Most children dream of becoming a firefighter or an astronaut. When I was a kid I wanted to grow up and become a messianic cult leader. Not so much for ideological reasons, but for the perks of the job. Multiple wives. Money. Power. And most important of all, the privilege and fun of putting together the signs of the apocalypse. Believe me, my signs would have been revolutionary and talked about for years within messianic circles. In fact, quite a few have started to happen. George Bush wearing crocs was definitely one of them. But animals fighting back against global extinction was definitely top 5 after a plague of locust (I know it's cliche, but sometimes you have to go with the tried and true) and rivers running red with blood. If you'll remember the NY Times article we blogged about a few months back, scientists are actually documenting animals slowly turning against the perpetrators of their extinction:

It has long been apparent that every large, land-based animal on this planet is ultimately fighting a losing battle with humankind. And yet entirely befitting of an animal with such a highly developed sensibility, a deep-rooted sense of family and, yes, such a good long-term memory, the elephant is not going out quietly.

I think this week has been another example of animals coming after us and the score is 2 to 1. The bear that attacked and killed the kid in Utah obviously scored one for the animals, though he ended up getting shot himself so his efforts seem a bit futile. In the second example, the bear didn't even get a chance to get close to the kid before his dad took him out with a log. And finally, one of my peers in the messianic world, Rocky at the The Goat, found this gem; a guy choking to death a mountain lion that tried to attack him:

“I started choking it when got a good hold,” he said. “I choked it ‘til he died. I got scratched up pretty good.”

If you need more signs that the end is neigh, I don't know what to tell you.

The death of a 37-year-old Sunnyvale man who slipped and fell while climbing Half Dome on Saturday was an unusual hiking accident and Yosemite National Park officials said they do not see the need to implement new safety measures.

What They're Really Saying: "The guy that died was a klutz, plus he was a Japanese national so we're not really worried about being sued. If this was an American and we were in danger of being sued, you can bet we'd be singing a different tune." This death is the 3rd in less than a year, though the two other deaths happened when the cables were down. If you've ever climbed Half Dome you know the last part of the hike is a bit sketchy. You basically haul yourself up by pulling on a steel cable. It's suprising so few people have actually been killed. But as I wrote, if a white guy from Chicago takes a header off the dome any time soon, you'll be seeing some safety measures being instituted right quick. Just saying.