Unemployment at 10.2% means...

You know, I'm not really sure what it means. Maybe unemployment would have been ever higher without the stimulus and recovery plans.

But I doubt it.

Why do we care more about laws that sound good than laws that do good?

My short-form argument is this: the First Amendment applies to bigots, too. What somebody says while brutalizing another person may interest the jury (e.g. probative of motive), but they should ultimately go to jail for the beating, not the speaking. The speaking should not serve as a magic wand for transporting the matter to federal court--and it definitely should not be the basis for increased criminal sanctions, because that would be a clear violation of the First Amendment.

(And it should go without saying that we ought never assume bigotry simply because the victim belongs to a politically powerful superminority, so some expression of hate is presumably necessary to make it a "hate crime.")

Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize?

I... what? He's been in office for ten months. I'm glad he closed Guantanamo... or at least kind of issued an order to that eventual effect... but I'm not pleased with some of his approaches to spending. So I guess thus far I'd say his presidency has been "unremarkable." Which is fine! He's got time. And he's certainly better than his predecessor... heck, almost by default.

Sorry, we've been in Utah and Idaho for a while and internet access has been sporadic at best. But Aprilynne is done touring now, so I'm back! I will try to get some actual content up here later this month, but in the meantime, here's some mandatory viewing material for President Obama, who I would assume is a regular reader of my blog.

So now AIG is using its bailout money to pay its lawyers to sue the government for a $306,000,000 tax refund.

Congress: at what point do we just let this company fail!? The right answer is six months ago. But I'm a forgiving guy. I'll give full credit for now, immediately, or even right away.

So how 'bout it? Shut them down. We own, what, 80% of the company? Time to cut our losses and liquidate.

Dear Everyone,

It has recently become clear that AIG is handing out bonuses to...

What's that? I linked to an article about AIG bonuses from three months ago? My bad. Let's start over.

It has recently become clear that AIG is handing out bonuses to various highly-compensated individuals who happen to be the same people who ran AIG aground in the first place. It has also become clear that many of them, after receiving this money, fled like rats from a sinking ship. Yes, this would be the same sinking ship we're keeping afloat with billions and billions of taxpayer dollars. Yes, this is literally a case of taxing the poor to keep rich people rich. Yes, you have every reason to be outraged.

Seeing as how they said this three weeks ago, I hardly dare hope it's true, but it looks like the Auto bailout has been defeated.

Sorry to keep bringing this up, but the whole bailout shtick just makes me irate. Free market means free to fail. If I wanted Ford et al. to have my money, I'd buy their products.

Anyhow, it's too little, too late so far as I'm concerned--$14 billion is a drop in the bucket compared to what we've already done. But at least it's a step in the right direction.

So it's been almost a week since we elected Barack Obama to the presidency, among other things. And for all my political ranting and raving, it would appear that I am the only person in the world who hasn't blogged, twittered, Facebook-statused, or otherwise blabbed about it yet. Well, that may or may not be calculated hyperbole, but it turns out that, the decision made, I haven't much to add. I supported Obama over Clinton back in the Primary days, but ultimately cast my vote for those who consistently opposed the bailout. I'm neither horrified nor particularly anxious for an Obama presidency; I still think his tech policy is promising and his tax plan, disturbing.

Gee, good thing we passed that bailout bill. Yes, the Dow closed a "mere" 370 points down or so, but it was down over 700 at one point today.

Bush's new position is that the "federal government will undertake this rescue plan at a careful and deliberate pace to ensure that your tax dollars are spent wisely." That's interesting, coming from the man who last week said, "We must act and act now. We can't have another day [with a 700 point drop] like yesterday."