Juggling

Between a few things. 1st being the change in government in Japan as the conservative Liberal Democratic Party is being blitzed by the DPJ. DPJ is set to win, but... definitely some apprehension regarding what policy changes will or will not occur.

Currently keeping tabs in the US: Trying to read through the medical reform bill, officially known as H.R. 3200. Perhaps somewhere online.. there is an abridged version... If you're interested and have a talent for deconstructing legalese, you can read the full bill in the following link:

http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf

Interesting report on a town in Japan

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Exporting Everything

Well, as a sign of the economic times, Japan has begun to export the one thing that is abundant in these times of financial turmoil: unemployment.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-to-pay-travel-costs-of-returning-workers-with-japanese-ancestry


So much for immigration reform....

Robot Attack!

Apparently, Japanese are hesitant to leave their kids at day care but not so apprehensive about leaving them with... robots?

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Jindal the story teller

I'm sure that Jindal does a great job as a governor... but for some reason, his response to Obama's State of the Union sounds like... some guy reading a children's book.

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The cat in the hat had a pat...

Sheeple

I think by now, we've all seen the tirade by a certain Mr. Santelli of CNBC. If not, here's your chance to catch up:



Apparently, he is venting our collective anger and outrage over the recent proposal put forth by Obama to address the foreclosure tsunami.



Why "reward" those who took on risks beyond their ability to repay? Not only did they take on risks, but they falsified information on their loan applications! Good God. Gambling liars. Indeed, they should be left to hang, high and dry. Sounds good so far...

So umm... Where was the uproar and the indignation when this happened?

*US bailout to help individuals at risk of foreclosure: $75 Billion.

*US bailout to help individuals, States, small and some not so small businesses: $787 Billion

*US bailout, including amounts pledged by the Fed to support financial institutions: $7.7 TRILLION.

Congress says "oops, we forgot to mention that one."

hrm.... sheeple anyone?

Correction: US bailout, including amounts pledged by the Fed to support financial institutions: $8+ TRILLION. (Hat tip to Kb for finding the article.)

The Stimulus Bill

The full monty on the proposed economic stimulus bill, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (01/30/2009).

If you care to view the 736 pages of spending, take a look. (Link will take you to the NYT website with the full PDF)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Let's see if we can find some interesting nuggets of government spending programs...