HUNTAPALOOZA PART DEUX

OK, so here's the thing: We could go on all day listing new accounts of hunters shooting people while pursuing their hobby, but the most intriguing aspect is that often these trigger-happy hobbyists seem to have little respect for the law - not just the law pertaining to their "sport" but other laws as well - stuff like car theft, domestic violence, illegal drug possession, you know, stuff we consider an actual threat to our society, especially when practiced by guys who are shooting at things.

So my question is: Why is it that this group of people, whose members routinely kill other human beings while getting their jollies, are not sanctioned as TERRORISTS, while another group is legally defined as just that for doing what? TRESPASSING on a factory farm? TRESSPASSING - something hunters also routinely do, only while looking for something to shoot and kill? Does this make sense? Of course it does - if we admit that the point of these new laws has nothing in actuality to do with our security, and everything to do with stopping stuff like this from being made public.

UPDATE 12/8: Game wardens outnumbered, outgunned and sometimes the only one sober - yes, that's the actual headline, straight from a game warden's lips. Doesn't he know he's playing into harmful stereotypes? "When it comes to game violations, Glines said they generally fall into two categories. The first are those hunters who make honest mistakes and take responsibility for their actions. The second type of violations, however, are the blatant killers. They're the people who just want to shoot something."

UPDATE 12/11: DNR says more hunters are illegally leaving deer carcasses to rot in Minnesota.

HUNTAPALOOZA

I've already posted a couple times about idiot hunters who kill themselves or other hunters as a necessary hazard of their cherished ritual. But let's not sweep all these under the rug.

Arcadia hunter shot from blind - "This is the third year in a row that a shooter fired at a running deer in Buffalo County and accidentally shot a hunter"

Hunter Dies After Floating Blind Overturns

Bow hunter shot in hunting accident - "Cabrera was shot from about 75 yards away shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday by a 17-year-old who was hunting with his father"

Sheboygan Hunter Shot, Killed

Hunter dies after shooting self in head - "The shooting happened a day after another hunter was hurt while hunting in the same woods"

Hunter killed, two others wounded on opening day of deer season

Hunter dies after shooting self

Hunter shot dead by other hunter while driving truck

Hunter killed by bullets aimed at deer he just shot

Hunter fatally shot by his 15-year-old brother
Most dangerous game, indeed...

SELLING DEADSTOCK AGAIN AND AGAIN

An Aylmer-area abattoir under investigation in August for illegally slaughtering animals was found to have done the same twice before in 1998 without serious penalty from government officials, according to documents obtained by the Toronto Star.

"Plant owners were never fined and the plant was never shut down after the two 1998 hearings. The plant is now the subject of an investigation by police, federal and provincial officials for the illegal butchering of dead cows at night when inspectors were not present."

Boy, good thing that kind of stuff only happens in Canada...

WEASEL WOBBLE DU JOUR

I've commented before on the habit of craven journalists to ascribe facts as quotes to activists, even when those facts are incontrovertible, if they may be seen as controversial. I call this the "weasel wobble." This one's a doozy...

"According to animal rights activists, the hormone Premarin is made from urine from pregnant mares" ... no! Why would they say a thing like that?

WHICH WAY THE WIND IS BLOWING

In a move that could have dramatic repercussions in the future for factory farms and other habitual polluters, a federal judge in Owensboro, KY said that Arkansas-based Tyson Foods shares responsibility for air pollution from three factory-scale farms it helps to operate in Western Kentucky. Tyson wanted to keep reaping the profits from the farm while disavowing any connection to the pollution. A teaspoon of common sense that might - I said might - go a long way.

NEVER FORGET

On World AIDS Day, let's not forget how humans originally picked up HIV: By killing apes for food. But this is far from the only scourge our species has acquired through our addiction to animal-killing.