07 January 2008

In Case of Mountain Lions Fight

The shorter version of the correct response to a Mountain Lion is:

1. Protect the kids.
2. If distant, be quiet and watchful.
3. Respond to increased interest with increased aggression from you.
4. Don't run.

Hat Tip to Nature Blog.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello. Nice to find your blog. I did a google search on u.s. military demographics because I was under the somewhat mistaken impression that the war was being fought mostly by minorities, the poor, & high school dropouts. I was directed to the Heritage Foundation "study" by a right-winger on the internet. I can't stomach reading their biased stuff, so your take on it was helpful.

What do you believe would have happened in this country if there had still been a draft by the time of the Iraq invasion and subsequent occupation? Mass protests? Impeachment? Thank you for your reply.

As far as mountain lions go, I'm on the lions side because it is people who are encroaching on their dwindling habitat. As with the rest of the big cats, I expect them to all eventually go extinct or be found only in zoos. I'm not an optimist.

-Guy Green

Andrew Oh-Willeke said...

Hard to say what would have happened. The Army is stretched because it is so very small (post-Cold War levels), requiring repeated punishing tours of duty.

If there were a draft, tours would almost certainly be shorter and less frequent and the percentage of potential draftees who were unlucky would still be pretty small. Also, backlash from those who have been called to serve has been modest, in part, because Iraq has been far less deadly than Vietnam.

There would be more political impact, but one forgets how long Vietnam was uncontroversial before political impact developed.