Montana Fly Fishing, river flows, reports, weather, stock photography, fly tying and so forth…

Slaughter huh? Of course this article would just jump off the page worded like it is- “Barack Obama’s Kenyan family to celebrate by slaughtering bulls, chickens and goats“. It did for me anyway. If PETA sees this there will be HELL to pay. Forget the Texas pit barbecues, slaughtering the goat “with the big testicles” at the family feast will get you “tarred and feathered” in the west.

Anyway, I started thinking about word play and definitions. Why not say killing? Is it that killing no longer has the impact that slaughtering does? Or why not simply say, Barack Obama’s Kenyan family to celebrate by having a picnic? Am I “slaughtering” a deer when I go hunting, are we “slaughtering” cows and pigs for the Fourth of July picnic?

Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: slaugh·ter

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse to slaughter; akin to Old English slaughter, to slay — more at slay
Date: 14th century
1: the act of killing; the butchering of livestock for market
2: killing of great numbers of human beings (as in battle or a massacre) carnage

Further, slaying or carnage- “Obama family slays animals for feast”, “Animal carnage at Obama family feast”. “Animal slaughter across Kenyan countryside provides table fare for Obama family feast”. This is the media “selling the sizzle”. Tomorrow morning will the story read, “Obama defeats Republican John McCain in landslide” or will it be, “Obama slaughters Republican John McCain”?

Could a newspaper article titled, “Oscar-Meyer to slaughter 50,000 bulls, pigs, and chickens for Super Bowl tailgate feasts” be next? Doubtful.

Maybe its a geographical thing, slaughter is a more common term in the Middle East, Africa and UK journalism?

In consideration of this new found vernacular, I think I will go slaughter a deer for the family feast.

Dan Cooper, co-founder of Cooper firearms in Stevensville has been forced to resign from the company because of his support for presidential candidate Barrack Obama.

With Montana teetering into the Democrats column, I wonder how many other “gun interests” in this state share Cooper’s sentiments? I smell “backlash”. I wonder if Cooper Firearms could actually lose business for “outing” Dan Cooper?

I plan on hunting this fall and for a long time to come and I’ll be voting with Dan Cooper. The Gun Control issue has been bouncing around for years and we still have our guns. Am I afraid that the Democrats will take my guns away, no. Does “when they pry my cold dead fingers” off them sound familiar?

What we really should be scared of is having weapons in the hands of people like Dick Cheney, who obviously needs to go back and take hunters education with all the rest of the twelve year olds. Fortunately, kids care about gun control, Dick Cheney does not.

Using an eel fly tied to thin 2 kg (4 lb) tippet while fly-fishing the nearby James River, William L. Nicar, of Richmond, Va., USA, landed a flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) on July 27, weighing in at 13.38 kg (29 lb 8 oz). It took Nicar 24 minutes to pull the fish to shore and he now has hopes of beating the current IGFA record of 21 lb. 8 oz ( 9.75 kg.) caught on January 13, 2004.

Thanks to SwittersB for posting the link to Catch Magazine, Official Journal of Fly Fishing Photography and Film. It will rock your fishing daydream world! Yikes! Now I really wanna fish- and take more pictures.

Be sure to check out the Moen video- yeeehaw!