Woman Injured in Elk Attack

An Estes Park woman was attacked by an elk Tuesday. She is in serious condition at the hospital.

The attack happened outside of the apartments where the woman lives. Neighbors chased the elk off with bear mace.

It is unclear what prompted the attack, but the elk's calf was near, and that can cause the females to become very aggressive.

The Estes Park Police Department provides the following tips for safe elk viewing:

The Estes Park Police Department provides the following tips for safe elk viewing:

Elk are wild animals which must be observed from a safe distance to avoid injury or death. If an animal is carefully watching you and appears "jumpy" when you move, you are too close.
Keep pets secured on a leash and do not allow them to bark at, lunge at, or chase wildlife.
Never block traffic. Move your vehicle to a safe place completely off the roadway to watch elk.
Do not imitate an elk call, or bugle. This can endanger you and the elk.
Elk know no boundaries, but people do. Respect private property when viewing wildlife.
The Estes Park Police Department does enforce wildlife laws including laws against feeding or harassing wildlife, or allowing one's pet to harass wildlife. 

They currently are also suggesting that the public avoid elk during the rest of calving season. The season continues til the end of June.

Obama Misspeak Causes International Incident

Obama stuck his foot in his mouth yet again when he made a comment about "a Polish death camp", on Tuesday.

The President has a history of snafus, of which this is but the latest, and possibly the most offensive.

Comments such as "fifty-seven states", "Canadian president", and "intercontinental railway" have caused him much derision.

But never before has one been considered such an insult, by another nation. To put it briefly, the Poles are pissed.

In a statement, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, "We always react in the same way when ignorance, lack of knowledge, bad intentions lead to such a distortion of history, so painful for us here in Poland, in a country which suffered like no other in Europe during World War II. We cannot accept such words even if they are spoken by the leader of a friendly power -- or perhaps especially in such situations -- since we expect diligence, care and respect from our friend on issues of such importance as World War II remembrance."

The White House issued a formal apology, trying to get the world to note that it was an accidental misspeak. They also highlighted on Obama's past of honoring Poland's struggle against the Nazis.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski tweeted Tuesday night, "White House apologizes for outrageous blunder. PM Tusk will take his position in the morning. It's a shame that this important ceremony was overshadowed by ignorance and incompetence."

On Wednesday Tusk said that the incident provides the US with an opportunity "to support Poland in its efforts towards historical truth, towards the correct phrasings, the right assessment of what happened during World War II on Polish territory and throughout Europe. When someone says 'Polish death camps,' it is as if there were no Nazis, no German responsibility, as if there was no Hitler; that is why our Polish sensitivity in these situations is so much more than just simply a feeling of national pride.

"Our American friends are capable of a stronger reaction than just the correction itself and the regret which we heard from the White House spokesperson. We take note of these words, but it seems that it would be even more important for the United States than for Poland to end this with class. This is how one acts with regard to tried-and-tested friends, but this is also how one acts in your own, well-defined interest."

Empire State Building Getting Ready for Israel Day

On June 3 the Empire State Building in New York City, will once again be lit up in blue and white.

This time it won't be for the Yankees, however. It will be in honor of the sixty-fourth anniversary of Israel's independence.

The tower will also be flying an Israel flag

Israel Day, will consist of a parade made up of twenty-nine floats and more than two hundred groups.

Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom will be present as the head of the Israeli delegation.

The New York City celebrations are the largest outside of the state of Israel.

For the second straight year, local New York City television will air the events.

Remembering: Joan of Arc

In 1412, in the village of Domremy, France a baby girl was born. Little did her family know how she would help shape history.

The Hundred Years War had been raging between England and France, and since 1415 the English had been winning. By 1422 English forces, and their Burgundian allies, controlled most of northern France.

It was in 1429 that young Joan first heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. They commanded her to aid the French in reclaiming Rheims, and the throne of France.

She heeded their words and traveled first to Vaucouleurs, where she eventually was given passage to Chinon where the Dauphin was. When she got there, he hid himself amongst his court, but she picked him out of the crowd.

Charles VII, had her questioned by theologians. They told him to use her charismatic nature. On April 27, 1429 he granted her a small army, and she set out for Orleans. There she would help break an English siege and save the city.

Over the next weeks her army defeated the English everywhere it went. She reached Rheims on July 16, and the city opened it's gates to her. The next day Charles VII was crowned king of France.

Throughout the next ten months she would continue to lead her army to victories, but on May 23, 1430 she was captured by the Burgundians, who traded her to the English.

In March 1431 her trial began, in front of ecclesiastical authorities. Declared a heretic, she was turned over to secular authorities on May 29. On May 30, 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by British forces, in Rouen, France.

But Joan only became a martyr for the French. The tide she had helped turn, never stopped and Charles VII would reconquer all of France, except Calais, which the English eventually turned over. In 1920 the Roman Catholic church officially recognized Joan of Arc as a saint.

Obama's Rich Bashing Is Backfiring

President Obama and his team thought they could deliver a head shot to Romney with the grossly inaccurate Bain ad, that detailed how they closed GST Steel. Well, Romney left Bain in 1999 and GST Steel folded in 2001. Not to mention, Bain’s managing director, Jonathan Lavine, was still at Bain when GST closed its doors. Mr. Lavine also happens to be an Obama bundler raising between $100-200,000 for the president’s re-elect campaign. I’ve mentioned this in a previous post.

However,the president continues to push this anti-Bain narrative, which isn’t sticking and killing his chances at winning the affluent vote. Yes, bashing the rich may seem like the “cool” and “liberal” thing to do, but, as Michael Barone aptly pointed out, the last class warfare president that won was Harry Truman in 1948. The same could be said about Obama’s populist vein. The last populist president elected was Andrew Jackson. History seems to be against him.

Barone wrote:

Today there are a lot more affluent people. The 2008 exit poll told us that 26 percent of voters had household incomes over $100,000. Half of them voted for Obama. He needs those votes again. My hunch is that Obama’s attacks on Bain will strike most affluent voters as offputting and that Romney’s calm responses will strike them as reassuring.

If you want more jobs created, you don’t go around attacking job creators. Most affluent voters believe that free markets, appropriately regulated, tend to produce fair outcomes. They see investors not as vultures but as creators of jobs and promoters of innovation that increase national productivity and make everyone better off. They see class warfare as attacks on themselves.

Furthermore, Barone cites areas where the president is probably already doomed. Especially, in states he needs to win this November to continue his agenda of dependency and big government policies. Policies that have not reduced the high unemployment rate, gave us consecutive trillion dollar deficits, and added another $5 trillion dollars to the national debt.

The rich, and Americans in general, see Obama as ineffectual and totally antithetical to the values he promised to bring to Washington. This is starting to have an effect no matter how much Obama tries to pivot on the matter. Barone continues by listing how the president is losing his grip on this demographic that he needs to win again to ensure re-election.

Here’s evidence that Obama has already lost many affluent voters. The popular vote in House elections is a good proxy for presidential and party support, and voters with incomes over $100,000, evenly split in 2008, voted 58 to 40 percent for Republicans in 2010.

Northern Virginia, which Obama carried 59 to 40 percent and which provided 95 percent of his statewide popular vote margin, went 52 to 47 percent for House Republicans in 2010. Nine suburban Denver counties voted 53 to 46 percent for Obama but switched in 2010 to 54 to 42 percent Republican.

Virginia and Colorado are on everyone’s target state list. But Obama also hurt the Democratic brand among affluent voters in other states.

The four suburban counties outside Philadelphia voted 57 to 42 percent for Obama but 52 to 47 percent Republican in 2010. The six suburban counties outside Detroit voted 54 to 45 percent for Obama but 53 to 44 percent Republican in 2010. That means Pennsylvania and Michigan could be in play.

Affluent suburbs outside the South trended heavily toward Democrats in from 1992 to 2008. Now they seem to be trending Republican.

All we need is Romney, who finally clinched the nomination in last night’s Texas primary, to stay focused and hammer the president on the economy, the debt, deficit, high unemployment, and the rest of his dismal record. However, expect this 2012 election to be the dirtiest since 1824.

Englewood Police Offier Dies After Being Hit and Run

Englewood, Colorado lost it's first officer in the line of duty.

On Monday, Officer Jeremy Bitner, thirty-nine, and a man he had pulled over were both struck and sent flying by an SUV, which took off.

Bitner, died from his injuries. The other victim is in stable condition, and is recovering well.

The driver of the SUV was later arrested, and charged with a DUI and hit and run. Now vehicular manslaughter will at least be added, if not a murder charge.

Bitner, left behind two kids and a wife. He had been with Englewood PD for eight years, receiving several commendations. Before that he served in the US Army Airborne, in Bosnia.

For the Englewood PD, the loss is really hard. The department only has thirty-six officers, and they are a really close knit group.

Venus Passes in Front of The Sun on Tuesday

Next Tuesday, June 5, the planet Venus will pass in front of the sun, before sunset, and be visible for most of the United States.

The event was last visible eight years ago, but will not be so for another 105 years.

Venus travels in a pattern that makes it pass in front of the sun, from Earth's point of view in that pattern.

On the first of the two passes, it is visible to the southern hemisphere around Australia.

During the second of the set it is visible to North America.

The pattern is always the same, with the 105 years passing, then eight.

Johannes Kepler first predicted the first part of the pattern. Jeremiah Horrocks, an English astronomer found the second part.

Nine Countries Kick Out Syrian Envoys

In response to the latest massacre in Syria nine countries have given Syrian envoys seventy-two hours to leave.

The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria all announced the decision on Tuesday. Expectations are that more countries will join in on the expulsion.

The massacre by Syrian troops, firing artillery into a populated area, killed around one hundred. Somewhere around 15,000 have been killed since last March, when the uprising began.

Russia has continuously protected Syria, but as things continue they're finding that position harder to maintain. If Russia backs down, Syria will have no protectors left. 

Zombie/Cannibal Attack in Miami

On Saturday, Miami police were forced to shoot a man, who had attacked another man.

Officers found the man literally chewing off the victim's face.

He refused to stop, pausing only to growl at officers, with pieces of flesh hanging out of his mouth.

The first shot didn't even make him pause. They then shot him til he was dead.

His victim is in critical condition, pictures of him are beyond grotesque. Seventy-five to eighty percent of his face is gone.

Police believe the man may have been on drugs. They suspect a new form of LSD. Others suspect a virulent form of rabies.

Sixteen Year Old Solves 350 Year Old Problem

Shourryya Ray, a sixteen year old living in Germany, solved two problems first set, 350 years ago, by Sir Isaac Newton.

Ray has been awarded a research award for his work solving the two equations, that no one had been able to solve til now. Even computers had struggled to solve the equations.

His solutions allow exact calculations of a trajectory under gravity and subject to air resistance. In other words, an item's flight path can be calculated and predictions can be made about how the object will hit and bounce off a barrier.

Math experts are now throwing around the word genius in conjunction with Ray. He denies he is one, but his solving the equations definitely show that the title is earned.