This. A man was beaten, pepper-sprayed, and arrested at the Canadian border when he asked why his party was being searched. He was later released onto Canadian soil without his jacket or any winter-wear and without his property during a winter storm. On top of this, he was charged (perhaps falsely) with assaulting a federal officer, a charge which carries a two-year jail term and a lifelong ban on traveling through U.S. territory.

We cannot allow this to continue. Our government is intrinsic to the American people. We are responsible for everything this nation does on a grand scale. We the people are responsible for every abuse of authority exercised by representatives of our Federal government. If we do not defend the one who is trod upon by unchecked authority, then who will defend us when we are ourselves trod beneath the wild beast of government.

We expect progress from one generation to the next, an increase in quality of life. Robert J. Samuelson of Newsweek, however, supposes that the next generation will have a substandard quality of life. We have increased spending on health care (it’s about 5% GDP at this point), but does that really make us healthier? Samuelson breaks down the figures and shares a harrowing conclusion of present health care reform.

A community in Brazil uses soda bottles and natural sunlight to illuminate homes.  The clear plastic bottles are filled with water, then installed in the roofs of the homes such that the bottle bottoms protrude through the ceiling into the home.  Sunlight is directed into the bottles and diffused via the water.  This solar-water method possesses luminous quality similar to a 50-watt incandescent bulb.  Make magazine has a video demonstration here.