Number 5. The Gateway Pundit. Sweden kicks off bear season with 500 licenses.
In the heavily forested nation of Sweden, there is one grizzly bear for every 4,000 people. Contrasted with the U.S. lower 48, where the ratio is 1 to 218,000, it makes sense that bear hunting would be somewhat more popular in that Scandinavian nation.
Remember, there are black bears and there are brown bears. Browns are grizzlies, and are reputed to be much more aggressive than blacks. However, blacks are still very big and unmanageable, and are known to have won fatal encounters with humans from time to time.
But for the pure thrill of an exciting matchup with an impossible opponent, nothing beats confronting a griz in the wild.
The brown bear population in Sweden has its ups and downs, running in the 2500 - 3000 range for the last decade. Government-issued hunting tags have likewise varied, from this year’s low of 486, to over 600 in 2022.
Predictably, there is outcry and objection from the left. A representative from a bear preservation non-profit claims the stable population of 2400 bears requires culling no more than 250 each year.
In neighboring Norway, bear hunting is illegal. If the griz were to take their cue from the North American wild boar, they might decide to spend the Fall in Norway till the heat is off: The Swedish season ends October 24. Feral pigs in the U.S. tend to take refuge in protected areas, such as large rural military installations, and root under the wire to raid outside after dark.
And if you’re interested, what cartridges does a hunter use for grizzly bear? The favorites seem to be:
.30/’06 Springfield. Tried and true, traditional, common, widely available.
.338 Winchester Magnum. Good for brown, black, elk and moose.
.375 Ruger or .375 H&H. Both are grizzly show-stoppers.
And the venerable .45/70 Government. A favorite for 150 years. Jeremy Renner helped re-popularize this one with its appearance in Wind River (2017), fired from his very cool Marlin Model 1895SBL lever rifle.
Number 4. The Western Journal. Tarantulas emerge across the US. Warnings issued for eight states.
It’s a good thing we have warnings like this now, because in previous times we would remain blissfully unaware of dangers. Living on the farm in the 1960s was so dangerous it is surprising that any of us ever survived. Shockingly, I am unaware that my high school class of 125 lost anyone to outdoor risks since their births.
But never mind about that, because now we have a new Hair-On-Fire Level 1 Alert.
The possibility of encountering a very large, scary, black, fuzzy spider is greater this year than ever before, and the calendar says we are right now in the worst possible time of year: August through October.
Hordes of male tarantulas are emerging from their dastardly holes in the ground, like Orcs from Mordor, in search of… well, actually, in search of love. They find females, who are generally keepers-at-home, preferring not to venture forth. When the two hook up, they engage in… an act of procreation.
Funny how that seems to apply across the entire spectrum of creatures on God’s created earth.
Afterward, the male is expected to leave immediately. If he doesn’t, the female will decide she hates him; she will attack him, kill him and feast on the remains.
I will let the picture stay there without further commentary on similarities to other species.
Those of us in the Great American Southwest are most likely to be subjected to a human-tarantula encounter. Highest risks occur in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Louisiana.
Having said that, tarantulas are generally shy and docile. They will attempt to run away when threatened, reminding me of some scary-looking, hairy people I have known.
Number 3. Aeon dot co. The strange and turbulent world of ant geopolitics.
This article is far too long and complicated. It is the essence of TL;DR (too long; didn’t read), but here is how it breaks down.
Ant societies across the globe are on the rise, and have been for a long time. Ants — yes, we are talking about the tiny 6-legged critters (notwithstanding the inaccuracies of Pixar’s A Bugs Life) — that live under small mounds of earth where they develop huge colonies.
The very popular and much-maligned Solenopsis geminata, the tropical fire ant, and Solenopsis invicta, the red fire ant, are emblematic of the species. They live in close communities by the thousands, have a Queen in each nest, and have somehow developed the ability to distinguish those of their own tribe from others.
Ants’ ability to migrate across huge distances is pretty astonishing. A big-headed ant managed to relocate from Africa to Spain in 1850, establishing huge colonies there and learning to speak Spanish.
I made that part up about Spanish.
That particular beast endeavored to explore strange new worlds and boldly go where no Pheidole megacephala had gone before.
Today, ants across the world number around 20 quadrillion. However much that is.
Maybe there is a career path in counting them? With a solid green-friendly government grant — sure to be gain traction with some left-wing NGO — one could have a job that would last for a great long time.
Number 2. The Western Journal. New England health officials institute 6 PM curfew over disease concerns.
Well of course they do!
Because, like, they can. It was proved during COVID.
Eastern Equine Encephalitis, EEE (Triple-E; E-cubed) is carried by mosquitoes, causes neurological disabilities, and is fatal about half the time.
So far, one 80-year-old man in Massachusetts was diagnosed 4 years ago and is still battling the disease.
That was enough for the Oxford (MA) Board of Health to order everyone off the streets at suppertime. Presumably they can come out again before breakfast, because we all know mosquitoes sleep late in New England.
The curfew has brought the Oxford-Webster Youth Football and Cheer Association to a full stop. In a clear demonstration of making a distinction without a difference, the Board points out that the curfew is not a flat-out ban, but the local school district will enforce it.
Which means no after-school football or cheer-leading practice this fall.
Just thinking about this, the kids involved are, say, 15 years old. When they were 11, they spent a year without going to school for classes. Now, they’ll spend a year without football, choir practice, special band rehearsals, evening concerts, walks in the park, bike riding around town…
It is sort of difficult to see the COVID lockdowns as anything other than a dry run to see if we can get the public to comply. I know we are trying to keep people safe. So why don’t we just kill the mosquitoes instead? I know, I know… we can’t use DDT because of the health risks to infants, except that in that case we completely ignored the health risks of malaria to other ages.
And besides, attacking the mosquitoes would be an act of offense, and we seem to be increasingly inclined to defense. Run-and-hide has trumped stand-and-fight. This is a development not promising.
It is a complicated world. If you want it completely safe, you may be in the wrong universe.
Number 1. Sporting News. Caitlin Clark left speechless after Razzmatazz question.
Okay, enough with the bad news. I love this one. At last, a positive Caitlin Clark story!
I don’t really follow sports, but I am vaguely aware that the WNBA’s Indiana Fever first-round draft pick has had a sensational rookie year. In her first game she scored 20 points, and three weeks later scored 30. She was named Rookie of the Month in May, averaging over 17 points per game.
Caitlin has had her share of controversy. I already said I don’t follow sports, but it seems every time I have seen her name there has been a racial dimension to the story. Action photos of Caitlin — the white girl — being aggressively fouled and tripped on the court by black players, abound.
Seems there is some considerable animosity there. There is also the flap over Caitlin’s not being selected for the U.S. Olympic team… another sports opportunity I don’t really follow.
But now, Caitlin has become a happy target of the modern incarnation of Scoops Callahan, a sports reporter form 100 years ago known for asking confusing questions during press conferences.
The Fever beat the Dallas Wings last weekend, just after they had won in Chicago earlier in the week.
During the press event after the Dallas matchup, the question was posed: “Caitlin, after giving the Razzmatazz to those Windy City skyscrapers Friday night, what was the biggest wingding game you expected to find today in the shindig against these dynamos from Big D?”
Caitlin was completely at a loss and stared, speechless.
As I understand this, Scoops Callahan was a sports reporter in the 1920s known for unique, colorful and confusing questions. Today, Scoops’ persona appears to have been taken on by Tom Gribble, a Dallas-based radio host. Since 2005, Gribble has routinely afflicted popular sports stars with such gibberish questions.
To Aaron Rodgers after their Packers’ recent win over the Cowboys: "What was the key to distributing your Packer City lightning to all of your buttonmen like all-decade torpedo LaVern Dilweg?"
To Wayne Gretzky of the Phoenix Coyotes: "Champ, how do you think the zebras called the show? Were they the cat's meow, or did they give your boys the business?"
Gribble-as-Callahan has similarly attacked Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Eli Manning and Phil Mickelson.
Which puts 22-year-old Point Guard Caitlin Clark in pretty rare company.
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Have a good weekend! Get your Swedish bear tag, but watch out for mosquitoes! On second thought, maybe you’d better just stay inside and watch Netflix. See you next time!
Get Your Swedish Bear Hunt Tag Before They're Gone! The Alligator News Roundup