I know they are trying to make James Bond more contemporary and all, but I think this is going a little too far.

Is this the loudest cat in the world? Sure, why the hell not. I should warn you to be careful with this one: this purr gets weirdly hypnotic toward the end, so if you haven't had your coffee yet you might find yourself drifting off. Also, good lord, has this been the longest week ever or what? [Via]

"Why go after the cat ladies and the veterinary hospital that has brought life to the hapless, ugly, hopelessly false Largo Argentina rather than pick on the big developers who have done real damage?" —Wait, did you also miss this the other week, about the battle over cats in Rome, and also fascism, architecture, sexism, machismo, politics and everything else? It's amazing.

Is Britain suffering from an epidemic of Crazy Cat Disease? It might explain why they're all so stabby over there.

"A parasite thought to be harmless and found in many people may actually cause subtle changes in the brain, leading to suicide attempts, according to new research."

After the tragic death of Meow last month, is this the new world's fattest cat? "Not so fast," says a Long Island pet shelter. "We'll see your thirty pounds and raise you ten!" Cats! They think they're people!

Press release of the day: "A Purr-fect Fit: CeeLo Green And Purrfect The Cat Remix Meow Mix® Cat Food Jingle: CeeLo Green, Recording Artist and Mentor on NBC's Hit Show "The Voice," Heads to the Studio with Purrfect the Cat to Put a New Spin on One of America's Most Memorable Jingles." OH GOD IT'S LIVE AND IT'S HORRIFYING.

"[M]ake sure that this cat is your last one."

Though I am no longer by any metric young, this year I've taken to heart a lot of Choire's advice to young people on the subject of "operators, divas, drama queens, vampires, bitter underminers and soulless careerists." To those categories one of my other favorite advice-givers, Nancy Hawkins, would propose an addition, or at least a subset: the pisseur de copie.

Mrs. Hawkins, the young widow narrator of Muriel Spark's A Far Cry from Kensington is probably best known for her diet tips: “It’s easy to get thin. You eat and drink the same as always, only half. If you are handed a plate of food, leave half; [...]

"New research shows ginger moggies are cat owners’ favourites, because they are perceived as friendly and lovable. In contrast, white cats are seen as aloof and distant, tabby cats as intolerant and black cats – as befits their depiction in folklore – as unlucky and mysterious."

"Black plague, it would seem, is alive and well in Oregon. According to CBS News, authorities believe that a man contracted the infamously deadly plague from a stray cat while attempting to dislodge a mouse from its mouth. During the exchange, the cat decided to take a chunk out of the poor guy, effectively transferring the disease to his blood stream. The altercation between man and beast took place on June 2nd, after which the man experienced a severe fever. By June 8th, he was very sick, prompting a visit to a nearby hospital."

There seemed to be a fresh set of signs up in Cobble Hill this weekend for BeeBop. BeeBop, if you don't know, is a cat that has been missing since last June. Back then, the reward was $325. Eleven months later, he is still missing, and the reward is $2000. (You can claim it here.)

I have been looking for this cat day and night. In my search, I noticed a good number of other missing cat posters, all of which said there was a reward to claim. I'm thinking there's a healthy, high-earning, high-gratification lifestyle in this somewhere? I would like to find you, BeeBop. Come [...]

This cat swims and newsman Anderson Cooper is ON IT. (via)

I think it's good to have a pet animal. I know there are people starving and war and stuff and we should probably focus on humans, but pets are highly therapeutic for a lot of people who are lonely or don't relate to other humans very well, and while I am not exactly a huge fan of those depressing abused-animal commercials with the Wendie Malick voiceover on TV, there are lots of abandoned animals that would make good pets for people. Mostly dogs, I think? Dogs are the most popular pet, yes? I mean, maybe fish could outnumber 'em on a pet-to-owner ratio, but if you did it on a [...]

Here, at "Shine from Yahoo!," you will find the most amazing use of the Internet.

It is a slideshow. It is a slideshow about cats. It lists the "10 most popular kitten names." From whence does this data come? "We culled our records and came up with the a [sic] current list of the 10 most popular cat names." So, did I mention it's a slideshow? The pictures in the slideshow are just OF RANDOM CATS. Not even actual cats who have those allegedly "most popular names." NOT EVEN CATS WHO ARE UP FOR ADOPTION OR ANYTHING. Not even very GOOD cats. Just plain cats.

The slideshow also [...]

I was at the Rite Aid the other day and I don't know if you have Rite Aid where you are, but basically Rite Aid is a Drug Store, plus they have makeup and all kinds of little garbage-y food like Kraft Easy Mac and Chef Boyardee in those little styrofoam microwave cans and junk food and crackers and beef jerky and soda pop and all the different colors of Pringles tubes, and you can buy a 20" box window fan and there's a toy aisle and there's seasonal candy, like for Halloween and Valentine's and Easter and Mother's Day and 4th of July and Christmas and probably for [...]

"Is Teddy the giant tom cat REALLY the mystery lion of Essex?" —I have a feeling you already know my answer here.

"A Dutch artist has turned his dead cat Orville, named after the famous aviator Orville Wright, into a helicopter – dubbed the Orvillecopter. Bart Jansen had Orville stuffed after he was hit by a car before enlisting the help of radio control helicopter flier Arjen Beltman to build the unique pet/machine. The Orvillecopter – 'half cat, half machine' – is now on show at the Kunstrai art festival in Amsterdam, the Dutch capital." —Uh, okay.

"We were in a race against time to get the weight off Meow before he developed complications from his obesity, and we lost." —Sad news out of Santa Fe: Meow the cat has died. He was two years old, and rather overweight.