Yesterday I reported that a hunter from Calgary, Canada, who had been missing for three days was found dead about 200 or so yards from his car. At the scene it was determined that 51-year old Don Allan Peters had been mauled by a bear. Officials didn’t know if Peters died from a bear attack or was mauled after he was dead.

Today, the Edmonton Sun is reporting that Peters died as the result of a grizzly bear attack. Authorities investigating said Peters also fired his rifle before he was killed but there were no indications that the bear had been hit.

Read more here.

Tom Remington

Please don’t ask my wife but who is it that can and will decide that me or someone else is too crazy to possess a gun? Let’s face it, not too many of us want really whacked out people running around with a gun in their hand.

After the Virginia Tech shootings, the reaction has been to begin compiling a database of names of mentally ill people who shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun. 32 states have jumped on the band wagon and have begun submitting names of those deemed mentally ill. And who gets to put someone on that list?

The new U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is encouraging all 50 states to submit names to the national database. Not all states are eager to comply. According to the Associated Press, the courts will decide……or maybe not.

People are included in the federal database only after courts or other authorities have found them to have mental health problems, Justice Department officials said. Federal agencies, including the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, also submit names, but the Justice Department could not immediately say how many.(emphasis is mine)

Or other authorities? Could you please be a bit more specific than this? What other authorities and what is the criteria that will be used to say who is not capable of owning a gun? Is there also a means of getting one’s name off this list once they are on it?

We have already heard proposals from some anti-gun politicians that any member or former member of the U.S. Armed Services who has undergone any kind of psychiatric treatment, be added to this list. I certainly hope not. Thousand of normal functioning veterans have and still are undergoing treatment to help them cope with the stresses they experienced while in a war zone. Are these people not competent to own a gun?

Some professionals in the mental health community have issues with this database and where the focus is being put.

Ron Honberg, legal director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, was not surprised that more states are reporting since the Virginia Tech shooting. “We’re uneasy about it,” he said. “We’re concerned that in the minds of many, mental illness is, per se, equated with violence.”…………..
“It frustrates us that when tragedies like Virginia Tech occur, the focus is on guns and not how somebody like Cho falls through the cracks,” Honberg said.

We all should become very much aware within our states as to who is being added to these lists and what authority is putting names on it. There needs to be assurances that a system of checks and balances are in place so that no one person or organization has the power to put someone on this list. We also should demand to know what the criteria is for determining who can and can’t own a gun. That should be public information and made readily available.

Tom Remington

AUGUSTA, Maine – Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner, Roland “Dan” Martin announced today that the Annual Moose Lottery will be held on Thursday, June 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the Kittery Trading Post in Kittery.

“We are excited to partner with the Kittery Trading Post for such an anticipated event,” said Martin. “At 6:00 p.m., we will commence the drawing and announce the name of the first hunter fortunate enough to be selected.”

Since 1999, the Department has rotated the lottery throughout the state. Prior to 1999, it was always in Augusta. Over the past nine years, lotteries were held in Millinocket, Boothbay Harbor, Old Town, Bucksport, Scarborough (twice), Presque Isle, Rumford, and Phippsburg.

“We are extremely pleased to host the Moose Lottery, and we plan on making it a great event to be enjoyed by the whole family,” said Fox Keim, Vice President of Hunting and Fishing at the Kittery Trading Post. The event will be held outside in a large, enclosed tent at the Kittery Trading Post. Food will be available, and other surprises are being planned to make it unique.

“We’ve moved the drawing to all parts of the state so that people can have the opportunity to be part of it first hand,” stated Commissioner Martin. “Nothing pleases us more than to have members in the audience react to being selected,” he said.

Martin said that staff from IF&W including local biologists and game wardens will be on hand.

“This is an opportunity for sports enthusiasts and the general public to interact with IF&W personnel”, said Martin

Admission to the event is free. In the past, the event has lasted approximately three hours. The Kittery Trading Post is located on Route 1 in Kittery.

Posted by Tom Remington

Today closes out the 2007 hurricane season for the United States. So let’s review quickly. Prior to the start of this season, hurricane experts predicted there would be seven to nine hurricanes, three to five major hurricanes and 13-17 named storms. And what did we get? There were five hurricanes, two of which were major and 14 named storms. But there’s more.

We are now finding out that the hurricane forecasting people are using different criteria to name storms. First of all, in 2002, scientists began naming subtropical storms along with tropical storms. There is also significant discussion as to whether or not at least 6 named storms this year should have been named at all.

Here’s what David Ridenour, vice president of The National Center for Public Policy Research, said about NOAA’s changing policies.

“NOAA correctly predicted the number of named storms, but it’s not clear this statistic has any meaning, as the agency is inflating today’s storm numbers relative to storms in the past,” said David A. Ridenour, vice president of The National Center for Public Policy Research and author of a forthcoming new report on this year’s hurricane season. “NOAA is doing so both by changing the criteria for naming storms and by failing to account for changes in technology that make detection of storms much easier.”

Yesterday, while listening to the radio, I heard an interview with the local Fox Television affiliate, chief meteorologist Paul Dellegatto, out of Tampa, Florida. He was reiterating the same claims that he also believes that at least six of the named storms would never have been named a couple of years ago.

Is there something behind this? Perhaps but people need to understand what it is like to live in Florida which is susceptible to hurricanes. My problem is not with the hurricane service changing their hurricane naming policies per se. Much of the reason they are naming more storms is due to the fact that more sophisticated equipment allows them to detect weather systems better. As a matter of fact, the QuikScat satellite measures roughly 200 times the amount of surface winds than previous methods.

The problem is this information about NOAA’s changing policies and information gathering is not being made known to the public and is being kept from the public by much of the media and global warming alarmists. For those who don’t know, let me explain briefly what this means for people like me who live in Florida.

Because we hear that global warming is causing more and bigger hurricanes, which by the way is inaccurate, insurance companies use this to bolster their demands to raise insurance rates. Here’s what that means in real terms. People by the hundreds in Florida are being dropped by their insurance companies everyday because they don’t want to assume any kind of risk. It also means everyone who is insured has to pay ridiculous rates for minimal coverage. Let me give you a first-hand example.

Previous to where I am living now, I owned a three bedroom home in a quiet neighborhood. As the crow flies, I lived about 2 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It just so happens that I lived at 65 feet above sea level, one of the highest points in all of Pinellas County.

When I bought the house, my insurance cost me about $800.00 per year. I owned the home three years. The day I sold my house, my insurance was costing over $3,500.00 a year. Now you know why I sold it. By the way, I never made a claim during that time.

Insurance companies are being allowed to rape the public with their rate increases because “global warming is causing more and bigger, more destructive storms”, as is being bought by the public.

There is also another issue that affects not only home owners, buyers and sellers, but is a direct reflection of the growth of the economy here in Florida. Any time there is a named storm in the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico, no insurance company will take on a new policy. While somewhat understandable, home sales are halted while everyone sits and waits. Sometimes these storms can be hanging around for weeks.

With the increased technology and changes in policy for naming storms, this is destroying the economy in Florida, as well as much of the Gulf Coast states and forcing many home owners to sell their homes at a loss.

Now I know there will be those who will say I never should have moved to or lived in Florida because it is hurricane prone. The truth is, the last time a hurricane directly hit Tampa, Florida was, I think, 1921, or something like that. Unless you live right on the beach, there is probably less risk than most people in New England encounter with Noreasters.

I have repeatedly heard people ask what harm can be done even if global warming isn’t real and we all work toward making our environment better. Well, here’s one answer. People are being asked to pay more and more taxes to pay for global warming studies. There is talk of carbon taxes and other such nonsense. People are being asked to drastically alter their lifestyles while reacting in ways that will cripple our economy. What harm can be done?

In my opinion, I already pay far too many taxes and I can guarantee that payment isn’t going to decrease any. Our politicians don’t know what it’s like to earn a dollar. They don’t know how to stop spending. I’m tired of it and I’ll be damned if I am going to sit idly by while a politician flies about the world in his private jet, leaving his caravan of gas guzzling SUVs behind in the yard of his multi-million dollar mansion, telling me I have to pay more taxes, drive less, find alternative ways to heat my home, pay tens times the amount to have electricity in my home, etc.

For those of you who don’t have any sympathy for me, don’t be asking for my sympathy either when every American is paying triple electric bills, quadruple home insurance bills, more in gas taxes, increased health care costs, all because of global warming overreaction. If it hasn’t come to your home town, just wait, it will.

Here’s an added feature for you home entertainment. The American Thinker has compiled a list of over 600 links to websites, articles and the like that blame global warming for an array of things that you just will not believe. You still think the world hasn’t gone mad over global warming? CLICK THIS LINK!

Tom Remington

For those who have been paying attention, you may have noticed when reading some of the articles here, especially if you get into any of the comments sections, that you’ll see this absolute nonsense from those who feel compelled to do everything in their power to scam Google and achieve success by lying, cheating and stealing on the Internet.

What you will see is something called “pingbacks” or “trackbacks”. You’ll probably also read some foolishness that says, “Tom Remington has written a great article or while searching the Internet, I stumbled upon…..” This my friends is ridiculous. These are con artists trying to make a fast buck. They have learned how to set up a blog and do nothing. It is automated so it visits other blogs, like the Black Bear Blog, and steals content.

The real stupid idiots steal the entire articles while the slimy and slick ones steal a “teaser” and provide a link back to my article – like somehow that makes it ok.

The problem with this is simple really. When they do this, they set up their blogs, and sometimes they make several hundred of them, this way in order to place ads, especially Google ads, on them. Another problem is they are just taking up space in cyberspace and cluttering the Internet with useless stuff. Also, Google now has to find a way to counter this activity because it is ruining the Internet experience.

The other problem with this more from my perspective is that I want to allow other honest bloggers the opportunity to do pingbacks and trackbacks. This is for the reader more than anything. You see Google believes and I concur, that the Internet experience should be geared to provide users with a good experience. When a user lands some place during a search, they should be able to find relevant information – this is what trackbacks are for.

When idiots are out there doing this, it also fills up my mailbox and fills up comment boxes on the page where the article is. When a reader finishes an article, they may want to also check out comments. Who wants to sort through that pile of garbage?

Another problem, which I’m sure some of you have already encountered, is that if you have been participating in some dialog on a particular story, the software is set up, usually by your choosing, to receive an email notice if anyone else replies to comments on this particular story. Who wants to have their mailbox fill up with email notices from some lame, stupid, lazy jerk who has no life?

So, here’s my request to all readers. If you know someone who does this sort of thing, shoot them for all of us, please!

Tom Remington

One day Alice was picking up corn in the cornyard when–whack!– something got her thinking. “Goodness gracious me!” said Alice; “I think the weather is crazy and it’s much warmer than it used to be (or so she heard on the news); I must go and tell the president.”

So she went along and she went along and she went along till she met Chuck. “Where are you going, Alice?” says Chuck. “Oh! I’m going to tell the president the world is getting warmer,” says Alice. “May I come with you?” says Chuck. “Certainly,” says Alice. So Alice and Chuck went to tell the president the earth was getting warmer.

They went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met Donald. “Where are you guys going” says Donald. “Oh! We’re going to tell the president the earth is warming,” said Alice et. al. “May I come with you?” says Donald. “Certainly,” said the gang. So they went to tell the president the earth was getting hotter.

So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met Gertrude, “Where are you going to?” said Gertrude. “Oh! We’re going to tell the president the animals of the forest are all going to die because the earth is getting too hot,” said Alice, Chuck and Donald. “May I come with you,” said Gertrude. “Certainly,” said the newly formed group now calling themselves Friends of the Forest. So the Friends went to tell the president of the impending doom.

So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met Thomas. “Where are you going?” says Thomas. “Oh! We’re going to tell the president we only have a few more years to live before the earth explodes,” said members of the Friends of the Forest. “May I come with you?” said Thomas. “Why, certainly, Thomas,” said Alice the newly elected lobbyist for the Friends of the Forest. So they all went to tell the president the earth was too hot and ask for money to find out why.

So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met Al Gore, and Al Gore said to representatives of the FF: “Where are you going?” And Alice said to Al Gore: “We’re going to tell the President that the earth is too hot and that we want money to study the problem.” “Oh! I know all about that. I am a politician. I call it global warming. Has a nice ring to it. But this is not the way to the president,” says Al Gore; “I know the proper way. Trust me; shall I show it to you?” “Why certainly, Mr. Gore,” they all said. So they all followed Mr. Gore because he knows how to get to the president and they needed to tell him of the impending doom. So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and dark hole. Now this was the door that led to Al Gore’s mansion. But Al Gore said to all: “This is the short way to the White House. You’ll soon get there if you follow me. I will go first and you come after.” “Why of course, certainly, without doubt, why not? Who could possible doubt or question anything Mr. Gore said? He’s a politician,” said Alice as she instructed members of the Friends of the Forest and told them exactly what to do and what to say.

So Al Gore went into his mansion, and he didn’t go very far but turned round to wait for each one to come in. So at last at first Thomas went through the door into the mansion. He hadn’t got far when Mr. Gore took all Thomas’ money and made him sign over the deed to his land so Al Gore could protect all the animals, the proper way. Then, one by one, each member of the Friends of the Forest entered the door and Mr. Gore systematically set out to take all their money, personal belongings, including the keys to their cars and the deeds to their lands so he could protect the animals……the proper way.

There was only Chuck and Alice left. But when Chuck entered, he heard some of his friends saying it was a scam, a con job and Chuck ran back out the door and told Alice. Alice turned tail and ran back home as fast as she could and never got to tell the president the earth was burning up. She wondered if a scientist would know about global warming.

Tom Remington

A Calgary, Canada hunter who had been missing for three days has been found dead in the woods about 200 or so yards from his vehicle. Authorities believe the body they found is that of Don Allan Peters. They also confirm that Peters was mauled by a bear. What they don’t know is if the bear attacked and killed him or he was mauled after he was dead. An autopsy should reveal the cause of death.

More as I can get information.

Tom Remington

That seems to be what Eric Sharp, outdoor writer for the Detroit Free Press, is trying to find out. In Michigan reports are that there are a lot of deer and hunters had great success. The question being asked is, where are all the hunters?

Tom Remington

The use of ground blinds has become quite popular in recent years. There is a complete assortment of blinds from the best of stand blinds to portable, inexpensive and quick to put up and take down versions. I recently purchased an Ameristep portable ground blind that takes a matter of one or two minutes to put up or take down.

Check out this ground blind below from Ameristep. Click the link for more information and to find listings of all ground, stand and tree stand blinds.

Ameristep The Choice Hunting Blind
Price: $379.99
Cutting edge hub-style ground blind is made of high quality NS Micro-Tech Fabric that eliminated shine and excess noise with a dull fleece finish and multi-layered textured construction. Quiet 3D leaf, ghillie, and mesh construction is Realtree APG HD camo. 60” x 60” x67”. Weight: 22 lbs. Imported.

Because of demand, today we are going to do an encore presentation of last week’s show where I interviewed Dr. Rex Rammell. Dr. Rammell is seeking the republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by outgoing Sen. Larry Craig. The show will air at 3 p.m.

For all previously aired broadcasts of Open Air With Tom Remington, you can log onto the Skinny Moose Radio website and select any show to listen to.

Tom Remington