Please enjoy this North Korean propaganda video, which features dreams of happiness and space travel, a stirring instrumental rendition of We Are The World, and America engulfed in flames.

U.S. bombed in North Korean propaganda video - Boing Boing

The Fed’s extraordinary ZIRP/QE intervention creates an impression of inorganic gains. Without the unprecedented FOMC actions, I am unsure markets would be anywhere near current levels.

Regardless of your answer to our broad question, there is one thing that I believe to be clear: We are much closer to the end of this secular cycle than to the beginning. Many optimists — most notably, famed technician Ralph Acampora — believe the secular bear market has ended. Even skeptics have to agree that we are more likely in the 7th or 8th inning than earlier stages of the game.

Is the Secular Bear Market Coming to an End? | The Big Picture

The economy has regained all the jobs it lost during the first two years of the Obama administration and is now starting to regain the jobs lost in the last year of the Bush administration.

Behind January Unemployment Data, a Hidden Boom for 2012 - The Daily Beast

This is a very good data set on the current state of the mortgage debacle:

What progress we've made: Slides 12, 13
How much we've still got to work off: Slides 10, 16

Is your state in the top right corner of slide 14? Mine is!!

Atlanta -> just as hosed as Las Vegas.

Wondering if our local government has considered, you know, doing something about that.

LPS Mortgage Monitor is an in-depth report of mortgage industry performance. The monthly report is based on data from the company’s market-leading repository of loan-level residential mortgage data and performance information, including more than 40 million active loans across the credit spectrum. This data is analyzed by LPS experts to produce more than 30 charts and graphs reflecting both trend and point-in-time performance observations.

LPS Mortgage Monitor

Democracy is an important value. But it is not the only value that matters and not necessarily the most important.

The Volokh Conspiracy » What to Do When Illiberal, Anti-Democratic Forces Take Power Through the Democratic Process

Nails it...

YOU are a computer criminal!

“[However], the US government is unlikely to want to get access to data of the average business and will more likely target those engaging in activities which are unlawful or which are potentially against US interests, such as activist, protest or political groups,” said Jennings.

Oh, don't worry, warrantless spying by the US Government only targets political groups...

Business users have nothing to fear from FISAAA, it's claimed | Cloud Pro

Europeans, take note: The U.S. government has granted itself authority to secretly snoop on you.

That’s according to a new report produced for the European Parliament, which has warned that a U.S. spy law renewed late last year authorizes “purely political surveillance on foreigners' data” if it is stored using U.S. cloud services like those provided by Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

FISA renewal: Report suggests spy law allows mass surveillance of European citizens.

As the New York Times reports today, applications from aspiring JDs are on pace to hit a thirty year low. About 30,000 brave souls have applied for a spot this fall's law school class, a staggering 20 percent drop from this time last year, and down 38 percent from 2010, as shown in the graph below from the Law School Admissions Council.  When all is said and done, about 40,000 students are projected to enroll, which would cap off a 24 percent free-fall in just three years -- or the time it takes your average student to graduate. 

In 2006 I had to make a choice between going to law school or buying a home.

The only winning move was not to play.

Frankly, the real culprit here is the hours that people are expected to work, but I don't know the structural reasons for that.

Law School Applications Are Collapsing (As They Should Be) - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic

For the last four months, Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees.

Chinese Hackers Infiltrate New York Times Computers - NYTimes.com