Obama's Bizarro Economy

When is bad news actually good news? When a democrat is in charge.

"Rise in Washington area unemployment seen as good sign for economy's recovery" -- Washington Post headline, March 11, 2010.

Unemployment rates rose in the District, Maryland and Virginia in January, a shift that economists said could be a positive sign for the economy because it suggests that discouraged job-seekers are feeling more optimistic about their prospects and have resumed looking for work.

The District's jobless rate increased to 12 percent in January from 11.9 percent the previous month, according to data released Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Run Away... Run Away...

In Virginia, where the open carry of firearms is legal and becoming more common, George Mason University gives students advice on what to do if they should see such firearms.

The Emergency Action Flyer (link in PDF) has a section on campus violence that tells students what to do if they see someone with any sort of weapon. It boils down to the following:

1 - If inside, run outside
2 - If outside, run inside
3 - Call the cops

If the cops have guns, I presume you repeat the whole process.

VPC Doesn't Care About Black People

The Violence Policy Center conducted a study on crime and concluded that black people shouldn't have guns (link in PDF).

Conclusion
Blacks in the United States are disproportionately affected by homicide. For the year 2007, blacks represented 13 percent of the nation's population, yet accounted for 49 percent of all homicide victims...

For blacks, like all victims of homicide, guns - usually handguns - are far and away the number one murder tool. Successful efforts to reduce America's black homicide toll must put a focus on reducing access to firearms.

PC Alert II

So Rahm Emanuel referred to a bunch of Democrats as "fucking retards" and now there is a big debate about the word retarded. It seems to me that whatever the change the word to, it will eventually become a slur. Didn't this happen with moron and idiot, which both started out as clinical terms (moron meaning mildly retarded, and idiot meaning extremely retarded).

Now, striking out at Rahm Emanuel for using the term as an epithet seems valid to me. I do this whenever someone describes something foolish as "hokey" because I consider it a slight to my beloved Hokies. It is a valiant, albeit challenging, effort to reclaim the medical roots of the term.

But trying to wipe the so-called "R-word" from the public lexicon seems extreme which is what they are now doing. Personally I don't like political correctness and would prefer to call a spade a spade. Calling someone who is retarded.. retarded should not be a crime.

But then I noted the shift way back in 2003:

I don't watch a lot of VH1, but they were doing these 1980s Strikes Back specials, so I turned off the v-chip and tuned in. During the course of the program, VH1 is interviewing several celebrities about their take on the 80s. Naturally when dealing with celebs and 1980s pop culture, there is some swearing and nudity, which VH1 bleeps over or censors for regular TV. But, I could not help but notice that they bleeped over the word "retarded". To put it in context, an actress was discussing the TV show LA Law, and she commented that her favorite character "was the retarded man".

Twenty Ten

Gotta love Lloyd Marcus..