AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet

Have they really thought?

If you go far enough left, you end up back on the right.

I am The People’s Front of Judea!

I miss the days when the internet really did belong to the people.

It’s an outstanding movie, yet infuriating, and enlightening simultaneously. Definitely check it out to get a glimpse into the power these companies have, and the destruction they’re willing to wage for profit.

The system is set up in such a way that we can’t make meaningful collective choices

It’s also set up to make it incredibly difficult to be self-employed. Tying lifesaving medical procedures to corporate servitude ensures that the vast majority of people have no choice but to go work for the wealthy.

that the people in charge will try to exceed their mandate of power and take over the government.

This is actively happening. They’ve been exceeding their boundaries, and violating the constitution for decades now.

I don’t own a pitbull, but I have friends that own them, and they’re the silliest, goofiest, most loving dogs. I have a Doberman though, and he’s incredibly well behaved and polite. He will only get rowdy with me, and no one else. He obeys on command, and is very gentle and sweet. He’s definitely higher energy than most people can handle, and strong as fuck, so training is important, as is being strong yourself. I did a year’s worth of research on breeds before deciding a Doberman is the right breed for us. He’s the perfect amount of independent, watchful, intelligent, inquisitive, energetic, and adventurous for my lifestyle. We go for a 3 mile hike in the mountains every day where he gets the exercise he needs, and we work on mental stimulation like nose work and obedience training often. He goes everywhere with me and is the perfect gentleman. But he’s a powerful, high-energy, intelligent dog, so definitely not the right choice for most people.

Edit: pitbulls are prone towards dog aggression though, which is in their nature. That’s why it’s critical to socialize them extensively when they’re young. It’s very easy to cure them of that if you are intentional about introducing them to lots of other dogs, cats, kids, and people when they’re still puppies. They’re a lot harder to train into trustworthy dogs if they don’t get early socialization, and most dog owners are not very good about ensuring their dog gets proper socialization at the proper age.

No

“Properly raised”. Of course a strong animal with sharp teeth who is abused, neglected, or forced to fight for its life in illegal dog fighting rings is going to be aggressive.

Wow! What a special treat! I’ve seen a bobcat in the wild, but never a cougar. I’m pretty okay with not seeing them though, since they’re usually planning on killing you if they let themselves be seen. Still, it would be neat to actually see one and walk away unscathed.

I saw a wolf once. It was just sitting in the middle of the road. We got a good look at it as we drove past and it’s so very obvious that they are not dogs. The eyes held so much danger and wildness in them. It was very cool.

Yeah, crocodiles and alligators seem pretty easy to avoid, as long as you don’t have to get into the water.

Most bears just run away long before people see them. I’ve spent half my life in the backcountry and high country, and I’ve only seen a bear 3 times in the wild, each time it was running away. Okay, 4 times if you count Yosemite, which I don’t since those are basically domesticated bears. To be clear, I’m not arguing with you, just giving you more details on the predators we have here. They’re more afraid of us than we are of them. I do carry bear spray in bear country though these days, just in case.

I’ve never seen a cougar. They won’t be seen if they don’t want to be seen.

Snakes are pretty much the same thing like you said, just leave it alone, but they’re a lot less likely to run away. The real danger with snakes is startling one when scrambling over rocks. They’ll just bite you out of self defense and then you’re in for a real bad time. I’ve only ever happened across rattlesnakes 3 times though. They’re very reclusive creatures. We killed the snake two out of the three times though, because both of those times the snake had set up shop on a path we frequently walked, and we couldn’t risk startling it one day without seeing it, and ending up dead, or losing a limb, or whatever.

Spiders are the worst, because they’ll crawl inside your shoes, gloves, sleeping bags, pants, or whatever, and bite you when you don’t even know they’re there. Thankfully we only have a few very dangerous spiders, and one of them is a web spider, so very easy to avoid.

Dayum! He had some guns for a 46 year old.

2meirl4meirl

Isn’t that a BIOS setting?

Only mammals get rabies. Birds aren’t mammals.

You know what we don’t have? Large predators

Crocodiles are pretty large, and so are great white sharks.

You know what’s funny though? I just finished writing about how bears aren’t scary, and then I came across your post saying American predators are more scary than Australian ones. Haha. I suppose it’s all a matter of familiarity.

Properly raised “aggressive breed” dogs. Pitbulls are the goofiest, most loving and loyal dogs I’ve ever met when they’re raised properly. Doberman Pinschers aren’t very goofy, but they’re pretty needy, loving, and loyal, preferring to lean against their family at all times.

Bears in the wild, or the wild in general. Yes bears and other predators can easily kill you if they want, but they almost always don’t want to. They’ll run from you well before you know they’re there. I’ve been going backpacking in the high country wilderness my entire life and have never had an altercation with a bear, cougar, coyote, or wolf. Follow proper procedures when you’re in their home (the wilderness), and they’ll leave you alone.

I did. Okay, not so much a friend, as a guy who would talk to me regularly and treat me and my friends with respect, occasionally tagging along with us. He’s still in my Facebook friends list to this day.

Back in elementary school there was a kid who was easily twice as big as everyone else. He’d push his way around and demand he get whatever he wanted. He finally crossed me one day, and I punched him as hard as I could right in the stomach. When he stood back up, I did it again. He never crossed me or my friends again, and became generally friendly with us. Bullies don’t concede without force.

Only after you kick his ass.