In light of the fact that news coming from Japan seems to be going from bad to worse, I thought I would lead off this link edition with something a little more light, how to make your own pop rocks:

Pop Rocks! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have to admit these tiny candy crystals pack a neat little punch. This candy takes me straight back to my childhood! They can be hard to find sometimes, so here’s how you can make a similar substitute with some surprisingly common ingredients.

CH 2.0: More on the Fate of Useful Idiots

BlogProf: St Louis union rally shows mindless drones being instructed where to go, what to do

U.S. Economic Meltdown

Japan: The estimated death toll from Japan’s disasters climbed past 10,000 Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns and hundreds of thousands of people struggled to find food and water.

Are You Ready for the New Peer-to-Peer Economy?

Sentry Journal: Changing the Tone

The Eye: UK Atheist Group Urges Not to List Religion as Jedi

Why Twitter Should Think Twice About Bulldozing the Ecosystem

As with the company’s other recent moves, including shutting down misbehaving apps, the response has not been friendly from many parts of the network. And while Twitter can probably get away with this kind of behavior, it is taking a real risk of losing much of the goodwill it has built up over the years.

MTTM: The Right To Work Comments In The Interview

WWTFT: Liberty’s Exiles by Maya Jasanoff
Spellchek: The Japan Syndrome

Japan has the world’s third largest economy behind the U.S. and China. Yet , they have a debt equal to over 200% of their GDP. Now they are faced with infrastructure repairs of an unknown amount, hundreds of billions to be sure. Before the earthquake, they had 54 nuclear reactors functioning. It remains to be seen how many will be destroyed permanently through the efforts required to prevent the cores from melting down. That’s one huge difference from a normal recovery from a natural disaster. Generally, it’s only a matter of days or weeks before the power is back on. Japan faces no less than years to replace the destroyed power grid in some areas of the country. If the nuclear option is taken off the table for those rebuilding efforts, the costs from alternative sources will certainly be higher.

And To Wash the Last Music Selection Out’n Yer Ears

Todays World News: Blast at Japan nuke plant; thousands missing

How to think like a liberal – hint, does not include “get a lobotamy”

Charles Krauthammer Eloquently Slams NPR’s Nina Totenberg on NPR’s “Holding a Tin Cup for Taxpayer Money” (video)