Around the blogs

There's another bumper crop of entertainment out there.

We'll kick off with Tanker over at Mostly Cajun, who has a fascinating video clip of - of all things - a sheep-herding rabbit! I'm astonished that Warner Bros. Cartoons never thought of that angle for their favorite character . . . (Warning: Tanker's site has been difficult to load tonight - it may be having some server problems. If you can't view the video there tonight, try again tomorrow, or go direct to the video on YouTube.)

Congratulations are in order to Shooter, blogging at Parallax Adjustment. After three years of trying, he's finally been hired as a police officer in Texas. Great going, blogbuddy! Your perseverance in the face of so many disappointments and obstacles does you proud. (You can read more about his search in his blog archives.)

Dustbury informs us of a new snack food in Australia with a . . . er . . . um . . . rather distinctive name. Sounds very Australian to me!

The Mellow Jihadi reminds us that yesterday was (unofficially) National Kazoo Day.




In honor of the occasion, he links to a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah, played by massed kazoos! (That wobbling, scraping sound you may hear over the video soundtrack is doubtless caused by Handel himself, spinning like a top in his grave in Westminster Abbey . . . )

Chris Byrne, who (with his wife Melody) blogs at The AnarchAngel, points out the lies and myths perpetrated by those who want to 'control guns' and limit (if not altogether destroy) the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Here's an excerpt.

There are two specific fraudulent claims that were frequently made by gun control advocates, and then endlessly (and mindlessly) repeated by the media, and by defrauded people who don't know better.

"You are 14 times more likely to be injured by a gun in your own home, than if you don't have one"

and

"Thousands of children are killed by guns in the home every year"

Let's talk a bit about those claims.

First of all, neither are remotely close to true, or have any basis in fact. They were essentially entirely made up on the spot by gun control advocates; and have been thoroughly and publicly disproven. Thus, most gun control organizations no longer make specific claims like that, only saying "much more likely", "many times more likely" etc...

However, media reports very frequently reference those two claims even today; as they are very easy to find in a quick google search.

The reality is very much different.

Excluding suicides, injuries or deaths among the general population from their own firearms are very rare; almost always self inflicted, almost always while abusing drugs or alcohol, and in the majority, with firearms that are possessed unlawfully; which even then constitute a tiny fraction of a percent of all gun owners.

When taking only lawfully possessed firearms, by clean and sober people, the incident rate drops to even tinier fractions of a percent... Essentially so close to zero as to be statistically insignificant, and well within the margin of error of any statistical analysis.

There's more at the link. Worth reading.

The Silicon Graybeard has an interesting tale of historic technological innovation . . . including several names, of individuals and companies, that may surprise you. To a geek like me, this was great fun to read. Recommended.

The Lost Goat 'translates' an appeal from a wannabe beneficiary of Obamacare, and points out the false reasoning and self-delusional fantasies of the person concerned. It's a perfect illustration of the entitlement mentality in operation.

Finally, I forgot to post this link last week, but it's still fresh and funny; so, if you haven't seen it, check out this conversation between my cyberspace and meatspace buddies, Ambulance Driver and Matt G., about the choice of wines for . . . shall we say, less conventional (make that much less conventional!) methods of imbibing.





Peter