Battlestar Galactica Webisodes

The team that creates the Sci Fi channel’s Battlestar Galactica will be posting “webisodes” in the time leading up to the season premiere in October.  It’s a great show… dark, sexy… not your average science fiction program.  Check it out!

Maya civilization collapsed upon learning Kings weren’t Gods

“The decline of the Maya civilization began some 1,100 year ago when millions of Indians working on the contruction of tall pyramidal temples and palaces learned that their kings weren’t gods…”

So, what happens to a civilization when it’s government goes out of it’s way to tell it’s citizens that God doesn’t exist at all?

We’re going to find out.

eBay prohibits textbooks for Homeschool Teachers

Under pressure from a terrified teacher’s union, eBay has decided that “Teacher’s Edition” textbooks will no longer be allowed for resale on their popular auction site.  These items have now been categorized as contraband… leaving many homeschoolers with no outlet to sell off existing books so they can afford to purchase new textbooks that they may continue properly educating their children without the interference of the government-run public schools.

It’s no secret that the government education monopolies feel threatened by the trend in homeschooling… it is also no secret that homeschooled children tend to perform better than their public school counterparts despite the convoluted “statistics” that the education establishment trots out every year.  Some states have been pressured to make it illegal to homeschool your child… in spite of the fact that public schools are failing miserably at giving children even the most remedial education.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to eBay for auctioning/purchasing textbooks.  If you homeschool, check out SchoolbookAuction.com and HomeschoolBid.com.  They are devoted to homeschoolers and won’t be censoring knowledge any time soon like eBay has chosen to do.  And, that’s the bottom line, really… this notion that only accredited “teachers” should be able to possess teacher’s edition textbooks is ridiculous.  It’s censorship of the worst kind – plain and simple, and no less than an attempt to make it more inconvenient for homeschoolers to get the books they need to continue their education.  End the government monopoly on education… they aren’t doing a good job of it anyway.

My wife, Isabelle, teaches our two young daughters at home using the Calvert System.  We receive constant compliments on how well-behaved and intelligent our children are.  Yet, many of their peers are undisciplined, out-of-control and can barely read or write.  That’s not an accident…

If I misspelled anything in this post, remember, I went to public school.

Digg Fixing – Rockwell Libertarians Spam Digg.com

It would seem that some followers of Leo Rockwell have decided to pool their efforts and submit articles to Digg.com and then “digg them up” to the front page.  Nevermind that Digg is populated by primarily young adults and teenagers who think they are Liberals Democrats (or Anarchists) to the core.  Fashionable, yes?

At any rate, I guess the Rockwellites didn’t consider that these guys are also geeks who don’t have any trouble spotting such mathematical improbabilities.  BigDaveDiode busted out with the truth and the “L-Diggers”, as they call themselves, pretty much hid their faces in shame… but not before hurling a few obscenities.

It’s a shame, really.  I read some of Rockwell’s work and see some truth in it.  But, spamming Digg with articles and then getting a bunch of acolytes to digg ‘em up strikes me as a bit ignoble.  Not to mention the fact that most likely an incredibly small minorty of Diggers bother to read the article and stare in disbelief that it made it to the front page at all.  Plus, it’s fairly easy to spot a Rockwellite Spammer by simply looking at his Digg profile and checking out what they have been posting.

Don’t have to be a mathematical genius to figure that out.  I’ve lost some respect for Libertarians.