Welcome to Litsy!

This book was wild.
This was meticulously researched. The town was presented in a fair, unbiased way, and the author showed empathy for the people (and bears) he wrote about. They weren't presented as caricatures. There was a good balance between humor and seriousness, and I was just fascinated from beginning to end. There was also a good deal of history included to give context as to how this wild idea got started. A really interesting read.

It's been a rough week, so it's nice to focus on the positives:
1. It's been 2 weeks and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter is still serving the dopamine.
2. My cat, Johan, gives the best snuggles.
3. The tagged book is making me laugh out loud!
4. I got to watch the eclipse. We only had 73% totality, but it was still cool. (Pic from before the eclipse began)
5. I got some new stickers for my journal. (Picture includes new and old).
#5joysfriday

Thanks for the tag, @Eggs
1. 👨‍👨‍👦‍👦🗑🐻
2. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
3. VE Schwab, Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver
#wondrouswednesday

This is a wild story that you might not believe until delving into it from those who lived it. We‘ve all heard ‘don‘t feed the bears!‘ There is a good reason for that. Most of us don‘t like taxes, but we know that they help pay for many services that we need. Like, libraries. Wildlife management. Fire departments. First Responders. What happens when you strip all that away in the name of freedom? Preventable tragedy & disaster.

Is there someone behind me?

This was taken back in 2016, at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

No libertarians get eaten by bears in this book. That's not a spoiler-alert; it's a way of saving the reader some time from a deceptive author who relies on a gimmick in order to tell a story that would otherwise be only mildly interesting, at best.

Yes, you read that correctly. The IRS considers these organizations to be "public charities." But...wait. is this true? Are there any accountants or tax attorneys here on Litsy who can either confirm or deny this?

I love facts like this, because you have to wonder how many people have ever suffocated in a giant vat of corn, and why the author would choose that particular example. Maybe this happens frequently in Iowa?

Hmmm. I give this 2.5 stars. Trigger warning: Extensive harm to animals and humans.

This was interesting, but I certainly wouldn‘t consider it unbiased (not that it really claimed to be as far as I saw). Also, there was one theory he had with no supporting evidence. The author admitted to this, but I thought it odd that he included the theory at all. #Marvellousmarch

“To the bears, the homesteaders brought a welcome addition to the landscape.” The next line is about... corn? Which was domesticated in the Americas? And then there‘s use of nonstandard spelling by 1770s writers as a stand-in for lack of intelligence, with excerpts used for (attempted) humorous effect.
They write like Benjamin Franklin‘s sister. Adherence to spelling & grammar conventions demonstrate access to schooling, not intelligence.