South Carolina Congressman whips out gun during meeting with constituents, claims "I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords."

Ralph Norman on the left, one of his constituents on the right.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman pulled out his loaded, personal .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun Friday and laid it on the table at a diner where he was meeting with his constituents in Rock Hill, South Carolina. 

Norman told CNN he wanted to make a point in the debate over gun violence. 

"I merely proved a point that guns themselves are not the issue," he said. 

Norman said that having a loaded gun in the room should, if anything, have made people feel more safe. 

"Given the scenario that if someone had walked into that diner and began to fire a weapon, I told them I would be able to defend myself and them as well," he explained.

Jesus what is it with these little boys and their little toys?

And as if this were not pathetic enough this idiot went and said this: 

"I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords," Norman told the newspaper, referring to the Democratic former congresswoman from Arizona who was shot at a constituent gathering in her district in 2011. "I don't mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I'm shooting back."

Sounds like somebody has been watching too many John Wayne movies.

For the record being armed would not have protected Gabby Giffords, she was shot almost immediately in a place where she felt perfectly safe.

In fact Mark Kelly, Gabby's husband responded to this news on Twitter:

When I think of @GabbyGiffords, I think of courage and public service, not intimidating constituents. You’re no Gabby, @RepRalphNorman. You pull out a gun when you are prepared and need to use it – not for a stunt. https://t.co/kkAHo2eSuE

— Mark Kelly (@ShuttleCDRKelly) April 6, 2018

What this man did was to endanger everybody at that meeting, since ANYBODY could have grabbed that gun and started shooting.

This man has now demonstrated that he is unfit for office, and hopefully the voters in his district will do the right thing.

Donald Trump is now identified as the top nuclear threat in the world.

For the first time in 35 years of analysis, I must list the United States as the greatest nuclear threat in the world. https://t.co/lyhfXb2CfP

— Joe Cirincione (@Cirincione) December 28, 2017

Courtesy of Defense One: 

The greatest nuclear danger does not come from a foreign threat or a terrorist group but from our own president. The Washington Post, reporting on how intelligence briefings are shaped so as not to upset President Trump, concludes that “the personal insecurities of the president have impaired the government’s response to a national security threat.” Many fear that the president’s mental condition is itself a national security threat. This is, like so much of the past year, unprecedented. 

Concern over the president’s mental stability and his sole, unchecked authority to launch nuclear weapons caused the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this year to hold the first hearings on nuclear command and control in over 40 years. Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., fearing that Trump was leading the nation “on the path to World War III,” convened the hearing. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., voiced his deep fear at the session: “We are concerned that the president of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with U.S. national security interests.” 

Once an order is given, no one could stop it. Mullen, when asked if a general could refuse Trump’s order, said, “Any senior military officer always approaches it from the standpoint of we’re not going to follow an illegal order. That said, the president is in a position to give a legal order to use those weapons. And the likelihood that given that order that it would be carried out I think would be pretty high.” 

Most experts agree. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper worries that if Trump, “in a fit of pique” decides to launch a nuclear strike, “there’s actually very little to stop him. The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there’s very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary.” Senators and House Members have introduced legislation to change the decision process and policy. 

The fear of a mad, nuclear-armed president haunts those outside the United States as well. “While the global community may trust that no responsible head of state would ever order another nuclear attack, we have no guarantees that it will not happen,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, warned during the prize ceremony this month. “Despite international legal commitments, irresponsible leaders can come to power in any nuclear-armed state and become embroiled in serious military conflicts that veer out of control.” 

Great job there deplorables, great job. 

We are no longer the world's policeman.

We are the world's number one potential terrorist bomber.

The guy who has nothing better to do with his time than tweet at 3 AM is criticizing the guy who has nothing better to do with his time than fire long range missiles.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

This of course inspired some criticisms of its own from Twitter users.

"Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" is the rhetorical question Americans ask each morning. About you, Mr. President.

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) July 4, 2017

Same could be asked of Trump. He has spent more of his presidency watching TV, rage tweeting, and playing golf than any of his predecessors

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) July 4, 2017

Excellent points.

By the way for those of you worried because you heard these new North Korean missiles might possible be able to reach Alaska, don't.

First off I seriously doubt that North Korea could hit the side of a barn.

Secondly our missile defenses would swat away any missiles that DID make this far like a pesky fly.

And third we are currently trying not to get eaten by bears in our own backyards, so we actually have  more important things to worry about.

Holy crap! Now they're coming right into our houses!

Sure, he looks adorable. But then all of the screaming and flesh tearing starts.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

Eleven-year-old Zach Landis will never forget the sound of a black bear bursting through the double-paned window of his bedroom late Monday.Zach said he shot upright when he woke to the crash. He saw a figure the size of a grown man in his room. In the darkness and clamor, he struggled to make out what was near the foot of his bed. He watched it scratch at the walls and climb back through the window from which it entered before he could let out a scream and figure out what he had just witnessed — a bear crashing in and out of his garden-level bedroom. 

The boy ran so fast from his room that he slipped twice on his way upstairs. His parents, Alisa and Jon Landis, were asleep when their alarmed son woke them. 

"I said, 'Mom, Dad, there's a bear in my room,' " Zach recalled.

"My first reaction was, 'You must be having a bad dream,' " said his mother. The story seemed implausible.

Well in fact it was plausible, a black bear DID in fact perpetrate a home invasion into Zach's room.

Now there have been a few stories like this up here in Alaska over the years, though they are quite rare, but this one comes on the heels of two bear fatalities, and a number of attacks.

And this is especially concerning since the Landis family lives literally just up the road from my house, and guess who has a sliding glass door leading to the backyard from their bedroom. 

Now look I have started taking all of the appropriate precautions when hiking in the national park near my house.

I walk on open, well traveled trails only.

I make sure to hike with a partner.

I make lots of noise while hiking.

And I keep an eye out for any sign of bear activity near the trails.

However I am in no way prepared for a bear actually jumping through my window in the middle of the night.

I mean sure I do have a samurai sward near the bed, but somehow I do not feel that is adequate.

So I think we should establish some damn rules with our ursine neighbors.

I will not get between you and your cubs, or disturb you while you are eating a tourist, if you will stay the hell out of our bedrooms at night.

Seems fair, don't you think? 

14 year old Tennessee boy takes gun to school in order to kill students and teachers. School counselor talks hm down with no loss of life and no shots fired.

Molly Hudgens

Courtesy of WKRN: 

It happened Wednesday at Sycamore Middle School. According to Sheriff Mike Breedlove, the 14-year-old approached school counselor Molly Hudgens after first period.

During the course of the conversation, the teen said he was having some “issues.” Hudgens then asked him if he had a gun based off statements he had made. 

He responded yes, and said that he was going to kill some teachers and a police officer. The teen also indicated she would be the only person who could talk him out of it. 

Hudgens then spoke with the teen for 45 minutes, ultimately diffusing the situation. “She was able to diffuse the whole situation before we even knew what was going on,” Sheriff Breedlove said. 

“She did something that probably the most experienced law enforcement officer couldn’t do. It could have ended up tragically.”

Ms. Hudgens credited her training with giving her the tools to defuse the situation, which ended with the 14 year old taken into custody and charged with possession of a gun on school property and making threats.

But he is unharmed and not facing murder or attempted murder charges which could easily have been the outcome here.

Now just imagine if this were one of those school which had armed teachers walking the hallways.

Do we think that this young man would have been met with patience from a well trained professional who wanted to ensure the safety not just of the other students and faculty, but the boy himself, or would he have been met with a gun pointed at this chest by a poorly trained adult with his finger on the trigger?

This woman is a hero, and despite what we might hear from the conservatives our public schools are full of them.

Man mauled by bear Denali highway. Well Alaskans NOW it is officially spring.

Courtesy of ADN: 

A man was flown to a hospital Friday after being mauled by a bear near the Denali Highway, the Alaska State Troopers said Sunday. 

Troopers were not releasing details such as the man's name or the severity of his injuries as of Sunday afternoon, according to troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain. 

The man and at least one companion were in an area near Mile 68 of the Denali Highway on Friday when the attack happened. The circumstances of the mauling were not clear Sunday, but DeSpain said they may have been hunting. 

I have a rule about going into the woods in the spring.

I don't.

Spring time is when these monsters emerge from hibernation cranky and hungry, and if they are females possibly with cubs.

As a rule I tend to stay out of thickly wooded areas. And if I do hike I tend to go to well used trails in open areas where there is good visibility and other hikers, often with their dogs, nearby.

Now there are some folks who argue that they are safe because they never go into the woods without a fire arm.

I have a name for these people, "future bear scat."

Often those people are extra careless because they ignorantly believe that their rifles or handguns have magical properties that will protect them.

That is wrong, and in fact if you read about bear attacks in Alaska the recurring theme is that the people fired their weapons, sometimes multiple times, and it seemed to have no effect.

If you have any doubts as to the power and ferocity of these magnificent animals take a moment to watch what I think is the most realistic bear attack I have ever seen in a movie.

Michigan parent exercises his 2nd Amendment rights on school grounds. School exercises their right to panic.

Courtesy of the Battle Creek Enquirer:  

A hard lockdown was ordered Monday in Homer school buildings after a parent came to school with a holstered handgun, officials said. 

Homer Community School District Superintendent Robert Wright said the parent had brought a gun to school on Friday and was armed again when he returned to the school Monday to discuss Friday's incident. 

The parent of a student at Lillian Fletcher Elementary School, who Wright declined to identify, came to school Friday to sign in his son,. The man was carrying a gun in a holster. Wright said the parent was questioned by a staff member; the parent asserted "his right to have it there" and he left the school without a confrontation, Wright said.

After that incident the school notified the authorities and the police told the man that though it was his right to have the gun, that it was best not to bring it to school.

However the man was not convinced so the school set up a meeting with him, and guess how he showed up for that meeting:

"And lo and behold, he showed up with his weapon holstered ... it was never out of the holster," Wright said. "And at that point I had to inform him that our protocol is that we go into lockdown just for pure safety of all of our students and staff, and so we went into lockdown at that point." 

"They asked him to sit in the front lobby and they went into lockdown," Saxton said. "He left when he heard them go into lockdown." 

Wright said the district went under hard lockdown -- he described it as a time when instruction is halted to focus on safety precautions -- for about 10 minutes at 2:15 p.m. A sheriff's deputy was called to the school but the parent left before the deputy arrived.

So while this idiot was walking around trying to feel like a real man, he traumatized an entire school full of children.  Good job asshole.

You know what these Ammosexuals seem incapable of understanding is that them having a weapon does NOT make the rest of us feel safe. In fact just the opposite.

The reality is that when a gun shows up on school grounds, the possibility of a child being shot goes from 0 to 100% more likely.

That may not be the intention of the gun owner, but as we know guns can fall and discharge, they can be taken from their owners and used, or the owner may have something suddenly happen which angers them to the point of recklessness.

But the simple fact is, no gun, no gun deaths.

Period.

Mother Jones explores the extreme measures that legal abortion providers in this country utilize to stay safe.

Dr. George Tiller, murdered by an anti-abortion extremist in 2009.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:  

"Unfortunately, facilities that provide abortion care have had to employ security measures that aren't common for other medical practices," says Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, which advises member clinics (including the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood) on how to beef up security. "These measures can range from bulletproof glass to special entry systems, metal detectors to security guards. And most staff at clinics go through drills and training on how to respond to different types of threats." 

Incidents as violent as the one in Colorado are rare. Significantly more common is the targeted harassment of those who work at abortion clinics, most notably abortion doctors, but also their staff. For example, when Jen Boulanger ran an abortion clinic in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she was constantly worried about being followed home. "I felt like I needed to watch my back," says Boulanger, who was eventually followed in her car by an anti-abortion extremist despite her efforts. 

According to data from the Feminist Majority Foundation, in 2014 more than half of clinics in the United States had doctors or staff members experiencing targeted intimidation and threats from anti-abortion protesters, compared with about 20 percent that reported staff members experiencing severe violence, which includes things like arson, bombings, chemical attacks, and gunfire. That means a total of 71 percent of clinics said their workers experienced either severe violence or targeted harassment. Doctors and clinic staff reported having their personal information, including information about their spouses and children, posted on the internet, having their homes picketed and staked out by extremists, and being stalked by abortion opponents. 

This level of harassment, which clinic workers fear could escalate to something more violent (and which occasionally has), has forced both clinics and individual providers to undertake personal security measures unseen in any other medical or professional field.

Some of the precautions listed in this article are the  following:

• Wearing bullet proof vests.
• Taking different routes home from work.
• Never driving your own car.
• Vary your routine often.
• And even wear disguises.

Many of these seem like the same precautions used to protect mob informants, or undercover police officers, and yet they are needed to keep individuals providing a perfectly legal procedure safe from harm, or even death.

And it is due to irresponsible rhetoric and a purposeful misrepresentation of what these clinics provide. 

Hey remember that time that a Fox and Friends co-host almost killed a drummer with an axe?

Some of you may have seen a short clip of this last night on the Daily Show, for their moment of zen, but there is actually a whole lot more to the story.

Here is Mediaite for the 411 from the drummer himself:  

"I was hit by an axe while performing a drum solo live on National TV…..words I never imagined saying! This happened last Sunday and I have been reluctant to post but starting to receive inquiries from concerned family and friends. I am thankful to God that the double sided blade only hit broadside on the outer elbow with significant impact and a couple of cuts as it fell along my wrist. It could have been much worse or fatal. Focusing on full physical and emotional recovery."

Pressed for more information by friends and family, he elaborated: 

"My leadership told me they were told there would be no axe throwing. I think the anchor person went rogue and decided to throw it. He had only thrown it once before in practice for an upcoming segment and they told him to throw it with more force. The vid you see is edited showing the Televised portion of the throw and then edited to a portion that was taken on someone’s phone of us being videoed. The part that was actually televised showed the overthrown axe and then segued to us for the drum solo bump, only showing me walking behind the section holding my arm. The actual part where the axe hit me was not televised. Poor decision, obvious negligence, should not have happened, could have been avoided. When shooting or throwing, always know what is behind your target. Basic safety rule. I’m feeling blessed on Father’s day with my 5 children, alive, and with all limbs."

The host was this guy, Pete Hegseth:

 Who probably should not be allowed to handle sharp objects.

The drummer was part of a marching band from West Point and I am sure he did not consider that his life might be in danger when Fox News asked them to play as part of their Flag Day celebration.

But hey it's fucking Fox News, and since we know they have no journalistic integrity, why would we think they might worry about protecting bystanders from flying axes?

"We’re raising a generation of mass killers." NRA seminar teaches that guns are not the danger, children are the danger.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, professor of "Killology."

Courtesy of Think Progress:

“Sandy Hook is just the beginning. We’re raising a generation of mass killers.” 

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman repeated those lines to a crowd of hundreds at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Nashville on Saturday, telling the gun owners to fear for themselves and their families and that the only solution is to arm all of our citizens. 

“Can we take the lessons learned in Columbine and Jonesboro and Virginia Tech? Can we take the lessons learned on 9/11 and in Sandy Hook Elementary School? Or do we have to wait until our kids die?” Grossman asked the audience during a seminar called “Sheepdogs! The Bulletproof Mind for the Armed Citizen.”

Grossman then went on to lay out each school shooting in graphic detail, while suggesting that; “you’re going to see daycare massacres and school bus massacres.”  Before summing up with this:

“Folks, we have raised a vicious, vicious generation of children,” he said. “They have given us crimes on children like nothing in human history. Sandy Hook is just the beginning. Our founding fathers knew there would be days like this… And they created the Second Amendment for just a time like this. And in the midst of all that, the politicians want to disarm our citizens. That is flat out treason.”

So to be clear the problem is NOT easy access to deadly weaponry, it's simply that children are inherently dangerous these days. 

I would assume that Grossman bases this idea on the assertion that today's video games make kids more violent, even though research has proven that is a false premise.

Another false premise is the idea that more guns make us safer. They don't.

By the way this Grossman character claims to have founded a new academic field called, and I kid you not, "Killology."

You know considering the ravings of this lunatic, along with that other guy who claims that Americans need to harden themselves against the death screams of the people they gun down, I'm beginning to think this NRA conference sends out a very dangerous message.

Nah, I'm probably being too sensitive.

Architect of CIA torture program claims that release of Senate report put his life in danger. Bummer.

Courtesy of TWC Central:  

The "architect" of the CIA's interrogation program, James Mitchell, accused Senate Democrats of putting his life in danger last week when they released a report detailing the program's "brutal" abuses. 

"They issue this report that essentially stirs up all the crazies and all the jihadists. So now we're getting death threats," Mitchell, a retired Air Force psychologist, said during a Monday night Fox News interview. 

"I'm angry about this. They have a foregone conclusion. They put my life in danger. They put the lives of other CIA personnel ... and our families in danger for some sort of morale high ground?" he said. "You can probably tell I'm a little agitated by this. For me, I don't want to die because the Democrats in the Senate don't have the courtesy to ask the CIA to explain what they view as abuses that occurred."

Hang on I'm going to try and gin up a little sympathy.

Nope, don't give a shit.

The Uniform Code of Justice says that military personnel have a duty to disobey unlawful orders.

As a former member of the Air Force this guy should have known that. And as a human being he should have done that.

rEVILution: The Rise of Right-Wing Terrorism. Perhaps the most frightening 32 minutes of your day.

Courtesy of AATTP:  

A 30 minute YouTube video documents the various plots, murders, and attempted murders carried out by members of these groups, and others who are sympathetic to their cause. 

Using mostly video from news sources, the documentary, called “rEVILution: The Rise of Right-Wing Terrorism,” lays out a timeline of violence committed by right-wing ideologues over the past six years. All of the incidents that made headlines are there, including: 

Jerad Lee Loughner’s attempted murder of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, an act he called an “assassination.” 

Paul Ciancia, who opened fire in a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport last November. 

The “Hutaree Militia,” nine of whom were arrested in a plot to kill police in an attempt to start a war against the federal government. (Most of the charges against them were eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence.) 

The video also presents some cases of anti-goverment violence that didn’t get major attention nationally, such as “sovereign citizen” Jerry Kane. Kane and his son were caught on a police officer’s dash cam video after a traffic stop in Arkansas. During the stop, a confrontation ensues. Joe Kane jumps out of the minivan he and his father were traveling in, and fires multiple shots with an AK-47, killing two West Memphis, Arkansas police officers. 

Mixed with these examples of right wing terrorists, the video also presents clips of what some believe provide the inspiration for some of these killers: right wing media.

The video is chilling to be sure.

And though some may suggest that it is somewhat sensationalized, the truth is that much of what it is saying is dead on the money.

We are in desperate times right now, and things are only going to get worse, before they get better.

Another bear mauling less than twenty miles from my house. It must be summer time in Alaska.

Courtesy of ADN:  

The second grizzly bear mauling in less than two months on the outskirts of Alaska's largest city has sent another runner to the hospital with serious injuries. The attack this time came in Bird Valley, just south of Anchorage. It follows on an attack at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in mid-May. 

Both attacks involved people surprising grizzly sows with cubs. The JBER attack involved a sow with small cubs of the year. The latest attack was launched by a sow with two nearly grown cubs, probably 2-year-olds. 

Runner Suzanne Knudsen, who lives in a roadside community called Indian south of Anchorage, was less than a mile down the Bird Valley Trail near her home on Monday morning when she encountered the sow and cubs, according to Jessy Coltrane, area wildlife biologist with the Alaska State Troopers.

This poor woman was hit from behind by the mother after almost running into her two cubs. 

The bear really did a number on her, and after it left she still had to wait an hour before she was rescued. Not too many things I can imagine that are more frightening than that.

Like I said in the headline this is only about 28 miles from my house and it is very close to one of my favorite hiking trails near McHugh Creek. (Which itself was the scene of one of the most brutal attacks in Alaska history.)

I take kids into the woods all of the time to go hiking, and these stories always send a chill up my spine.

I am very cautious and make very careful choices as to where to hike, how big of a group to take, and how to behave on the trails, but of course there is always the chance that my precautions will not be enough to avoid a confrontation.

Living in Alaska has been described as being surrounded by terrifying natural beauty, and I think that about sums it up.

I love it here but part of living in Alaska is also living with the fact that the state is almost like a serial killer waiting to take me out if I ever let my guard down. (By the way we have a lot of serial killers too.)

The signs you see in Alaska.

The idea is that if you see a bear you can jump into a nearby car for protection.

However that may not be quite enough.

I had a teacher in high school whose job it was to wrangle bears on the North Slope.

He was not allowed to carry a gun, and had to resort to firecrackers and a broom to chase the inquisitive creatures away.

Once he saw a truck by the side of the road with a bunch of yellow stuff piled beside one broken window.

When he approached and knelt down he realized that was the stuffing from inside the seat cushions.

He said that he had a moment of terrible realization and stood up only to come face to face with a huge black bear that had manged to break the window and squeeze itself into the small opening in order to dig for the sack lunch the owner had stored under his seat.

He said they both panicked and he fell back onto the ground while the bear somehow turned itself around in the cab and smashed through the other previously unbroken window to get away.

I have never left food in my car while camping since.

Possibly the most stressful video I have ever watched.

You awake now?

When I lived in Hawaii this was my biggest fear.

I jumped off docks, swam into underwater caves, and snorkeled all over the coral reefs, and never was I not on high alert for a shark sighting.

I not only watched the 1975 movie, but I also read "Jaws" in book form, and it screwed me up for all time when it comes to spending time in the ocean.

If this had happened to me I would never even take a bath again much less go swimming in the ocean.

(Yes there are some claiming this is fake, but their evidence is flimsy, and apparently it was also shown on a few news programs.)

I really think this sign should be placed all over Alaska.

Sign at The Mad Hatcher (Hatcher Pass, Alaska.)

Not to sound too arrogant, but the facts are that my state kills both outsiders and residents, with alarming regularity.

We have lots of high places to fall from, animals that will eat or kick your ass just for shits and giggles, rivers that will seemingly reach into your boat and drown you beneath it, and weather that will coax you out of doors with sunshine only to rip your body heat away with freezing rain and wind just as soon as you are a mile or more away from your automobile.

And then there's the people. The whole state is like a giant penal colony with no bars separating you from the inmates.

We have some of the highest rates of suicide, alcohol abuse, drug use, and gun violence in the country.

But then again the place is so damn beautiful. I mean the mountains are just sparkling in the morning light, and the sky is this gorgeous shade of blue.

I hear birds outside my window singing to the dawn, and is that the smell of pine and chimney smoke wafting through the window?

What was I saying before?

Oh never mind. I have to grab my car keys and head off to the local national park for a quick hike. The sun is up, so I will leave my jacket at home, after all what can go wrong?

Nothing humorous about the Funny River fire in Alaska.

Courtesy of the NewsMiner:  

A massive wildfire pushed by wind in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage continued to explode in size, leading to mandatory evacuations of 1,000 structures, officials said Sunday. 

The number of people told to flee their homes isn't clear, said Michelle Weston, spokeswoman with the Alaska Interagency Management Team, which includes the state Division of Forestry and federal and local officials. 

Officials said that as of 4 p.m. Alaska time, the fire covered nearly 243 square miles and may continue to grow as it burns in the 1.9 million-acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Reports came in last night that the fire had jumped the Kenai River, putting the town of Sterling in jeopardy as well.

The air quality in Anchorage continues to be pretty bad, and I went outside just now and there is a definite smell of smoke in the air.

The good news is that it is supposed to rain tomorrow, and that should help quite a bit.

At least that is what we are hoping for.

The relationship of Americans with their guns summed up in one gif.

While most people who purchase a gun believe that it is to keep them safe, statistics prove that they have just made their family less safe. And if, for some reason, they believed they are less safe, their solution would simply be to add more guns, kind of like discovering that your house is on fire and trying to make it less flammable by throwing gasoline on it.

Just in case you thought you were having a bad day.

Holy crap!

You know we have rock slides all the time up here in Alaska, but if I saw THAT thing rolling toward my car I would have to change my shorts.

P.S. This was in Taiwan by the way.

Alaska man feeds barbecue meat to bear. That's a mauling!

Come at me bro!

Courtesy of ADN:

A man was mauled by a bear near the Eklutna Lake Campground on Saturday after he threw barbecued meat at the animal, the Alaska State Troopers said Sunday. 

The man was at the lake, north of Anchorage, for a church picnic, said Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen. 

Sometime around 5 p.m. on Saturday he broke off from the picnic and decided to go for a bike ride, bringing some food from the barbecue along. 

He came across a black bear somewhere between a campground fee station and an ice cream stand near the park, Ipsen said. 

The man threw a piece of meat at the bear, which ate it, she said. Then he offered another piece, she said. 

“That’s when it kind of went ballistic,” she said. 

I am going to add this next part even though most of you re probably way ahead of me.

"He'd been drinking." 

Yeah no shit!

I swear some people are too stupid to live here!

Look if you re planning to visit Alaska, here are some things to keep in mind.

EVERYTHING up here wants to kill you.

The mudflats around Anchorage can and will kill you.

The rivers and lakes can and will kill you,.

The weather can and will kill you.

Bears can and will kill you.

Our moose can and will kill you.

And yes, if there are enough of them, even our mosquitoes can and will kill you.

But if you are smart and check out the visitor's guide and make some basic common sense choices you will have a great time.

Trust me, if a panty waist like Sarah Palin can survive here, so can you.

P.S By the way I am supposed to go camping at Eklutna some time this week.

I have decided to leave the barbecue sauce at home, because apparently bears HATE that crap!