Around the Web on 3-22-06

Lost most of yesterday evening to unexpected contingencies and am running behind this morning, to this week's roundup will be on the short side....

"What's next, yellow?"

That's the question Willy Shake starts off with when he blogs on the British Royal Navy's recent decision to begin repainting its submarine fleet blue.

As unmanly as it might strike us at first, perhaps we submariners -- known for our innovativeness -- need to take a page from our USMC bastard step children brethren and "Adapt. Overcome."

One of the reasons for the change is that with the submarines appearing in warmer oceans a lot more often after the Cold War, a color that was harder to detect than black was needed.

And over at Molten Eagle, Vigilis has some further thoughts on the kinds of camouflage employed by warships.

And, Speaking of Attempts at Concealment

Ian Hamet has a very funny post up about comb-overs in mainland China.

[O]n that [first moderately windy] day, you will be confronted in the streets by masses of sad, bald-pated men with oily, foot-long strands of hair whipping about their heads, anchored just above the ears or, for the farther-gone, along the back of the skull.

I also like his comment on the likely origins of this apparently universal practice in the "face" culture of China.

Ayn Rand on Humor

Robert Tracy blogs some of Ayn Rand's extemporaneous answers to the following questions on the topic of humor, for the curious or for those too busy reading their own misconceptions into her works to notice that she is often very funny.

Humor doesn't play a major role in the lives of your fictional heroes. What is the role of humor in life? Do comedians have a value to an Objectivist? What does an Objectivist find humorous?

Go to Illustrated Ideas for the answers.

More on Smoking Bans

Jennifer Snow has a good post and thread over at her blog on smoking bans.

I don't understand it; I don't understand how anyone could want such a thing. Let me be clear: I hate smoking. I hate the smell of it, I hate how it makes me cough and gag when I breathe it, and I dislike the people that think they are entitled to smoking breaks when I'm not allowed to go to the bathroom before lunch. I think it's a filthy habit. But I will defend anyone's right to it, and smokers own public places just as much as nonsmokers do; everyone is taxed to provide for them.

Geography for Journalists

Hmmm. On second thought, that prescription comes off sounding like a course that has been watered down for a group of people who would probably flunk out of the real thing.... In any event, Lubber's Line thinks journalists reporting on the chances of New England getting a hurricane this year could use some, as and Andrew Dalton sounds like he'd probably agree.

In any event, I agree with Lubber's Line when he says the following.

Informing people they need to be prepared for the possibility of a big weather event, especially a hurricane, is important. I just don't like it when inaccurate information is added to sell a prediction.

Indeed, it defeats the whole purpose of overcoming the apathy of ignorance by inducing the kind of apathy that always greets Chicken Littles sooner or later.

The Islamization of Europe

Grant Jones has some interesting tidbits on Oriana Fallaci's The Force of Reason, specifically on her thoughts about the Islamization of Europe. He points to a very good review, from which he quotes.

How did Islam go from being a virtual non-factor to a religion that threatens the preeminence of Christianity on the Continent? How could the most popular name for a baby boy in Brussels possibly be Mohammed? Can it really be true that Muslims plan to build a mosque in London that will hold 40,000 people? That Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam are close to having Muslim majorities?

And I think he hit the nail on the head when he said, "A Mohammadan in Norway makes this interesting statement, 'Our way of thinking ... will prove more powerful than yours.' Actually, his form of anti-reason is much more powerful than that adopted by the West's post-modern left."

Caught on Film

Vigilis has posted a photo of me over at his blog reaching for a brewski while performing an alien autopsy. I will, of course, deny everything.

-- CAV