I’m taking a look at the headlines after a good dinner, and the following things pop out as “news” that I couldn’t care less about:

• Tiger Woods drives his car into a tree.
• Serena Williams gets a slap on the wrist for acting like a 3 year old
• Chelsea Clinton is getting married
• Artists in Colorado want their green energy to come from somewhere they can’t see it.

And that’s just a smattering of the inane, the insane, and the pointless headlines that are on all of the news sites this evening.

Look, I understand that hard news needs to be leavened with human interest stories and some gossip.  But it doesn’t even take a slow news day for stuff like this to be on the Internet equivalent of a front page.

How about we reserve the news sites for actual news, and leave the fluff like athletes behaving badly, twits marrying twits, and hypocrites being hypocrites either to scandal sheets or to linked pages from the main page?  I’d like to cut down on the cycles it takes to filter out the garbage and get to what is important.

Just a couple of quick thoughts on the sad news about the policemen who were murdered this morning.

First, my families prayers go out to the families devastated by this senseless crime.  Families of cops have to understand that bad things may happen on the job, but no-one expects it to happen when there is no apparent danger.

No-one knows the details yet, so most of the commentary about it, including mine is speculation and ill-informed speculation at that.  Take this with as much salt as you like:

• The slime who did this had to be targeting at least one of the officers.  No innocent bystanders even got scratched, according to all accounts. 
• This is the second time in recent memory that someone killed in the Northwest.  What is going on?
• If this continues, will we start devolving into the same situation as we see in third world countries where the police have to look at all citizens as potential killers, not because they’re paranoid, but because it’s prudent?
• I sincerely hope that the other customers in the shop cooperate and provide all the information they can in finding the killer.  It will worry me almost as much as the actual killings if they don’t either because they don’t want to get involved or because they’re afraid for themselves.

Anyway, I hope they catch the mutant who did this and he or she spends a long time in a dark place.  When the wolves realize that it’s easier to get the sheep after killing the sheep dogs, we all have reason to worry.  The justice system needs to teach those who might think this is a good idea that it’s not worth their lives.

For the police officers out there, I hope this remains a rarity, and I always pray for your safety.

Just got back from dinner with family in Indiana.  It was great to see everyone.

I’m thankful that my family is together, safe, and healthy.

I’m grateful that the Irish Woman and I both have good jobs.  We are more fortunate than a lot of people this year, and it’s not due to anything special about us.

I’m thankful that my children all go to good, safe schools. 

I’m thankful that my children are growing up in this country.  I’ve been all over the world, and I’ve seen wonderful places and terrible places, and there’s no other place on the planet that I would want to raise my family.

I’m thankful for everyone who is foregoing their Thanksgiving with their families to keep me and mine safe.

And I’m grateful that I am able to keep doing this as long as y’all will read.

And here’s your moment of snark, a wonderful picture of Thanksgiving in Kentucky:

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Be safe, and God bless!

OK, we’re 3/4 of the way through the season. 

Green Bay at Detroit – Green Bay.  It’s a Thanksgiving tradition to watch the Lions lose before dinner.
Oakland at Dallas – Oakland.  Hey, maybe we’ll win two in a row for a change.
New York Giants at Denver – Denver
Miami at Buffalo – Miami
Seattle at Saint Louis – Seattle
Indy at Houston – Indy, but this is going to be a close game.
Cleveland at Cinci – Cinci
Carolina at New York Jets – Carolina
Tampa Bay at Atlanta – Tampa Bay
Washington at Philadelphia – Washington.  Hey, it could happen
Kansas City at San Diego – Kansas City
Jacksonville at San Fransisco – Jacksonville
Chicago at Minnesota – Vikings!!!!
Arizona at Tennessee – Arizona
Pittsburgh at Baltimore – Pittsburgh
New England at New Orleans – New Orleans

I went 8 and 8 this weekend.  Overall, I’m 85 and 75 for the season.

Didn’t get to see much football this weekend because of hunting.  What did I miss?

Saw this over at My Life is Average:

Today, I was going to my friend’s house, and we were in the car with her step-father. My mom called my cellphone to ask where I was, and I told her I was in a car. She asked who I was with, and I replied ‘Some guy who offered me candy and a good time.’
From the front seat, my friend’s step dad yelled, “I told you to shut up back there! Don’t make me tie you up!” Best step-dad ever.

 I have to remember that one.  It may come in handy.

On this day in 1991, Freddie Mercury died due to complications from AIDS.  He had only publicly acknowledged his sickness the day before, and his death was quite a surprise to me.

I had been listening to Queen for years, but because I didn’t pay attention to the British tabloids, I had no clue that he might have been ill.  I thought that Queen wasn’t touring in the United States for other reasons, and when I was transferred to Germany in 1991, I looked forward to possibly seeing them in concert.  That’s what I get for being an oblivious 20 year old, I guess.

Freddie Mercury was a consumate performer and songwriter.  Yes, he was a controversial public figure, but his talent outshines all that.  His music has seen me through good times and bad, through joy and pain, and is a frequent feature in my life.  As time goes on, Queen’s music will continue to be played.  It’s beauty and intricacy will carry it for decades.

This song in particular rings true to me:

And I think Freddie would approve of this little tidbit of fun:

It was released yesterday, and I don’t think the timing is coincidental.

A scientist came up with a synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana, and now the government is reacting to people using it to get high.  More laws are sure to be on their way, with  a corresponding increase in enforcement budgets.

Here’s an idea:

How about we stop worrying about people using a freaking naturally occurring herb to get intoxicated and use the money and manpower to do something constructive?

I didn’t start out believing in marijuana legalization, and I’m not quite sure how I got here. Maybe it’s because of all the time and money that’s spent fighting this drug, and not seeing any results. Maybe it’s the proven therapeutic qualities of it as a pharmaceutical. Maybe it’s just because I’m tired of the government putting its nose into every aspect of our lives, usually without any good reason. 

I’m not calling for legalization of other drugs like cocaine and heroine.  But I have decided that enough is enough.

We should legalize cannabis, and then regulate and tax it like we do with tobacco and alcohol.  Yes, it’s not good for you unless you need it for a medical reason.  But it’s not the government’s place to stop me from doing something unhealthy unless it can hurt someone else.  And let’s stop worrying about people using a substance that hasn’t been banned.  We have too many banned substances as it is, we don’t need to add more.

Girlie Bear and I went to our muzzleloader hunt at Fort Knox this weekend. 

The weather all weekend was fabulous.  Very chilly in the morning, but it warmed up as soon as the sun came up.  Clear skies, very little wind, and temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s.

Girlie Bear and I spent Saturday in the blind down in a draw.  Getting into the woods was a pain due to all of the fallen timber.  The area got hit hard last year when Hurricane Ike was followed up with a large ice storm a couple of months later.  My friend and his daughter hunted the adjoining spur.  Their trek was a lot easier.

We sat quietly in the blind all day, but didn’t see anything.  We still had a good time, talking quietly, reading, and watching the squirrels.  We came out of the woods in the mid-afternoon.  Fort Knox wants everyone off by 5, so there was no sense trying to hunt until dark when we wouldn’t have time to look for anything we got before we had to leave for the night.

Sunday morning rolled around very early, and after I woke her up, Girlie Bear decided she would rather spend the day playing with Baby Bear.  So I went out again without her.  No biggee.  She tried it, she says she wants to go again in the future, but she wanted to get some sleep.  I’ll take her out again later.

I went a bit deeper into the same draw, and hunted from the ground without the blind. 

After I got settled, just before shooting light at 7, I heard something crashing around in the thicket above me.  Pretty sure it was a deer, but it wasn’t acting like it was spooked, just walking around and wearing out trees.

A couple of hours later, I put my rifle down to drink some water and eat a snack.  Unfortunately, I left my gun leaning against the tree I was leaning on.  About 15 minutes later, I heard something coming down the draw behind me.  It wasn’t walking like a human would, so I figured it was a deer.  I had no cover to my rear, so if I moved, I would get busted for sure.  All I could do was sit still and wait to see what the deer did.

As the deer got further downhill, it moved closer to my position.  By the time it got even with me in the draw, it was only about 10 or 15 yards away.  I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, and counted 3 or 4 widely spaced points on the side that was facing me. 

OK, it’s a shooter.   I eased over to get my rifle, and began to draw it across my body to get a shot at it.  I was hoping to either catch it broadside or quartering away. 

However, Mr. Murphy stepped in.  My rifle caught a small branch that was sticking out of the tree, and it swung back and forth.  When Mr. Buck saw that, he took off, and no amount of bleating or grunting on my part could get him to stop or even slow down.

I’m proud of myself for not taking a shot at a running deer.  When the deer moved, I brought my rifle up and started to aim, but sanity took over and I didn’t even look through the scope.

After calming down and sitting for a while to see if the buck had any followers, I picked up and headed up the ridge to see if my friend had any luck.  He hadn’t seen anything, but his daughter had seen a small doe for a couple of seconds right after day break.

As we walked out to get lunch, we saw the most buck sign that either of us had ever seen.  I lost count of all the rubs we saw, and there were over a dozen large scrapes in the couple of hundred yards we walked. 

After lunch, we headed back down the draw to see if anything came up as the day got warmer.  No luck, but we found even more sign and a large bedding area.  I marked that on my map for later.

So, no joy in the hunting ground, but a good time was had by all.  I plan on going back to that area to bow hunt when it re-opens in December, and hopefully I’ll get a bit of luck.  Hopefully we’ll get drawn to hunt Fort Knox again next year.  It’s the nicest area I’ve ever hunted.

On this date, in 1863, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. I will always remember this as it was read to me earlier this year by Girlie Bear when we visited the Lincoln Memorial.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate…we can not consecrate…we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.