Graham Glass, etc.

Ron Paul raises $1,200,000 in 7 days

I'm a huge fan of the US constitution and the vision of the founding fathers of America. Since Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who understands and supports the US constitution as it was originally intended, I regularly donate to his presidential campaign.

One bit of great news is that Ron just raised over $1,200,000 in seven days of campaigning. His message of peace and freedom is clearly resonating with a lot of people! I bet a lot more people would vote for him if they spent a little time reading some American history.

The Problem with America, Part 1

I moved to America about 20 years ago, and immediately fell in love with the country and its people. I felt a deep respect for the founding fathers and their principles, and considered myself a patriot even though I was not yet a citizen. Last year I took the last step in the naturalization process and became a US citizen.

Although I am happy to finally be a US citizen, I am also one of the 80% of Americans who think that the current Administration and Congress are doing a horrible job. The continuous stream of problems and screw-ups are well documented and known to most people, so I won't bother to list them here. But clearly the war with Iraq, overly expensive healthcare, a social security system that's running out of money, the huge national debt, the erosion of personal rights and a poor education system are at the top of the stack.

It's interesting to try and figure out why the US is in its current state. Some people blame it on a particular individual or political party. Others blame it on corporate greed, powerful lobbyists, or a population that is ill-informed and apathetic. While I agree that these factors will affect our ability to get out of the current mess, I don't think that they are the root cause.

I think that all the big problems are the result of a single, fundamental defect that was present at the birth of America and has evolved over the years.

The DNA of America has mutated.

The US Constitution is broken.

In the next part of this series, I'll elaborate on this theory.

Norwegian Engineers at Work

Check out this hilarious video!

Nice Idea - Watch a funny movie here

Video about Iran

If you're interested in learning a bit about Iran, I recommend watching this video. I used to live in Tehran, have many Persian friends, and have a generally favorable opinion of the country. I sincerely hope that the US cools off and backs down from its aggressive stance.

Update: here's a link to some of the most intelligent observations about US/Iran relations

Lion Love

Check out this heartwarming video of a Lion who, after a year of living in the world, is reunited with the men who raised her in captivity. (link from Reddit).

gZaidLearn about edu 2.0

orZaidLearn, a site nominated for "best educational blog", recently added a nice post about edu 2.0. I particularly appreciate his belief that sites like ours are the beginning of a new era in education, where free learning systems, open resources and community involvement will change the way we teach and learn.

DemoFuse: RIP?

When we were designing online tours for edu 2.0, we picked DemoFuse. We were very happy with the original results, and looked forward to additional features like internationalization and voiceovers. However, it looks like the company has effectively shut down.

The tours still run for now, but the graphics such as arrows and cursors no longer show. In addition, all emails to the company bounce and none of the phone calls get through. I liked Demofuse a lot and it's a shame that they've thrown in the towel. However, it's also annoying as an early adopter than they couldn't at least let the tours that were built already continue to run correctly.

So now we have to move quickly and pick another online tour solution.

 

EDU 2.0 on KillerStartups.com

EDU 2.0 is featured in the top 10 startups at KillerStartups.com. My favorite comment:

Been playing with this since the start. It is already better than many commercial systems.

 

Back from Burning Man

I recently got back from Burning Man, a yearly event in the Nevada desert that is famous for its laid back attitude, amazing range of art, funky vehicles, party atmosphere, and dust-strewn environment.

The best short description I've heard is "Max Max meets Cirque du Soleil". The Wikipedia entry for Burning Man is here.

I've posted a few personal photos from the event, but for a fascinating and in-depth report of Burning Man 2007, I recommend Marc Merlin's report.

It's interesting to note that the 2008 theme is "American Dream":

This year's art theme is about patriotism -- not that kind which freights the nation state with the collective weight of ego, but a patriotism based upon a love of country and culture. Leave ideology at home; forget the blue states and the red; let parties, factions and the issues that divide us fall away. Ask yourself, instead, what can postmodern America yet give to the world?

If you like adventure, you'd love Burning Man.