The Real Thanksgiving

Benjamin Powell lays out the real story behind the famous Thanksgiving feast. Turns out a good deal of economics was involved.

Nunchuck Ping Pong

Just think about how coordinated a person would have to be to do this:



Bruce Lee was incredible. Pity it's fake.

Web 2.0

Final Countdown

These guys play a wicked cello:

DRE 700 for President

If Only:


Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President

The Singularity is going to be scary.

RUSSELL ROBERTS: THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING: A PARABLE OF POSSIBILITY AND PROSPERITY

A Quick Liberty Quote

"Political tags-such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth-are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."

- Robert A. Heinlein

Skyray 48 Takes Flight

Read the full article here.

P.S. – I just realized that a few too many of my posts come from a Forum I frequent; maybe I should just post a permanent link to there?

Monty Python Philosophy Football

First Direct Image of Multiple Exoplanets Orbiting a Star

This is another great development in science and technology:

For the first time, astronomers have taken a visual image of a
multiple-planet solar system beyond our own.

Using the Gemini North telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, researchers observed in infrared light three planets orbiting around a star about 130 light-years away from Earth, called HR 8799. The discovery,published today in Science Express, is a step forward in the hunt for planets, and life, beyond Earth.

The next logical step will be to look at the light spectrum coming off the planets, which well tell astronomers what type of gases are in the atmosphere.

If there is an abundance of oxygen, that is pretty strong indicator of organic life. That is something I would very much like to see.

Brain Powered

A few posts ago I mentioned how ‘it really feels like we are starting to live in the future’; to reiterate that point, here is another incredible breakthrough:


Watch CBS Videos Online

This has far more application then merely a diversion for the handicapped; applications which will be created after this technology become more practical.

I am always one for skepticism when it comes to extreme claims; but the ‘man-machine interface’ does seem well underway.

I Give Up

I have officially given in to my geek-ness; a personality trait I have fought before on this blog. To prove the point, here is a picture of the enterprise in the upcoming J.J. Abrams relaunch:

The four things that attracted me to Star Trek where 1) the incredible forward-thinking optimism of the show, 2) the ethical, political, and scientific dilemmas, 3) all the “gee-wiz” moments and 4) the fact that people solved their problems with their minds (it was mostly pro-reason.)

While I think that Abrams will give me item number 1, I don’t know about number 2, 3, or 4. Judging Abrams by his work, the show Lost seems generally anti-reason, while Fringe has a tendency to be anti-science. I could be wrong, and I admit I have never fully watched either of these shows.

In any case, I’m hopeful. Abrams might just be the kick-in-the-pants the franchise needs to launch it out of its recent mediocrity.

P.S. – If any of you have any idea how the Star Trek economy works, please tell me, I have been curious for years.

What Needs to be Known About Hoover

I wince whenever I hear that Hoover was a supporter of free-markets or laissez-faire Capitilism. It is so easily proven wrong. And it is not wrong in some abstract sense, it is not a matter of argumentation, it is factually wrong. It is like saying “President George Washington is a woman”; it simply has no merit.

And yet, in most history books, in most lectures, and in most people eyes: Hoover was a stanch supporter of ‘free-markets’, which eventually led to the Great Depression (and thank God to FDR for saving the day!)

Well, here is Hoover, in his own words, talking about the various achievements of his administration right before the 1932 election. Judge for yourself how “laissez-faire” they are.

UP Trailer

I like the look of this, it has a children’s book, fable –like quality to it that I find charming.

Coraline

I hope the art of stop-motion animation stays alive for awhile more; it creates a unique look on stage that simply is not achieved by any other current technology. Tim Burton’s visually exiting The Corpse Bride was a great leap forward for the genre; and the always entertaining adventures of Wallace and Gromit simply wouldn’t be itself without stop-animation.

The next major stop-animation production coming out is Coraline, a movie based on the novella by Neil Gaiman. It is a ‘through the looking glass’ type story, as I understand it, with an intelligent female lead.

I just hope the movie is able to follow in the footsteps of its impressive poster.

(Please excuse me these light posts of late, but the political season has burned me out, I just want a break from it all for a time.)