Graham Glass, etc.

EDU 2.0 passes 13,000 members

My EDU 2.0 education site has just passed the 13,000 member mark, and it's especially satisfying to see some of our happy users evangelize the site.

For example, this video is Angel Turrado Barrio presenting EDU 2.0 at the Congresso Nacional Internet en el Aula in Spain.

If you haven't visited the site recently, I encourage you to check it out. As you can see from the latest news update, we've been very busy!

Ron Paul: Right Again

Here's a link to a speech by Ron Paul back in 2002 that describes exactly what was wrong with the housing market and what would happen if the government didn't change its policies. 6 years later, it is panning out precisely as he predicted in 2002:

"Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors misled by foolish government interference in the market."

Ron Paul on the Bailout

Ron Paul on the latest Government Bailout. The phrase "casting pearls before swine" comes to mind.

CBS Covers for McCain

Here's a perfect example of how messed up the news networks are. CBS reporter Katie Couric asked McCain a question about the war and his response contained a bunch of errors. So they decided to replace his *actual* response with a video clip from a different interview. CBS should be ashamed of such pathetic behavior.

Quote of the Day

"To preserve the independence of the people, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses, and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes, have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account, but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers."

--Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816

Al Gore: Inspiring

It's so refreshing to listen to an inspiring speech for a change. Here is Al Gore challenging the nation to generate 100% of our electricity from renewable carbon-free sources within 10 years.

Lanterns

I love solar powered lanterns, so I bought two more. Here is the whole quartet:

Cat in a Cage

Imagine if you had to go to the Doctor in a cage...

ACLU

These days, the American Civil Liberties Union is the only major organization that defends the US Constitution; the President and Congress clearly no longer take their sworn duty seriously.

For example, the ACLU is going to challenge the recent violation of the fourth amendment by Congress: "Spying on Americans without warrants or judicial approval is an abuse of government power - and that's exactly what this law allows. The ACLU will not sit by and let this evisceration of the Fourth Amendment go unchallenged," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.

I have decided to set up an automatic monthly donation to the ACLU and stop funding any other political causes or parties. If you care for the US Constitution, I encourage you to do the same.

Who is a Patriot?

It's common to hear people questioning other peoples' patriotism these days, which made me wonder what makes someone a patriot in the first place.

The founding fathers of the United States of America wrote down their ideals and guiding principles for the nation and called it the US Constitution. This is the DNA of the country, and the one thing that the president and members and Congress are sworn to defend.

Rather than thinking in terms of wearing a flag pin, saluting the flag, singing a national anthem or reciting the pledge of allegiance, I prefer substance over form:

Patriot: someone who has read the US Constitution and defends its principles

I find this to be a much more satisfying definition.