Ah, the world of hilarity. Apparently, the guy who writes the "Frommer's" guides (funnily enough, named Arthur Frommer) has attracted attention for suggesting that tourists take a miss on Arizona due to its citizens' propensity for armed intimidation. The mayor of Phoenix retorted that Phoenix "...is a great place to live and work". He omitted the fact that Arizona just passed a law saying that it's O.K. for gun-owners with legitimate (?!?) concealed-carry permits (I repeat - ?!!? and add WTF?!?!!?) to take their guns into bars. Oh, yeah. Just my kind of vacation paradise - a state full of drunks with guns. Yep, I'll be right along.

And it ain't just Arizona, folks. A friend of mine was at a big tango get-together down in Seattle recently. One of the guys hitting on her spent most of his conversational time telling her about how important it was for him and his fellow citizens to be armed against their government. He's doubtless still wondering why he hasn't heard from her.

America is a very, very scary country. And, sadly, only getting scarier.

In fact - Holy appropriate targeted advertising, Batman! - when I finished the original post for this, Blogger (a.k.a. Google) thought it appropriate to stick this ad on the wrap-up page. Ladies? Have you been looking for just the right handbag to hide that Glock you love so much? Well....

Motherfucker! That's just far more bizarre than anyone should be asked to deal with without access to major mind-altering pharmaceuticals. A nice Argentinian Malbec just isn't enough. Not by a long shot.