Magnetic bubbles at the edge of the solar system

The Voyager probes have been traveling away from Earth for over 30 years now. I occasionally check back on them because I have always been a bit of a space nut. Voyager 2 was special, because my son was born on the day it was launched by NASA in 1977. It was the first one launched and so was my son. Other than my little story, the Voyager Program was involved in the first Star Trek movie as a hybrid robot entity called V'ger, you might recall. That was 1979!
It's humbling to appreciate that these probes are now just at the edge of our solar system, past the orbit of Pluto the former planet, and hurtling into interstellar space. Space is really, really big, beyond imaginings!
These probes have returned a wealth of scientific data, and made discoveries that would be impossible in their absence. The latest one is that the edge of our solar system is filled with frothy magnetic bubbles. Here is NASA's explanation:

Popping the balloon of big government.

What came first: Big government OR Lobbyists? That is not a chicken and egg question, the answer should be obvious. There is no point in lobbying a small, powerless limited government. Only big, powerful and unrestrained governments are worth lobbying.
POTUS Gerald Ford said this in 1974 to a joint session of Congress: "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." He understood that there are two sides to the power of big government. Lobbyists and special interest groups know how to work both sides, this is true in the USA, Canada, and everywhere there is big government. Of course even in free and democratic countries there is corruption in government despite the best efforts of the law makers and the judiciary, corruption seems to be a "function" of government AND a function (in the mathematical sense) of BIG government. (yes two meanings of 'function').
Dan Mitchell at CATO produced a short video that suggests how to avoid corruption. Even though its content and advise is directed to an American audience, there is much to learn from it:

I am not a conspiracy theorist.

Fake?

A couple of weeks ago, I was involved in a lengthy Facebook thread on anthropogenic global warming (AGW - a favourite topic of mine as many of you know). In the thread we had arrived at the point where links to websites like 'green-goblin' or 'green-man' or something were being posted. As if those links would provide me the missing bit of evidence that suddenly made me accept the theory of AGW. It reminds me of arguing with a Creationist who uses parts of the bible as his evidence, sorry.
One of the aforementioned thread participants (not a friend) called me a "conspiracy theorist" when I suggested that the entire issue of global warming may lead to a form of world government. I let the insult pass without comment, but I get his point. The fact is though, the UN and its IPCC sprout, already have the aura of a world government. I'm convinced however, it is no conspiracy. There is no plot by political leaders to force the world to trade carbon credits and it's not going to happen, no one is that stupid, oh wait, maybe the Europeans. Now there is a conspiracy of the stupid, the European Union, one of the dumber idea's of the last century.
If there really were such things as secret conspiracies I suspect we would already know about them, or soon will. In a world hungry for information it is almost impossible to keep things secret for very long. Reals secrets are worth real money to anyone that has the secrets to sell. People even give secrets away, free! Case in point, that fellow who leaked to WikiLeaks,  Bradley Manning, he gave it away, the military can't even keep a secret.
Most conspiracy theories are ridiculous yet still have relatively large followings. You know what I mean, UFO's and Area 51, the JFK Assassination plot, Faked Moon Landings, Chemtrails, the 9/11 Truthers, and my favourite, Jewish World Domination, yeah right. The list is long.
How hard is it to keep a real secret? Ask the US Air Force about the billion dollar secret unmanned space plane called X-37B. It seems a couple of Canadian backyard astronomers with math skills outed X-37B. You can go out and spot this secret space plane, just enter your postal code or zip code into this webpage, and you will get a list of satellite flybys and at some point during the week X-37B will be overhead. Don't tell anyone.        

June 6th is Tax Freedom Day.....

Tax Freedom Day in Canada is Monday, June 6th, 2011, two days later than last year. Many libertarian bloggers, writers, and philosophers will tell you that taxes effectively make us slaves because your taxes are spent largely without your direct input, and often in ways you would not prefer. Slaves don't have much say in their lives either, but here in Canada we are only slaves for the first five months of the year. This gives us the illusion of freedom.
How many of you out there are in favour of continuing to bomb Libya with pricey "smart bombs" so that we may protect Libyans from Gaddafi? Not I! Of course that justification is a ruse, the primary reason NATO wants Gaddafi out of Libya is to ensure that oil continues to flow to our NATO partners in Southern Europe. Was their even a vote in Parliament about this issue? I don't recall, the point is your taxes are being used over there, on the shores of Tripoli as the song goes.
The Fraser Institute does a good job of reminding us each year of our impending freedom from slavery, here is where to find the latest reminder. They have even come up with a little song for this year:


Just so you don't feel you have no say at all, the National Post has a survey that you might try. Who knows it might influence the government in how they spend the taxes the stole took from you this year. The survey has its own ambiguities, especially if you have libertarian leanings, give it a try, here.