Hili dialogue

There will be no long Hili today, and probably not tomorrow, as I have to have my retina scrutinized (I think things are okay). Wish me luck, and bear with me.

Speaking of bears, we have a winner in Alaska’s Fat Bear Contest involving the ursines of Katmai National Park and Preserve. The champ: Backpack! The voting was close:

Here’s how fat he got (photo from Explore.org):

Here’s a short video about Backpack and his leg injury, which he overcame.

And an article in the NYT!:

In the annual battle of the big bears, only one can be the winner. This year, 89 Backpack, was crowned the winner of Katmai National Park and Preserve’s Fat Bear Week.

The match came down to two single bears in a battle of the sexes. Backpack is an adult male who overcame an injury in 2007 and has what park staff describe as a “quiet toughness,” according to his bio on Explore.org, the media organization that helps host the event. And on the other side, representing the lady bears, was 910, an adult female whose mother, 409 Beadnose, was a previous Fat Bear Week champion.

It was a nail-biter: Backpack won by just over 5,000 votes, coming in with 103,344 over 910’s tally of 98,253 votes.

His name comes from childhood, when Backpack was often seen clinging to the back of his mother, Holly, while she swam across the river. (Holly was also a former Fat Bear Week champion.)

Earlier in the competition, Naomi Boak, a former communication specialist for the Katmai Conservancy who was a producer for the event for several years, said she was excited to see that 89 Backpack had earned a spot in the bracket at long last.

Backpack can be “elusive,” Boak said, making it hard to photograph him at the beginning and end of the season, which is necessary to enter a bear into the competition.

Boak was actually inspired to move to Alaska and work with the park when she watched Backpack from her New York City apartment in 2019 on the park’s livestream. She described him as her “gateway bear.”

Backpack, according to his bio, has fewer scars than might be expected on a male bear his age, because he is less aggressive than some of his peers.

“Unlike many large adult male bears, Backpack hasn’t shown much aggression toward his competitors,” his competition bio said. “He’ll stand up for himself when necessary, but he prefers to use a quiet strength to gain access to preferred fishing spots.”

Boak called him “a gentleman bear.”

More news: 

*We all know that the reported hijacking attempt of an FlyDubai airplane headed for Tel Aviv ended happily, with all passengers safe though the stabbed captain and the alleged perp are injured. Without the presence of extra pilots who happened to be on board, everyone would have died. The Jerusalem Post explains the extra pilots:

There were four flydubai pilots aboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when an alleged terror attack inside the cockpit sent the aircraft plunging thousands of feet and ultimately forced it to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli officials said the co-pilot stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft before passengers and crew intervened. The flight transmitted the international 7500 code for unlawful interference, initially prompting fears of a hijacking, and Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as the crisis unfolded.

Now, The Jerusalem Post can confirm why two other pilots happened to be aboard.

The additional pilots had been placed on the flight because possible regional rerouting could extend the journey and push the original crew beyond permitted duty hours, a person familiar with the matter told the Post.

Their presence was unrelated to any advance security warning.

The UAE is conducting an investigation of whether terrorism was involved:

UAE investigators will now determine “whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose, or involved prior planning or direction”, according to the UAE’s state news agency.

Abu Dhabi authorities have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies under its flag, the statement said.

It comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said it is “too early to say” who was behind the incident, as he hailed the actions of the flight’s captain.

Netanyahu blamed “fanaticism and hatred of an incalculable level” during a Fox News interview but said he has no confirmation yet of the motive for the attack. The attacker was arrested in Saudi Arabia.

*Tennessee botched an execution by lethal injection yesterday:

A Tennessee woman convicted of murder survived two doses of lethal injection on Wednesday night before state officials suspended the execution and had her taken to a hospital for medical care, her lawyers said.

It was the second botched execution in the state this year.

The apparent failure came after dueling court rulings delayed the execution of the woman, Christa Pike, by about nine hours. The state had raced to go ahead with the execution before the day ended and to avoid having to reschedule.

In a pair of emergency legal filings, Ms. Pike’s lawyers said that while two syringes of pentobarbital, the lethal drug, had been administered, Ms. Pike had not lost consciousness. She still had a heartbeat, they said, and was audibly snoring.

It was not immediately clear what went wrong with the administration of the drugs, or what Ms. Pike’s medical condition was. In a statement late Wednesday, her lawyers said that she was at a nearby hospital but that they did not know her condition. Tennessee officials confirmed to a federal judge late Wednesday that Ms. Pike was receiving medical care.

“This event is the worst we’ve seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era,” said Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “There is no precedent.”

. . . It was the second time this year that Tennessee failed to administer the lethal drugs. In May, the state called off one of four planned executions because medical staff could not find a vein while administering a lethal drug.

Just one of several reasons I oppose the death penalty. It would have been more humane to shoot her, but I don’t think the state should kill anyone.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, fall is here in a big way:

Hili: And the apples are dropping again.
Andrzej: It’s all because of that Newton.

In Polish:

Hili: I znów spadają jabłka.
Ja: To wszystko przez tego Newtona