The word "raccoon" was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the Virginia Colony. It was recorded on Captain John Smith's list of Powhatan words as aroughcun, and on that of William Strachey as arathkone. It has also been identified as a Proto-Algonquian root *ahrah-koon-em, meaning "[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands". Similarly, Spanish colonists adopted the Spanish word mapache from the Nahuatl mapachitli of the Aztecs, meaning "[the] one who takes everything in its hands". The raccoon's scientific name, Procyon lotor, is neo-Latin, meaning "before-dog washer", with lotor Latin for "washer" and Procyon Latinized Greek from προ-, "before" and κύων, "dog". Due to its adaptability, the raccoon has been able to use urban areas as a habitat. The first sightings were recorded in a suburb of Cincinnati in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, raccoons have been present in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Since the 1960s, Kassel has hosted Europe's first and densest population in a large urban area, with about 50 to 150 animals per square kilometre (130–400 animals per square mile), a figure comparable to those of urban habitats in North America. Fruit and insects in gardens and leftovers in municipal waste are easily available food sources. Furthermore, a large number of additional sleeping areas exist in these areas, such as hollows in old garden trees, cottages, garages, abandoned houses, and attics. The percentage of urban raccoons sleeping in abandoned or occupied houses varies from 15% in Washington, DC (1991) to 43% in Kassel (2003). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon

CONTROL INVASIVE SPECIES BY EATING THEM
Raccoon recipes
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zracoon.html
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,raccoon,FF.html
Asian Carp recipes
http://magblog.audubon.org/recipes-invasive-species-asian-carp
Asian carp may be a problem in the Great Lakes, but in Louisiana they are renaming it silver fin and promoting it as a delicacy. Chef Philippe Parola says the Asian carp's texture is a cross between scallop and crabmeat, adding its bones can be removed easily by steaming. http://www.chefphilippe.com/recipes_silverfin.pdf

TWITTER is being sued for defamation for the first time under Australian law. Joshua Meggitt, the Melbourne man wrongly named by writer and TV identity Marieke Hardy as the author of a hate blog dedicated to her, is now suing Twitter Inc itself. Mr Meggitt's lawyer, Stuart Gibson, served a legal notice yesterday on the San Francisco-based social media giant, a company valued last year at $US7 billion ($A6.5 billion), as the publisher of a tweet by Hardy last November. Her tweet read: ''I name and shame my 'anonymous' internet bully. Liberating business! Join me,'' with a link to her blog, where she incorrectly named Mr Meggitt as the author of ''ranting, hateful'' articles about her. It was a tweet seen around the world, and now that Hardy (below) has already reached a confidential legal settlement with Mr Meggitt, believed to be about $15,000, and published an apology on her blog, his lawyers are seeking damages from the social media site where the original defamation had the greatest exposure. The original tweet appeared on Twitter's homepage, and was copied by some of Hardy's 60,897 followers and other Twitter users taking part at the time in a worldwide online anti-abuse campaign. Many also commented on the original post in ways that could be construed as defamatory. http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/twitter-sued-over-hardy-tweet-20120216-1tbxz.html

Twitter is rolling out the self-serve ad platform it's been testing to 10,000 small and midsize businesses next month through a partnership with American Express, in a bid to broaden its revenue streams. Starting Feb. 16, American Express cardmembers and merchants can register to use the platform on a first-come, first-serve basis and also receive $100 in advertising credits to put toward bidding on promoted tweets and promoted accounts -- hopefully whetting their appetites for more. Twitter had begun the roll-out of self-serve, which lets advertisers make electronic payments instead of being invoiced by the sales team, in mid-November with a group of fewer than 20 advertisers and ultimately expanded the group to about 100.
http://adage.com/article/digital/twitter-opens-serve-ad-platform-10-000-businesses/232787/

Chicken Marengo takes its name from the battle of Marengo in 1800, when Napoleon defeated the Austrians. The original version, improvised on the battlefield by Napoleon's chef, was made with a chicken, tomatoes, eggs, crayfish, garlic, and a splash of brandy from the General's flash. See recipe at: http://almostbourdain.blogspot.com/2009/08/chicken-marengo.html
Recipe from Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/4-step-chicken-marengo-recipe/index.html

When firefighters arrived at the $11-million mansion in the Hollywood Hills last year, they thought they had a chance to save the 13,500-square-foot structure. More than 80 firefighters raced to the home, and 19 were temporarily trapped as the fire spread. Veteran firefighter Glenn Allen was on the ground floor when several hundred pounds of plaster and lumber fell on him. His colleagues dug him out using chainsaws to cut through the debris, but his injuries were so severe that he died two days later. From the beginning, investigators were suspicious of how the fire started. After a yearlong investigation, prosecutors on Feb. 15 charged the home's architect with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly building a home that was the perfect backdrop for a reality TV show but a deathtrap for the firefighters who tried to save it. Authorities said the Feb. 16, 2011, fire occurred two days before filming was set to begin at the home for "Germany's Next Top Model." The show starred Heidi Klum and centered around a group of models staying at the home, with its sweeping views, dramatic terraces and infinity pool. Prosecutors said Gerhard Albert Becker, 48, knowingly ignored safety recommendations and altered the home after inspections. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Allen's death. Building inspectors said Becker had told them there were no plans to build fireplaces in the home, and none were spotted during a final inspection. After the fire, investigators discovered that he had installed four outdoor fireplaces inside the home, a violation of city building codes. Becker has pleaded not guilty. Last year, he told investigators after Allen's death that "he did not consider them to be fireplaces but rather architectural features or decorations," according to court records. "This man built an 18-foot fire trough designed for outdoors inside the home. It was a recipe for disaster," added Deputy Dist. Atty. Sean Carney. "He essentially put this fireplace on 2-by-4s." According to a search warrant affidavit, the manufacturer of the fireplaces warned Becker that they were for outdoor use only. Records show he replied in an email, "I am aware I just don't see the difference. It is a pit with a pipe." http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-firefighter-killed-20120216,0,512896.story