Links of the Week - Rant Edition

This linkfest is a bit rant heavy, call it a two week build up. If the political stuff bores you, just skip towards the end where have videos of a Lego creation, Tesla Orchestra doing Zelda theme, and various trailers.

North Carolina GOP Attempting to Ban Municipal Broadband
An interesting thing has been occurring in North Carolina. When local telecom and cable companies such as Time Warner refused to provide affordable internet and cable service or even run the needed lines, the local government stepped up to fill the void. Now the GOP likes to sell the argument that only public companies can provide services cheaply and profitably but it turns out that in this area so can the government as multiple municipals created not only some of the fastest networks in the state, they did it for a profit and at half the cost to the customer. So what does Time Warner and other companies do about this? Do they try to compete? Do they try to make their networks better? Of course not. Instead they buy off the Republicans in the state government to pass a law that outlaws these types of companies. For now Governor Bev Perdue has refused to sign the bill but that is unlikely to last. Yet another example of the GOP policy of "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest."

2011 Fall TV Schedule Announced
The big four networks announced the official cancellations, renewals, and new shows that will be hitting the airwaves starting next Fall 2011. A lot of shows I liked were cancelled but for whatever reason I am mostly indifferent. On the schedule isn't really anything "buzz" worthy to me but really just a collection of mildly interesting programs. Any case hit the link to see how the schedule breaks down for CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and CW. Note that things usually get tweaked further the closer to airdate.

Links of the Week

Just realized I have not posted anything here in a while. To me nothing major has happened. Technically stuff has happened in politics with Donald Trump and Huckabee deciding not to run for President but that was a gimme anyway. That fool Newt Gingrich is running but that too is just a play for money as he has proven to be a flim-flam artist but not much else. He knows the publicity will drive book sales and his speaking tours prices up which is all that really matters to him (besides the ego stroking). Still here are a few things that grabbed my interest.

15 States Get Florida's $2 Billion
On one hand you have to give credit, Republican putting money where his mouth is. On the other hand the state is hurting for jobs, is hurting for income and just needs helps so the money isn't really his but the citizens of the state. Sadly logic never plays into GOP thinking as Governor Rick Scott cancelled a high speed rail project that would have given Florida $2.4 billion to build. The GOP's hatred of infrastructure projects (better to let things fall apart) knows no bounds. The empty gesture didn't "return" the money to the government but instead allowed 15 states to pick up the pieces and improve their own rail systems. For the GOP, if it doesn't benefit the rich, it shouldn't benefit anybody even though a rail system is a cheaper, safer, and all around better alternative to transportation for commuters compared to rush hour traffic. Just a reminder the primary goal of the GOP is "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest."

Library of Congress' National Jukebox
"The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives." The Jukebox is streaming only with a huge collection of music, speeches, readings and more going back nearly the entire century.

Links of the Day - Dead Osama Edition

Osama bin Laden Dead
After nearly 10 years, the architect of 9/11 is finally dead. The Al Qaeda leader was killed by US soldiers after his hiding place, a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was discovered. The body was confirmed to be his via DNA results. The body itself was dumped at sea as no country wanted to "host" the body since it would likely grab unwanted attention. President Obama gave a speech at 11:35PM EST confirming the kill. Approximately 5 seconds later the GOP began work on trying to spin the event as a success for Bush Jr. and how Obama was riding on his coattails. Spontaneous celebrations began in front of White House and ground zero and reportedly elsewhere as people celebrated his death. Europe's leadership was pleased with his death and quick to remind everyone that the terrorist threats will continue. Sadly that is all too true for as many terrorists that might have had their will broken by this death, probably just as many have a new martyr to rally around.