Social Networking

Interesting article on superficiality of the new social networking phenomenon (or reality).

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/1224/Happiness-101-Less-tweeting-more-meeting

Forgot a movie on my last list which saw in the theatre, "Kick Ass". Action, comedy, yet perhaps a bit too dark at times.

2010 Movies

List of favorite movies I saw this year. Did not have to release in 2010.

District 9: Sci-fi at it's best!
Extract: Great comedy
A Town Called Panic: Hysterical French claymation
The Fall: Wizard of Oz redone?
North Face: Serious mountain climbing
Cube: Great Sci-fi once again
Mademoiselle Chambon: French Romance
My Bodyguard: Old film with famous teen actors
Appaloosa: Great western
Once: Great Romance and Music
House of Flying Daggers: Action
Anne of Green Gables: Made for TV but great contemporary film

May be couple more that could make the list or have forgotten. Seems the most recent releases are always nominated the most and tend to see those the following year.
Have a great holiday!

Tax Cuts

Interesting article and video on proposed tax cut changes and trickle down effects of Republican tax cuts.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/12/the_bush_tax_cuts_in_one_chart.html

http://www.youtube.com/user/leearnold#p/u/3/SA1f2MefsMM

Personally, I don't think anyone should be making more than 100k a year or less than 30k a year.
Heck, I'd even settle for strictly a consumption tax if salaries were fair based on work performed.

Interesting post on the German economy. Amazing to me how so many other countries help their citizens and in doing so make their countries prosper. What is wrong with our leadership here. Seems too often they'd prefer that slavery was back in fashion.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/24/923110/-Der-Grndungszuschu

Wikileaks is getting attacked by hackers, politicians, and coorporations now. Paypal will no longer allow them to use their service for donations. Cancelled my Paypal and eBay accounts today. Paypal for the second time. Seems the new economy is being incorporated into the old economy.

Exceptional?

Nice post by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times.
He is not my favorite writer. His "The World is Flat" book may have contributed in some way to America's supposed demise. Still, the Chinese do seem rather successful at adopting this model.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/opinion/01friedman.html?_r=1

Finished my Arduino class (arduino.cc). Main focus was on BlueGiga Bluetooth using iWRAP API. Had trouble with demo up near video equipment. Probably should have run more tests. Got a connection but temperature sensor was not registering. Probably should have included a push button backup circuit.

Fourth Post

Another publication I enjoy reading is the Christian Science Monitor.
They provide the information on reasons why something is happening unlike most other media outlets.
Often, all we get from the media is this happened. CSM will give you why it happened and what could be done to prevent it from happening again.
Interesting article read there today, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0929/Israeli-principal-summoned-over-history-textbook-that-adds-Palestinian-view
Anytime a book is banned or censored you tend to realize something is amiss. Things have been amiss in that part of the world for quite a while now. The Israeli government says it wants peace but continues to take premium lands and resources as it's own. Situation similar to that of the American Indians in our country. The overwhelming factor in most all actions is greed. People just want more. Not all of course but still a large percentage of the population. Is greed just just a genetic failure of human beings or is there some way it can be reigned in without being oppressive?

Third Post

Thought I'd take a moment to post Harper's Weekly Review. They know how to mix the news and humor. Did the Daily Show get their ideas here?

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/09/WeeklyReview2010-09-14

Big uproar, or so the media makes it out to be, over the repeal and or extension of the Bush tax cuts from some years back. Appears they are going to extend for the middle class (<250k a year) and roll back for those earning more. One question no one ever seems to ask is how much money does one need? One article had read recently stated about $75k/yr to be happy. Some countries have a "Happiness Index" to measure how well the country is doing similar to our Gross Domestic Product which is only all about money. I've argued for a while now that no one, I mean no one, needs to make more than 100k a year. Believe will result in a much more civilized society with a great jump in overall happiness which will lead to improved productivity, less crime, etc...
Unfortunately, our society is too closely geared towards the almighty dollar. More on this later.

Second Post

Some interesting links today. First, on income wealth disparity in the United States from Harper's and Slate. Used to read Slate a lot more. So much out there. Not time for everything. Am an avid reader of Harper's. Used to subscribe to the New Republic which went downhill leading up to the Bush election. Lot of tendencies to support Bush and support of the war there. Finally found Harper's after so many years.


http://www.harpers.org/subjects/WashingtonBabylon

Ken Silverstein and Scott Horton are very good as well as Lewis Latham.

How is Canada this time of year?

Another good toonist is Tom Tomorrow. His latest:

http://www.credoaction.com/comics/2010/09/if-mlk-were-alive-today/

Beck in DC on MLK anniversary of I Have a Dream Speech. Only in America?

First Post

Well, I finally decided to get in on this blog thing.
Hopefully I'll do better than my real journal with content.
Enjoy political cartoonists very much. This one is by Tome Toles of the Washington Post.
Interesting comments on 3D technology and television.
Tend to see 3D as a fad myself. Adds nothing to the movie experience except extra cost for the consumer.
Prefer to see content added in terms of life experiences rather than things blowing up. Of course, a good
combination of the two can be satisfying.
I don't watch much television myself. Mostly just PBS or C-Span. Most of what is out there is just titillation imho. I also enjoy watching movies very much albeit am very particular on my choices. My NetFlix queue probably has 200 films pulled from various sources. An excellent source for film ratings is www.metacritic.com
Am still becoming accustomed to the new twitter like (Web 2.0) layout which do not care much for.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/tomtoles/2010/08/third_eye_blind_there_apparent.html#more