Hot Day, To Be Sure..

I cribbed this off FaceBook, where it was cribbed from William Aprill...I like the sentiment, don't you?

Today has been a real scorcher, in the mid-90s…lot to be said for living off-grid, but — sadly — air conditioning isn't one of the perks. The Bunker is super efficient, but it did make it to 79 degrees inside. Still, the heat's not for much longer…I probably won't melt…maybe…

And speaking of euphemism, from the AP:

Yellowstone National Park officials euthanized a grizzly bear Thursday after DNA tests confirmed it attacked and killed a hiker last week, a park spokeswoman said. 

The adult female bear was killed because it had eaten part of the Montana man's body and hid the rest, which is not normal behavior for a female bear defending its young, spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said. 

"If a bear consumes an individual, it's not allowed to remain in the population," she said. "It's not a risk we're willing to take."

…

Park officials received the DNA test results Thursday, and the bear was quickly euthanized. Officials heavily sedated the bear before firing a captive bolt into its skull, Bartlett said.

Still dead, I'd say. Doesn't seem fair to me...there are lots of hikers; fewer grizzlies in the Lower 48. And where's the outrage? I'm pretty sure a griz is at least as magnificent as a lion, and rest assured Cecil would have been happy to snack on a random hiker had he gotten the change.

As I said on DOWN RANGE Radio, we oh so delicately parse our acceptable killing — not allowed to remain in the population — breaking it down into wee little digestible parts so we can feel good about ourselves. The big griz was sedated, like a dimpled little coed on rohypnol. Then a captive bolt was shot into her head, same way we kill those prepackaged sirloin tips at the Safeway. So really, that's not like killing, you know, not really. Hell, she probably relaxed and enjoyed it, at least until the bolt hit her. Right? Right?

Not at all like, well, those awful hunters...

In my decidedly politically incorrect view, the hiker made a decision not to carry a gun to protect himself, and the bear ended up paying for it. Got no problem with what happened to the hiker…he was an adult, he made a decision to tippy-toe through a grizzly's range and he drew a bad hand. If you consciously choose to not to defend yourself, whether it is in Yellowstone or on Detroit's 8 Mile, the consequences of that choice are on you. And you alone. Remember:

YOU•ARE•ON•YOUR•OWN!

And you forget that simple truth at your own peril. 

BTW, the twin cubs, which also partook of man flesh, as they say in LOTR, got parceled out to a zoo in Ohio, where they will spend their lives behind bars staring out at dinner staring back in. The zoo will probably have a contest to name them something cute like Snuggabear and Cuttlebug. If the cubs get lucky, maybe some animal rights activist will crawl over the bars in the hopes of communing with the adorable pair…at least they'll get one more decent meal before the bolts slams home.