Lions and Tigers and Bears... oh shit! Bang!

Idiotic animal worshippers (as opposed to animal lovers, a big difference) are upset at the manner in which an exotic animal "outbreak" in Ohio was dealt with, which was properly, by shooting them.

The person who unleashed this plague was within the law by having his own zoological park, but then his private business became a public menace when he uncaged them all and corrected his lead deficiency with a 158 grain self-administered dosage, thereby preventing him from being held to account in this life.

If you have the resources to have your own live animal collection - fine.  But to off yourself, and turn 'em loose on the rest of us is plain wrong.  Anyone that does this has created a problem that puts the public at risk and requires publicly funded manpower and resources to deal with.

At least on paper, I'm willing to bet that a "humane capture" operation would have cost more taxpayer dollars, as well as having taken longer.  Remember, every hour these beasts are free to roam is more time for them to kill an innocent person, devour a treasured pet, or cause a serious road accident.  

I like the way Ohio dealt with this problem, one they didn't ask for in any way.  The only way it could have been done better and more quickly would be if a some citizen volunteer hunters had been deputized, and allowed to keep what they've taken down as a trophy.

Only outlaws openly carry guns, now?

Governor Jerry Brown, with a stroke of his pen has solved a problem that never existed.  Open carry in   California is now unlawful.  It was in fact rather limited anyway - while it didn't require an existing concealed carry permit, it was only lawful if it the firearm was unloaded.  There was nothing preventing an OCer from keeping ammunition close at hand, but having it inside the weapon was a no-no.

Hopefully the Second Amendment Foundation will go after this one vigorously, since California is notoriously arbitrary with issuance of concealed carry permits.

Obama's Debt "reduction" plan

  No one in Washington has been serious about reducing deficits and accumulated debt since about 11 years ago or so.
  I have zero confidence in whatever silliness this administration is cooking up.
  We're in a huge, huge fiscal hole that's still being dug.  We're about to be treated to more wrangling over the size of the shovel.

Can't hold your liquor? Perhaps you haven't watched any news lately

Still working on a longish post about GBR VI, but I had to comment about someone ahead of me at the ticket counter here at the Reno airport (outbound).
 She was holding onto a half-finished bottle of grape juice (not allowed on the plane) and clutching an unopened bottle of some amber-colored liquor in a much larger than sample size (definitely not allowed on the plane as a carry-on item).
  When reminded politely by another passenger that she most likely wouldn't be permitted to carry any of it onboard, she remarked how she "always was able to do that when traveling back from the islands" and proceeded to tear Reno a new one, claiming to have received bad service at Harrah's and feeling like there was nothing to do and aside from that it was "too dry here."
   Really?  This woman, sounding like an experienced traveler, had absolutely no idea about the rules regarding liquids?  And had no idea what the climate and activities in Reno were like?  And didn't read any prior reviews of the property she stayed at?  Part of me wanted to say, "STFU, you clearly have enough money to travel often... don't be so damned miserable."
  Right before finding a helpful airline employee to try to marry up her high-proof would-be contraband to her checked luggage, she announced that she was going to open up the bottle and "have my own cocktail party."
  Good for her.  I'm sure her lack of preparation means that there's another rule she didn't know about: you can't fly drunk.  Pilots need 12 hrs minimum "bottle to throttle" as I understand it, but tipsy passengers are identified in the terminal, too, and are just as strongly discouraged from getting onboard, and frequently are forced to wait around until they sober up.
  Going back to her negative comments about Reno, she expressed a strong disliking of the place, and a desire to never come back.
  "Good." I thought.  "I'm sure Reno feels the same way about you."  Bon Voyage...