Few can deny the myriad benefits that the new era of action hero has brought humanity. He generates nonstop kinetic energy, capable of powering our modern conveniences like Blu-ray players or Bit-torrents with loads of extra features. He boasts levels of emotional endurance capable of withstanding stresses unheard of when our heroes were merely carved out of wood or stone, His delivery of satisfaction, in pain or in pleasure, is instant and constant. The modern-day action hero is many times more productive than his forebears: he is in more scenes and set pieces, he completes them faster in many more, shorter cuts, he kills more bad guys in slow motion than his grandfathers did on 16mm – he crashes more cars, he has more sex – the Gross Action Product of our modern day heroes makes the founding fathers of the genre pale by comparison. And he has impeccably photoshopped abs.

But one must at some point wonder – does this transformation in the basic action hero come with a cost? Sure, injecting a man with a poison so that he constantly has to supply his body with adrenaline or he dies is a great way to increase efficiencies and improve the general welfare, but is there a hidden cost to the action heroes themselves?

Or to all of us?

The In-Crank-rial Revolution’s human toll, after the jump –

Hello, America.

Those of us you who are gainfully employed have probably noticed the special significance today, April 15th, the ides of April, holds.  Yes, today is the day for which years of standardized test-taking have prepared each and every one of us.  It is a day that encapsulates the very core of the American political soul – the great social equalizer.  Today is the day where some modest but precious modicum of our meager salaries are joined together in great union, the ultimate confluence of national cohesion.

Today, we celebrated our Taxation Day.

We’re going look at taxes as viewed from both sides of the Atlantic, through the lens of pop music.  Read on – but if you qualify for the Earned Income Credit (EIC), please make sure to first fill out the worksheet on page 15.