In a recent press release from the U.K National Pig Association, it was revealed that pork shortages will almost undoubtedly lead to a global bacon shortage. Due to the droughts in Northern America and Russia, the price of pig-feed has skyrocketed. Pig farmers throughout Europe are reporting smaller herds, and while the U.K is experiencing a bacon and sausage shortage right now, the issue will probably become global in the next year.
"British Pig Executive Mick Sloyan warned a
private meeting of British and mainland Europe retailers at a Brussels
summit yesterday that a fall of only 2 percent in slaughterings next
year will cause prices to rise by 10 percent."
What will this mean for America? What will this mean for bacon lovers everywhere? We can only wait as this story develops.
In this weeks news, Illinois natives Nate Wallick and Zach Hoffman are making waves with their innovative new carp-population control methods. In the mid 80's Asian Carp were accidentally introduced to the habitat of the Mississippi River. Since then, the population of these invasive fish has skyrocketed, all the while as they pushed further North towards our precious Great Lakes. These fish spawn 3 times a year, hog all the plankton, and destroy ecosystems wherever they go. Zach and Nate decided to take a stand against this foreign menace, by utilizing extremely non-conventional methods to catch the invasive Asian Carp. The Peoria Carp Hunters (as they have called themselves) use various weapons such as swords, pitchforks, tennis rackets, and home made armor to neutralize their targets...while water-skiing. No word from PETA yet, though there probably will be. Although this may not be the most efficient way to control the population of these carp, it is definitely the most passionate, exciting, and colorful form of fishing this world has ever seen.
This week an extremely drunk young man from North Korea appears to have floated on a small wooden board all the way to South Korea, just off the coast of Gyodong Island. Police reports indicate that the man was found wearing nothing but his boxers and was under the influence of a substantial amount of alcohol. Not surprisingly, the man didn't seem to remember the series of events that led to his involuntary migration. South Korean officials have offered the young man citizenship, though if he so wishes, he will be allowed to return to North Korea. That must have been one hell of a party.
On August 30th, a crowd of more than 10,000 people congregated at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis with the sole purpose of watching cat videos. This was the first Annual International Cat Video Festival. After watching around 70 short videos selected from the thousands submitted online, a winner was finally chosen by online voters, and the esteemed "Golden Kitty Award" was presented to this master of feline-filmography. In addition to a grand prize winner, there were also categories for drama, comedy, foreign, animated, etc. After such a successful first festival, it can only be hoped that there will be more Cat Video Festivals in the future.
Watch the winning video, "Henri 2, Paw de Deux" below.
