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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'

*1. How to carve a pumpkin that shows your political leanings.

*2. ESPN's The Journey of Richard Jensen -- the comeback of a wrestler -- is an extra good video.

3. You can lay subtitles or text bubbles on video -- any video. I will be using this to teach about storytelling.

4. Canon responds to the Nikon D90 with its own SLR still camera that records HD video.

5. Why do 97 percent of this railroad's workers get disability checks?

6. I now use Utterz to file audio reports. You can use your computer's mic or any phone. It's simple and would be a great reporter's tool.

7. I used Monitter to monitor what people said on Twitter about Ike. Just change the subjects to whatever you want to look out for.

8. I'm reading all about the Nikon D90, which shoots photos and HD video with the same $1K body.

9. Qik streams live video straight from a cell phone.

*10. Use Tweetbeep to keep track of conversations that mention you, your products, your company, anything! You can even keep track of who's tweeting your site or blog.

11. This site watches TV and Web mentions of candidates. It also monitors Tweets and more.

12. This fall many PBS stations will air this documentary on whether there is a water crisis in the Southwest.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.

Where Did Your Federal Dollars Go?

The Census Bureau released a report that shows how the Feds spent your money in 2006 (this is the latest information available.) For starters, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid took up half of all federal spending. Defense spending totaled $400 billion.

Keep in mind, 2006 was post-Katrina, so Gulf Coast states ranked highest in the amount of money the federal government spent per person in those states. That said, here is the ranking:

Louisiana ($16,263)
Mississippi ($14,516)
Alaska ($13,805)

The states that received the lowest per capita distribution of federal funds were:

Nevada ($5,852)
Utah ($6,162)
Minnesota ($6,175)

Click here to read "Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2006," [PDF], which details how much the Feds sent back to each state.

You might have guessed that defense spending was large ($400 billion), so compare that to:

$569 billion on direct payments other than retirement and disability, which included hospital insurance ($188 billion), supplemental medical insurance ($161 billion), earned income tax credits ($38 billion), food stamps ($30 billion), unemployment compensation ($28 billion), agricultural assistance ($28 billion), federal employment health and life programs ($21 billion) and housing assistance ($9 billion).

Among the $143 billion procured by nondefense agencies, the Department of Energy had the largest amount ($22 billion), followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs ($16 billion), Postal Service ($15 billion), Homeland Security ($15 billion), General Services Administration ($12 billion) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($11 billion).

Posted by Al Tompkins 12:00 PM Apr 24, 2008

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