Fire and Knowledge

The NY Times has a good comparison guide on Obama and McCain on various election issues. What I found most helpful is it has quotes from the candidates, so you hear where they stand from their own words.

Leo at Zen Habits has a great post about 50 amazing novels you should read. And if you’re looking for more, see my own recommended reading.

For those wanting more information on the Georgia-Russia conflict, the NY Times has an interesting article on the history of the situation.

It’s really sad that people kill each other over border disputes. I can see the appeal of a one-world government — imagine if the entire world was allied like the United States. We don’t go to war with different states, and I hope we never do.

I doubt a one-world government is possible — patriotism is too strong, fundamentalist Christians would oppose such a “beast,” and fundamentalist Muslims would only want it if was a theocracy and they were in charge.

Maybe it wouldn’t even solve things, but it could. What’s the other alternative? Certainly not everyone in the world is going to convert to Christianity or Islam and create a theocracy. We need a real-world, secular solution that people of all faiths and nations can support.

Any other ideas?

Now do this is the simplest task site I’ve ever seen, but extremely useful for a today list. I normally use Things for my general task management and a sheet of paper for my daily list, but I really like the idea of Nowdothis.com…

Not sure what to do next weekend? Want to do something fun but free? Check out 100 Things to Do During a Money Free Weekend.

I just found out that there are more people in slavery now than at any other time in human history:

In its 400 years, the transatlantic slave trade is estimated to have shipped up to 12 million Africans to various colonies in the West. Free the Slaves estimates that the number of people in slavery today is at least 27 million…. Three out of four slavery victims are women and that half of all modern-day slaves are children.

And if you think it’s just “out there” and not in the US, think again:

Estimates by the US State Department suggest up to 17,500 slaves are brought into the US every year, with 50,000 of those working as prostitutes, farm workers or domestic servants.

According to the CIA, more than 1,000,000 people are enslaved in the US today. Thousands of cases go undetected each year and many are difficult to take to court as it can be difficult to prove force or legal coercion.

This is crazy:

A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.

This bracelet would:

* take the place of an airline boarding pass
* contain personal information about the traveler
* be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
* shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to as, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line?

I’d hate to see what happens when the collar or central device malfunctions…

Pioneer has invented blu-ray discs that hold 400GB per disc in 16 layers. In comparison, CDs hold under 1GB, DVDs up to 9GB (double-layered), and current Blu-ray discs up to 50GB (double-layer).

That is more space on one disc than most people’s hard drive.