"Nature's Guard, Anti-Terrorist Strike Force", is the new, highly marketable, cross media tie in, Cartoon Series featuring animals that have guns and stuff. Oh, and they fight terrorists too!

Massai tribesmen in Kenya have only recently heard about the Sept 11th attacks on the US. To express sympathy they have given 14 cows, which they consider the most valued possession, to the people of the US. A US embassy near Tanzania received this ceremonial gift, and is not sure what to do with them.

Additional details are provided online by the BBC

Anthrocon is going to take the leap this year into a 21st-century style of badge, as opposed to the 19th-century style that we've been using since our inception.

Starting this year, we will be abandoning the old card-in-sleeve badges, so easily lost or damaged, and using laminated plastic badges. For those who like to have personalized badges made to give to your favorite artists, we still have a limited supply of our badge-stock from last year left over. You can pick up a blank one at the con store while supplies last.

-- Uncle Kage

The next animated film due from Dreamworks is going to be "Master P: Kung-Fu Panda" about a lazy Panda that must be trained in the martial arts to protect his forest. Dreamworks - our new best friend. :) Read more about it at Toonzone:

http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35421

Nick Park's Aardman Animation department, previously responsible for Wallace + Grommit and Chicken Run, will be reviving their old Academy Award-winning classic "Creature Comforts" as a 13-episode series for ITV1 in 2003. Alas, that leaves us US fans to forage for it...

http://www.c21media.net/news/news_dtl.asp?id=3430&categ=3

Just when you thought all squirrels were good for is stashing peanuts and acting silly, Ananova reports about one who helped the cops at a burglary scene.

A lot of furries keep unusual pets, but how about a pygmy hippo?
The 500 pound endangered water animal was kept in the man's yard for over a decade along with many other species of unusual birds and animals. A realtor showing a house nearby tipped off the California Fish and Game, who seized the hippo after the owner could not produce a permit for it. It will be moved to a home for hippos in Florida.

Créations, a Quebec supplier of professional mascots best known for the Montreal Expos mascot Youppi!, has lodged a complaint against Bell Canada for running a series of advertisements the company believes are responsible for a wave of mascot abuse.

Jean-Claude Tremblay, the company's president, complained in a National Post article:

"Just this weekend I had one [mascot] with six people on him. They tried unzipping his costume ... one of the kids was halfway inside the costume with the person. He fell on his back and then they jumped on him."

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20020529/377315.html

A reliable insider at the SciFi Channel's bulletin board has given some information on the announced "Battlestar Galactica" remake. According to him, the Channel's President Bonnie Hammer is not giving producers Ron Moore and David Eick much latitude with the story. She wants a show with more sex, focused on teen characters, and their love problems.

You decide! Check out my newest scaley-furry alien story on Strange Horizons, Freedom, Spiced and Drunk. Afterwards, you can learn more about the Jokka at Cheldzan Jokku.

Since late 1999, the Australian Museum has involved in a project unique in this world- the cloning of an extinct species, namely the Tasmanian Tiger. While no living representative of this species has been witnessed since the death of the last one in captivity in 1936, the museum possesses several preserved pups. While the ones that were preserved in formalin are unusable due to the effect of the preservative on the cell structure, there is a female pup that was preserved in ethanol. She is the linchpin of the cloning project, as this allowed intact DNA strands to persist. While the successful replication of individual Tasmanian Tiger genes, as detailed at http://www.austmus.gov.au/thylacine/newsrelease.htm,
does not mean there will be a living representive of the species any time soon, it does mark something singular. For the first time in human history, there is the indication that we may be able to bring back from the darkness of death and total extinction a unique species that was destroyed solely by our hands.

Word is out that Warner Brothers will begin making Looney Tunes theatrical shorts for pre-movie entertainment again. For more info:

http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34926

The opening weekend for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron was the best for a 2D animated film since Disney's Tarzan. Pulling upwards of $24 million, it looks to have a smooth run at the box office. The DVD is scheduled for release in November. For the full scoop:

http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34962

My beautiful and talented programming director Susan Parkin (SusanDeer) has informed me that we have a few open spots on our preliminary programming schedule. If you have an idea for a panel, roundtable, or workshop (and particularly if you are willing to run it!) please drop a note to programming@anthrocon.org. Better still, you can submit your idea on our handy-dandy Programming Suggestion Form at
http://www.anthrocon.org/info/progform

And do not forget our INVENTION FAIR! We've already had a lot of inquiries and have heard some very good preliminary ideas. The full
information can be found on our web page at
http://www.anthrocon.org/info/programming. The deadline for entry is June 20, so get those brains in gear. Remember, one of the prizes we're offering to our resident geniuses is a FREE ROOM-NIGHT at the Adams Mark! Cut down on your hotel costs by showing off your cerebral capacity!

And for those who have been asking, the elevator renovation project is on schedule. By this year's con we should have one guest elevator working on the new 21st-century program (and one staff elevator as well, so the maids can get the towels up to you); one elevator will be undergoing renovation, and two will be on the old 19th-century program. We should see a noticeable difference in elevator response this year, and by next year it will not be an issue. Our thanks to "Magic Tom" Hughsted, the Adams Mark's Convention Services Manager, for all of his dilligent help.

-- Uncle Kage

A bill to ensure that the state respects and protects the dignity of humans has passed in Germany with a clause adding animals as well.
Don't know what else to say on the matter, so comment away and read the article here.