Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - December 20, 2009

• The Onion's "Hammurderer" spoof that left me laughing so hard that I still remember it seven years later
• The Federal government's latest debt statement takes us up to $12.1 trillion in money owed. Divided among the 308 million people living here, that makes your share of the Federal debt $39,253. Do you have that just sitting around between the couch cushions? If not, you might want to let Congress know -- the House of Representatives has just voted to raise the debt ceiling by $290 billion, and to spend another $174 billion on "job creation". What they're not really acknowledging is that every dollar they borrow today has to be paid back, plus interest -- which could, quite possibly, end up costing an extra $1 for every $1 borrowed, if we take too much time to pay it back.
• Why were New York news reporters so surprised that a UPS driver would return $5000 he found to the original owners? Sure, he should be applauded for being good, but it shouldn't be considered extraordinary that someone would be honest enough to return money that didn't belong to them. If that's extraordinary, then that suggests that New Yorkers are downright crooked. I certainly hope that's not the case.
• Replacing the Metrodome will cost almost a billion dollars. That's disappointing, for a stadium that didn't last 30 years. Fenway was built in 1912. Wrigley Field was built in 1914. And why should the public have to foot any or all of the bill? The Bradley Center was paid for with private funding.
• Free WiFi at McDonald's, thanks to the psychological/economic principle of reciprocity -- they figure you'll feel guilty taking something for free, so you'll compensate by paying extra for something else