Around The Blogs 2014-07-06

We didn't have an 'Around The Blogs' feature last weekend, due to Miss D.'s and my absence at LibertyCon;  so here goes with two weeks' worth of harvest from the blogosphere.

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Spill, one of the contributors to Bring The Heat, Bring The Stupid, brings us an interesting half-hour documentary on the history of Naval Air Station Glenview in Chicago.  Great viewing for aviation buffs.

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Greylocke brings us a documentary on the making of the kukri, the knife of the Gurkhas, as well as another documentary on their military history in the British armed forces.

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Brussels Journal has a very interesting article on a Japanese general who commanded a major part of the assault on Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.  I don't agree with their linking that incident to their anti-Islamic stance, which is a real stretch of logic, if not a leap of faith;  but the history itself is worth reading.

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In the light of my recent article about the problem of debt, I was interested to note that Francis W. Porretto finds being in debt similar to wearing chains.  I endorse his sentiments.

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The blog 'Nothing About Everything' is new to me.  I don't recall how I came across it, but I've found some of its articles interesting.  Two in particular caught my eye:

1. Pursuit of Happiness - how 'happiness cannot be sought external to the self'.
2. Megalodon, Revisited - how the Discovery Channel actively misleads and deceives its viewers, thereby ruining what could otherwise have been a very interesting and educational program.

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The Lonely Libertarian has her usual dose of laughter and incredulity, including:

1. (NSFW) From Australia, with WTF???
2. How to recover the IRS's lost e-mails.

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Planning And Foresight has a fun article about how to camouflage a Nerf gun.  Seems to me one could use the same techniques (albeit with less strident paint colors) to camouflage a real one, too.

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Billll describes a classic case of politically-motivated economic suicide.

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CenTexTim offers advice to his daughter on her 18th birthday.  Sounds a lot like the advice my dad gave to me at that age . . . but couched in rather more friendly and polite terms.  (My dad didn't beat around the bush about such things.)

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Karl Denninger schools a self-centered, blind-to-reality idiot about how things work in the real world.  Some pungent truths are ungently conveyed.  He sounds like my father did sometimes . . .

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Instapundit links to an illustration of why it's a good thing that J.R.R. Tolkien didn’t write in the age of political correctness.

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C. W. Swanson illustrates how an alligator ruins its scary image, and portrays a future (possibly imminent) Darwin award winner.

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Remember 'Soylent Green'?  According to Spikessib, an engineer is producing a home-grown version - considerably less controversial than the original!

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Lantry brings us a tacti-cool adaptation of what looks like a North American Arms mini-revolver.  It's certainly one of the strangest-looking beasts I've ever seen . . .

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Earthbound Misfit has a heartwarming report about a World War II Hurricane fighter pilot who at last - in his 90's - got an opportunity to fly a Spitfire.  Definitely one of the warm-and-fuzzy stories of the week.

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Mike Miles (site frequently NSFW) visually sums up the conflict between immigration (of the illegal variety) and the US unemployment rate.

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The inimitable Dr. Jerry Pournelle links to an older, two-part essay about what he calls the Voodoo Sciences.  Excellent and highly recommended reading - particularly because so many of our politicians seem to be relying on said Voodoo Sciences to justify the mumbo-jumbo they keep trying to thrust down our throats.

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Eric S. Raymond shares what he's learned about how to train a cat for companionship.  Useful stuff for cat-lovers.

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And last but not least for this week, Old NFO lists reasons why pilots prefer airplanes to women.  I think I'm going to sic Miss D. onto him about that . . .

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That's all for this week.  More soon!

Peter