There is no doubt that there are many discouraging events occurring in our world on a very frequent basis. Our modern era has spawned wars, terrorism, hatred and untold misery in many parts of the earth.
This video is the antidote to the negative occurrences we hear so much about. Let’s remember that there are opportunities for happiness, fun, laughter and brotherhood even amidst some of the most negative and gloomy events of our time.
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
MEET Samson, New York’s biggest cat – weighing 28 pounds and measuring an incredible four foot in length. The hulking feline is chauffeured around in his very own super-size carriage and spends his down time playing fetch – just like a dog. The four-year-old Maine Coon breed has now reached celebrity status due to his impressive stature -and has amassed over 104,000 followers on Instagram. The insatiable kitty eats six cans of food a day to feed his massive appetite.
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
Through our travels we have seen a number of “little libraries.” These are sidewalk structures used to house a “give and take” book collection to help encourage reading and literacy.
Sharalee Armitage Howard turned her century-old dead cottonwood tree into a free lending library.
See the video below:
From the YouTube webpage:
This is an awesome project. A Coeur d’Alene artist found a unique way to repurpose an old and decaying tree in her front yard. She has turned the tree stump into a Little Free Library. It’s a free book exchange designed to encourage reading.
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
As we reflect on the religious holidays just passed and look forward to the celebration of a new year, a demarcation created by man, there can be no better time to reflect upon our humanity or lack of it!
The video below points out what a speck of dust in the universe our earth actually is and how, in the vast scheme of the cosmos, we and our actions are so very insignificant. While everyone on earth shares the same planet, our species acts so foolishly toward our global neighbors. As Rodney King so profoundly said: “Can’t we all just get along?”
Watch the video and think about the message as we move forward to the beginning of new year.
From the YouTube webpage:
Carl Sagan gives the best speech ever about humanity and how foolish we behave. Pale Blue Dot is one of the most important and reflective speeches about the human condition and our place in the Universe. The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers from Earth, as part of the solar system Family Portrait series of images.
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
The video below is of a photographer who was taking photographs of a young male elk in one of our national parks and even though he was abiding by all the rules, the elk started to manifest aggressive behavior. This, unfortunately, would lead to the end of the elk.
As someone who enjoys hiking in our national parks and photographing all wildlife in a safe and respectful manner, I find this very sad.
You can read the follow up below, under the video, for the details. The video itself is an interesting lesson regarding such confrontations.
The notes below are copied from the YouTube page:
Update: I’ve been in contact with the photographer in the above video and we would both like to issue a statement regarding the news of the National Park Service’s decision to put the elk down.
My statement:
I am deeply saddened by the fate of the elk. It has certainly pulled a black cloud over this whirlwind “viral video” experience.
I spoke to the reporter who broke the story and she assured me the decision was based on a pattern of aggressive behavior that began prior to the incident documented in this video. The behavior was the result of visitors feeding the elk and conditioning them to seek food from humans. This video only serves as an example of the elk’s dangerous behavior, not an impetus to it.
Again, it brings me great sadness to learn of this beautiful animal’s demise and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it.
I’m looking into a destination for proceeds from this video to help the NPS educate visitors on the dangers and consequences of feeding wildlife.
I also want to be clear that James, the photographer, was not complicit in a behavior that led to the elk’s demise, but rather was made an example of the result of such behaviors. The elk approached him from behind, likely looking for food as he was conditioned to do.
Statement from James (the photographer):
I love and respect animals and that’s why I photograph them and don’t hunt them. I am deeply hurt by the loss of such a beautiful creature that in its own way bonded with me. I looked forward to watching him grow to a mature bull as the years passed.
I’m truly heartbroken to know he is gone.
Original video description:
While photographing elk at sunrise in the Cataloochee Valley of Great Smoky Mountains National Park I turned around to see what appeared to be just a curious young bull sniffing a photographer’s camera. I snapped a few frames of the apparent harmless encounter.
But the elk became more interested in making trouble than simply the scent of a camera. He started physically harassing the photographer, escallating to full on head-butts.
I quickly switched the camera to video and let it roll (much of the time wondering when I should seriously consider intervening).
Most people who see this ask why the photographer seems to just take the abuse. I asked him in an email what was going through his head. This is his response:
“My first thoughts were “wow, he’s getting pretty damn close here.” But I’ve been up close before without incident. I hoped being still and passive would see him pass on. When he lowered his antlers to me, I wanted to keep my vitals protected and my head down. I felt that standing up would provoke him more and leave me more vulnerable to goring. I think that while protecting myself with my head down, having my head down was a signal that I was rutting with him. I was concerned at first, but when he started rearing back and lunging at me later on, I got scared and pissed off. That’s when I wagged my finger at him to cut that shit out. I was relieved to see the Ranger coming.
So I guess at some point if the Ranger hadn’t of pulled up, I would have had to disengage the best I could. I’ve joked with my friends that at least he took me for a buck and not a cow!”
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“I came here to get a PhD in American literature, and here I am, with pictures of American writers on the wall—a chess vendor.”
In my teenage years, through high school, I was an avid chess player. We would spend hours playing chess, reading chess magazines and competing. Believe me, chess can add a lot to one’s life. Unfortunately after the Fischer-Spassky match, my interest waned. The video above is an inside look at another era when a quiet game like chess could affect lives in profound ways.
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
Nature shows us the very best of the struggle for life as a very small bear cub tries to follow its mother up a snowy sope. This youngster has guts and perseverance. It struggles agains the laws of physics about which it knows nothing. Mama bear stands helplessly by as the cub struggles to reach her.
NOTE – There is no accompanying sound with this video. Just sit back and watch!
Notes from the YouTube Page:
I was almost snow-go for a cute – and determined – cub which gamely tried to follow its mum up a steep and extremely slippery snow-covered slope.
Video footage of the plucky young animal shows the creature refusing to have a melt-down, despite repeatedly sliding down the powdery surface.
The clip, which has gone viral on social media, had viewers admitting they felt “stressed out” as it was “hard to watch” the cub continually slide down the mountain, towards rocks.
It starts by showing the pair clambering over a rocky patch of ground as the mum guides her young cub towards the top of the mountain.
Both animals initially slide down the slope, but the mother quickly regains her footing and makes it to the ridge, where she waits for the cub to join her.
Plenty of heart-stopping moments follow as the cub struggles to reach her, and it leaves long trails in the snow where its claws have dug in to stop it slipping too far below.
However it slides a considerable distance, ending up on a large rocky patch.
Meanwhile, its mother looks anxiously over the ridge, pacing to and fro.
At one stage, the cub is within just a few feet of its mum.
But at this precise moment, when the cub is nearly beside her, she appears to look straight ahead, and seems nervous about a drone filming her cub.
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
This is a sad, but heartwarming story of three animals that were found in the basement of a drug dealer when the house was raided. The very young animals (lion, tiger and bear) were mistreated and injured. They apparently bonded when they were kept in the basement during this time as they were they only other living creatures to show warmth and kindness.
Once freed, they were brought to a sanctuary where they continue to live as BFFs. The video is interesting and remarkable as these three predators have found a way to get along and survive.
Notes from the YouTube page:
Once kept as illegal pets, bear Baloo, tiger Shere Khan, and lion Leo share a brotherly bond despite how unbelievable it might seem. The trio cuddles and plays in their new home in Atlanta, Georgia.
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This dog named Bear must really like to play catch. He doesn’t even need another animal or person, he just plays by himself as long as he has the trampoline.
This is the narrative from the YouTube page:
Bear the dog from California used his owner’s trampoline to play fetch with himself. After placing the ball on the mat, he ran underneath and nudged the ball into the air with his nose before catching it. The clever pooch never seemed to tire of the game which he invented when his human family stopped playing with him and left him to his own devices.
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This is an intriguing dilemma reportedly presented to candidates for a specific job to determine their thinking processes among other things. There are a number of variations of this on the Internet, but this seems to be one of the better renditions.
How would you answer this question?
From the YouTube Page:
“Everyone is born with an instinct of success and ability to make it but only the ones who think outside the box succeed.
Remember, big ideas come from forward thinking people who challenge the norm, think outside the box and invent the world they see inside rather than submitting to the limitations of current dilemmas. “
All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.comare appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.
