Let the GOP Implement Their Wish List

200M Americans decided to not vote and therefore support the winner while an additional 50 million voted for President Trump. As of now the GOP have zero excuses for not implementing their wish list of laws and changes. After all they have a majority at the state level, in the House, in the Senate and shortly in the Supreme Court. 250M+ Americans have demanded they be allowed to do what ever they want and Democrats should stay out of their way.

While elected Democrats should vote their conscious, otherwise they should not interfere. No poison pills, no tricky admendments, no behind the scenes gamemanship. Vote yea or nay and stay out of the way. Let the GOP and their supporters get EVERYTHING they want. All of it. No matter what the law is and the potential harm it will cause. The GOP have promised that if they are allowed carte blanche, we will see an economic and societal utopia. Let them have their shot at it.

Those that voted against Trump, stop reading political sites, stop watching the news, just use that time to do other things like read a book, hang with loved ones or do your favorite thing. Check out for the next four years. Let the chips fall where they may and do nothing to prevent them from landing be it for good or bad.

Let them all feel the love if the promised trickle down utopia emerges or the pain if it doesn't. The demographics have demanded this. Around 42% of women voted for Trump so clearly nearly the majority want a roll back on women's rights. around 12% blacks voted for Trump so sadly they are screwed but based on city heat maps it appears most stayed at home and so are part of the 200M that supported Trump by their inaction. Around ~40% of Latinos voted for Trump so it seems they think by a not insignificant margin that Trump is right on immigration. If any of these groups have supported Clinton in higher numbers, the poor white man vote would have not made the difference. Again 200M Americans choise to not act and by their inaction they declared their support for the victor aka President Trump. Follow the will of the people and let the GOP give them EVERYTHING they have coming to them. Do not interfere, do not protest, let it happen and as promised will we will have utopia on earth in four years.

President-Elect Trump

White people have spoken by showing up and voting and the result is a racist, sexist sociopath will be the next President of the United States. It is official as Hillary Clinton conceded to President Donald Trump. As a middle age, middle class white guy, I am horrified by tonight’s events. Not surprised because I am aware of how truly ignorant the average American is on how government actually functions (“I will upend the ‘establishment’ by voting in all incumbents! That will show that do nothing Congress!”). Having said that, if you do not fit that demographic, be afraid, be very afraid.

The GOP and Trump believe the young are lazy and higher education is something only the elite should have access to. The old just drain the economy with the best solution being the elimination of medicare and social security. Let nature do the rest. The poor (aka the majority of white that voted Trump), forget about it. Best thing they can do is go off and simply die. As for minorities...the US use to know what to do with you and will learn so again. Women...see kitchen, use kitchen. See bed...spread legs. That is all.

The next four year with GOP owning Presidency, Congress and Supreme Court is going to be ugly. Looking at the close states, be sure to thank those that voted third party (the coward’s vote) for that. They surely impacted this election, make no mistake. Not in anyway to help their cause but for sure to help the GOP cause.

Ultimately those that vote third party or the huge swaths of minorities that once again chose not to vote can only blame themselves what follows next or what may happen to them. They were warned what white people were going to do and they ignored the warning. At the very least the non-voters and 3rd party voters gave up their right to bitch for the next 4 years (seriously, I am going to ask and if I hear either answer my response will be: shut up, you lost the right to complain).

In the end, here is hoping that President Donald Trump somehow goes against his long history of mediocrity and failure to actual rise to the occasion of his position. Maybe, just maybe, he turns out to actually be a good President. Its about the only hope we have.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what happens when his poor white supporters realize he can’t keep any of his promises (I mean that literally as most are economically or legally unfeasible). The only real lesson to learn from this - next time vote. Don’t assume, just vote and know for sure.

Vote!

Just a friendly reminder to vote. I have already stated my opinion on our choices. At the end of the day you are not asked to do much for this country. Quite literally the least you can do is every few years and take the time to vote.

If Congress Was Your Co-Worker

From the mind of Joss Whedon, here is Chris Pine playing a petulant, useless co-worker that blocks progress and accomplishes nothing - just like Congress! Despite how dissatisfied people are with Congress they always vote to keep the same useless members in office. The average retention rate for a Congress person is 92% despite a popularity rating in the low teens for all of them. Just saying, it pays off to be useless and the only lesson voters keep giving them is to demand more of the same uselessness. Show up, vote, and vote against the incumbent Congress person regardless of party.

Save the Day and Vote

Below is a new video from Joss Whedon and friends of Joss (which basically means bunch of movie and TV celebs) that are attempting to encourage people to actually vote this upcoming November. While not explicitly said, they are asking people to not just complain about Trump and his vile talk but back it up with action.

Simple action. Called voting. Something millions have died to protect and yet hundreds of millions of Americans avoid doing. To me its not a choice of Trump or Clinton but a choice of For Trump or Against Trump. If you are for Trump, the choice is simple and you will likely vote. Republicans have never had that problem. If you are against Trump, you have to vote for Clinton.

You do not have to like it, you do not have to proud of it (I am not), but you have to recognize that not voting is a vote for Trump as is voting for one of those third party candidates whose chances of winning the election is about equal to you and every single member of your family winning the lottery in the same week despite none of you buying lottery tickets. Until then see the video below and keep and eye on SaveTheDay.vote for future vids.

Linkfest - America Votes

Hopefully this will be the last political heavy post for a while but who knows for sure. Other then the election there is links to an awesome Lego Legend of Zelda Hylian Shield, Iron Man 3 teaser trailer and cool time lapse of a space shuttle on the streets of LA.

Lego Legend of Zelda Hylian Shield
Hit the link for 7 images of this beautiful and detailed shield built by Remi. Makes you wish that Lego would get the license and release a version of their own. (via Brothers Brick)

Obama Re-Elected
Tuesday Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the United States. He won by a comfortable margin taking 5 out of 6 battleground states (Florida too close to call). He also won the popular vote by a fairly typical margin of around 51% to 49%. Basically it was a repeat of 2008. Despite what the pundits may say, really the DC status quo has been maintained. As a result the gridlock and difficulty in getting anything done will continue. The GOP retained the House and the Democrats still have the Senate by about the same margin so sadly the filibuster will continue to be used to death requiring 60 votes to get anything done.

Linkfest - Batcave, Taxes, Time-Lapse, and The West Wing

This linkfest is politics heavy (election coming up after all) but to start things light there is a look at a cool Batcave. After that the politics kick in with look at why tax cuts without strings do not work, the lies of Romney/Ryan and an essay about failings of both parties. If want to skip the politics, after those links to info on the update Nook HD, a cool time-lapse video, and brief reunion of the West Wing cast. Massive Lego Batcave
Hit the link to view a gallery of a gorgeous Lego version of the Batcave. The huge structure was built by Carlyle Livingston II and Wayne Hussey over the course of six months. It took over 20,000 Lego and weighs more than 100 pounds. It has little touches like built in lighting, motors to the Batmobile turntable, rotating costume and weapon walls, and moving Batplane lift. (via Brothers Brick)

Tax Cuts Without Strings Do Not Work
The Romney/Ryan ticket is proposing a 20% tax cut, mostly for the rich, with little means to pay for it. They claim it will boost the economy. They are wrong. The human condition along is why it will fail, even if ignore the failure that the last six tax cuts had on boosting the economy. This isn't to say a tax cut can't work, but it must be done with conditions or incentives. This is not a new idea, the states do it all the time. They offer tax cuts if corporations move their headquarters, build a factory, create jobs, buy supplies from a company in the states, whatever. That has proven to work.

Linkfest - Romney Gaffes Again

Romney: 47% of Country are Lazy Freeloaders
In a video (link above) authenticated by Mother Jones, Mitt Romney said "...there are 47 percent who are with [Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. ...my job is not to worry about those people." In short, Romney said anyone who votes for Obama is a lazy freeloading victim. Last I checked, I have not freeloaded, worked full time since I was 16 and fortunately have not been a victim of anything except my own stupidity. The amazing thing is Romney held a rushed press conference where he stood by his comments brushing them off as "not elegantly stated" begging the question of the what elegant version sounds like. Amazing that for a man that can flip flop on any issue depending on what direction the wind is blowing takes stance of refusing to back down no matter what once embarrassed by a mistake. George W Bush behaved that way too often damaging results.

While that was one of the worse, those were not all of the ill-conceived, rich people matter most, comments from the governor. His belief that only the rich don't pay taxes isn't really true, turns out a whole lot of American's across the entire tax bracket spectrum have successfully gamed the system to pay no income tax (emphasis on income as that doesn't include all kinds of other taxes that pretty much everyone pays daily). He going to close their loopholes? Probably not. His disdain for anyone that isn't rich should not be surprising when he admitted in an interview that "middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less." The Census Bureau pegs the real median household income at $50,000. Remember his definition when he says he will cut taxes for the middle class because he really means the rich version of middle class and 99% of us are not in the category.

Linkfest - Lying Ryan

Been a while since did a linkfest. This edition is about the odd choice of Paul Ryan as GOP VP choice, links to amusing Calvin & Hobbes animated gifs, Lego's 80th Anniversary, Lego Serenity, movies trailers and a disturbing nursery song.

Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan as VP
For reasons that confound me, Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his Vice President. Usually the VP is designed to fill in a voting gap that the candidate can't achieve to help put them over the top be it a state or demographic. Ryan is a far right conservative with a media profile based desperate to make the election more exciting than it is by simply repeating myths about him. Tea Party/Religious right vote is a lock no matter what, after all not like they can explore the alternative of voting for Obama so not sure why make this extra effort to please them. He will do nothing to help Mitt Romney get moderates and undecided. If anything he will send them screaming in the other direction. Paul Ryan deeply believes in the Ayn Rand philosophy that society only functions best when society is geared towards the goal of making rich people richer. This was very well demonstrated with his Budget Plan that would reduce the top 1%'s tax burden to less than 1%. An example being his running mate Romney who under their collective plan would go from paying around 13% to .082%. To pay for a tiny portion of this $4.7+ trillion cost of his plan, he wanted to cut social security by 20% (or privatize it) and turn Medicare into a voucher program. His big claim to fame is a screw you budget proposal that literally takes from the poor and middle-class and gives to the rich. His other conservative thing is supposedly being a deficit hawk. Despite the fact he voted for the Bush tax cuts, two wars, bank bailout and more that added around $7 trillion and counting to the deficit. He supposedly wants less government in your life yet is happy so support laws that would make birth control illegal and, any abortion illegal even in cases of saving mother's life, rape or incest. Not exactly a small government idea. About the only reason I can think he made the choice is money. Ryan will be a money making machine as conservative flood Romney and Super PAC coffers. In general, the more money you spend on an election, the greater your chances are of winning. That is ultimately the Romney plan - simply buy the election.

Calvin and Hobbes Animated Gifs
Hit the link for a selection of gifs that turn certain panels from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip into motion.

Obamacare Lives and Why It Matters

I said for over a year now that the Supreme Court would overturn the individual mandate of Obamacare. I figured it was automatic with the charge being led by Chief Justice John Roberts. I could not have been more wrong. Not only did the court uphold the law 5-4, but Roberts was the swing vote. Even more amazing, it was upheld by the legal reasoning that the government has a right to tax and the penalty of not getting health insurance is the equivalent of a tax. The ruling was so unexpected both CNN and Fox News initially got the ruling wrong, declaring it overturned. This is good news for Americans even if 50% don't know it. Oddly it seems most that are against are the ones that most likely will need it at some future date. However, always keep in mind that the Republicans have years to come up with their own solutions and as always, the best they could come up with is "tax cuts". That is their Band-Aid for everything.

Fox News and the GOP have spent a tremendous amount of time and (tax payer) money fighting Obamacare but rarely do they explain why it’s bad and what the alternatives are. It comes down to "its socialism" and wrong. Ask anyone for specifics on why it’s wrong and can guarantee that maybe 1 out of a 100 can provide an informed response beyond the basic talking points of it simply being wrong just because the talking heads say it is. Did you know that thanks to Obamacare, you cannot be denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition? Did you know your kids can't be either (yea before they could be)? What about knowing if your child wants to get a graduate degree or just hurting from this down economy, they can stay on their parents insurance until 26 years old? Again Obamacare. I am aware of a ton of die-hard Republicans taking advantage of that. What about free mammograms or a ton of other maintenance tests that use to cost a lot and soon no longer will. Free tests means people will detect problems before they become a whole lot more expensive and possibly a burden on the tax payer (more below on that). When people ask about these kinds of individual aspects of the law, Americans are overwhelming for them (in 80% range). Add they are part of Obamacare and suddenly that numbers dives to around 50% range. That makes no sense except you have to remember that Fox News folks rarely are giving any actual information to form an informed opinion.

Linkfest - Avengers Assemble

Just realized it has been weeks since posted anything. I guess just have not found much that I felt like posting about but here are a few new things. Most of it is politics related after the break.

The Avengers Smash Weekend Record
In just three days, The Avengers took in a record breaking $207.1 million in the US box office smashing the previous record of $169.2 million held by Harry Potter 7.2. The movie deputed in most other parts of the world last week so now at the end of its first full week out, its total is already a staggering $654.5 million. It did in one week what the most successful movie of 2012, The Hunger Games, took months to make. For those on the fence, you should see it.

It really is as good as people say. The first hour of story building can drag at times but even then the character interactions are entertaining enough to not matter. When the movie shifts to New York though, that is when everything snaps into perfect place. The last hour is just wall to wall action that always servers the characters or the story. There are even a few "Whedoneque" moments of humor that are inserted at just the right moments.

This movie is the epic story telling that Michael Bay keeps trying to achieve with Transformers but falls short because he fails to recognize that spectacle that doesn't serve the story or character is pointless. See the entire tilting building sequence for evidence of this. It had lots of spectacle but could remove entire sequence from movie and have no impact on story or characters. You can't really say the same about the Avengers. Every sequence has purpose, even a throwaway line that is followed up after the credits. When watch do make sure to at least stick around for the mid-credits scene that introduces the villain Thanos. His goal? Make Death fall in love with him by destroying all life. Hopefully Whedon will write and direct the sequel just to see that fight. Next time he might be able to get in the classic "Avengers Assemble" line as could not without it seeming forced and corny. Good call.

Linkfest - RIP Dick Clark

Dick Clark Dead at 82
The legendary TV entertainer Dick Clark died today of a heart attack at the age of 82. Dick Clark was probably known to most as the host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve. For me, he became part of my weekly television rituals as host of TVs Bloopers & Practical Jokes and various versions of Pyramid. He also hosted American Bandstand for nearly three decades. It is his good humor, goof feelings hosting style that became the norm for television and emulated today by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Ryan Seacrest. His last television performance was New Year's 2011. I watched him for most of my life every New Year’s Eve. This year's New Year celebration will just not be the same without him.

Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery
Hit the link before for a video of the final flight of Discovery as it was given a bit of the red carpet treatment by being allowed to fly low in Washington, DC as it heads to its final resting place at the Smithsonian. Normally the airspace in DC is restricted to pretty much all flights but the President so brief change was a kind of way for the nation to tip its hat for 30 years of service and the end of the current shuttle missions and really the space program for the foreseeable future.

Linkfest - Illusion of Safety

Supreme Court OKs Strip Searches for Any Reason
In yet another example that the definition of Conservative "small government", the Supreme Court ruled that strip searches are ok for any reason. When it comes to making people think that Conservatives are keeping them safe, it seems government can't get big enough or stomp on enough rights. In the latest ruling, the five Conservative judges once again voted as a block ruling that police can perform strip searches for any reason, including minor traffic offenses. In short, if the police are willing to arrest you and haul you into a jail cell, they can do whatever they want. This doesn't mean you are guilty or they even have evidence. They can simply arrest you, strip search you, decide it was a mistake and release you. Your dignity may not remain intact but hey at least your will feel "safe" from whatever new thing they want you to fear. The justification for the decision was based on Tim McVey (Oklahoma City bombing) being arrested for a minor traffic offense and not getting stripped search. Without explaining how, the Conservative ruling failed to explain how a strip search would have led to the discovering of his car bomb. I guess they figured he kept the car jammed up his rear? This is ironic considering the Five will overturn the Health Care act in June on claims it stomps rights to purchase what you want (never mind states requiring car insurance, home insurance, etc.). To sum it up, to the Conservative Court your body has no rights but you do have the right to not buy stuff you don't want but need. Once again Conservative hypocrisy in action.

Wiretapping for Profit
While they claim to the contrary, the telecoms probably make a pretty decent profit listening in on our calls at the government's request. T-Mobile charges law enforcement (aka tax papers) $500 per month per target. Sprint charges $400 per "market area" and "technology" with a $10 per day fee. No idea what those "per" mean. For AT&T its $325 activation fee, $5 per day for data and $10 for audio. Verizon charges $50 fee and $700 per month per target. The fees pile on after that depending on what others things law enforcement want for targets of wiretaps. Listening in is good for business.

Linkfest - More MPAA/RIAA Lies

Oops been a while. Here is the last few weeks of links that grabbed my interest. There is a gallery of a Lego Delorean, an end of the Encyclopedia, exercise myths, more proof of MPAA/RIAA lies used to stomp our freedom for corporate benefit, Keith Olbermann fired, and two amusing videos.

Lego Back to the Future 2 Delorean
Mimicking the style of the high end Star Wars sets, Alex Jones has re-created the Back to the Future DeLorean out of the Legos. Hit the link above too few more of the gallery.

Encyclopedia Britannica Ending Print Version
A true end of an era as the Encyclopedia Britannica is no longer printing encyclopedias after a 244 year run. The last volume will be the 2010 edition. The decision was made due to lack of sales. Sure most kids today probably barely have used a set but still a little sad to see such a thing goes away.

Romney Donor Frequently Threatens Critics

Normally I save something like this for the "link fests" but something about a billionaire using Scientology like tactics to silence critics through abuse of the law just really annoys me. It is also those times that the internet can be its most powerful.

A Salon article entitled "Billionaire Romney donor uses threats to silence critics" spells out some of the details. The article is about Mitt Romney supporter and billionaire Frank VanderSloot. He lives in Idaho and is CEO of Melaleuca, Inc. A company has a Better Business Bureau logo on its front page. There might be reasons for that logo being there. A 2004 Forbes article that described the company as "a pyramid selling organization, built along the lines of Herbalife and Amway." The company this individuals has run for years has to agree to "not engage in the marketing and promotion of an illegal pyramid and accused by the Food and Drug Administration of "deceiving consumers about some of its supplements." Draw your own conclusions about the company and its leadership from that.

Linkfest - End of House, Kodak

Kodak Shuttering Camera Business
It is a true end of an era as Eastman Kodak Co have announced plans to focus on printers and to close its camera business. This is significant because Kodak not only invented the handheld camera, but is essentially synonymous with photography with its long history in photography going back to 1889. The movie business was built with the help of Kodak. It is hard to find a film that doesn't mentioned Kodak in the credits since for decades their cameras and film was used for creating movies and TV shows. The end came simply because Kodak just did not respond to the move to digital cameras and equipment fast enough, trying to force old style cameras on a population that had moved past them. By the time they made the transition, it was over as the competition had already started to dominate the market. Chances are the company is doomed as people just don't think "printers" when it comes to Kodak.

BitTorrent Piracy, No Effect on US Box Office
A new study from the University of Minnesota and Wellesley College has determined that there is no evidence that Bit Torrent hurts the box office (new movie releases at theaters) in the United States. It does have an impact on International box office but that is more due because of the often months delay between a premiere in the US vs. other territories. The MPAA assumes that every copy downloaded is a lost ticket sale but common sense should tell you that isn't the case. Chances are if someone is willing to download a movie with often crappy sound, jumping camera and other degraded quality, then they had no intention of ever going to see the movie. Chances are if not available to download, they just wouldn't see it. Now this is not a defense of piracy but just pointing out that the millions of dollars spent to fight it, the wiliness to override the first admen dent with acts like SOPA, are just wasted efforts that continued to be justified with bad math.

Stop SOPA and PIPA

Normally I try to keep political stuff off this website but sometimes exceptions must be made. This is one of them. Congress, with the support of members of both parties, is currently in the process of trying to pass two laws called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Act). The laws were essentially written by lobbyist to give corporations the power to protect their copyrights. Sounds good right?

Here is the problem. The laws as written gives corporations the power to legally censor the internet without due process by blocking any website they feel might have copyrighted or pirated content. Proof is not necessary nor required.

In a day and age when most people agree they want smaller government this is the single greatest expansion of power we have had in nearly a decade and it turns it all over to corporations on the assumption they will not abuse it. Do you trust corporations and the government to make the right decisions on what websites can live and die? I don't and nor should you.

They don't have to prove a thing in the process of taking down infringing websites. So this may mean sites like The Pirate Bay might get blocked in the United States but it also gives corporations the power to block any website they choose as long as they put it in terms of copyright infringement or piracy.

Linkfest - Rescue Me

Lego Daily Planet
Hit the link for a gallery of images on details on how this cool Lego creation was made that pits Superman & Young Justice against Brainiac. The creation has lots of cool details like street side kiosks selling comics, labeled sewer covers, street signs, and whole lot more. (via ComicAlliance)

RIP GamePro
GamePro magazine which started in 1988 as the NES age reached its apex, is ending publication with its current issue with the website is being absorbed by the mothership of PC World and likely most of its staff laid off. I remember reading and subscribing to the magazine way back when before time meant I no longer could focus much less play video games with the frequency that made a subscription worthwhile. Shame to see yet another gamer magazine go away.

Links of the Week - Politics

GOP Explained by an Ex-GOPer
Hit the link for an effective explanation of just how far gone the Republican Party is now. Despite their frequent claimed love of Ronald Reagan, not even he could get a vote in today's GOP. For example he committed the horror of raising taxes 11 times. This change of party first, business second, America last and what is motivating it was brilliantly broke down by Mike Lofgren, who was a Republican Congressional staffer for 16 years. He pretty much hits the nail on the head on not only how corrupt the GOP has become but why the weak Democrats are ineffective at countering them.

25 CEOs Who Made More Than Companies Paid in Taxes
One of the great cons (of many) that the GOP has pulled over the last year is successfully lying that taxes influence business more than any other factor. That because of taxes, business choose not invest in themselves, to grow, to try to perform better. The logic makes no sense but people follow it anyway. Even though 11 years of tax cuts have proven it doesn't work. It’s not even hypothetical anyone. Eleven years of tax cuts sold to create jobs and all that has occurred is 2 recessions, minimal job growth, smaller middle class, and the rich being richer for doing nothing. Yet the idiots still believe. Between the tax cuts and loops holes it has now reached the point where most CEOs now make more money than their companies pay in taxes (most pay $0). It is now past pathetic. Yet if anyone is experts at being pathetic, it is teabaggers and their ilk. Anyway hit the link for details.

Linkfest

Lego Princess Ceinwyn
Hit the link for a gallery of images of the Princess Ceinwyn created by Luke Hutchinson out of Lego. Very pretty with cloth sails and a nice Lego ocean base to complete the look. (via Brothers Brick)

Warren Buffet - Stop Coddling the Rich
In an article in the NY Times, super rich Warren Buffett makes the rather obvious argument that it is time to tax the rich. The 10 year experiment of constantly cutting taxes on the "job creators" that the GOP has been advocating has simply not worked. Two recessions and negative economic growth for the poor and middle classes have proven this. The only people that have seen growth in these last years from the GOP policies? The super rich of course. Thanks to the multitude of tax loopholes that the GOP refuse to close, the rich actually pay less a percentage of taxes than any other group. Buffett points out he paid 17.4% while other people in his office averaged 36%. I am lower middle class and my burden came out to about 27%. I think the national average is something like 24%. Net result is all this crap about "being fair" that the GOP advocates fails to point out that the rich actually are paying less than everyone else. The article is worth reading and it sums succulently as tax cuts for the rich ("job creators") does not equal job creation as the rich do not allow tax policy to interfere with their efforts to invest and make more money.

Meet Comex, iOS Hacker Supreme
Forbes has posted a great article that covers hacking genius of 19 year old Nicholas Allegra who has 3 times now hacked the Apple's iOS used in iPhone and iPad to create incredibly easy jailbreaks for those devices. A jailbreak allows you to use your paid for device in whatever way you see fit on whatever carrier you choose without big brother (Apple) having to approve it first. Hats off to Comex for his outstanding efforts, may he continue to be successful in thwarting Apple's iron fist of control.

US Patent System is Killing Innovation
An interesting op-ed piece on Gizmodo that points out how the new era of "Civil War" between tech companies will likely stifle innovation. What is currently happening is in the billion dollar markets of smart phones and tablets various companies is trying to use patents to squash the competition and become the only real provider of a certain type of product. The main culprit is Apple who is attempting to use courts to block the sale of any tablet device that isn't an iPad. This leads to other companies going over their lists of patents and using Apple in return saying their iPad violates patents and shouldn't be sold either. This goes back and forth until an agreement is reach. The problem though is this kind of fierce legal fighting (besides being the opposite of capitalism), means that some bright guy in his garage will likely be sued into oblivion or just bought up before some new product that might be better than the iPad could ever reach the public much less the market. When that happens, innovation ceases to occur.

Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
NPR compiled a list of the top 100 books of all time based on the votes of their readers (apparently a paltry 60k). The list isn't definitive nor is the number order that important but as a list of fantastic books to read it works as a great resource.