the discovery of a Cretaceous dinosaur runway, evidence that the hadrosaur Edmontosaurus had a head crest, uncovered fossils of Suchomimus, Pachyrhinosaurus, and Amaragasaurus. Where did Dr. Adamson go this year and what discoveries did he and his team make?<br />
<br />
To find out, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I took it upon ourselves to visit the paleontologist at the AAI as his men loaded the crates holding the fossils into the building. “We've been all over the world,” says Dr. Adamson. “During the summer, I was overseeing fossil excavations in five fossil-bearing rock formations. We excavated in Yixian Formation in the Liaoning Province of China, the Elrhaz Formation in Niger, Africa and the Cleveland Shales in Ohio. At each site, we found new and exciting fossils.”<br />
<br />
As usual, even though soft tissue – and with it, DNA – is often discovered in the fossil remains they find, Dr. Adamson confirms that this is not the primary reason for excavating the bones. Dr. Adamson is quoted for saying, “We aren't digging to find ancient DNA we can use to clone these beasts. We want to learn more about the ancient world. The DNA is a nice side-effect.”In this year's dig, he is especially proud of his fossil finds in the Yixian Formation. He told me that the rocks making up the Yixian Formation were laid down during the global Flood of Noah's time, about 4,350 years ago, as is the case with all rock formations in Cretaceous rock layers and further down in the geologic column. Before the Flood, the Yixian was one of the many unique ecosystems that existed in the pre-Flood world. “The Yixian,” Dr. Adamson said, “us a wide variety of creatures. Fossils of shrimp, insects, birds, small mammals (one called Repanomamus even ate some dinosaurs for lunch!) and dinosaurs have been found here in abundance. But one apex predator ruled them all, and Dr. Adamson's team actually found one. It's called Yutyrannus huali, a 30-foot long relative of Tyrannosaurus rex. “We found one partial specimen of Yutyrannus on this trip,” Dr. Adamsons says. “It's relatively complete and pretty well-preserved. I'm particularly proud of this discovery because Yutyrannus is still relatively new to science; it was only scientifically described in 2012! Unlike its cousin, T. rex, Yutyrannus would have been considerably more lightweight, meaning it could run far faster, probably up to 30 mph. (T. rex could only run about 18-25mph) I wouldn't want to run into this monster in a dark alley, or out in the open in broad daylight! Yutyrannus was the largest predator in its habitat, the only other animal it feared was another Yutyrannus.”<br />
<br />
Yutyrannus wasn't the only extinct animal Dr. Adamson discovered this year – they also made some accidental discoveries when they were switching planes in Ohio. Indiana Adamson, Samuel's wife, explained the whole incident to me. “We had just got off the plane that took us from Utah to Ohio,” she said, “and we had to wait a whole day until the next flight out to South Carolina was scheduled (from there, they were going straight to China). So...[while we were] in the airport looking for a place for the dig team and ourselves to sleep for the night, my husband bumped into one of his paleontologist friends from college. Ha, ha. Wouldn't you know it? It turned out he had a team of his own at a dig site nearby, so, naturally, we all went to check it out. The dig site was located in the Cleveland Shales of Ohio and contained fossils from a pre-Flood Devonian habitat.” The Devonian was another pre-Flood ecosystem. It was filled with many different forms of marine life, including many we're familiar with today (sea stars, jellyfish and even sharks). Many of the fish in the Devonian were covered in armor to protect them from predators or enemies. Dr. Indiana continued, “He was showing us some fossil ammonites when I spotted some peculiar fossils in the ground near my feet. It turned out to be part of the skeleton of a colossal fish called Dunkleosteus. Dunkleosteus was a 20-30-foot carnivorous armored fish with huge jaws.” According to Dr. Samuel, this fish had no teeth in its jaws; instead it had a “shearing plates in its mouth, meaning that while a shark could use its teeth to slice into the flesh of prey like a knife through butter, Dunkleosteus could crunch its prey in half!” The Dunkleosteus was very incomplete, but enough remains were found to tell the scientists the exact species and size of the animal. After discovering there was a Dunkleosteus buried at the dig site, the Adamson's decided to postpone their trip to China so they could assign a portion of the team to help Dr. Samuel's friend's team dig up the specimen. “It was an initial inconvenience,” Dr. Samuel said, “but it all worked out in the end.”<br />
<br />
Having been to Ohio and China, you might think that all the amazing fossil discoveries was over. Not by a long shot! Next, after getting a portion of the entire dig team started on excavating the Yutyrannus, Dr. Samuel, his wife and the rest of the team flew to the Elrhaz Formation in Niger. They'd been to this place before just last year when they found the fossils of Suchomimus. Upon their return to this place, they found several fish fossils. Even though this site is a desert today, the environment represented here in the rock is reminiscent of an ancient, pre-Flood swamp. “That's why,” Dr. Samuel said, “we find many water-dwelling and semi-aquatic creatures here. Last year, we found the fossils of a Suchomimus, a large dinosaur that spent a lot of time in the water, catching fish and other aquatic prey.” Suchomimus wasn't without its competition for stocks of fish it wanted, there was an even larger predator lurking in the waters. “Perhaps the most impressive animal we discovered this year,” Dr. Indiana said, “is Sarcosuchus imperator, a large crocodile that grew over 40 feet long. It was so big, that it could hunt dinosaurs!” She also told me that this impressive beast would have acted much like modern crocodiles, lying near the water's edge until prey came by for a drink. Then it would leap out, snag its prey and pull it underwater to drown it. The skeleton of the Sarcosuchus is relatively complete, especially the gorgeous skull. “At the end of the animal's snout,” Dr. Indiana further explained, “there's a strange, hollow, bulbous structure. It's driven scientists crazy ever since the first Sarcosuchus was discovered because we've been unable to find out what it was used for. Perhaps, if there's enough soft tissue preserved in the fossils, we can bring this creature back to life and find out for sure.”<br />
<br />
In addition to these amazing discoveries, Dr. Samuel also reported finding isolated Nasutoceratops fossils right outside of Riverville, Utah, a lot closer to home! Now that the fossils have been safely shipped back to Animal Adventures Institute, they can be thoroughly studied by the chief geneticist, Dr. Steve Stevenson and his assistants. We won't know how much soft tissue the fossilized remains contain, nor what other mysteries might lay in store, but things are going to be pretty busy in the upcoming months at the institute!<br />
<br />
“The fossil excavating season maybe over,” Dr. Steve says, “but the real fun and joy of scientific discovery begins right now!”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/176.jpg" width="238" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<b>Next Week: Rerun Article: School's Buzzing at Snowflake's Christian School for Animals</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-77355243790710426572015-08-28T07:27:00.001-07:002015-08-28T07:27:52.787-07:00Rerun Article: Monster Hoax or Truly Beast?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73M4pOA_aiz08PD1xaQtz29RI2FTdBsaO3ZFbrZhWBwJV1U9uaxFKqboSfJkp0XuEkM_0N9AfQQxRIHauERU6KjvuItyFD5Ur-rA0rB57pxxMzxwBQ4jpCjlGZOdlFTqZPuHnx2fpYjWI/s1600/The+Saber-Toothed+Assassin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73M4pOA_aiz08PD1xaQtz29RI2FTdBsaO3ZFbrZhWBwJV1U9uaxFKqboSfJkp0XuEkM_0N9AfQQxRIHauERU6KjvuItyFD5Ur-rA0rB57pxxMzxwBQ4jpCjlGZOdlFTqZPuHnx2fpYjWI/s320/The+Saber-Toothed+Assassin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pVf3GN3TaxtomIGww7iqjbLHa0zShtyPyCOFAkXI99rX5znYJlACGvAKJ6VcsRO6YRA2oIEjriR3zesVWWNQ_PUyo_d6vhH8uCGQZnhpzU1f7mKnY96FDX3SQq8KNbOTyeKP_khql0Sw/s1600/Monster+Hoax+or+Truly+Beast.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pVf3GN3TaxtomIGww7iqjbLHa0zShtyPyCOFAkXI99rX5znYJlACGvAKJ6VcsRO6YRA2oIEjriR3zesVWWNQ_PUyo_d6vhH8uCGQZnhpzU1f7mKnY96FDX3SQq8KNbOTyeKP_khql0Sw/s320/Monster+Hoax+or+Truly+Beast.jpg" width="320" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The
Saber-Toothed Assassin (top), was supposedly seen last Tuesday night by
Mac Dee Dee who's meat crate it ripped open (bottom).</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;">You might recall that in the past, we've written on some strange creature sightings in the past (e.g. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI-BoldItalic'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://smileysnewspaper.blogspot.com/2012/10/harvest-day-special-great-pumpkin-myth.html">The Great Pumpkin</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;">and a </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI-BoldItalic'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://smileysnewspaper.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-big-teeth-you-have.html">strange weasel-like mammal</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;">),
and for the past few months, Riverville has been sort of quiet in this
department because we haven't had any strange creature sightings . . .
until last Tuesday night. Just when we thought all was quiet, another
one of these unidentified creatures, known as “cryptids”, makes its
presence known at Mac Dee Dee's Farm, the same farm that opened just a
few weeks ago. When a cryptid was sighted at the farm, my trusty, junior
photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I went over to the farm to get
an interview with the farm's owner, Mac Dee Dee. “It was about 10:00
p.m. and I was sitting in my office about to go lie down for some
shuteye,” says Mac Dee Dee, “when I looked up at the computer monitor
that was connected to the security camera's we have outside and I just
barely noticed a large creature run through the woods near the place I
keep one of my tractor containment crates.” Mac Dee Dee went on to
explain that inside the crate was a refrigerated compartment for holding
fresh cow meat that was going to be shipped off the following day. Mac
Dee Dee was quoted for saying, “But now I can't ship any of that meat
off because that creature, whatever it was, clawed it open. It didn't
bother to try eating the meat however, I'm not sure why. But just before
it left, a pressed the 'snap photo' button on the security camera
program and got a good picture of the beast.” Mac Dee Dee explained that
his security camera system didn't save video footage, otherwise he
would have taken a gotten a video clip of the beast. When I asked to see
the photo, he showed it to me. The creature was unlike any wild
creature I'd seen before. It was a four-legged, rhino-sized predator
with a pair of saber-teeth protruding from its mouth, much like a
saber-toothed cat. But this wasn't a cat, in fact, it wasn't even a
mammal, but a reptile by the looks of it. Then Mac Dee Dee took us to
see the crate the predator had torn through. True to his word, the
animal's sharp claws tore right through it and due to the possibility of
contamination, Mac Dee Dee had to loose his meats. With Mac Dee Dee's
permission, I took the photo to Dr. Samuel Adamson, a head
paleontologist at </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">Animal Adventures Institute</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;"> to
see if he could identify the creature for me (I went to him instead of a
zoologist because I thought this might be an animal believed to be
extinct). He is quoted for saying, “I'm not exactly sure, but this
cryptid is, but it looks a great deal like the Permian reptile known as a
gorgonopsid. Depending on the species, a gorgonopsid could be the size
of a small dog, to the size of a rhinoceros in the case of a species
such as </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic;">Gorgonops</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;"> and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic;">Inostrancevia.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;"> But
what all gorgonopsids had in common was a pair of saber-teeth that
protruded from the top of the jaw.” As you might recall, the head
geneticist of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">Animal Adventures Institute</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;">,
Dr. Steve Stevenson, has successfully cloned a gorgonopsid named
Gordon, but she's assured me that she's not the one responsible for
tearing into Mac Dee Dee's meat crate. “I was sleeping like a baby at
10pm on Tuesday night,” she says. “Ask anyone here at the [</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">Animal Adventures</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;">]
Studios and they'll tell you the same. Besides, if I did sneak out and
run to Mac Dee Dee's farm, security would have spotted me.” So with this
new cryptid sighting making all the main local news outlets, it's
guaranteed that this creature – now being affectionately referred to as
“The Saber-Toothed Assassin” by some – is bound to attract some monster
hunters, hoping to prove its existence. We may not know if this
creature's a hoax or a real animal, but perhaps 21</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 11px;"><sup>st</sup></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;"> century
technology will help track this monster down before it causes too much
trouble, but if its anything like the famous cryptids such as Big Foot,
Loch Ness Monster and the Yeti, we could be searching for the
Saber-Toothed Assassin for some time to come . . . let's hope it doesn't
turn up in my backyard!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Photographer: Daniel P.
Smithwater</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a>
and Joy Hammond</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weekly
Cartoons</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/403.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Next Issue: Dr. Samuel Adamson's Fossil Discovery Report for 2015</b></span></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-75668950433919207122015-08-21T07:03:00.002-07:002015-08-21T07:03:40.412-07:00A Bee-autiful Celebration to Save the Bees<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Honeybee-27527-1.jpg/800px-Honeybee-27527-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Honeybee-27527-1.jpg/800px-Honeybee-27527-1.jpg" width="400" /><i></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Honeybees, such as this one, are being threatened with extinction from pesticides and other pollutants. Thankfully, people have started to give these helpful insects a helping hand.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Notice: For those of you who don't know, National Honeybee Day 2015 was last Saturday. The article you are about to read was written several days before that point.</i><br /><br />As the dog days of summer have just ended and the sound of buzzing is in the air. Yep, that's the characteristic sound of honeybees. Bees everywhere in the northern hemisphere are gathering nectar and making honey to make sure they have enough food to last them the entire winter, when no flowers are around to collect nectar from. Not only do bees produce honey (something many of us can't imagine living without), but they also are one of the most important pollinators we have in nature – if it weren't for them, many plants would be largely unable to reproduce. Unfortunately, bees everywhere (not just honeybees) are disappearing at a massive rate. Why? According to Dr. Arizona Stevenson of Animal Adventures Institute. “Bees are disappearing because the plants which they pollinate are often coated with pesticides. Pesticides may be meant to kill pests that harm farmers' crops, but they harm just about everything else too, including (in the long-term) humans who eat them! We must help save the bees are else a lot less pollinating is going to be going on.”<br /><br />Thankfully, the bee's cry for help has been heard. Antonio the Armadillo has recently spearheaded a special celebration to occur just in time for National Honeybee Day (“Bee Day” for short). Antonio is quoted for saying, “Honeybees are dying everywhere and people need to know what's going on with them and how they can help save these beneficial insects.” My trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I found Antonio's behavior a little strange regarding the bees. Anyone who knows Antonio is aware that this armadillo is quite the salesman (he used to be a traveling salesman, but upon reaching Animal Adventures Inc. (AAI.) , he decided to stay. Hooray for us.). He's someone who would sell not one, but three buckets of sand to a man in the desert. Normally, his only motive is to make more money. Why would he care about bees? I decided to ask. “Well, bees are very important creatures. They pollinate the flowers, they make honey...and not to mention, many of the products I sell have honey in them. Without bees, I wouldn't be able to sell a lot of my products.”<br /><br />In order to help bring awareness to the bees' plight, Antonio is organizing AAI.'s Annual Bee Day Celebration. We decided to interview Antonio's right-hand man, Bully the Bullfrog for more details on the festivities. “We've already recruited the help of many AAI. residents,” he says, “to create an elaborate parade, with balloons, floats, animatronic bees, people (and animals) in bee costumes and confetti.”<br /><br />It turned out that a kid named Ryan Gregor, who's family lives on the property, is helping out with the animatronics. He says, “It's a lot of work to create this event, but it's all for a good cause. So we're willing to do it.”<br /><br />Antonio's event has been faced with much approval, but also some disapproval by some of the locals. One of them is Mary Montano. She's the owner of Mary's Mall on AAI. property and was previously signed up as a sponsor for the event. But for unknown reasons, she decided to drop out. I guessed that after a recent bee incident, Mary has been somewhat spiteful of bees. When asked why she declined to even attend the celebration, she merely said, “It's weird.” Antonio knows about Mary's objection, and upon me asking about it, he said, “Mary is known to be a bit of an inconsiderate grouch. A bit of a Scrooge. She really seems to be against all things beautiful, lovely and fun...well, maybe just fun, because she has a beautiful mall and lovely decorations in it, but I mean...seriously. She hates fun! You should have seen her last Christmas! She forbid us to set up any Christmas decorations. She even rejected having a live Nativity scene with live animals, after the animals, the actors and the set arrived. That's Mary for you...” then he seemed slightly nervous. “You're not publishing this, are you?” he asked.<br /><br />The annual Bee Day celebration will be held on Bee Day itself, which this year is on August 15th (it's the third Saturday every August). In closing, Antonio is quoted for saying, “Despite all the bee stings and dislike from certain locals, I firmly believe this celebration will bee exceedingly bee-autiful and completely worth it...especially since it's for everyone's favorite pollinators: the honeybee!”<br /><br />Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Weekly Cartoons </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/mediafile/resource_file/ltbt/cosmic-copyright.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/mediafile/resource_file/ltbt/cosmic-copyright.gif" height="284" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><b>Next Issue: Rerun article</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-30382753017052937562015-08-14T07:30:00.001-07:002015-08-14T07:30:28.105-07:00Rerun Article: A Very Sticky Siuation<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/GreatMolassesFlood_1919-Wreckage_under_the_elevated_tracks.jpg/1920px-GreatMolassesFlood_1919-Wreckage_under_the_elevated_tracks.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/GreatMolassesFlood_1919-Wreckage_under_the_elevated_tracks.jpg/1920px-GreatMolassesFlood_1919-Wreckage_under_the_elevated_tracks.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The maple
syrup incident that occurred here in Riverville was a great sticky mess,
but it was nowhere nearly as bad as the Great Molasses Flood of 1919,
as seen in the photo above.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last Friday, it was a normal day in Riverville, the
town in which Animal Adventures Inc. is located. Birds were chirping,
the sun was shining, people were walking to their lunch breaks and
children were learning new things in school. I was sitting at my desk
finalizing last week's article. But the peacefulness changed at 11:48
a.m. when people near the Dandy Candy Factory heard a loud rumbling
noise. People looked at the factory and realized that the sound was
coming from a 50-foot tall, storage tank that was 90 feet in diameter
filled with 2,300,000 gallons of maple syrup. Suddenly the tank exploded
and 2,300,000 gallons of maple syrup spewed out as if from a raging
volcano!<br />
<br />
Around this time of year, people – kids
especially – love candy and sweets, but this was too much! The maple
syrup began rapidly flowing through the surrounding area. People began
running in terror from the sweet-tasting flood. Mr. Fish came to my
office to inform me of what was happening elsewhere in town, so my
trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I headed to the
scene of the mayhem. Upon arrival, we found ourselves instantly
surrounded by city officials – firefighters and police officers – who
tried to keep the crowds back and loads of civilians who all wanted to
see the action. I couldn't believe my eyes! Loads of maple syrup was
flowing freely down the street at 35 mph. Upon its initial release, the
wave of syrup was 25 or so feet high and as it continued along its path
of stickiness, it leveled out to 3 feet in depth!<br />
<br />
I
spoke with police officer David Tooters to learn more about the
situation at hand. He is quoted for saying, “No one knows as of yet why
this happened, but we do know that we've got to rescue as many people as
we can before anyone gets hurt. Maple syrup is only good in small
doses.” Due to the dangers of the situation, I wasn't able to get very
close, but from what I could see, the syrup was a powerful force. Some
people were being quickly swept away by the torrent. At times, the
firefighters blasted the maple syrup with high-pressure water hoses to
make a pathway to the helpless people stuck in syrup. At one point
during the day, the syrup even trapped someone's horse! Fortunately
police were able to rescue the creature without injury to themselves or
the animal.<br />
<br />
After what seemed like hours of saving
people and animals from the mess, some large snowplows were brought in
to move the syrup. This went on until about 6:00 p.m. and finally the
majority of the syrup had been swept away to someplace where it would be
of no more danger. (I was unable to verify where). One question that
was still on my mind was why the syrup exploded in the first place. To
answer this question, I checked with CEO of the Dandy Candy Factory,
Danny Scrumptious. He is quoted for saying, “Well at the time we were
heating the maple syrup because we were preparing to start packaging it
up to ship to grocery stores, and one of my workers, named Phil Tumor,
was in charge of the operation. Phil decided to take a lunch break,
accidentally left the heater on and the heat pressure built up so much
that . . . well, I think we all know what happened.”<br />
<br />
Then,
I asked Danny if they had ideas on how to prevent this from happening
again. “Of course we do,” Danny says, “for starters, we're not going to
allow people working with the maple syrup to take lunch breaks or any
type of breaks until after the heating process is over. We're also going
to make some adjustments to how the whole system is run. We definitely
don't want this to happen again, because not only was that lots of money
wasted, but civilians' lives were put in danger.”<br />
<br />
Thanks
to the quick work of city officials, the syrup was cleaned up and no
one was injured in the event. Now that its over, what happened today
brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, “There is such a thing as too
much sweets.” Keep that in mind this October 31st!<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoon</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/creationwise/2015/millions-to-visit-ark-encounter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/creationwise/2015/millions-to-visit-ark-encounter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Next Issue: A Bee-autiful Celebration to Save the Bees</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-2229912067542870262015-08-07T07:06:00.001-07:002015-08-28T07:28:15.387-07:00The Boa Constrictor Killing Method<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Boa_c.i.jpg/800px-Boa_c.i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Boa_c.i.jpg/800px-Boa_c.i.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Previously thought to kill their prey via suffocation, new studies reveal the real horrifying method boa constrictors use to put their prey to death! (<i>Wikimedia Commons</i>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The boa constrictor is one of the few <strike>snakes</strike> <strike>animals</strike> organisms on the planet that people commonly refer to by using its scientific name: Boa constrictor. But for those who are unfamiliar with this serpent, it's a moderately-sized species of boa (still smaller than the anaconda, reticulated python and several others) that makes its home in Central and South America, living in habitats as dry as semi-desert country or as wet as the tropical rainforests. They can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh 22 to 33 pounds on average. This popular species of snake is known for being a constrictor, the group of snakes famous for constructing their prey to death in tight coils that causes the prey to die of suffocation. But guess what! A new discovery confirmed that this isn't really the case during an attack from one of these snakes!<br />
<br />
A group of scientists from around the world decided to study how boa constrictors and their relatives, like the anacondas (yes, the anaconda is a species of boa), capture and kill their prey. It turned out that these snakes don't actually kill their prey by suffocation as has long been believed – instead, prey dies due to...blood constriction! Gosh, and I thought the boa's method of killing was nightmarish enough as everyone once thought it was! To get the full scoop on this discovery, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I decided to pay a visit to one of the scientists involved in the study who actually works right here at Animal Adventures Inc.'s Animal Adventures Institute: Dr. Arizona Stevenson.<br />
<br />
Dr. Arizona Stevenson, a personal friend of mine, is a zoologist and was surprised by the discovery they made. She's quoted for saying, “We initially wanted to study how boa constrictors attack and kill their prey, so we fed them rats and filmed them using slow-motion cameras. But we quickly noticed that the rats were dying too quickly for the cause of their death to be from suffocation.” She also explained that animals can remain alive (in an unconscious state) for longer periods of time than these rats were. “That's when one of my colleagues found a hypothesis put forward by a herpetologist in 1994 that boas don't kill their prey via suffocation, but by cardiac arrest. However, at the time the hypothesis had been ignored and untested.” So Dr. Arizona and her team decided to do just that!<br />
<br />
They hooked up some live rats to a machine that would tell the scientists their blood pressure. When the rat was grabbed by the boa constrictor they used during the experiment, they found that indeed, the rat's blood pressure decreased as the snake tightened its coils around its body. “The boa constrictor's grip was so tight,” Dr. Arizona says, “that it cut off the rat's supply of blood to the brain, heart and other vital organs. The rats were out cold within seconds, proving the early hypothesis to be true!”<br />
<br />
Dr. Arizona told me that this technique helps the snakes to kill prey far larger than themselves. “It takes a lot more time to suffocate a prey animal – like a capybara or a crocodile – than it does to kill it by cutting off circulation,” she said. “This is a good thing, because since the snakes lack legs, the more time they spend trying to kill their prey, the more time their prey has to potentially injure them.”<br />
<br />
Dr. Arizona and the team are very impressed with the amount of scientific research and experimentation they've conducted over the course of the past several months. And since their work has completely debunked older “facts” about these animals, the scientists wonder what other well known animal “facts” that have been considered true for years are false.<br />
<br />
“This discovery just goes to show us,” Dr. Arizona says, “that even when we think we know everything there is to know about something – in this case, boa constrictors – we learn that once again, scientific research is there to remind us how how little we really know.”<br />
<br />
Written by: Mr. Smiley<br />
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater<br />
Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Weekly Cartoons</b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cms/content/contentnode/image/after-eden/261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cms/content/contentnode/image/after-eden/261.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: A Very Sticky Situation</b>Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-54244987722278620142015-07-31T07:19:00.002-07:002015-08-28T07:28:27.762-07:00Rerun Article: New Techniques for Cloning Old Creatures<div class="Standard">
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DsvWiOanzDp8ZstP_-wjaWDdvYTitrU9YHPSIgOFGD1WpVkHuGNBFFzSjo_WmsX3zaNwJb1bhXstaKgCJJP2x0mprQpeNkK_GcqsGXEPm7pSMz7ibOx6jEuFqiSXzKNpAgfoFg-1oubW/s1600/Dr.+Steve+and+Parasite.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DsvWiOanzDp8ZstP_-wjaWDdvYTitrU9YHPSIgOFGD1WpVkHuGNBFFzSjo_WmsX3zaNwJb1bhXstaKgCJJP2x0mprQpeNkK_GcqsGXEPm7pSMz7ibOx6jEuFqiSXzKNpAgfoFg-1oubW/s320/Dr.+Steve+and+Parasite.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LFMddG3vVsfdixUuhKo8h5muCljZ2Gjet-BATTbzJgT0HTwtGElREk9futN_lWz2WBTrIwqgg9grqFCz4z-fpR0nldrctgKBHv_-lxlDb8f0uxfNzBKtq6LlqByFh-ZKr7BSbkzFYxmr/s1600/IMG_20130708_145911.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LFMddG3vVsfdixUuhKo8h5muCljZ2Gjet-BATTbzJgT0HTwtGElREk9futN_lWz2WBTrIwqgg9grqFCz4z-fpR0nldrctgKBHv_-lxlDb8f0uxfNzBKtq6LlqByFh-ZKr7BSbkzFYxmr/s320/IMG_20130708_145911.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dr. Steve
(top) is among the scientists trying new techniques for cloning extinct
marine creatures such as this mosasaur (bottom)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
How exactly have scientists been cloning dinosaurs? Well, it is done in several different ways, but <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park's</span> technique
was to extract DNA from mosquitoes that bit the dinosaur's blood when
alive. The mosquitoes eventually landed on the trunk of a tree and got
stuck in the sap. After a long time, the tree sap would get hard and
become fossilized, just like a dinosaur bone, preserving the mosquitoes
inside. Using sophisticated techniques, they extract the preserved blood
and they have dinosaur DNA! Then, they insert the DNA into the embryos
of alligator eggs (which were from a farm, <span style="font-weight: bold;">not </span>a<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>wild nest by the way) and they hatch a baby dinosaur. Ever since <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park </span>closed
due to escaping carnivores, scientists have been cloning these
legendary beasts. The technique I mentioned works well for dinosaurs,
but lately, scientists have turned their interests to other creatures –
marine reptiles! And due to certain “problems” scientists come across
when trying to clone them, they are trying new and exciting techniques.
To get the latest scoop, my junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater
and I went to Dr. Steve Stevenson, the chief geneticist at <span style="font-weight: bold;">AAI</span>, also known as Animal Adventures Institute. He used to work with the company that was trying to create <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">InGen</span>,
before the park closed down and he happily told us what's new in the
cloning world. When asked what's up with cloning sea reptiles, he
responded saying, “As you know, scientists have been interested in
cloning dinosaurs since <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park</span>.
But recently, we've turned our attention to other types of animals –
marine reptiles. 'What's the problem?' you ask? When cloning dinosaurs,
we get our DNA used in cloning from mosquitoes trapped in amber right?
Well, have you ever seen mosquitoes go swimming and suck the blood of
sea creatures underwater?” Dr. Steve explained that contrary to popular
belief, dinosaurs only lived on land. The flying and swimming
“dinosaur-like” reptiles, that God created on the Fifth Day of the week
to create everything, were not dinosaurs (that's right! Pterosaurs,
plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, pliosaurs and ichthyosaurs aren't dinosaurs). So
since mosquitoes can't swim, getting DNA from extinct marine reptiles
proved tricky. “When <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park</span> was
preparing to open (which of course it never did),” says Dr. Steve, “we
managed to clone some marine reptiles called mosasaurs (these creatures
were sort of like monitor lizards with flippers that could grow to
lengths of over 50 ft.) through the same process that we cloned
dinosaurs, but it was tricky, since mosquitoes that bit marine reptiles
are rare in amber.” The next obvious question I asked Dr. Steve was how
the mosquito even bit the marine reptile in the first place. Dr. Steve
is quoted for saying, “All we know is that a few did. I have a theory
though: say a mosasaur washed up on a beach or perhaps swam in a swamp
that was connected to the ocean and died. If part of the mosasaur's body
is above water, a mosquito could suck blood, but this would be rare.
This is why we've had trouble cloning marine reptiles.” Here at <span style="font-weight: bold;">AAI</span>, <span style="font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI-BoldItalic'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://smileysnewspaper.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-new-swimmers-and-squawkers.html">Dr. Steve has managed to clone a few marine reptiles</a></span>,
but through a different process. “The process through which we cloned
extinct marine reptiles for Animal Adventures Institute was also tricky,
but a little bit easier than the <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park</span> technique. Instead of extracting it from mosquitoes, we got it straight from <span style="font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI-BoldItalic'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">unfossilized sea reptile bones</span> that have been uncovered by our dig team led by Dr. Samuel Adamson and his wife, Indiana. In fact, since <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park</span> closed,
I think we're the only science team in the world that has succeeded in
cloning marine reptiles.” However, new science tricks may prove cloning
extinct reptiles much easier, as Dr. Steve explains. “You see, my
assistant, Oliver Oviraptor (yes, he's a dinosaur), suggested that
perhaps other animals bit extinct marine creatures. So I did some
research and, to my amazement, I learned that there was such a creature –
marine leech-like parasites!” Dr. Steve also told me that these
leech-like parasites have been found encased in, not amber, but in ice!
You see, after the Flood of Noah's time, the Ice Age began and ice caps
appeared at the poles. These leech-like parasites would suck the blood
of marine reptiles and if the marine reptile was in water too cold for
the parasite, the parasite would drop off and get frozen in the water,
where it was turned to ice. “And these parasites are now being uncovered
in ice packs near both the North and South Pole.” He also began to say
that these samples are still under study, so whether they contain enough
DNA to clone something is still a mystery. But hopefully, this will
open a whole new world when it comes to cloning. In closing, I asked Dr.
Steve if we should be expecting “Cretaceous Sea World Adventure Park”
anytime soon, and today, I'll close with his response. “Don't give your
hopes up. We're still studying these amazing parasites that once bit
marine reptiles. But with a little hope, and a lot of providence, a 'Sea
World' version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Jurassic Park</span> might be possible . . . and if we do, let's hope they don't cause havoc!</div>
</div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Written by: Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div class="Standard">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater</span></div>
<div class="Standard">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a> and Joy Hammond</span></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Weekly Cartoons</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/160.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Next Issue: The Boa Constrictor Killing Method</span></b></div>
<div class="Standard">
<br /></div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386761759696110332.post-63712065540783409392015-07-24T07:33:00.000-07:002015-08-07T07:04:11.353-07:00Rerun Article: The History of Pizza<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Pepperoni_pizza.jpg/800px-Pepperoni_pizza.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Pepperoni_pizza.jpg/800px-Pepperoni_pizza.jpg" height="202" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An all-time American favorite - Pizza!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
I
looked around for something new to see when I realized I was hungry for
lunch. Suddenly, I smelled a sweet aroma and hurried over to where it
was. It was a pizza parlor! Yum! I love pizza! I ordered my pizza with
pepperoni and some flies then I sat down. I noticed a black bird near
the street...it's a crow!....or maybe it's a raven, I really can't tell
them apart. I was too starving to follow the bird. I looked at the pizza
pie in front of me and my mouth watered! I gobbled up each slice one by
one, delicious! Pizza has a very fun and interesting history! Did you
know that Americans eat 350 slices of pizza every second? Which means
that everyone eats about 23 pounds of pizza each year (not including
lizards, like me, who mostly eats flies and sorts)! People have put so
many different toppings on the pizza including, peanut buyer and jelly,
bacon and eggs, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, eel, squid, coconut, curry,
pickled finger, minced lamb, cottage cheese, and green peas! Wow!
That's some strange toppings (wonder when they'll have fly pie! I mean
fly topping on pizza)! Would you choose one of those toppings? Did you
know that around the early years of A.D, foods similar to our pizza
existed before Jesus even walked the earth? Pizza became a word in
Naples, Italy. Pizza was to describe the spicy flat bread in their
language, 1000A.D. 1500's, tomatoes were tried in Europe to South
America. Because of its redness, people thought that the tomatoes were
poisonous! 1700's, pizza was served as a strange dish in the cities of
Europe. In the 1830's, the first pizzeria opened in Naples, called the
Port'Alba. Fascinating fact, the oven lining for the bakery's wood-fired
oven was made from lava rocks from Mount Vesuvius. In 1889, pizza was
born! Because the queen of Italy, Queen Margherita wanted to try this
pizza so Raffaele wanted to bake something patriotic. He used the colors
of their flag; green, white and red for his pizza. The tomatoes were
red, basil and oregano for green but then he was in a predicament. You
see his pizza crust wasn't white enough, he came up with plan. He added
white cheese (no one thought of that as a topping) and the pizza became a
success. In 1943, Ike Sewell and Ric Ricardo invented Chicago- style
pizza. In 1945, the veterans of World War II brought home a taste of
pizza and it became a hit. Frozen pizza was commercialized in 1957.
California introduced, "designer" pizza, letting people choose different
varieties for their pizza. The most amazing and delicious thing
happened in December of 1990. Norwood Hypermarket in South Africa baked a
pizza that filled half a football field and weighed nearly 27,000
pounds! It used up 10,000 pounds of flour and lots of pounds of cheese
and onions ( yuk onions! Not my favorite choice). Of course naturally,
you'd never think that a lizard, like me, would know such stuff and get
years right and all but I'm a talented lizard. A lizard with a blue
notebook, a notebook recorded with almost everything I know in it. Yup,
okay I admit I'm not that smart...I saw a cardboard sign on the table,
where I'm eating, and read off it. Anyway, I should get going. Oh
dear...I think I forgot my wallet! Ahhhhhh this check is for seven
dollars. It's the flies, I knew it! Hmmm well, gotta go, I have to find
my wallet and pay for the pizza. This is Lizzy the Basilisk Lizard
reporting live at.....I really don't know where I am.....oh well,
goodbye! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI';">
<div class="Standard" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Written by: Lizzy Lizard</span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater</span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Edited by: <a href="http://animaladventures1314.blogspot.com/">Christian Ryan</a>, Joy Hammond and Mr. Smiley</span></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-align: center;">
<div class="Standard" style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard">
<b>Weekly Cartoons</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/img/cartoons/after-eden/092.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Next Issue: Rerun Article: New Techniques for Cloning Old Creatures</b></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Christian Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303169931843461161noreply@blogger.com0