I'd search the trailer parks first

Escaped convicts are of course a menace. You should know that already. You should also know that, in this life, there are certain behavioral indicators that should raise red flags. One such indicator would be a yellow and primer '81 camaro sitting on blocks in the weeds behind a trailer. Another indicator would be inbreeding.

While Welch was visiting her fiance and cousin, McCluskey, at the Arizona State Prison in Kingman in June, a random search of Welch and her vehicle turned up marijuana, heroin and drug paraphernalia

Despite this drawback keeping them from being accepted by polite society, Welch and McCluskey are still out there on the run, like a Stephen Hunter novel gone wrong. I wish there was a lesson to be learned here, but damned if I know what it is.

Mid-week Menaces

I haven't posted much lately, so I'm changing things up. Instead of weekend menaces, I'm going with mid-week menaces. Alliteration is good.

Some things spend their time doing two things: sleeping and looking for something to eat. We call them carnivores. Some of them have a process for determining what they can eat. If it moves and they can get it in their mouth, they eat it. This is one of those things.

I've commented on the pirate menace before, but now it's a little closer to home. Are you kidding me? I'm waiting for one of these border incedents to explode when somebody returns fire. Do you have any idea how many pick ups in this part of the world have a rifle behind the seat?

Weekend Menaces

Baboons are like the speed freak biker out of a little old ladies worst nightmare. Super humanly fast, aggressive, and strong. And running amok in South Africa. There was a time when big game hunters were pretty common in that neck of the woods.

Geographically closer to home, folks in Chicago are besieged by super raccoons. On the one hand, I feel left out that I never get besieged by super animals and would like to go with the time honored "what caliber for super raccoon?" On the other hand, Chicagoans are obviously stupid.

Edited to acknowledge that not all Yankees are stupid

Weekend Menaces

According to the FBI, me and you are just as much of a menace to America as Al Qaeda. I have tried to come up with a way to express my thoughts on this and just haven't been able to put it into words. Fortunately, Tam was able to say it for me.

Weekend Menaces

Always keep your eye on the ball.

What caliber for sea monster?

What caliber for Australian space aliens?

High level dumbness

We're often told that criminals profile their victims. They look for the defenseless, the weak, the inattentive. A smart pirate might go after some rich old guys entertaining some young attractive women on a yacht.

On the other hand, a dumb pirate might go after an American naval frigate.

Weekend Menaces

People, the world is a dangerous enogh place without doing stupid stuff. Remember The Four Rules. Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

Tranquilizing bulls can be tricky business. A half inch or so can make a huge difference, and it's hard to know exactly where the dart needs to go, and harder yet to put it exactly where you want. On top of that, an excited bull, with his adrenaline pumping, may decide not to become tranquil anyway. So I really don't think any less of the folks in Larimer County, Colorado for taking four darts to get a rampaging bull shut down. They displayed good stick-to-itivness in staying after the menace.

So remember folks, use your head and don't add to the list of menaces, and keep in mind that just because you see something all the time on the other side of the fence when you're driving down the road, doesn't mean it can't be a menace under the wrong circumstances.

Weekend Menaces: Update

The sun came up in the east this morning, water is wet, and there is a lunatic on the loose in New York.

Anybody know the best way to go about getting some silver bullets for my .45-70? How do I get them to engage the rifling?

Weekend Menaces

Life was a little odd this week, even by its standards.

A single engine plane landed on a jogger as he made his way down the beach in South Carolina. Keep an eye on the sky.

We've had yet another reminder that big reptiles will eat you if given a chance.

Sometimes, people are their own worst enemy. I don't even know what to say to this.

Psychos come in all shapes and sizes.

Look up, look down, and look within. Menaces are everywhere.

Weekend Menaces

Snakes are dangerous, they could even menace dinosaurs.

Weekend Menaces

Psycho people will always be a menace. Thinking somebody else will protect you can be a menace. Believing a sheet of paper can protect you can be a menace. Not being able to protect yourself will always be a menace. Buy plenty of ammo, practice for everything, think through any potential situation you run across, and stay prepared.

Weekend Menaces

As I've mentioned before, people who aren't responsible for their dogs are a menace to both dogs and bystanders.

What caliber for Giant Squid?

Large, speedy, carnivorous felines can't be healthy to have roaming around.

Sometimes, you need a bigger boat.

Weekend Menaces

I know it's been a while since I kept anybody up to date on menaces, so I've got a lot to cover. A lot of menaces are like insects, they specialize in certain areas. Today we'll take a look at a few of these narrow-spectrum menaces.

If you happen to be a Nigerian terrorist, it seems that Flying Dutchmen are ready to menace you right into a headlock. We salute you, sir.

Also, for any other suicide bombers who may be reading this, it seems that your own explosives can be a menace for you. I'm actually not sure how to file this bit of news, because I think that's the point of suicide bombing. I'll put it in the "Better them than somebody else" file.

If you happen to be a Florida citrus farmer, Al Gore and his global warming seem to be the enemy.

If your mother is a sub-human piece of slime, then she is your menace.

Folks, keep in mind what Jeff Cooper had to say about specialization. Don't focus on just one menace, stay prepared for all of 'em.

Weekend Menaces

It would seem that siblings are a bigger menace than I would have imagined.

In Florida, they kill each other over loud music.

In California they're more traditional. They kill each other over money.

In Indiana, they kill each other because they're sick.

The world has always been a pretty messed up place.

Menace relocation program

Turns out people are smuggling kangaroos out of Australia and New Guinea. Probably a terrorist plot of some sort.

Weekend Menaces

I'm not sure why it's been coming to everybody's attention this week, but a lot of people who belong in jail have been out menacing the public instead.

Most recently we have this guy in Maine, who the guards just happened to let out of maximum security prison. Understandable mistake, I do it myself all the time.

Yesterday, Rudy Garcia escaped while being transported in Hidalgo County, in deep South Texas, causing a school to be locked down. At about the same time, Michael Jones escaped and was found in South Carolina. A few days ago a guy escaped from a facility in Philadelphia. A couple days before that 21 year old James Fannin escaped in Missouri, but was captured soon afterward.

Violent offender Arcade Comeaux Jr.is still on the loose in the Houston area. That's two in Texas, no wonder we're so ready to execute, they can't escape if they're dead. But hey, at least we have fences around our prisons.

Maurice Clemmons, who belonged in jail for life, was roaming free and crazy, allowing him to murder four Seattle peace officers. Not only did idiot pretend conservative Mike Huckabee pardon him nine years ago, but he was released from jail in Washington just a few days before the murders, despite pending felony charges.

I'm going to load up a few more PMAGs, order a few more Wilson 1911 magazines, and spend some time practicing emptying both of them this weekend. The world is a dangerous place.

Weekend Menaces

As I've always suspected, Australia is a dangerous place, and I'm not talking about dingos stealing babies. I'm talking about marsupials. I knew they had pouches, didn't know they were amphibious.

Earlier this week a kangaroo tried to drown a man and his dog.

But the marsupials have menaces of their own, in a man-bites-dog turn on the first story, a few months ago a man saved a kangaroo from sharks.

Last year a snake was filmed trying to swallow a wallaby whole. What's more menacing than something that menaces a menace? Having the menace on the same continent. There's kangaroo roaming New York state.

I don't really know what it takes to stop a rampaging marsupial, but if they get any closer I'm betting a .45-70 will be enough.

Seriously

As part of my ongoing quest to identify menaces, I found out that Peruvian gangs kidnap and murder people for their fat. No fooling. Apparently it's been sort of a boogie man myth for centuries, but now with a basis in fact.

There's a lot to learn from this, not the least of which is to stay the hell away from third world jungles. Mostly though, keep a means to defend yourself handy, practice with it, and be prepared to use it. Because you do not want your bodily remains going into a lotion bottle.

Weekend Menaces

Joe Namath's dogs have now been officially declared menaces, by law.

Pirates are still in the news, still needing to be shot. I wonder how much being a pirate gaurd pays?

Good Week

First, young Davey Crocket shot the bear in Idaho. Now the security team of the Maersk Alabama has repelled an attack by Somali pirates. If the ship sounds familiar, it's because the same ship was taken seven months ago. It seems the ship's owners have learned a few things since then. Who'd have ever thought guns might help with that? Not this guy:

However, Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the international maritime community was still "solidly against" armed guards aboard vessels at sea, but that American ships have taken a different line than the rest of the international community.

"Shipping companies are still pretty much overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of armed guards," Middleton said. "Lots of private security companies employee people who don't have maritime experience. Also, there's the idea that it's the responsibility of states and navies to provide security. I would think it's a step backward if we start privatizing security of the shipping trade."

Basically, guns are bad, only the government should protect us. I know this guy isn't my countryman, and there is a reason for that. Still, his statement ticks me off on more than one level. Why the hell am I or any other American supposed to care what the hell the international community thinks about anything? I don't care what they think about guns. I've got a whole mess of 'em, with more on the way. I don't care what they think about global warming. Next time we have a real cold morning, I'm going to go out and start both of my three quarter ton diesel pick-ups and let them both warm up, just in case I decide to drive the other one that day. I may take a long shower while they warm up, because this is still a free country and I can do whatever the hell I can afford. I don't really give a flip what they think about anything, right up until they decide to impose what they think upon me. Then we're back to that first issue.

Expecting the states and navies to provide security? I'm real proud of the job our Navy did retaking the Alabama the first time around. The training that those sharpshooters went through was one rare instance of my tax dollars being spent on something I approve. But it's a big damn ocean out there, and there are only so many destroyers to go around. Fighting pirates on the high seas is like trying to hold the wind up with a sail. Stephen By-God Decatur demonstrated how to shut pirates down a couple hundred years ago. You've got to root them out like a wisteria vine, or else the vines just keep growing wherever you're not. The navy's hands are tied until one of those states that Middleton is so proud of decides to let them take care of things. Self defense is a fundamental human right. It can not wait on the convenience of a government. If the international maritime community doesn't believe that then that's just too bad.