If the furry fandom is so accepting, why do so many people feel compelled to point out that they are not Furries, and just like anthro stuff? In a follow on to my previous column on how the press view furry fandom, lets take a look on how fans and artists view the fandom.

Teri s. Wood, the original artist and co-creator on MU Press' Rhudiprrt - The Prince of Fur returns to comics to bring the once popular furry book back into publication.

The Prince of Fur series continued for only three issues after Teri moved on to do her self-published comic book series, Wandering Star, and has been dangling on a cliff-hanger ending for many years. Teri, who is now both artist and writer on The Prince of Fur series promises that she will pick the story up where it left off in issue nine with, of course, three pages of recap to bring both new and old readers back up to date before launching them fully into the storyline in book ten.

The first six pages can be previewed now online at:
Pen&InkComics: The Comic Art Factory

As is their tradition, Google is doing a series of cute cartoons to help mark Christmas.

In what is "traditionally the busiest time of year" for reindeer, US environmental scientists warn that global warming means, oddly enough, too much ice in the north. Rain falling in the arctic causes a layer of ice that hooved mammals like caribou, musk oxen and reindeer can't dig through to get to the lichen below, their main source of winter food.
Just one of the many unexpected results of the current climate changes.

This is just.. totally, totally, absolutely astounding.. how stupid and uneducated those law makers and patent pushers are. This just totally blows me away.

News Article

In a nutshell:

"The new patent defines AOL's IM application as one that enables users to chat with and identify one another across a specific "communications network," opening up the possibility for AOL to collect royalties from rivals."

From all of us on the Flayrah.com editorial staff to all of our readers, we hope you have a terrific holiday season. Whether you're enjoying time spent with your families and loved ones, or just a little break from work or school, we hope you have a wonderful time.

Hello this is WhiteShepherd announcing a new Furtopia art contest. The contest is here. Any fur is welcome to participate in this contest. It’s a nice chance to have your artwork reviewed for comment and judging. You the artists will be able to show your work and explain to your public “what” makes this art special to you. Winners in the contest will get their work put up in lights with comments on a link off of Furtopia’s main page.

From 'chance wolf' on alt.fan.furry: "Since Amblimation's "Balto" was released on Dec. 22, 1995 and today represents the seventh anniversary of that, I thought I'd put the original Universal website back on the air so newer fans can see what it looked like.

I kept the site materials all these years and have had bits and pieces up before, but this time everything actually works properly, right down to the old "Make Your Own Greeting Cards!" thing and the majority of the old Quicktimes.

Anyway, have fun and feel free to laugh at the wonderful Jurassic feel of the web circa 1995 - and by all means, steal whatever you like with my compliments."

You can find the website at http://balto.redwall.tv.

Kanook, Ping Ping, Lia and Lutik live a very warm Sea World in Brisbane, Australia. But a little Christmas magic, and a snow machine, will provide them with icy snow for the next month. Though it's the dog days of summer in Australia, the holiday season inspired the zoo to try out a winter landscape to keep their bears happy and healthy, both physically and mentally.
Polar bears are very smart, and need a wide variety of stimuli to keep them from suffering problems in captivity. Among other stimulating things the four have, there are even wind generation fans designed to entertain the bears with a wide range of interesting smells.

A recent article in the Times of India tells of how dolphins are being trained to plant limpet mines on enemy ships. Similar articles appeared today in the Economic Times of India and The South China Post, focused on the outcry from animal activists. While I could not find any links to these articles I have included relevant portions.

The articles claim this to be the first use of dolphins to plant mines, but the U.S. has employed them to clear mines before and one wonders what else...

As Christmas approaches, many people insist on a real tree. But for Janet and Graham Parker in Wiltshire, England, only a fake one will do. Their artificial tree is 116 years old, the oldest in the world according to the Guiness Book of World Records. Purchased in 1886, the tree has been handed down in the family ever since. A Guiness Book spokesman said that other submissions have been "60 or 70 years old, but this one beats them hands-down."

In the same vein as this previous post, a light hearted editorial appeared recently in the Phildelphia Enquirer regarding the decline in use of animal parts as aphrodisiacs.

Ending a convoluted tale of theft, the SPCA exhumed the remains of Shiva - an eight month old male Bengal tiger - stolen from Guha's Lions and Tigers on Nov. 28th. The big cat was said to have died from an overdose of tranquilizers.
Cheryl Hunt, of Essex, is expected to be charged with theft, administering an injurious substance to an animal, killing an animal without lawful excuse and mischief and destruction of property.

Concerned over a New Jersey state law which bans the importation of deer and elk, Leanne Bellouny petitioned the state with her 1st grade classmates to make an exception for Santa's reindeer.
The DEP, after much deliberation, ruled that the law applies only to reindeer on the ground, as "flying reindeer are just fine and are always welcome in New Jersey"

A Toronto based community centre and PETA teamed up to donate 30 fur coats to homeless women - and failed miserably.
Those who were to receive the coats did not show up for fear of media attention, and PETA has received criticism from anti-poverty groups for their tactics while winning the approval of the fur industry.