† Living In These Mad, Mad, Madoff Times: The Great Recession is different from other economic downturns because people are stuck in homes that are worth less than what they owe the bank, and are unable to get a new or better job in another state, reports The Washington Post:

Labor mobility has nearly ground to a halt in the past two years, and policymakers are increasingly worried that the slowdown is not just a symptom of the nation's economic struggles but also a barrier to overcoming them. …

Many economists believe that a significant number of workers will have to move before the employment picture substantially improves.

But workers have proved unwilling - or unable - to relocate. The biggest factor seems to be the large number of unemployed homeowners who have little or no home equity. Between 2006 and 2009, the number of renters who moved out of state decreased by 13.6 percent, according to census statistics, while interstate migration among homeowners has plummeted by 25.5 percent.

That problem is compounded by the sheer scope of the unemployment problem, which has left few areas in the country untouched. Many Sun Belt cities, long magnets for job seekers from economically depressed areas, have joined long-suffering Rust Belt areas as places with the highest unemployment rates. The Las Vegas metropolitan area has a 14.5 percent unemployment rate, higher than the rate in Flint, Mich. In Riverside, Calif., the jobless rate is 14.4 percent, higher than the rate in the Detroit area. And in Charlotte, unemployment is 10.9 percent, the same as Lima, Ohio.  …

Only a few regions in the country have not experienced large spikes in joblessness during the recession. Among them are the Dakotas, Iowa and parts of Texas, where there was no housing bubble to burst.

† Man’s Friends Set His Fake Leg On Fire – And He Was Cool With That: Police investigating Randy Malone’s bizarre claim that he allowed his friends to set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet have determined that the 47-year old was responsible for his injuries. What really happened was that he bummed a ride from someone who kicked him out of the car when he pulled a crack pipe out of his pocket and lit it up. He set his fake leg on fire accidentally when he stuck the still-lit pipe back into his pocket, reports the Las Cruces (NM) Sun-News:

The man who investigators say set his own prosthetic leg aflame with a pocketed crack pipe has been arrested … at his home after the man's brothers tipped off sheriff's deputies to his location. …

He was charged July 19 with two counts of making a false report to officers — misdemeanors that carry a penalty of up to a $500 fine, 90 days in jail or both.

Malone did not have any drugs on him when the police found him found naked by the side of the road with severe burns, and he was not charged with narcotics possession.

† Warning: Dining Out Is More Fattening Than You Think: If the calorie counts on menus in NYC restaurants aren’t enough to make you lose your appetite, this will: The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene began implementing its restaurant grading system. All of the 24,000+ eateries in NYC will eventually have a placard in the window bearing the letter A, B, or C, based on the results of the department's health inspections. You can read the gory details here, but suffice it to say The Stiletto will never be hungry enough to eat at a restaurant that gets a B (for blech!) or C (for crappy) grade.

† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, A To Z Approach On Illegal Immigration In AZ): A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, taken after U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling enjoining several key provisions of AZ’s anti-immigration law - which the state has already appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco -  finds that 59 percent of voters still favor a similar law for their state. Fifty percent disagree with the judge’s decision to block full implementation of the law until all legal challenges are resolved, 39 percent agree. Americans who support the law continue to contribute to Keep AZ Safe, a legal defense fund set up by Gov. Jan Brewer (R). In just three weeks (fourth item) the fund took in an additional $1 million and now tops $1.6 million.  

And while the Obama Justice Department is suing AZ, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffers are putting their heads together to try to figure out how to grant amnesty to the millions of illegals already here without waiting for the Democrat-controlled Congress to do it for them ("a non-legislative version of amnesty"), reports The Washington Times:

The memo, addressed to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas and written by four agency staffers, lists tools it says the administration has to "reduce the threat of removal" for many illegal immigrants who have run afoul of immigration authorities.

"In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear," the staffers wrote in the memo, which was obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican.

The memo suggests that in-depth discussions have occurred on how to keep many illegal immigrants in the country, which would be at least a temporary alternative to the proposals Democrats in Congress have made to legalize illegal immigrants. …

"This memo gives credence to our concerns that the administration will go to great lengths to circumvent Congress and unilaterally execute a backdoor amnesty plan," Mr. Grassley said.

The memo acknowledges some of the tools could be costly and might even require asking Congress for more money.

At one point, the authors acknowledge that widespread use of "deferred action" - or using prosecutorial discretion not to deport someone - would be "a non-legislative version of 'amnesty.' "

The 11-page draft document prompted a letter by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Thad Cochran R-MO), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), David Vitter (R-LA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jim Bunning (R-KY) to President Barack Hussein Obama asking whether the administration plans to implement the suggestions in the document, and warning that “[s]uch a move would further erode the American public's confidence in the federal government and its commitment to securing the borders and enforcing the laws already on the books.”

For its part, the USCIS issued a statement emphasizing that the internal draft memos are merely an exchange of ideas and not official action or policy:   

"We will not comment on notional, pre-decisional memos. As a matter of good government, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will discuss just about every issue that comes within the purview of the immigration system. ... Internal memoranda help us do the thinking that leads to important changes; some of them are adopted and others are rejected.  Our goal is to implement policies wisely and well to strengthen all aspects of our mission."   

"Nobody should mistake deliberation and exchange of ideas for final decisions. To be clear, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation's entire illegal immigrant population," it continues.

A DHS official told FOX News that the memo was never signed, or event sent to the intended recipients.

† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, The Dems’ Natural Constituency): There he goes again. The brouhaha over his disinclination to pursue voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party hasn’t died down yet and Attorney General Eric Holder is now ignoring a 2009 law co-authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) mandating that states mail absentee ballots to military voters at least 45 days before the election, reports The Washington Times:

[T]he department seems to be encouraging states to apply for waivers so they won't have to follow that law. More than 17,000 Americans serving overseas were denied the vote in 2008 - but, presumably because military personnel are thought to lean conservative, the liberal Obama administration is in no hurry to correct the situation.

The Justice Department is so unenthusiastic about military voting that its website still lists the old requirement for a shorter 30-day military voting window, rather than the current law mandating 45 days. …

As confirmed by The Washington Times last week, Justice Department official Rebecca Wertz told a Feb. 1 conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State that the new law's requirements are somehow open to interpretation. On July 28, an attendee at that conference - heretofore uninterviewed - told The Washington Times that Ms. Wertz's message was "totally undermining" the law. The earlier reports actually underplayed the effect of Ms. Wertz's comments. "It was even more pronounced at the meeting," said the source. "She undermined [the law] right in front of everybody. When I heard what she was saying, I thought: 'You've got to be kidding!' ... It was a clear reversal of roles for Justice to no longer be enforcing the law."

In a letter to Holder, Cornyn protests that Wertz's comments "fly in the face of the clear statutory language, undermine the provisions in question and jeopardize the voting rights of our men and women in uniform" and demand that the Justice Department provide a state-by-state accounting of efforts to comply with the law.

Editorial Note: Even as he is ignoring the Military And Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, The Washington Times observes that “no legislative mandate whatsoever to involve itself with helping felons to vote” the Justice Department’s Website “devotes a large section - 2,314 words - to advising felons how to regain voting privileges.” Clearly, the Obama administration doesn't want the felon vote - which it should win 3:1 - to be diluted by the military vote.

† Updates To Previous Posts (seventh item, The Right To Bear Arms Belongs To Us All: Part II): Starting today, AZ joins AK and VT in allowing residents at least 21 years old to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. The state already allowed residents to carry guns openly without a permit, and legislators passed a law allowing concealed-weapon permit holders to enter bars and restaurants last year. The Arizona Republic explains the dos and don’ts of the new law:

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‡ It removes the requirement that individuals have a permit to carry a concealed weapon anywhere that open carry is allowed. Individuals will still need a permit to carry a concealed weapon in bars and restaurants and to qualify for reciprocal privileges when in states that require permits.

‡ The new law lets individuals obtain permits through means other than the eight-hour training course mandated under the previous law. These other means include any NRA firearms- or safety-training course and a hunter-education course administered by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

‡ It requires individuals to answer honestly if police ask if they are carrying a weapon. The law also allows police officers to take temporary custody of a weapon during stops.

‡ It stiffens penalties for individuals who commit crimes while carrying a concealed weapon.