Tuesday Mashup (6/23/09)

(And I also posted here – also, posting is questionable for tomorrow.)

I will give TV financial guru Suze Orman a bit of credit because I have no doubt that her advice has helped a few individuals, but I happened to stumble across this interview with her (with the obnoxious title of “Why The Recession Is A Good Thing”) and found this particularly offensive excerpt…

U.S. News: Do you think young people have it worse than any other generation, with their higher unemployment rate, high debt levels, and weak job market for graduates?

SO: Right now, they have it so great it's not even funny.

Isn’t that just the best? And just after I defended myself and (by association) baby boomers last week here, along comes one of our own to act like an idiot.

This tells us the following…

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A new study finds that in sharp contrast to the overall declining rates of colorectal cancer in the United States, incidence rates among adults younger than age 50 years are increasing. The authors theorize that these increases may be related to rising rates of obesity and changes in dietary patterns, including increased consumption of fast food.

Diet and exercise…yes, I know. Also (from here)…

Student debt in the United States has surged in recent decades, with outstanding federal student debt now topping $500 billion. The share of young adults carrying some educational debt has almost tripled since 1983, according to economist Ngina Chiteji.

…

Most young-adult debt profiles haven’t yet reached horror-story status. In fact, young people’s overall indebtedness as a proportion of income has not changed much since the 1960s, according to Chiteji’s research.

There is an important difference between then and now, though. Mortgage debt used to be virtually the only major debt held by young people. Now, their debt load is much heavier on schooling.

And student debt can be extremely difficult to discharge, even in bankruptcy court. (Click here to see how one former grad student did it.) That’s partly because of a crackdown on defaults following a record default rate of 22.4 percent during the 1990-91 recession.

And does the news get any better for job prospects? Well, as noted here…

IN the first year of the recession, older Americans gained jobs at an impressive rate.

But younger ones lost them.

The recession provides a double whammy for the job prospects of those trying to establish themselves. There are fewer jobs to go around, and older Americans who can do so are either delaying retirement or seeking to return to the work force.

Well, there is at least one “employer” who’s hiring, as noted here.

Now Suze, you want to try telling me again how young people “have it so great that it’s not even funny”? And once more, how is it exactly that you didn't see our financial train wreck coming at us?

Also, this is an update to this prior post, which tells us as follows…

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to kill a controversial Bush administration spy satellite program at the Department of Homeland Security, according to officials familiar with the decision.

The program came under fire from its inception two years ago. Democratic lawmakers said it would lead to domestic spying.

…

Lawmakers alerted (Homeland Security Secretary Janet) Napolitano of their concerns about the program-that the program would violate the Fourth amendment right to be protected from unreasonable searches-before her confirmation hearing.

Once she assumed her post, Ms. Napolitano ordered a review of the program and concluded the program wasn't worth pursuing, the homeland official said. Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa declined to speak about the results of the review but said they would be announced shortly.

The lawmakers were most concerned about plans to provide satellite imagery to state and local law enforcement, so department officials asked state and local officials how useful that information would be to them. The answer: not very useful.

"In our view, the NAO is not an issue of urgency," Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, wrote to Ms. Napolitano on June 21.

Writing on behalf of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Chief Bratton said that were the program to go forward, the police chiefs would be concerned about privacy protections and whether using military satellites for domestic purposes would violate the Posse Comitatus law, which bars the use of the military for law enforcement in the U.S.

I’m sure Dubya wasn’t aware of the law when this was first proposed, no doubt thinking it was a means to encourage celibacy (…or maybe not).

This Parade Magazine article from Sunday tells us the following…

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is now urging consumers to seek out “drug take-back programs” instead of flushing their pills. Unfortunately, such programs are rare, since it is illegal for patients to give their controlled substances to others, even if it is just to get rid of them. Take-back programs for controlled substances require the supervision of the Drug Enforcement Administration or other law-enforcement authorities to ensure that the drugs don’t fall into the wrong hands. (The Food and Drug Administration still recommends flushing drugs with a very high potential for abuse, like oxycodone and morphine.) Legislation introduced this year in Congress would require the Justice Department to develop simplified rules for take-back facilities.

“It used to be just flush it and forget it, but we’ve learned in recent years that that can have an impact on the environment, on drinking water, and on aquatic life,” says Sharon Corbitt of the American Pharmacists Association.

For those lacking take-back options, the federal government recommends mixing the drugs with an “undesirable substance” like coffee grounds or kitty litter, entombing them in sealed containers, and throwing them in the trash.

Would that the Supremes were as enlightened on marine-life matters as the White House, since they effectively ruled today that Lower Slate Lake, north of Juneau, Alaska, can be permanently fouled with mining waste by the Army Corps of Engineers (here).

Lovely.

And finally, how could I possibly ignore the latest gun-related developments (as much as I’d like to)?

This story tells us the following…

WASHINGTON — More than 800 gun purchases were approved after background checks in the last five years even though the buyers' names were on the government's terrorist watch list, investigators said Monday.

In response, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey has introduced the Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009 (more info is here, along with details here on H.R. 2324, the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2009).

As I’ve said in the past, I don’t know how a legitimate sportsman would have an issue with a one-gun-a-month restriction, mandatory background check of buyers at gun shows, and renewing the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban (and it’s not as if the gun business isn’t stoking the misplaced fears of those who think President Obama will try to confiscate their property, as noted here, including the following)...

Gun dealers across the nation have reported robust sales since Barack Obama’s election. In New Jersey, applications for pistol permits have soared — to roughly double last year’s totals, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark. There’s a shortage of ammunition, and many types are almost unavailable. The Bullet Hole limits ammunition sales to two boxes a customer for the firing range and one if you’re taking it home.

“It’s the full spectrum — financial people who have come across the pond from Manhattan and people who pump gas for a living,” said Mr. Colandro, who tools around in a Dodge Ram pickup with his “Gun for Hire” logo, the lowercase “i” looking like a fallen figure with blood pooling around the dot.

“I don’t think it’s so much Obama,” he added. “It’s the economic meltdown that scared the heck out of people. You have Hillary Clinton in government, and people associate her with the assault-weapons ban. Look what happened after Katrina and the L.A. riots. So you’ve got ammunition shortages and a lot of people are buying because they’re worried about confiscation.”

The obligatory NRA-generated umbrage will begin momentarily (five…four…three…two…).