In honor of Star Trek’s opening weekend, here’s a sneak peak at the future of non-fictional human space exploration. This is an endeavor that seems to be solely in the hands of private entrepreneurs, such as the creator of Paypal, being interviewed here:

Here’s the trailer for an upcoming indie documentary on inventor and luminary Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil is well known for his involvement in artificial intelligence development, as well as his prediction of the ‘Singularity,’ which refers a hypothetical future benchmark during which the rate technological change outpaces human ability to comprehend the changes.

Originally posted on The Fresh Scent.

The Medical Marijuana referendum brigade is on the warpath.

Today it’s setting its sights on Illinois, where State Senator William Haine (D) has sponsored the Compassionate Use of Cannabis Pilot Program Act. And, as per usual, some of Senator Haine’s colleagues are playing the role of Cretin’s Advocate, as they argue for the logically challenged.

Soft-brained Senator Patricia Bellock (R) noted:

“It is the No. 1 drug that introduces young people to other drugs.”

Common knowledge would tell one that a plant doesn’t have the sentience or social skills necessary to introduce people to other inanimate objects. So, unless Senator Bellock is secretly an Herbal Animist Witch (and thus privy to inside information), this argument doesn’t seem to hold much weight.

Simple State Rep Julie Hamos expressed some further concerns about the bill:

…I’m worried about giving plants to patients.

Perhaps Julie is right. It does seem incredibly dangerous to give sick people access to plants. Much better to keep them in sterilized tube-bubbles while they pop rainbow-colored pills that are seventeen steps removed from anything that occurs in nature. We should be pumping as many chemicals into the sick and dying as possible. Giving them access to plants only reminds them that there is a living world outside their hospital cell windows. This could dangerously reinvigorate the suffering.

State Rep. Lou Lang (D) summed the whole thing up pretty well:

The opposition is coming from members… who don’t have the guts to say ‘yes’… They are fearful of their next election and looking for excuses, while people are out there suffering.

Lou’s right on the money. Politicians have a history of being a heck of a lot more paranoid than pot smokers. Rationality can be very hard to come by this time of year.

It’s another 80s cartoon/toy ready for the big screen. It’s My Little Pony, and it’s bad ass.

This is really spectacular. I can’t tell you how much chronically passive aggressive people make me want to passive-aggressively punch them in the face.

Screw global warming. You want some planetary catastrophe? How about this new study released that estimates a 1% chance that Jupiter’s gravity will alter the orbit of Mercury to the point that it causes the collapse of the entire inner solar system.

Did I mention that this process is supposed to take place over the next 5 billion years? Hmm, suppose I forgot that part. That’s around the same timeframe that it will take for the sun to balloon into a red giant, snuffing out this part of the solar system anyway.

Meh. I suppose it’s not as scary as swine flu or Rhianna’s red carpet outfit, but I can dream, can’t I?

Being on call for jury duty this week, I found this post particularly amusing.

Full-sized link.

The Adrenaline ‘Dominate’ Button, Famous Gerontologist Sounds Like Crazy Russ, An Ethical Treatise on Advanced Review Copies, the Third Sign of the Apocalypse, How to Make it in the Fantasy Fiction World, Eunuch Rabbits, Quaid Discrimination, and The World’s Video – “One of the Great Moments in Human History.”

Download Mep Report #112

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One of my favorite classic YouTube mashups that reveals, Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith accent to be nothing more than a knock off of prolific astronomer, Carl Sagan.

Here’s a quick hit from the Python Master, himself.