Blog Heap o'Links for January 2012

Links in this view: 13
1

Your Tax Dollars At Play

In fiscal 2011, the cost of the promises grew from $30.9 trillion to $33.8 trillion. To put that in context, consider that the total value of companies traded on U.S. stock markets is $13.1 trillion, based on the Wilshire 5000 index, and the value of the equity in U.S. taxpayers’ homes, according to Freddie Mac, is $6.2 trillion. Said another way, there is not enough wealth in America to meet those promises. If the government followed corporate accounting rules, that $2.9 trillion increase would be added to the $1.3 trillion cash deficit for fiscal 2011 that has been widely reported. And a $4.2 trillion deficit is something that Americans need to know about....

1:07pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW
2

Art of

Bob Weston, a guitarist who played as a member of Fleetwood Mac on their early Seventies albums Penguin and Mystery to Me, has died at the age of 64. Police found the musician's body at his home in North London. An autopsy report indicates that was suffering from a gastric intestinal hemorrhage, cirrhosis and a throat ailment at the time of his death. Weston joined Fleetwood Mac as a replacement for guitarist Danny Kirwan in 1972. He was later fired from the band by drummer Mick Fleetwood after it was discovered that he was having an ongoing affair with Fleetwood's wife, Jenny Boyd.
2:01pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW
Olympic fencer and movie sword master Bob Anderson appeared in some of film's most famous dueling scenes — though few viewers knew it…. donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought light saber battles in two of the three original "Star Wars" films…. worked with actors from Errol Flynn to Antonio Banderas during five decades as a sword master, fight director and stunt performer….
1:27pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW
One of the UK's most beloved cartoonists, Ronald Searle, creator of the tearaway girls' school St Trinian's, has died aged 91.
1:22pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW

Digital Business

As of around October 2011 – the date varies by category – iTunes has sold over 16 billion songs, about one half-billion movies, videos and teevee shows, some 20 billion apps, and Crom knows how many books, magazines and newspapers.

Here’s the rub: in each and every one of these approximately 40,000,000,000 cases, the purchaser could have downloaded the damn thing for free. In most cases, it is far easier to illegally cop a boot than it is to purchase one. Let’s start with the fact that you don’t need to have a credit card or room left on your credit limit to procure your illegal bootie.

So. 40 billion downloads from just one – the biggest one – online merchant in a world that only houses seven billion people. That’s an average of four and one-half perfectly legal downloads for each and every person, including babies in the Amazon who don’t even have access to Amazon.

Hey! People are inherently good. Go know!

1:19pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW

Educating Ourselves

Baby boomers changed politics, Gen X changed family, Gen Y changed work, and Gen Z will change education. Here’s how the education of Gen Z will affect us at work.
1. A huge wave of homeschooling will create a more self-directed workforce....
2. Homeschooling as kids will become unschooling as adults....
3. The college degree will return to its bourgeois roots; entrepreneurship will rule....
[h/t Cuz BD]

1:31pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW
3

US Military

Dewey [Okla] dedicated its Fallen Heroes Memorial at a ceremony this morning in Don Tyler Park. The memorial, which was 5 months in the making, is dedicated to the members of the armed services who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country.... The memorial has six flag poles, one each for the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard and one for the American flag... close to the road so they would be visible to people as they pass by.... built without the use of any public funding....

1:24pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW

Defending Ourselves

A young Oklahoma mother shot and killed an intruder to protect her 3-month-old baby on New Year’s Eve, less than a week after the baby’s father died of cancer.... On New Year’s Eve... two soon began trying to break into [her] home. ... she quickly got her 12 gauge, went into her bedroom and got a pistol, put the bottle in the baby’s mouth and called 911.... [When one intruder] came after her with the knife, the teen mom shot and killed the 24-year-old. Police are calling the shooting justified. [Y'think? h/t Cuz BD]

12:57pm CST Fri 2012 Jan 6 :MW
1

Mass Murdering Monsters

A man who was being sought in the shooting of four people at a New Year's party in South King County early Sunday is suspected in the fatal shooting of a park ranger in Mount Rainier National Park later in the morning.... Park Ranger Margaret Anderson, a mother of two who was married to another ranger at the park, was shot about 10:30 a.m. after setting up a roadblock to stop a car that was fleeing another officer.... at a party in Skyway, where an early-morning session of "show and tell" with guns among several armed partygoers devolved into a shootout, according to detectives. Four people were shot, and three people fled the scene. One of them was identified as Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24. Kevin Bacher, a spokesman for Mount Rainier National Park, said the vehicle recovered at the scene of Anderson's shooting was registered to Barnes.

12:12pm CST Mon 2012 Jan 2 :MW
2

Animal Companions

A beloved squirrel monkey known as Banana Sam was returned scared but safe to the San Francisco Zoo on Saturday night, two days after he was taken. ... The monkey was found by a bystander who saw him come out of the bushes. "He managed to coax the monkey into his backpack" ...

12:15pm CST Mon 2012 Jan 2 :MW

People Die

Colorado man... killed when a 3-foot tree branch flew through his windshield and impaled him in the chest was able to steer the car to safety before losing consciousness... saving [his wife] from any injury....

12:08pm CST Mon 2012 Jan 2 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin isn't running for president, but that isn't stopping her supporters, who are encouraging Iowans to "vote rogue" and caucus for the former Alaska governor on Jan. 3.

A group called Sarah Palin's Iowa Earthquake has produced a number of TV and radio commercials available online.

12:13pm CST Mon 2012 Jan 2 :MW

Governing Ourselves

Washington County Election Board officials are inviting all voters in Washington County to participate in a public mock election slated for second week of January. [The cynic might cry, "Oh, the irony! Aren't they all mock elections?]

1:48pm CST Mon 2012 Jan 2 :MW