What is a stalking horse?  Pretty much what it says on the tin.  A horse used by hunters to get close to wild game.  Walk on the other side of the horse, the animals being hunted won’t realize humans are in the area until far too late.

Some horses were specifically trained for this method of hunting.  The main trick was to get the mount used to the sudden explosion across the saddle when the hunter fires their gun.

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A perfect example, except that the extended range that modern firearms have means that there really aren’t that many horses trained for such work nowadays.  It is unlikely that the horse pictured would take a boomstick ringing off across it’s back lightly.

But do not despair, gentle reader, for the continued good health of the fashion model pictured above.  Note that the slide of her shotgun is pulled to the rear, the ejection port of the weapon yawning open.  The shotgun cannot go off in its present condition.  It appears the young woman knows what she is about.

I cannot see the  fingers of her right hand, but I would not be surprised if she was not touching the trigger as well.

The University of Connecticut has replaced their old logo …

… with something a bit leaner.

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Okay, so some university in the New England states is trying to rebrand.  So what?

It would seem that a female student claims that the new logo will “intimidate women and empower rape culture“!

I have no idea what the bitter feminist who made these claims is talking about.  The new logo depicts a dog that is better groomed and showing less tongue.  Wouldn’t that mean he was more of a gentleman?

Not that we are sure as to the sex of the mascot.  Whenever I see a canine, the only sure way to tell the gender is to peer down between the back legs to see of there are any danglies.  How can the “intimidated” student tell if the only thing drawn is the face of the beast?  Maybe she completed the drawing in her mind!

My leg was once humped by a Cocker Spaniel, which means an actual, real life, flesh-and-blood dog tried to have its way with me.

This seems to me to be a great deal more traumatic than having a cartoon drawing of a fictional dog peer out from a poster or T-shirt.  And yet, no one is concerned about my feelings of powerlessness and violation!

This is probably because I never felt powerless or violated.  When little Snookums started the Hump, Hump, Hurrah! I simply showed my teeth while growling deep and low.  The dog had obviously never encountered an Alpha male before, as it ran to huddle, shaking, against the legs of its owner.  When said owner reached down to give the over stimulated pet a reassuring pat on the head, the dog peed all over her shoes.

It should be even easier to get a cartoon dog head off your leg, I would think.

Before anyone stumbling across this essay should decide to climb on their high horse and accuse me of belittling rape, please keep in mind that I have worked for two decades with victims of violent sexual abuse.  It seems to me to be a no-brainer that shrill, idiotic tripe such as the claim that a drawing of a dog’s head will encourage people to engage in violent criminal assault is demeaning and unfair to those who have had to put their lives back together after being subjected to rape in the real world.  But something tells me that such thoughts will never enter the heads of anyone who would make claims of that type.

Stacy McCain goes a long way towards analyzing why anyone would be so stupid as to make this assertion in the first place.  The answer is that the person who penned the letter is working towards a diploma for being a self-righteous feminist jerk.

Dog owners insist that their pets can experience some of the very same emotions we humans feel.

Here is a very short video showing the reaction some Welsh Corgis have when forced to wear panda costumes.  The disgust and scorn just drips from the screen!

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(Picture source.)

This news article reports that one of the Boston Marathon bombers purchased legal fireworks in New Hampshire, although the kits he bought did not contain enough explosive to make the bombs used in the terrorist attack.

This doesn’t mean mining fireworks for their powder wouldn’t work, just that it would cost more and take more effort than finding other sources.

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I think I could go for a Mountain Dew right about now!

Pete Zaitcev makes an interesting observation in this comment …

“And historically in my previous country martial arts were heavily regulated, their teaching prohibited to anyone but security and police officers.”

Why do I find that interesting?  Because the deadliest open hand fighting techniques were originally developed by the common folk when emperors and kings banned owning and carrying regular weapons!

But it wasn’t just open hand martial arts that were invented to provide self defense.  Common everyday tools were also taken up to provide a means of protection.

Case in point is the karambit.

Originally, karambits weren’t all skeletal and cool looking.  Instead they were used to dig up roots, and as scythes to cut rice stalks during harvest.

Nowadays these curved knives are considered effective weapons for serious martial artists willing to devote the time needed to train with the little blades.

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