Should I ever get elected President of the United States, I will not pardon the turkey. I will get an axe and personally cut its head off. And then it will be prepared, cooked and served for Thanksgiving dinner.

That is all. Hope everyone else had a good Thanksgiving too.

Considering how frequently you hear people assaulting the fundamental principles of capitalism these days, it’s nice to hear someone coming out in its defense.

Here’s my favorite part of his piece:

Making obscene profits may make you jealous, but it isn’t evil. There’s a reason so many people are using the Cash4Gold service – it’s easy and convenient. They don’t make promises on their website that they don’t keep, and they aren’t tricking or scamming people. They are simply buying low and selling high, and that’s capitalism at its finest.

Now go to TechCrunch and read the whole thing.

This week we have:

Schools Ban Touching
In response to overhyped fears of the overhyped swine flu pandemic schools in a Long Island district have taken the completely logical approach of banning students from touching each other.

U.S. Wants To Get Tourists By Using Ads Paid For By Tax On Tourists
Harry Reid is behind the genius plan to entice tourists to come for America. The bill pays for these ads by levying a tax on all tourists who come to America.

Teachers Prevented From Getting Drunk On Weekends
New rules in England on teacher behaviour prevent teachers from getting drunk on the weekend. Teachers are understandably upset over this intrusion into their private lives.

Dutch Police Destroy Cannabis Being Used For Legal Experiment
Police were proud of destroying over half of crop of cannabis plants they found on a farm. Turns out the crop was part of a legal experiment into the uses of hemp fiber being run by the University of Wageningen.

Government Pays For Viagra For Pedophiles
Add this to the list of problems with socialized medicine. Britain’s National Health Service ensured an abusive pedophile still got Viagra. In addition it has spent $2.5 million on sex change operations and $6000 giving one girl breast implants. And people here are worried about rationing.

Which one is the top Government FAIL of the week? I leave that for you to decide.

For this week there’s:

Taxpayer-Funded Graffiti
The city of Calgary decided to get some “urban street artists” to decorate a wall in its new Shaw Millenium Park. And then were surprised when after supplying free paint and no supervision the entire park was covered in spray painted f-bombs.

Would-be Dutch Sailor Placed in Government Custody
Laura Dekker wants to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world. When she applied to be allowed to miss school to do so the Dutch government decided to place her under government custody and make her undergo examination by a child psychologist.

Council Spends £100,000 – Then Lets Them Die
The Islington Council spent £100,000 of taxpayer funds on a 30ft high wall of plants. Unfortunately they didn’t bother to make sure the sprinkler system was fully functional and all the the plants proceeded to die. Now the wall is a £100,000 eyesore.

Missouri Bans Wrong Plastic
Apparently there’s a problem in Missouri with people leaving styrofoam coolers floating in the river. So the state banned having them while boating. Except they didn’t. Instead of banning expanded polystyrene – styrofoam – they banned polypropylene – what Tupperware is made of.

Police Now Steal From You Too
Police in London have now embarked on an “innovative” new program. If they find your car unlocked and valuables inside the policy is now to seize those valuables. Don’t worry though, they’ll return them immediately if you have an urgent need for them. Great to know they’ll take their own sweet time if they don’t think your need is urgent.

Vote for whichever story you think is the top example of Government FAIL.

Here are this week’s entries, vote for the one you like best:

Mom Fined For Grieving Too Long
A mother in Australia Britain was fined £86 for spending too much time grieving at the casket of her stillborn son before he was taken to be cremated.

Combat Helicopters Can’t Be Used In Combat
Six helicopters earmarked for combat use by the British Ministry of Defence cannot be used in combat due to a failure to equip them with the necessary armor.

New Bedford Shreds Citizens Tax Payments
About 300 city residents will have to resend their tax payments after a clerk shredded them before they were deposited.

Companies Blamed for MN Bridge Collapse Get $50 Million in New Contracts
The state of Minnesota ended up blaming two companies for the bridge collapse several years ago. Now it’s awarded them tens of millions of dollars in new transportation contracts.

British Police Give 9 Year Old German Ticket for Climbing Tree
A German child visiting his cousins in Britain was giving a ticket by a British police officer for anti-social behaviour. The officer claimed the chil was abusive towards him but the child in fact speaks no English.

First thought is the Blackberry. It’s got all the functionality I want out of the device and the keypad makes it easier to type out posts than some of the other options. Plus, I can get a Blackberry on my current provider.

Second thought is the iPhone. It has a wide range of functionality that covers the bases I want covered. Plus, I also need to upgrade to a computer with better tools for video editing and the like so I intend to switch over to a Mac which gives another plus to the iPhone. On the other hand, I’m on Verizon currently, so that locks me out of an iPhone until I get a cell phone plan of my own.

Third thought is the Google Android platform. The G1 is yet to be released, but it looks to offer a wider range of potential functionality than either the Blackberry or the iPhone. And it has both a full keypad and touchscreen, which gives it the best of both the previous options. On the other hand, it’s just coming out so prices will likely be higher and a new, better one coming out soon after. And there’s the question of phone plan.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

Sorry for not posting in ages. School has been relatively crazy, hopefully one day soon I can start posting more regularly again.

-The Waterman

From this high point the film continues to carry on with its message of individualism and free thinking. The protagonist Lyra is a young girl of strong willfulness and determined to live her life by her own rules and not ones arbitrarily imposed upon her. She is also remarkably insightful, a trait that prompts multiple authority figures to be quiet and do as she is told.

The main villain of the movie is the cloyingly sweet Marisa Coulter. An agent of the government (called the Magisterium), she appears at first to support Lyra in her desire to be free. After Lyra leaves with her she reveals her true nature. Mrs. Coulter speaks in glowing terms of how the Magisterium tells people what to do, and that society can only function when people do as they are told. This loathsome nature of Ms. Coulter is fully realized in her home where she acts as a tyrant, treating Lyra as little more than an amusing pet. Lyra eventually rebels against this oppression and runs away. At this point she falls in with a number of different individuals and groups, all of them united in their support of freedom and opposition to the Magisterium, eventually journeying to the far north to rescue children kidnapped for the purpose of experimentation into destroying free will and free thought.

Much ado has been made by religious conservatives over the supposedly atheistic message of the film and the books it is based off of. Having read all the books and seen the film, I assure you all that the film has been fully excised of anything that might be even remotely religious. The Magisterium, an autocratic theocracy in the books, is now simply an autocratic, totalitarian government. Likewise things that concerned religion in the books, for example the nature of the soul, have been changed to be the nature of free will or similar concerns of a more secular nature.

This film is a must see for anyone who loves liberty. It promotes the values of freedom, self-determination, and resistance to oppressive authority. Even more importantly, it puts these views in a highly accessible format, so not only is it a good time for those already aware and who enjoy a good story, it is also an excellent vehicle for introducing young people to the cause of Liberty. It is highly recommended that you go see this film, and if you go, make sure to take your younger siblings along with you and discuss the ideas with them afterwards.