Quick Roundup 39

Farkalanche!

Apparently, bloggers can experience bucketloads of hits that dwarf an Instalanch. Congratulations to the Gaijin Biker for scoring a link from Fark for his amusing post, "Sign me up for Buddhism, Part II", about a Japanese shrine that one would think was devoted entirely to the worship of women's breasts based on the fact that it has a "breast-shaped incense holder, and [a] breast fountain with squirting nipples."

Wakeland, Part II

On a more serious note, Nick Provenzo makes some excellent points in his pair of posts on Jack Wakeland's assessment of George Bush and his prosecution of the war over at Rule of Reason. Anyone who supports Bush's "Forward Strategy of Freedom" should read those two posts. I have further thoughts here.

The Ships are big here, too!

The tall ship Elissa, which has graced the waterfront in Galveston for nearly a quarter of a century, has just been named the official "Tall Ship of Texas".

Although its role is not mentioned in the article, Houston's own Saint Arnold Brewing Company has been instrumental in raising funds for the preservation of the ship through sales of its newest (and my favorite) regular brew, Elissa IPA.

Oh, and I see that they've added another product since the last time I stopped by!

Our Divine Reserve is a series of single batch beers, each brewed with a completely different recipe. The batches are identified by the number on the neck label. There is no particular theme to the beers, although it can be assumed that most all of them will be big. Many will benefit from being aged.

Soldiers and sailors have freedom of speech, too.

I haven't had a chance to delve into this very deeply, but one of my fellow submarine bloggers has been involved in a little debate about freedom of speech for members of the military. I rarely agree with Rob Schumacher, the lone liberal of our crew, but although he is on active duty, he certainly still has freedom of speech. Furthermore, Rob brings up various points from the Uniform Code of Military Justice to support his contention that, since he is not speaking in an official capacity, what he is doing is not legally wrong. From what I remember, the UCMJ basically (and correctly) forbids members of the military from making it seem like the United States government endorses their opinions.

Now, if only the federal government would become more fully consistent in that regard -- by getting itself and our local governments out of the education sector of the economy, where government employees like Jay Bennish routinely get to indoctrinate children held captive by truancy laws with their own personal opinions in lieu of actual lessons, and with money taken from their parents and others by force besides.

The Undercurrent is (almost) out ...

... for April.

-- CAV