We have thousands of probe droids searching the galaxy. I want proof, not leads!

Science-fiction or science-fact?

Soon enough, Americans will be watched by robots. They already have them in the middle east. Now, these Big Brother-esque machines will be seen in North American skies. Alas 24 years too late.

4000 U.S. Combat Deaths

And counting...

Of course, nobody ever 'sees' the dead, so it can have no effect on you. It's just a number on a screen. There could be a million deaths - if none of the soldiers fall within your Monkeysphere, then you probably won't care that much. Once you're wrapped your head around that, it should be easy to understand why the U.S. government doesn't want pictures of dead soldiers coming home. Despite this, some pictures survive...

Straw Bale Homes

Have you ever heard of building a home out of straw? Afraid of the big bad wolf? My father and I read an article about this about 6 or 7 years ago and loved the idea. Here are some pictures from google of straw bale homes. Why build out of straw?

1. Typical insulation gives you an R20 rating. Straw Bale insulation gives you an R60. This can mean instead of paying 900 to heat your home, you might pay 300. Or it might mean that you don't need to heat or cool your home at all, if you install something like earth pipes, or solar radiant floor heating.
2. Sound. Your home will be much more soundproof than a traditional home, because your walls will be much thicker.
3. The environment. You will be using a 100% natural renewable product, replacing much of your wood and 'chemical insulation'.
4. Cost. If you live in the country, you might already have access straw bales, which are essentially a waste product when you grow grain. Typically, farmers use straw for cattle bedding, since it has no nutritional value.

If you are looking for more information, you might try the Straw Bale Building Coalition, or this page. There is a family that lives roughly 10 minutes from me that runs yearly workshops. If you are looking for more general information about straw bale construction, then check out these quick and easy articles from Muskoka News and Alberta Home and Garden. I'm hoping to build a small straw bale structure with my family some time in the next 3 years. It will probably be a cabin or vault design.

Fiat Currency

During the lead-up to the American election I was really excited by a Republican candidate named Ron Paul. He strictly supports the constitution and opposes the Federal Reserve. If I was American, these would be the pillars of my political beliefs. The constitution represents the rights and freedoms of each citizen, while the Federal Reserve represents the domination and subjugation of the elected government by banks and hyper-rich individuals. While I disagreed with Paul on certain social issues, he seemed to be the candidate who would present America and the world with the most optimistic and realistic leader. Alas, twas not to be. The Republican faithful have long abandoned the small-government, anti-war, true capitalism set of values that were the party's roots for so long.

Today, I'm posting two relevant pieces authored by Ron Paul. The first is a video in which Paul responds to the current 'bailout' of the mortgage industry (and the subsequent reporting of all credit card transactions to the IRS). The second is an article written by Paul about fiat currency. As I've grown older I've become more and more interested in economics. How do governments actually work? How does money actually work?

I'll leave you with a thought experiment I've been working on for a while. Imagine that there is a global, or at least North American economic collapse. Suppose that you live in an area where people still produce something with their labour (ie: food, merchandise, etc). How would you establish a new currency? How would you distribute the first notes? How would you increase or decrease your money supply? Who would control these things?

Impeachment?

Here's a pair of videos from CSPAN:

1. Ohio Democratic lawmaker and former presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich presents articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush to Congress. It's not the first time, and it probably won't be the last. Clinton was impeached for lying about his relationship with an intern. Bush lied about Iraq and led the nation to a disastrous war. Which is worse? According to Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly, the price of oil is far more important than an illegal war which has destroyed the international reputation of the U.S.

2. Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president outlines the mission of his party. Essentially, he advocates most of the same goals and desires as Ron Paul. Obviously, he has no chance of winning the election - but it is nice to see a third party getting air-time. I haven't heard much from Ralph Nader, which is unfortunate because he is a true American visionary.

Awesome Video Games!

All of the recent political talk has got my mind racing, and most of my online time has been spent investigating these topics. Alas, all work and no play makes channel-one a dull blog, so I decided to post a couple of lighthearted videos I've found recently.

First I'll start with a review of the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) on Inside Edition. That's right, Bill O'Reilly. Except by this point he wasn't a such a scumsucker just yet. If that brought you back, check out a clip from Awesome Video Games, a weekly review of games from the 80s - complete with neon colours and Vanilla Ice Posters. If you're a bit more cynical, you might prefer the Angry Nintendo Nerd's review of Back to the Future for the NES.

History is Written by the Winners

Oliver Stone's '91 film JFK was by no means a blockbuster. The media criticized the director's blurring of historical facts. I think to a new generation it made them start looking at the way things happen in history. Hopefully in 'free' nations people of a all generations have started to watch the actions of their government a little more closely as there are many great men warning them about
actions they perceive as a threat to the safety of their nation.

Eisenhower's outgoing presidential speech did that for a generation before, the famous military industrial complex speech. Stone has this as his opening scene. Followed by quite possibly the speech JFK was killed for making. So here it is The Sequel to a great movie.

Gomi Style

Everyone learned the 3 Rs in school: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Unfortunately, we tend to forget about that second R. Most of our packaging, while recyclable, isn't easily reused. Or is it?

Forget your throw-away society! Gomi Style shows you how to reuse discarded items. Whether its cardboard furniture, an electric motorcycle, stolen artwork, or a mirrored-aquarium, Gomi Style has some great ideas. Does it inspire you?

Black and White

John McCain and Barack Obama have two very different views about the war in the middle east and America's future. Our good friends at TPMtv have set these two perspectives beside each other. Take a quick look and tell me what you think. Whether you are American or not, the upcoming election will have a major impact on the world and your own life.

In a follow-up to an earlier post, I would also like to point fellow teachers towards Wikispaces. If you enjoyed the "Portal to Media Literacy" video you might have wondered how you could set up a wiki in your own classroom. Wikispaces provides free, unlimited wikis for educational purposes. Take advantage of these amazing participatory classroom tools.

A Crown of Olive Leaves

The Olympics are nearly upon us, and this year's host is the rising superpower of our world. Today, I added the new Digg gadget to my IGoogle homepage and was presented with some photos of China's Olympic venues. Since I will be traveling to China within the next 2 weeks, it perked my interest.

I think that the "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube" look awesome. The Olympics are an amazing way for China to propel itself into the global community once again. For years, China has closed itself against a world which exploited and dominated it. Whether it was European powers colonizing individual cities, or America supporting a brutal dictator, outside forces left a lasting impression on the Chinese psyche. Thankfully, the Chinese seem to have forgiven the past, and are looking towards the future. I only hope that the West can take advantage of this gesture to forge a lasting partnership with the East. Otherwise, the Chinese might be justifiably insulted by western hypocrites who decry China's human rights records while they purchase t-shirts at Wal-Mart made in Chinese sweatshops.

To Arms! To Arms!

Following the dismissal of Jacques Necker on July 11, 1789 the people of Paris began to fear for the lives of their representatives in the Third Estate. Having no arms with which to protect themselves, they resolved to storm the Bastille (a prison and arms depository). This is considered the third step of the French Revolution. (First, the nobility refused to pay higher taxes to finance the American War of Independence. Second, the Third Estate were forced out of their chambers and made the Tennis Court Oath.) The storming of the Bastille led to the Third Estate drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man - a pivotal document by any historian's standard.

July 14, now known as Bastille Day or the "Fête Nationale" in France, is a French national holiday which celebrates the uprising of the French people against classes which oppressed them politically and economically. It should be noted that without the arms within the Bastille, the people of Paris, and their uprising, would have been easily squashed by the French military. What if they did not secure these arms? Would the revolution have been successful? More to the point, how will the modern citizen revolt against his or her government if their government follows the pattern of almost every government in world history?

Disappearance of the Neanderthal?

What happened to this descendant of homo-erectus?
1. Neanderthals evolved to a separate species which became extinct and were replaced by early modern humans traveling from Africa.
2. Neanderthals was a contemporary subspecies which incidentally bred with Homo sapiens and disappeared through absorption.
3. Neanderthals never split from Homo sapiens and most of their populations transformed into anatomically modern humans between 50-30 thousand years ago.

I have not done alot of research on this topic but it interests me. So I want to know what you think?

We are Anonymous. Expect Us.

Here's a pair of videos that might be good for a laugh. I was watching Craig Ferguson on Youtube a while back and I came across this parody. Unfortunately, I hadn't seen the original video before, so I didn't quite get it. To make a long story short, watching these two videos sent me along a stream of research into Scientology and all of its craziness.

If you are interested, here is the Scientology wiki. You might also be interested to know that a large internet group called Anonymous declared war on Scientology a while back using this this video as their declaration. Who is Anonymous? Fox news described this group as a bunch of 'hackers on steroids'. Go Fox! In reality, we are all part of Anonymous. It refers to members of the anonymous internet culture - the uncollected collective. It is everyone and no-one. For the record, Anonymous was responsible for the arrest of internet predator Chris Forcand in Canada. It was the first time an internet predator was arrested because of 'internet vigilantism'.

Oppression

In the media, we often hear about how Israeli troops are 'reacting' to Palestinian rockets when they attack and kill civilians in Palestine. The irony if this statement should be obvious.

The laws of these lands are created to push the Palestinians away. The most insidious of these laws is the demolition of Palestinian homes. If you're interested, you can check out the wiki for more information. What would drive you to go to war? To fire rockets? To suicide bomb? What if you were completely oppressed, your home was destroyed, your children were stillborn because their mothers could not pass Israeli checkpoints to get to a hospital, your brothers and fathers were arrested because of alleged ties to 'terrorist' networks?

The video I've posted documents the actions of Jews who are against all of this. The people who resist the occupation, who resist the demolition, and who assist in the rebuilding. Check it out.

A Portal to the Future

Back in teacher's college I came across this video. It's awesome. It really helped me evolve as computer user and teacher. I actually prepared a presentation for my history class based on this information, but sadly was never able to deliver it.

Nonetheless, the author has released another video that blew me away. His name is Michael Wesch, a professor at Kansas State University. Today's video is a seminar that he gave at the University of Manitoba. It's a long one, but incredibly interesting. Whether you are a teacher or a student, you should be able to understand the significance of what he is talking about. If only my profs had been anything like this guy. His students ended up learning and remembering FAR more than they would have. And it looks like (gasp!) most of them actually came to a first year class. All without textbooks or lectures.

Watch it and please comment below. I would like to know what other people think.

On this day...

On this day in 1804, the most famous duel in American history happened. Vice-president Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton exchanged pistol shots in New Jersey. The confrontation started at a dinner party the two men were at, Mr. Hamilton had been discrediting the Vice-president while he was running for Governor of New York against a family member of Hamilton's. There were only two witnesses to the duel in which Hamilton was fatally wounded and died the next day. The intentions of the two men are disputed to this day. Monuments of the duel exist in New Jersey today although the originals, must consisting of busts of Hamilton, have been vandalized since 1841. This duel was fought at a time when dueling was being outlawed in the northern US.

Harden the Fuck Up!

Ever heard of Chopper Read?
He's a hard-ass Australian con.
Now that he's 'on the outside' he makes CDs.
Anyways, Ronnie Johns does a pretty good impression of him.
Harden the fuck up, Australia!
Of course, Chopper doesn't think much of the impression.

With the Future of the World at Stake...

Who will be the next U.S. President?
Are you as interested as me?
Smooth talking Barack or straight-shooting McCain?
Veracifier is my #1 source for American election information. They seem to lean Democrat (after the last 7 years what fool wouldn't?) but strangely enough, they present their information in a relatively unbiased fashion. I found these guys on Youtube. They started out at as TPMmedia (Talking Points Memo). Josh Marshall is their anchor, and all-around guy-in-charge. He's one of the best in the business. Relevant and succinct commentary of important issues. It doesn't get much better.
It's worth checking out, and maybe even subscribing.

The Spirit of the Age

Welcome to a brave new world.
Our first video, Zeitgeist, has some politics, history, and more.
It has served as an awakening to many people, and I felt that it would be a fitting first post.
At the very least, it should provide some light for those still inside the cave.
Drop a comment if you have something to say.