Best Movie of the Year

I just watched the most hilarious movie you have never heard of. It is in Blockbuster, so you should be able to find it without much difficulty. The movie is called Citizen Duane.

If you remember the first time you were introduced to the movie Napoleon Dynamite before most people caught on to it, that was an experience. Not that is movie has much of anything in common with Napoleon, but that feeling of watching a completely unknown movie and being completely captivated by it. Live that experience again. Also it is a Canadian production, so you get to watch great Canadian actors doing what they do best.

Spy cameras on every plane

This is just getting ridiculous, camera's to monitor your expressions as you fly. A camera embedded in the back of every seat on the airplane monitoring your facial expression to see if you are a terrorist. "No, honest we aren't going to abuse this system."

Get ready for something like is fake broadcast:
"In tonight's news, after 14 hours of water boarding it was learned that a suspected airline terrorist had a glandular problem which caused mild perspiration and was agitated because he was traveling to a funeral of a loved one. Authorities stated they are happy with the result because this is further proof the system works. Although the suspected terrorist was release, Homeland Security has placed his name on a watch list and will continue to monitor his activities to ensure the public is completely safe."

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/30/1333210

The safest place in Europe

It is interesting that the Balkans (Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro and Serbia) are know the safest place in Europe. That is one I wouldn't have guessed 5 years ago.

Balkans are the safest place in Europe.

Advances in DNA sequencing allows greater view into our past

A couple of articles just came out that sheds more light on how humans moved around the earth and how far back we can acquire DNA.

It is going to be interesting seeing the progress of theories to explain the movement of people from the Orkney islands to the far eastern edge of Siberia. Or the interesting migration from the far east Asia to South America. There has been some hypothesis about the 12th century Chinese circumnavigating the global, but limit information to contradict or support it. This article is suggesting a much older migration. As more DNA samples are accumulated it will provide a very interesting read.

Surprises in our ancestry

Acquiring and sequencing DNA from someone who has been dead for 1000 years is an impressive feat. Comparing this person to modern Nordic people and the rest of us will allow research that is incompressible even today to most of us.

1000 year old Viking

Man-Made Dragonflies

How heavy would you guess a remotely controlled airplane with an on board video camera which transmits back to a computer would weight? Try 16.07 grams.

The Make magazine post.

Just another in a long line of cool stuff to spend you money on.

Camping in Alberta

Have you need a campground with specific amenities but you don't know where to look. The Alberta Government has put together a pretty nice mash-up with their park information and Google maps.

http://gateway.cd.gov.ab.ca/2008searchparks.aspx

The continuing trek to a police state

Isn't this wonderful, now the Harper Government wants to make you guilt of copyright infringement if you own an electronic device. The possession of a laptop or cell phone will give the police the right to stop and search you without warrant or cause. And even if you have legally acquired the content, you purchased the CD and ripped it onto your device which is allowed, you will be subject to further review until they are satisfied you haven't "pirated" anything.

Is this really the type of society we want to be living in? Subject to search at the whim of any cop having a bad day.

From The Province newspaper

As for Canada not having strong protections for Intellectual Property, it is a myth. But like any political lie, if you yell it loud and long enough it becomes reality. According to the 2008 World Economic Forum the countries with the strongest Intellectual Property protections are:
1. Germany
2. United Kingdom
3. France
4. Canada
5. Japan
6. United States
7. Italy
8. Russia

We don't have weak laws, we don't to rescind individual protections to fight the crimes of the 21th century, we should not allow political employee's to dictate what type of a society we as Canadians want to live in.

Food Artwork

These creations are just awesome.

http://omgowned.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/what-happened-to-the-food/

In war everyone does immoral things

I have had a bit of an ongoing discussion with some family members about the morality of war. My position has been, and so far continues to be, even if you feel you are morally justified, you and your forces will commit highly immoral acts during, and even after, the conflict. The author , Nicholson Baker, in his new book "Inconvenient Facts about World War II" points out some of the policies from our treasured allied leaders that are very questionable in the least. The book doesn't bother to try and compare the evils of the axis powers, it just focuses on questionable tactics and policies the allied leadership and forces pursued in what is widely considered in Western countries as a morally justified conflict.

I find it difficult to see a justification in a policy to starve to death the children of an enemy country in the pursuit of victory. But this was an valid and defend policy of Winston Churchill in both World Wars. In fact, the embargo of World War I remained after the Armistice of November 11, 1918, which end the fighting, until the German's signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919 officially ending the war. It wouldn't be to difficult to argue that World War II was just the Collateral Damage issuing out from that Treaty.

http://mises.org/story/2966

Canada's taxes aren't that bad

Next time I hear someone complaining about the high taxes Canadians are forced to pay, I don't think I will be that sympathetic. Granted I am for the reduction and eventual elimination of coercive taxation here at home, however other lauded countries have much harsher taxation policies.

I think the key is to develop and enhance an egalitarian society where individuals from all walks of life feel their input is sought and valued, while not only allowing but praising innovation, entrepreneurship, personal economic achievement and the accumulation of wealth. Not an easy thing but a wonderful goal.

The true burden in Denmark.

U.S. seeks to control what it doesn't like

It looks like our big brothers to the south are looking to control information they don't like, but they need to mask the proposal in copyright protection.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/23/1251202

Check this link out if you are not familiar with the organization Pirate Bay.