Around The Blogs 2014-05-25

Let's start this week's roundup with a mail-in steampunk shooting competition. Click over to Brigid's place for the details.

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Massad Ayoob writes trenchantly about the California mass shooting, and points out the fallacies inherent in so much of the emotional hand-wringing going on.

While on the subject of progressives making anti-gun hay out of this tragedy, Ed Driscoll notes that 'the modern left appear to be soft, sensitive Eloi, but underneath their freshly powdered skin and ubiquitous tortoiseshell Smart Glasses, they’re pure Morlock, ready to devour anyone who deviates even slightly from the day-to-day definition of political correctness'.

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Second City Cop highlights the release of the second part of Chicago Magazine's report on how that city's police department has cynically manipulated crime figures for political purposes.  Both SCC's comments (and those from its readers) and the report itself are unutterably frustrating to anyone who values honesty and integrity in public service.  (Both appear to in very short supply in the Windy City these days.)

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Mike W. at Another Gun Blog writes movingly about living with cerebral palsy and the effect it's had on his life.  If you think your life sucks, chances are someone else has it a lot worse than you do.  Go read Mike's account, and give thanks both for his courage in the face of adversity, and the fact that (most of) you haven't had to struggle like that.

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The Outrider brings us an interesting video report on how .22LR ammunition is made, and asks:  "If each company that manufactures .22lr comes even close to this volume, how in the hell are the shelves bare?"

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Sarah Hoyt does her usual wonderful fisking of the nutjobs who are celebrating because all of the Nebula Awards in science fiction (which are chosen by voters from a self-selected and distinctly moonbattish clique in the first place) were won by women this year.  She points out:  "... what you’re looking at is someone who hates and despises half of humanity because these people — through no fault of their own — were born with outies instead of innies."

As my buddy Lawdog would say, "Gigglesnort!"

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The Silicon Graybeard brings us a very interesting article on the man who devised the way to get astronauts to the moon - but never flew in space.  Truly an unsung hero to many.

While at his blog, he also describes how hackers succeeded in breaking into a supposedly secure network.  It's truly a facepalm moment when you see how they circumvented all the precautions technology could devise, by relying on human weakness instead.

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Old AF Sarge brings us a tale of an odd musical marching instrument, and segues from there into a wonderful story of a parade and fly-past in Germany that went off the charts of awesomeness.

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Captain Tightpants links to an excellent commencement address by Admiral William McRaven in Texas this month.  Very worthwhile reading.

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Rev. Donald Sensing reminds us about Albert J. Nock's comments about the dangers of excessive State power.

Also concerning politics, Og, our favorite Neanderpundit, points out the necessity of choosing the lesser evil in politics, even if you don't particularly like any of the choices available to you.  Pick the best of the bunch, or the one that will do the least harm - but don't opt out of the process, because then you've abandoned your responsibility.  True words, and a valuable perspective.

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Two bloggers point out the very real dangers of higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline.  Old NFO brings us a TV news report about the damage E-85 gas is causing to motor vehicle engines, while Ed Bonderenka tells us about what ethanol gasoline did to his boat engine.  Neither article makes me happy, and both reinforce my determination to avoid E-85 at any cost.

(I wonder if this will have a measurable impact on the motor vehicle market?  Seems to me that if the EPA and other Big Government agencies insist on wider E-85 usage, many people will have little choice but to upgrade to vehicles that can use it without harm to their engines.  Is this a sneaky attempt to boost new auto sales by rendering older cars less useful?  Hmmm . . . )

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Jay G. brings us a feel-good story about a burglar who was caught in the act . . . by the martial arts specialist he was burgling.  Oops!

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Chris Byrne, the Anarchangel, embeds a very interesting (and sobering) video discussion about Vladimir Putin and what he's really up to in Russia.  Given the utter, catastrophic ineptitude of our current Man In The White House, it behooves us to figure out what the hard men of this world will do now that he's essentially abdicated his responsibilities and given them a free hand.  This discussion provides much food for thought.  Recommended.

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Borepatch relates an amusing tale of an early cipher and how it saved a rebel from the gallows.

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The Art Of Manliness brings us '10 Overlooked Truths about Taking Action'.  I'm not sure I agree with all of those listed - I fear that the old saying, "Don't just stand there, do something!" is often contra-indicated because no-one's thought through the consequences of what they're doing! - but it provides a good starting-point to analyze the problem further.

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And for this week's humor segment, C. W. Swanson brings us two very amusing pictures:  one on how to impress your friends (NOT!) and the other on the potential dangers of Mexican food.  Giggle-worthy!

Also, FarmDad tells us why Sam's Club won't let him shop there anymore.

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That's all for this week.  More soon!

Peter