Blog Heap of Links for the day 28 May 2011

Greenfield introduces the notion that there are plenty of jobs, but not enough workers with sufficient skills. It seems, according to the article, that there has been a "talent mis-match" forming since the 1970's that is only now coming to a head -- just in time for Obama to skate by on his woeful performance on the economy. You see, it's not his fault!

Soquel High Senior Mikey Donnelly wore a white t-shirt for his senior class photo Tuesday. About 10 of his friends did the same. That decision may seem harmless. But Soquel High suspended Donnelly for three days because of it. Donnelly said the school told him people were offended and intimidated by his group, claiming they're a white supremacist gang. "I do think this is BS," says Donnelly. "I'm not a white supremacist in any way shape or form. If I did say white power, I would probably say it just as much as I say black power." He's not the only one upset. "I feel disrespected," says Soquel High Senior David Mine. Mine also wore a white t-shirt and was also suspended. He's missing out on finals and that could jeopardize his graduation. "I'm Asian," says Mine. "I don't see how I can be a white supremacist. I'm against it completely."

Musician Gil Scott-Heron, who helped lay the groundwork for rap by fusing minimalistic percussion, political expression and spoken-word poetry on songs such as "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" but saw his brilliance undermined by a years-long drug addiction, died Friday at age 62.

...10-year-old boy... said the alligator ran at him, so he started hitting it with sticks and jumped on its back... dragged the alligator home and suffered only minor scratches on his hands and arms... officers let [him] off with a stern talk but no charges...

More than a dozen companies plan to drill up to 3,000 wells around here in the next 12 months. The Texas field, known as the Eagle Ford, is just one of about 20 new onshore oil fields that advocates say could collectively increase the nation's oil output by 25 percent within a decade — without the dangers of drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the delicate coastal areas off Alaska. There is only one catch: the oil from the Eagle Ford and similar fields of tightly packed rock can be extracted only by using hydraulic fracturing

The pilot of a Delta jet that blew a tire and then caught fire as it landed in Atlanta today is being credited with getting the plane through it with no serious injuries to any of the passengers on board.

In a highly unusual step, Navy Cmdr. Dave Koss announced Friday that "with deep personal regret … I will be voluntarily leaving the greatest flight demonstration team." "I performed a maneuver that had an unacceptably low minimum altitude," Cmdr. Koss said in a statement. "This maneuver, combined with other instances of not meeting the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is, led to my decision to step down."

In this corner, we have Andrea Mitchell — who managed to locate the one Rolling Thunder organizer who did not realize the group formally invited Sarah Palin to their Memorial Day event. In the other, Team Sarah — who was contacted by a retired board member, Michael DiPaolo, who had connections in Alaska and got Palin to agree to attend. Mitchell used her ignorant contact to prepare another trite hit-piece on Palin.