Best apps... For discouraging texting while driving

DriveMode
blocks all calls, texts, and emails, and prevents drivers from reading or typing. When you select the app, it sends out auto replies to let people know that you’re driving. (Free; AT&T only)

Textecution
automatically disables texting whenever your phone is traveling at speeds exceeding 10 mph. But you can send a request to the admin to override the block if you’re just riding in a fast-moving car, not driving it. ($30; Android)

text-STAR
uses the same 10 mph speed limit as Textecution, and also allows you to schedule auto-reply texts in advance, for periods when you know you’ll be on the road or otherwise occupied. (Free; Android)

DriveSafe.ly
doesn’t block incoming texts; instead it reads them aloud. It allows you to respond by voice instead of with your fingers. (Free; iOS, Android, Blackberry)
Source: Mashable.com

"We already are a welfare state" Mona Charen NationalReview.com

Conservatives unhappy with federal deficit spending often warn that we’re on the road to becoming a European welfare state, said Mona Charen. Who are we kidding? America is already a welfare state. In fact, if you add local and state government spending to federal outlays, the U.S. government spends more per citizen than do France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The only real difference is that “we aren’t honest about our appetite for big government.” When asked, most Americans will insist they prefer small government—in theory. But in reality, we’ve grown addicted to government services and checks: 60 million depend on Medicaid benefits, 54 million get Social Security checks, 48 million are on Medicare, and 45 million receive food stamps. More than 20 million work directly for government, and millions more are private contractors dependent on government funding. If you protest that you “paid for” your Social Security and Medicare benefits, you really didn’t. The average beneficiary gets far more in benefits than he paid in. “We are, in short, a socialist-style society just like Europe.” Admitting it is the first step in recovery.

Interesting post on energy consumption in the U.S.

The Internet... Ways to support charities without spending money

TabForACause.org offers “one of the simplest ways to raise money without lifting a finger (well, almost).” Add the group’s extension to your Web browser and every time you open a new tab, a fraction of a penny will be donated to a charity you choose. You’ll see an ad on each new tab, but feel free to ignore it.

Shopkick.com offers a free smartphone app that lets you earn points every time you enter participating stores—no purchase required. Those points can eventually be cashed in or turned into a charitable gift.

Socialvest.us encourages giving by directing a percentage of your purchases to any of more than 1.5 million charities. Socialvest purchases can be made at the organization’s online shopping site or by using a registered credit card at any of several hundred retailers.

Sexiest man alive Kim Jong Un? Oops! Chinese media gets fooled by the onion

One hot dictator Beijing

Mistaking an Onion spoof for actual news, Chinese media reported this week that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had been named “sexiest man alive.” The Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily ran a 55-photo slide show of Kim in various poses on its website, accompanied by this quote from the Onion article: “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true.” Chinese media routinely praise the North Korean regime, so it’s not surprising the newspaper failed to recognize the sarcasm. It took the slide show down after being widely mocked in the international press.

News you didn't hear about

If tax deductions are limited to raise more federal revenue, it will hit California taxpayers the hardest. On average, Californians claim the biggest share of tax deductions in the nation—$33,901 in 2010—mostly due to high mortgage deductions. The national average deduction in
2010 for those who itemized was $26,112.
The Wall Street Journal

America now has more computer software engineers than farmers. More than 1 million people are trying to make a living writing apps and other software.
The New York Times

Army suicides have hit a record high, with 166 active-duty soldiers suspected of taking their own lives so far this year. The problem has grown so severe that the Army ordered a service-wide “stand-down” in September, requiring soldiers to put aside their usual duties and discuss suicide prevention.
Associated Press

The U.S. electrical grid is so old and prone to failure that, even without a devastating storm like
Hurricane Sandy, some 500,000 Americans lose electricity for at least two hours every single day.
Washington Monthly

Laws prohibiting smoking in bars, restaurants, and workplaces are now on the books in 30 of the 50 largest U.S. cities. In 2000, only one city—San Jose—had such a ban.
The Hill

Poll watch
65% of Americans believe President Obama will make a sincere effort to compromise with Republicans and create bipartisan solutions to the nation’s problems. 48% say they think congressional Republicans will be willing to compromise.
Gallup Poll

57% of Americans say Israel is justified in taking military action in Gaza. 25% say the action is unjustified.
CNN/ORC International Poll

The rock ’n’ roll accountant- former GnR basses now financial adviser

These days, Duff McKagan is more excited by spreadsheets than by sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, said Adam Sherwin in The Independent (U.K.). The Seattle-born musician spent 12 years in the 1980s and early 1990s playing bass with notoriously debauched rock band Guns N’ Roses. He snorted piles of cocaine and drank 10 bottles of red wine a day, and in 1994 ended up in the hospital with a burst pancreas. Doctors told him to give up drinking or die. Bored and in recovery, he decided to look over his Guns N’ Roses financial statements. “I wanted to learn to read these, but I didn’t trust anybody,” says McKagan, 48. “I just got a light bulb in my head and said, ‘I want to go to school.’” So he took business and accountancy classes, and today runs a fund-management company focused on financial advice for his guitar-slinging peers. McKagan’s big regret is that he wasn’t business-savvy in 1988, when Fox TV called him to say they planned to name a beer—Duff—after him in a new animated series. “I knew nothing about branding yourself or royalties. I just thought, ‘Cool, they wanna use my name,’ and boom, The Simpsons was born. Yeah, if I had a nickel for every time…but it’s fine.”

THE WEEK