Links of the Week

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• Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day. I hope you all enjoyed your turkey. I tried to give everyone something to be thankful for yesterday, but Seth Godin’s Turkey Day post is far more poignant. He proposes that when we look at the holiday we do it with a modern eye, and not as a celebration “of scarcity averted.” I love it.

• Have you ever wondered if the site you were trying to reach is actually down, or if it’s just you? Now the internet has an answer for you. Just add a URL.

• NPR’s All Things Considered spent a little time talking this week about the future of Social Security (or the lack thereof). Several members of the blogosphere are excited that they’re finally saying what just about anyone with a basic understanding of math and a passing familiarity with the term ‘Ponzi scheme’ have known for decades.  I’m not going to be that harsh, but I’m also not counting on Social Security to be around to supplement my investments when they think I should be retiring.

• Popular Mechanics interviews a security expert who says the new TSA policies won’t catch anybody. Color me surprised. We’re doing a lot to the innocent citizens of our country and people around the world to try to stop terrorism. We need to be more honest with ourselves how much of it is actually worth what it has been costing us, and how much of it actually accomplishes the stated goals.

• If the following video doesn’t strike you as familiar, you haven’t watched the news in a long while.
  
  While I find the video very dry and very funny, it does make a good point about the way television news has become homogenized. On the other hand, the rise of social networks has begun to reform the nature of investigative journalism. Maybe TV news will be just one more casualty of the communication revolution.

• Carlos Whittaker wants to turn this Black Friday…Blue. He’s partnering with Watermissions.org to bring clean water to the most desperate communities of the world. It’s as easy as sending a text.