Links of the Week

R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen
The now late, great comedian and movie star Leslie Nielsen died Monday from complications with pneumonia. The actor starred in the Airplane, Naked Gun and many other hilarious movies. Thanks for the laughs

Republicans Vote Against Tax Cuts for 98% of the Country
You know that issue that Republicans ran on, claiming fiscal responsibility with tax cuts? The issue that helped give birth to the Tea Party (because frankly they are stupid)? Yeah that one. It turns out; to no surprise (if now historically the GOP has never been fiscally responsible and only care about the rich) none of the GOP and Tea Party elected officials really believes in it. The House passed bill to make the Bush tax cuts for 98% of the country. All but 3 Republicans in the House voted against it. Why? Because the bill didn't include a $700 billion bonus tax cut for the other 2% of the country. A bonus that would go straight to the deficit, therefore not be fiscally responsible. The GOP claims giving tax cuts to the rich helps everyone. I point to the last 10 years when the rich got way richer while everyone else's wages and job security remained static or got worse. For 10 years we already had those Bush tax cuts and all we got was two recessions, stagnant job growth, stagnant wages and $3.5 trillion added to the deficit. How dumb does someone have to be to believe that continuing them will suddenly bring different results? Ten years, $3.5 trillion added to the deficit and what do we have to show for it? Not much? Exactly. So why support giving the rich another $700 billion bonus? So the GOP is on the record for being against tax cuts for 98% of the country. Why in the world did Democrats not try this before the election when those votes might have been used against the GOP?

Alan Grayson on Fox Pundit Gains from GOP Tax Position
Grayson may have lost his re-election attempt but he hasn't lost his fire or willingness to actually speak the truth in blatent terms. A level of guts the Democrats as a whole need more of. At the link is video and transcription of Alan Grayson pointing out how the multimillionaires of the Fox News and GOP pundits will benefit from giving a $700 billion bonus to the top 2% that they are part of. Make no mistake, the Limbaugh, Beck, etc are concerned about the tax cuts for their bottom line, not yours.

R.I.P. Irvin Kershner
The Director responsible for what many consider to be one of the best movies of all time and unquestioned best movie of the Star Wars franchise died Monday at the age of 87. The Empire Strikes Back director also directed the Bond film Never Say Never Again and Robocop II among others. His influence on the next generation of actors and directors will probably not be possible to measure.

"New" Picasso Works Found
An amazing find was revealed by 71-year-old Pierre Le Guennec in Paris, France this week. The retired electrician found 271 pieces of work from Pablo Picasso. Considering an average painting from the artist is worth tens of millions of dollars, the value of this collection is nearly priceless. As a result, the family of Picasso, without any proof, has decided that the electrician stole all the work even though the value of Picasso's work has been high for decades now. In other words are trying to recover the pieces without paying for them so can in turn sell them for millions each. They have sued Le Guennec claiming he needs to prove how he got the artwork but it seems to me they should be the ones to prove he stole the work and explain why he waited until now to sell them. It’s a mess but getting more than a little tired of families believing they should perpetually get paid, without any effort or sacrifice on their part, because of a genetic relationship with someone who created great works.

21+ Tron Soundtrack Preview
Hit the link to go to MySpace to listen to Daft Punk's impressive soundtrack for Tron: Legacy.