[Videos] About the US Primaries and Caucuses

It seems safe to say that the upcoming US Presidential Elections will be between Donald Trump for the Republican Party and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party. But how we got to this point in time involved the regular circus that is the US Presidential Primaries and related Caucuses.

And since he has already discussed how terrible a candidate Donald Trump is, John Oliver has now decided to tackle the selection process as a whole and manages to explain just how crazy the road to the US Presidential Elections can be. And by explain I mean make fun of in a lengthy 15 minute segment of his show Last Week Tonight.


See for yourself. This won't do anything to change the direction of the US elections, but at least we get to have a little fun.

[Technicolor Musings] Jesuit Hope for LGBTs?

A few months ago, Pope Francis stated "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" - a rather surprising statement for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The media were all over that story of course, but admittedly I remained rather skeptical about the whole thing. It's a nice statement, but it's not exactly official Church policy or anything like that.

But in a published interview released this week, the new Pope has gone on to discuss a number of controversial topics - or at least those considered rather controversial by the Church. In the most direct statement ever released by a Catholic Pope, he has actually gone on to talk about how the Church needs to adopt a more inclusive approach to dealing with subjects like homosexuality and even the role of women in the Church. And while homosexual acts are still considered a sin, this was a rather public acknowledgement that this is still somehow separate from the orientation.

These views are not particularly new - we've heard them a lot from the Church in general but especially among Jesuits in particular. I had been taught as much during my school years given I had gone to a Jesuit-run school. But it's nice to hear him to make such statements formally in something as concrete as the interview published around the world.

This won't make me become Catholic again or anything like that - I think I'm well and done with organized religion. But the Pope's statements do give me hope for how the Catholic Church approaches members of the LGBT community. Instead of a Church that actively campaigns against LGBT concerns and rights issues, perhaps this will lead to the Church focusing on its ministry instead of negative campaigns and such.

One cannot say for certain how the Pope's statements will translate into actual doctrine and Church policy. But again, even a skeptical agnostic like myself finds reason to hope for the better. And that's a good thing.

[Technicolor Musings] On Writing About Transgender People

The recent news about Chelsea Manning clearly affirming her identity as a transgender person is an interesting one that has resulted in a lot of different media outfits fumbling over how to address her. To be fair, the T in LGBT is probably one of the more misunderstood sections of the rainbow spectrum.

Thankfully, the internet is your friend. But since you're already here, I'll save you the additional web-search and just discuss a few salient points for you to remember when it comes to transgender people.

You can thank me later.

[Infographics] The Truth About Tech

In a somewhat timely fashion given the recent news about the working conditions at Foxconn, the Chinese company responsible for the production of many of Apple's most popular devices such as iPhones and iPads. I received notice about this particular infographic by Masters Degree Resources as an email lead and it seemed interesting enough to share.

Now don't get me wrong - I recognize how pretty much all of the manufacturing industry gets accused of unfair labor practices at one point or another. And this condition is not limited to any one industry - it seems to apply to any situation that involves using as many people as possible to create as many goods as possible for as little cost as possible. That's just your classic equation for human abuses right there.

So for the full infographic, just click past the Read More cut below:

[Blog Action Day] Food

Starvation by Cody Simms via Flickr.

Today marks Blog Action Day 2011 - and given today is also World Food Day, thus it made sense to the organize to merge the discussions about the two topics.

Recently my annual physical exam showed a few above average spikes in my system that has mandated a change in my diet as recommended by our company physician. And while it's a bit of a challenge, it's not exactly like I've started to live a deprived life.

[Japan] Crisis Resources For The 2011 Sendai Earthquake

The massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake that affected Japan on March 11, 2011 has caused tremendous damage to the country and this has resulted in untold loss of life. The earthquake triggered a massive tsunami along with additional aftershocks of at least 6.0 in magnitude, causing additional damage.

It's always tricky to figure out how to coordinate efforts and where to find information during these periods, something that the folks at Google have also found frustrating, hence the need for a Google solution.

Thus Google has put together a crisis response information page to help people in Japan find information about where to find help, get information on alerts and other warnings and relevant maps of the area.



One of the more important tools they've quickly put together is the People Finder, similar to what they did after the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand. The tool helps people either report updates on people that they know of or help people search these reports for updates on their loved ones.

As of the time of this posting, there are almost 65,000 entries already in the database and this continues to grow. I'm hopeful this will help more and more people find their loved ones in the wake of this tragedy.

I remain confident that Japan will rise from this tragedy stronger than before. Already their infrastructure has proven the resiliency and the brilliance of their engineering and disaster preparations has saved countless lives. And the strength of the Japanese people is what truly keeps them thriving despite all that has happened.

Regardless, we hope for the best for all those who were affected by this tragedy.

[Google] Innovations For First Week of February

February is just beginning and already Google is impressing the world (including this geek) with a lot of their recent announcements and innovations. And I'm not just talking about the changes to the Google Docs interface, but more for their side projects of sorts that don't lead to direct improvements to their core products.

I think the biggest news for me, apart from the updates about progress made by Google.org is the Google partnership project to allow Egyptians to update Twitter via a voicemail service. The Speak2Tweet project was the result of hurried efforts by a group of Google, Twitter and SayNow engineers to find a way to sort of break the internet blockade that's in effect in Egypt. The result is a sort of Twitter drop box where updates from Egypt will appear on Twitter with the #Egypt hashtag in order to help identify them. It's a novel solution to the problem and I'm really thankful that Google's come up with this.

Image via WikipediaThen just today Google announced Google Art Project, which allows users to explore museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam using an interface similar to Google Street View. You can even see brushstroke-level detail for many famous art pieces that is almost unheard of in this day and age. It's something you would normally have to pay to see including your airfare and accommodations to get to these museums and now it's all available online.

Google can't possibly benefit from these efforts except for branding purposes, but they're both still pretty impressive.


Good job, Google. Good job indeed.

[Blog Action Day] Climate Change

It's that time of the year again, folks - Blog Action Day! And this year's topic is eerily timely for Filipinos like myself - Climate Change. I say this because of the obvious reasons of the recent typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma) that have ravaged the country and have caused hundreds of deaths and billions of pesos worth of property and crop damage.

We live in frightfully interesting and unusual times when the weather just isn't the same as it used to be. We're seeing stronger and stronger storms and typhoons around the world with increasing frequency and even the season seem somehow misaligned. Our winters are colder than ever before and last longer than they used to in some places. Our summers have gotten dryer and come earlier than expected and cause massive droughts or killer flash fires.

So yes, Climate Change is a very important topic for discussion and something that we all need to be aware of. More so, it's something that demands true action in these turbulent times and no one country should wait around for the others - we all need to act in order to address the changes in our climate.

For the unaware, Climate Change refers to the gradual shifts and changes in how our weather systems work across the world, something that can be natural given certain factors like shifting tectonic plates or other events of that nature. However in a more modern context, Climate Change refers more to the current shifts in our planet's climate whose origins lie in our own behaviors and industries, perhaps better known as Global Warming.

Image via Wikipedia

A lot of politicians still argue whether Climate Change is real or not, but we know it to be true. We've seen the shrinking of the glaciers and ice caps at the poles and we've observed the increasing rise of sea levels around the world. We've measured increased greenhouse gases in the air along with significant changes in average temperature around the world. More so, we've seen all these more radical changes in weather patterns and storms and typhoons when we were never expecting anything of that magnitude.

There is no one cause to climate change and thus there's no easy fix either. Politicians continue to drag their feet to execute effective legislation directed at addressing this growing threat and continue to focus on irrelevant issues like the protection of major corporations, continuing their wars at home and abroad and other stupid things. In the meantime, things are getting worse a lot faster than they're getting better and a holistic solution is needed soon.

When I talk about a holistic solution, I'm referring to addressing many changes needed across countries and industries. This means capping global carbon emissions, shifting sufficient funds towards cleaner energy solutions and technologies and better educating populations about their role in all this. It means seriously promoting conservatism in everyone's lives and responsible use of our resources.

As citizens, our responsibilities are twofold. First, we need to live more responsible lives, try to save energy and use products that support climate change initiatives. Second, we need to speak to our governments by writing to our officials, participating in legal protest actions and ultimately voting for politicians who are committed to addressing this agenda.

Climate Change is real. The danger is real. Do your part today! Let's fight global warming together as one planet before it's too late!

[Environmentalism] Earth Hour 2009

Image via Wikipedia

Today is March 28, 2009. Today is the big day for Earth Hour 2009.

For those unfamiliar with what today is all about, Earth Hour is a global movement to get people involved even in a limited way to fight climate change. To do this, willing participants are asked to turn off all their lights for one hour - this being Earth Hour. This year, Earth hour is scheduled for tonight at 08:30pm - 09:30pm local time, depending on where you live. It's just about turning off your lights, but if you want to go totally without electricity at the same time, feel free to do so.

It may not seem like much at the level of the individual, but of course everyone doing this together does make a significant impact on our electrical consumption. More so, it sends a strong statement in terms of how many people around the world are concerned about climate change and the continued reckless use of fossil fuels.

So make yourself felt tonight - turn off your lights during Earth Hour and let's hope that the message gets where its supposed to.

[US Politics] Welcome to a New World

This is a Tri-Blog entry that will appear on all three of my blogs - The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything, Beyond Dinobot Island and Moonbase 8.

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Some day many years from now when people try asking me that classic question of "Where were you when Obama was sworn into office?" I'll answer as honestly as possible. I'll tell them, "I was at the office without access to a TV and our internet connection was wonky because we got hit by the W32.Downadup worm."

I know, it's not necessarily the greatest answer in the world, but it's pretty much how I'm going to remember things.

I didn't get to watch the live CNN coverage. I couldn't even get alternative sites like Justin.tv, Hulu, Joost or uStream to work for me. I guess the office was just too good at blocking streaming media and what they couldn't block was effectively stopped by the effects of the computer virus on our security infrastructure.

It wasn't a total loss, at least I got to catch news snippets here and there. I tried my best to catch comments on Twitter and I got to read the TIME.com Liveblog coverage of the event. I saw a few images on the various blogs I subscribe to via Google Reader and I noted how while the Oath was not perfect, it was certainly genuine and clearly marks Barack Hussein Obama officially becoming the 44th President of the United States of America.

The 8-year nightmare is over and now I actually feel excited about things. These past years we've feared how the awesome might of the US has been mishandled time and time again under Bush. Obama has a very tall order ahead of him and while I doubt he can possibly live up to ALL of the hype set up over the past few months, even years, but I can see it in his eyes that he's out to make a serious change for the better.

I initially wanted to end this with the full transcript of his speech but then I'm sure everyone's doing that right now and you've probably read it a million times by now. If you haven't then I've linked to it up there and you certainly should get around to it.

You go Obama. Your country and a very significant part of the world is rooting for you.

[World Affairs] Russia on the Rise

Image via WikipediaThis has been an interesting news week - at least I certainly think so. One of the bigger items that's been going for some time is the on-going dispute between Russia and Ukraine over the price of gas. Long story short, Ukraine's contract for gas comes up and they don't agree to pay Russia's higher rates, so Russia cuts them off. Russia then suspects Ukraine is stealing gas from the pipes running through the country in order to supply the rest of Europe and so they ultimately kill that supply too. Thus the rest of Europe begins to freeze due to insufficient heating and cooking gas while Russia and Ukraine continue in their pissing contest.

And where's the EU in all this? Well, they're pretty much as useless as always and are unable to force Russia into anything, They are rather angry though and are trying their best to make sure their citizens know just how angry they are.

Oh the joys of international politics.

Russia has a long history of hard bargaining. Let's face it - we've seen a return to older ways under the reign of Putin, which is essentially uninterrupted with him now performing as the country's Prime Minister. The current disagreement with Ukraine may seem to be just a simple dispute between a merchant raising rates and a customer who refuses to pay the new rates but cannot survive without the commodity, but of course it's not just that. This is the country that came up with the KGB and made international espionage an art form more than Ian Flemming ever did.

Take for example the Ukraine's decision to side with the state of Georgia when Russia was stepping up aggression with the former member state. Throw in their intent to join NATO and naturally you have for one angry bear deciding to do something about it. And you have to admit, the move sends a very strong message that terrorists need high explosives to replicate. The measure may not impact Ukraine directly in the short term given their sizeable gas reserves, but it drastically affects the rest of Europe and those same nations who will determine if the Ukraine can join their military organization.

Sure, Russia has always played the role of the bully and nations at one point or another will end up crying foul and hoping something is done. But seriously, when has anyone been able to push back Russia once it sets out on an agenda in recent years? While the Soviet Union is a fast fading part of our history, recent events continue to reinforce the fact that they're not a nation to be written off just yet. The threat of nuclear conflict has been replaced with more subtle weapons like the economic warfare on-going right now.

And who knows what Russia will manage to achieve in the future - Putin remains in power after all, in one way or another.

[Blog Action Day] Poverty Perspective

Image via WikipediaToday is Blog Action Day, a day where all participating bloggers try to devote some of their blogging time to writing about one topic. This year, it's Poverty, and that's a pretty big topic to tackle all at once.

Coming from the Philippines, a country where majority of the population lives below the poverty line. Yeah, I think we're bound to have a fairly decent perspective on the world of poverty. It affects so many parts of our lives after all.

I think the biggest effect of living amidst so much poverty is how the political system has adapted to it and ultimately taken advantage of it as well. Instead of trying to focus its policies on addressing the issue directly or ensuring it no longer happens, more often than not we find our government playing to their ignorance and their needs in order to remain in power and perpetuate their own political legacy.

It's no wonder why we continue to live as we do.

I'm sure every politician enters the arena with some measure of good intentions. They might want to give back to their community or perhaps try to live up to the political legacy of their parents before them. However in order for someone to win in this country's political environment, one has to play the game.

In countries like the US, elections are largely issue-driven and people gravitate to one side or another based on their shared beliefs with the candidates. Here, politicians can win by playing to the hearts of the poor and less fortunate and do so very well.

They ensure small tokens are left around communities to remind them of their involvement - everything from community halls to basketball courts with politcal names plastered all over them. Political rallies draw crowds because of the celebrities they tap and the masses start to associate the traits and characteristics of these actors as drawn from the TV shows and movies they appear in and associate these traits with the political candidate in question. Heck, celebrities often go into politics here and do very well to succeed time and time again.

A lot of this stems from ignoring the issues that would really help address these concerns. Our education system remains in shambles and without strong support there, we continue to produce undereducated workers out of future generations. Wages remain low and the labor code theoretically supports the worker but at the same time promotes contractual hiring and non-regularization in favor of not giving government-mandated benefits and the like. The economy surges forward but we are stuck in the trap of the rich getting richer and the poor getting more and more destitute.

How do we fix a problem like that? I'd argue for the need to vote responsibly, but how does one conquer the overwhelming majority of voters who vote more with their hearts than their heads? I don't meant to belittle them in any way - it's just a natural consequence of the system at large.

Of course, the power to change thing starts with every individual making that choice to make a difference. Every vote done responsibly matters. Every time you make the right kind of financial decisions and not give in to overindulgence. Every time you choose to give away things you no longer need instead of greedily keeping them for no good reason. Every time you take the effort to care for someone else and really give a damn, then it matters.

[Blog Action Day] Fight Poverty Today!

Today, October 15, 2008, is Blog Action Day. If you have no idea what this is about, Blog Action Day is an attempt to get the global blogosphere all writing about one topic in order to increase awareness and generate discussion and new ideas. Last year it was about the Environment. This year it's about fighting Poverty.

I'm pretty busy from a real-life perspective so I may not be able to write as many entries as I had originally planned. Still, I will put in my time and effort to contribute to this global effort and perhaps you should too if you also maintain a blog.

Be sure to register at the organization's website to make sure your blog is counted!

[Environmentalism] The Role of Racing in These Times

Image via Wikipedia These days, one can't help think about the rising costs of petroleum-based products whether or not you own a car. The state of fuel prices naturally affects all aspects of life and hits us all where it hurts - our wallets. Our day-to-day expenses just this year alone have all gone up to some degree whether in terms of commuting fare, electricity prices, and of course even basic goods like food and essential services. It's certainly a painful world that we're living in, but one that was not totally unforeseen given our consumption of oil.

While global focus is being directed towards working on alternative fuel technologies, conservation efforts and even properly inflating your tires, but sometimes there are just those things that stare us in the face and make you wonder why we even bother.

Man, this is just me thinking out loud, okay? I know I'm so going to get flack for this, haha.

It's not that I have anything against this particular hobby / sport, but in period where everyone has gas prices on their mind, why do we still entertain the notion of professional racing? Yes, it's understandable that their fuel consumption is probably not going to be bigger than the entire US or even just the US military, perhaps, but sometimes acts like that still send messages. The entire motor sports world is dependent on high octane fuel and pretty much showcases it on international television for everyone to enjoy.

We know that every little bit counts, and I'm not sure how continually rewarding both the gasoline companies and the car-makers with this sport works with our global push towards trying to reduce fuel prices, or at the very least using fuel only when truly necessary. Imagine the kind of statement it would make to the world if certain racing groups like the F1 circuits suddenly announced a requirement for all vehicles to use bio-fuels in races starting in 2010? What if we discontinued certain circuits all together and moved towards further popularizing the solar-powered racing scene in order to continue to support environment efforts? That's what I mean when it comes to the statement or message the existence of these racing groups contribute to the world. It's not about the volume of fuel they consume but the purpose of this consumption they slap in our faces.

While the rest of the world is penny-pinching and trying to maximize fuel economy, we have folks with million dollar jobs just burning the fuel by going around in circles on a track, essentially just burning the gas to go nowhere meaningful. At this point, we can't escape our need for oil when it comes to mass transportation, shipping of goods, air travel and power generation. Aren't these better uses of our ever-diminishing supply of petroleum?

Whether it becomes a government-initiated policy or just a strong statement from the car-makers or race organizers, I just think it would mean a lot to everyone if the racers just stopped one day. Hopefully it'll be one day soon.

[Videos] Yellow Sticky Notes

As I was killing time on YouTube today, I came across this featured video by renowned Canadian animator Jeff Chiba Stearns entitled, "Yellow Sticky Notes". It's a very interesting piece about how his life became overly focused on his own tasks and to-do lists as documented on yellow sticky notes with him inadvertently ignoring all these major world events happening beyond.

I'm a big fan of animation and this particular piece really struck me, not just in terms of the quality of the animation but more the message he was trying to convey. It's because of films like this that I maintain a healthy respect for those who use short films, commercials and even music videos to tell a story. It's like visual poetry where you need to maximize every image as a poet would careful select every word.


Yellow Sticky Notes

[World Affairs] Putting a Price Tag on Iraq

Calls to end the war on Iraq have pretty much been constant since the war, well, began. By now you'd think such politically motivated campaigns and viral videos would be old hat by now, but then again interesting takes on the subject come along.

Case in point, this very short and direct to the point video that isn't as wordy or length as some of the other videos we've seen lately around the web.

Then again, maybe I just love statistics.


#5 - Costs Of War

[Environmentalism] Thinking Greener

I've always considered myself to be a pocket environmentalist - I say pocket since I've yet to get on a boat to protest whale fishing in the middle of the ocean and other fun stuff like that. Still, what geek doesn't maintain some level of awareness of the needs of the planet, right? How can we even hope to reach the futuristic world of our science fiction fantasies unless we manage to keep things together long enough for human civilization to get there, right?

With recent news focusing on constantly rising oil prices, greater concerns over the cost of basic necessities like food and utilities like electricity, thinking "greener" is definitely more and more important these days. It seems only right that as your resident Geeky Guide, I ought to be doing more in line with this.

That's always the challenge, isn't it? I'm sure a lot of us are keen on wanting to do something (or at least we say we are) and then when the task seems too daunting to address right away, we sort of take time, park it then forget about it until the next big issue or crises comes along to spur us into action. Don't you just hate that?

At the very least, I've started with the basics.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeFirst off I made sure that my partner and I put a conscious effort towards using only florescent bulbs throughout our apartment. It was a bit tricky since there is some comfort associated with the warmer tones of incandescent lights, but with recent advances in bulb technology to include a wider variety of both shapes and colors, we eventually resolved that concern.

Next came energy conservation. It's the basics of closing all lights when not in use, keeping appliance use to a minimum and checking the energy efficiency ratings of appliances before purchase. It certainly helped keep our electrical costs down, but it's not exactly saving the world just yet. I also tried to address the so-called "vampire electricity" usage due to higher technology appliances using power even when turned off. I now have all appliances on simpler kill-circuit power strips so when they're not in use, I can kill the circuit and thus the flow of electricity. That really made on our electric bill and I was very happy to see that.

But there's a lot more to be done, naturally.

I'm thinking of trying to devote more Geeky Guide time and resources towards speaking more about environmentalism, actively working to battle climate change and generally trying to reduce our carbon footprint in order to impact the world less negatively. It seems a great thing to do since everything starts with information, and I can only hope it pays off somehow.

Let's all try to be greener my fellow geeks! More on this subject in the weeks to come.

[Philippines] We Need to Learn to Trust Again

Feb. 15 Makati Anti-Arroyo Rally by Bikoy.

Filipinos no longer trust government.

That statement may seem both unfairly sweeping and terribly true at the same time. On my end, I'm not referring to just our present government under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but to the institution as a whole. Some might say that we never really got over the Marcos regime and the first People Power revolution didn't necessarily change things - it only marked the beginning of our ability to now freely express our distrust.

When the Marcoses left the country, our problems didn't go with them. In fact, new ones became added to the mix and as the years have passed, more and more we seem to be fueling these darker fires, using the cry of eternal vigilance to justify paranoia and increasing levels of fear and skepticism.

When I say that we don't trust out government as an institution, what I'm referring to is that we no longer believe in due process and allow the wheels of government to work anymore. Because of the extraordinary abuses we experienced at the hands of the Marcos regime, we are always thinking that we won't be able to resort to legal means of protecting our rights and thus the first instinct becomes to return to the streets and make our causes know there. Why can't people learn to trust again? Like in any relationship, I'll admit that trust has to be ultimately earned, but in the love-hate relationship of the Filipino with their government, we also need to learn to gamble some of that trust first and let the government prove itself.

We are now some of the harshest critics in existence. All it takes is the slightest mistake and we get into our professional rallying mode and create the placards, construct the effigies, have T-shirts made and create inventive chants and slogans to be shouted throughout the day.

We always claim that our government officials are corrupt or have hidden agendas and thus the official rulings on impeachment complaints are always touted as false or biased. We don't believe in the Office of the Ombudsman since we claim their just government flunkies who cannot make impartial decisions. More and more we claim increasing areas of government are corrupt, tainted or untrustworthy and where will that ultimately leave us?

At times I feel that from the view of the international community, we are a nation on the brink of anarchy. We seem to be trying to develop a habit of ousting our leaders whenever we feel displeased or not all political or social groups are satisfied by the decisions of those in power. That just reeks of political instability, which naturally rattles investor confidence and triggers travel alerts and official diplomatic warnings all saying the same thing - we're an uncertain and volatile country.

I'm not defending any of our past presidents / governments here, nor am I trying to make a statement about whether this allegation or that is true. What I am saying is that we need to start restoring the power derived from trusting our government as an institution. We might not always be satisfied by their decisions or their results but if we constantly seek extra-constitutional means to resolve our issues, then we'll never have a government that we can rely on. If we always choose not to trust, then the government will never be free to exercise its powers to make all of our lives better nor will it ever be given the chance to rise to the challenge we present.

We need to break the cycle before it's too late.

[Philippines] Monkey See, Monkey Do

Peso by donny27.

Hot on the heels of President Bush announcing his solution to the growing US economic crisis - a fairly hefty stimulus package, our own government seems to be attempting to position the merits of a similar measure.

An economic adviser to the President is now proposing P75 billion stimulus package of our own in order to combat the effects of continued downward spiral of the US economy at this time. Admittedly given our history for financial decisions motivated by less-then-ideal aims, I can't help but receive this proposal with and eyebrow raised and my doubts flying freely. Sure, it seems to make sense for the government to address the global effects of a possible US recession, but at the same time the added spending plans for the government always makes one think of extra income for our legislators and other spenders outside of what is officially declared.

Many see the US stimulus package as too little, too late, so why exactly should we be immediately following suit? There might be a need for a more calculated response to this issue and not simply following what the US is doing. Take for example the hedging facility for OFWs that has been recently launched by the President. Now that makes a bit more sense to me.

[Viral Video Chart] January 20 - 26, 2008

The world of viral video cannot help but be influenced by major events, political or otherwise. This last week we celebrated Marther Luther King Day in the US, dealt with the continuing political gladiator's arena that is the road to the US Presidential Elections in November, watched as the violence in the Gaza strip escalated even further and mourned the passing of Heath Ledger at such a very young age.

On a side note, the efforts against Scientology were particularly strong as well, resulting in a pretty striking video posted by, who else, Anonymous. Go figure.


#1 - Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream


#2 - Heath Ledger talks about the Joker


#3 - Message to Scientology


#11 - Gaza violence escalates - 17 Jan 08


#12 - David Chater on Israel's Gaza incursion - 15 Jan 08


#13 - Tom Cruise Scientology Video - ( ORIGINAL UNCUT ) 9:34 min