MISCmedia by Clark Humphrey » Blog Archive RANDOM LINKS FOR 5/11/12

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RANDOM LINKS FOR 5/11/12

May 10th, 2012 by Clark Humphrey

npr.org

NPR’s Lam Thuy Vo has made a lovely infographic about the billions in earnings resulting from America’s “exports of ideas.” Movies and TV shows bring in $13 billion in overseas revenue. Software: $35 billion. Trademark licenses: $14 billion. “Industrial processes” (patents): almost $36 billion. Now you know why the “intellectual property” industries are so extremely adamant about sealing any potential leak in their legal privileges.
Elsewhere in infographic-land, here’s a visual essay delineating how marketers, and those who sell services to marketers, have always gamed the system in both “old” and “new” media.
Obama came to Seattle right after outing himself as a gay-marriage supporter. Yes, there was a lot of cheering for a calculated, Clinton-esque “triangulation” move, carefully strategized to gain more votes than it would cost. And I’m fine with that (the announcement and the local rave reactions to it).
Tim Eyman: Complete tool of Big Oil and the 1 percent.
A non-native redwood tree was planted in Tacoma more than 100 years ago. It was recently cut down, executed for the crime of having roots undermining nearby sewers and house foundations.
Note to news sites: Editing stuff before you post it is a good idea. Especially with headlines involving the name “Dicks.”
I’ve defended Amazon about other things, but they really oughta keepÂ the HVAC in their warehouses in working order.
Couldn’t happen to un-nicer guys: Chase loses a cool $2 billion on a single hedge fund.
A Seventeen reader is petitioning the not-as-classy-as-it-used-to-be magazine. She wants it to depict models more realistically, without excessive Photoshopping.
The singer for the band Against Me! says he’s going to become a woman. I can just imagine the package tour with Jayne County, Genesis P. Orridge, and Wendy Carlos.
Public-sector unions in the UK (a place where such institutions still have a big measure of clout) have staged massive protests against government “austerity”â€¦
â€¦while here at home, two TruthOut.org contributors claim U.S. conservatism has “hit rock bottom,” having devolved into “an unappealing philosophy of political exclusion, environmental degradation, and economic hopelessness.”