Around The Blogs 2014-01-04

Time for another stroll around the blogosphere.

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There are a few interesting articles about preparing for emergencies and potential disasters this week.

• Brigid has a very useful checklist of supplies and necessities you might not have thought about.  I found some holes in my preparations when comparing them against her list.
• Jane of Virginia revisits fire hazards, and examines ways to mitigate them.
• I thought, in the light of both of the above articles, it would be worth mentioning MicroBalrog's article from 2012 about lessons learned in Bosnia by one who survived the civil war there.  It's in the same vein as my article about lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.  If you think the same thing couldn't happen again during another disaster here, you're wrong - it happened after Hurricane Sandy last year, when the response by FEMA and other relief agencies was as tardy, if not more so, than in New Orleans seven years earlier.  Unless you'd made your own preparations, you were in trouble.

All the above articles make worthwhile reading.

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C. W. Swanson has fun with cats.

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There are an increasing number of articles taking a gloomy look at the state of nations, politics and culture, in the USA and elsewhere.  I don't want to be a wet blanket so early in the New Year, but they're worth reading, if only to understand different aspects of what's likely to confront us during 2014.

• Borepatch offers 'Lessons for the American Republic from the fall of the Roman Republic'.
• Nick Land analyzes what he calls 'The Dark Enlightenment', and wonders whether freedom and democracy are still compatible.  It's a long series of articles, and fairly heavy reading.  I can't say I agree with all his conclusions, but he certainly made me think.
• That brought to mind Prof. Bruce Charlton's series of essays on the 'Decline Of The West'.
• The inimitable Al Fin republished an older article titled 'We Are Marching to Utopia: We Will Soon Be There'.  Excellent and thought-provoking stuff.
• XBradTC asks:  "Is 2014 like 1914? I’m not sure but I think the historical parallels are very interesting considering what’s going both overseas and domestically. I know only that time will tell and we’ll find out as this year marches on."

They're all interesting and worthwhile reading.

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Rev. Paul can't resist the irony.  Neither could I . . .

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Warren Meyer reminds us of the Atlantic 'triangle trade', and links to a real-time chart of winds around the world.  Click on the globe and drag the part you want to see to the front.  Fascinating!

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Tamara points out:

"It is an easily demonstrable fact that gun registration does nothing... indeed can do nothing... to prevent crimes: I will write my name and address and the serial number of a gun on this sheet of paper and hand it to you. Then I will leave the room. Using that piece of paper and nothing but that piece of paper, stop me from shooting something with the gun. I'll bet you twenty bucks you can't."

I wish the gun-grabbers would listen to reasoned arguments such as this . . . but they won't.  They're not interested in truth or logic - only emotional, knee-jerk reactions.  That's why they're wrong.

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Glenn Reynolds links to what he describes as 'the best law review article ever':  a review, purportedly by the devil, of a book titled 'Knowledge and Politics'.  It's erudite, analytical and thought-provoking.  Recommended.

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I'm sure most readers are aware of Jeff Foxworthy and his famous (and never-ending) series of jokes claiming that "If X, then you might be a redneck".  My personal favorite so far:  "If your hairdo has ever stopped the ceiling fan, you might be a redneck."  For the benefit of overseas readers who may not be familiar with his comedy, here's a sample.

In similar vein, a couple of years ago Sheriff Jim Wilson produced two articles claiming that "you might be a tactard" (i.e. 'tactically misguided') if you do certain things, or possess certain items, or espouse certain views.  For those of us in the firearms community, his points ring all too true.  For example:  "Your dresser drawer is full of camo underwear."

There are more at both links.  Enjoy!

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Six, one of the contributors at The Warrior Class, apparently reacting to the Duck Dynasty brouhaha, says bluntly:

"Leave me alone and I'll return the gesture. Defend my freedoms and I'll do the same for yours. But stop pushing me. ... It has to do with my own personal and deeply held faith and the idea that I am either free to live my life as I deem fit or we as a people are a lot less free than we imagine. Thought Crime persecution isn't on my side, it's on the side of the rabidly atheist, humanist, politically and power driven left. I desire no authority over anyone's life and it infuriates me that others do. On any side of the die."

Word.

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Gonzalo Lira, whose economic articles we've sometimes discussed in these pages, is writing a novel about what he sees as a looming financial and social dystopia. It'll be ready for publication in late February, but you can read an opening excerpt from it on his blog.  Looks interesting.

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Finally, Mr. Garabaldi brings us a very interesting article on '100 years of commercial Aviation....January 1 1914 to January 1 2014'.  I hadn't realized that the first scheduled air service was inaugurated on New Years Day in 1904 between St. Petersburg and Tampa in Florida.  It had room for only the pilot and a single passenger, but it was the first step towards the national and international commercial aviation services we have today.  Fascinating to think things have come so far in what is, from an historical perspective, a very short time indeed.

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That's all for this opening week of 2014.  More soon.

Peter