I know, I know, it’s been a while since I posted. I just haven’t been motivated by killer chimpanzees or the State of the Union or much of anything else that everybody else has been on about for the last week or so. Luckily, other people have written things worth linking.
Let’s start with proof that when you provide seed capital to moticated entrepreneurs, good things happen! Meet Rahinatu, a young lady who made an opportunity for herself with the help of a mere $110. If this sounds like a good thing to you, then I strongly encourage you to go on over to FreeMicroLoan, sign up for the RSS feed, and make some comments.
So I have been hearing nonsense all morning about how “the markets” don’t like what the President said last night and they don’t like “uncertainty.” Well, the people don’t like uncertainty either! Part of the problem “the markets” are experiencing have to do with the fact that we are no longer pretending everything is wonderful. But, when you compare a bunch of stock market declines, you realize it really could be worse! And good news for getting done with this but bad news for corporations, shareholders are angry.
Megan’s Laws don’t work. They don’t work, they don’t prevent crime, they don’t help potential victims stay away from Bad Guys. Since nearly half of sex offenders are family members, it is clear why.
Go ahead and write a letter to the President. He actually reads some of those letters, and uses the feedback he gets from the public (that would be the people who helped him get elected, on whom he must depend to get re-elected in 2012) to inform public policy.
Harsh, Penguin! A few words for the Appleheads.
Harsh but true, Cranky! A few choice words for the young ladies we used to call “bow-heads” when I was in college.
Matt Yglesias has brief but insightful comments on the people who have been called “irresponsible” borrowers. By way of bookends on that theme, Time’s list of 25 people most responsible for the housing crisis, with the ability to rank your favorite losers! Fittingly, when I last looked, Phil Gramm was in the lead. Oh! And it looks like a major group of appraisers are going to oppose the recently announced loan modification plans. Their reasoning? They’re getting cut out of the action.
I enjoyed this chart of travel efficiency, and I hope you will too.
From the “the more things change” department, we have two corrupt judges who were sending kids to juvie detention facilities from which they were getting kickbacks. Often the charges were flimsy. Pork pretty much said what needed saying. Back in my day, it wasn’t juvie. After all, you need an actual judge to send you there. Nope, we had mental hospitals. Even without a crooked judge, you can make do with a crooked doctor, or even a concerned and/or hoodwinked and/or lazy parent, as long as there’s health insurance. And that, my dear readers, is why the seriously crazy lady down the street can’t get inpatient treatment.
And finally, it’s been a while since I gave you some Japanfilter. This is a serious dose of what the…?: Amigurumi.