I just recently picked up on the new trend in internet marketting. Apparently nothing catches people’s eye more than the will of their dear leader “urging you” to refinance your mortgage, go back to school or grab some other goodies he’s giving us all for free.
This is one of the more disturbing trends I’ve seen on the internet – which is saying a lot – since the advertisers wouldn’t be using this technique if people didn’t find Obama’s wishes compelling. It’s the sort of thing I would expect in North Korea, or an African Country where the dictator renames the days of the week after himself. And seeing the will of your leader – the person that can coerce you to no end without it even making the news – as a better reason to do something than what you yourself desire, is a bad idea no matter what country you’re in.
In The Probability Broach, detective Win Bear lives in a world where oppressive government controls have turned America into a sleazy second-world country: Disney land, air conditioners and many mom and pop companies are declared illegal due to “conspicuous use of power during an energy emergency” (which was probably brought on by other government interventions); the air is polluted with out of date cars, as red tape created significant barriers to creating new vehicles; and meat rations have driven people to cannibalism.
The pain Michigan has felt from the economic downturn is being mended, in part, by new for-profit career training schools that are eagerly grabbing the opportunity to develop Michigan’s human capital. However, many of these entrepreneurs may be looking to swindle, rather than help their clients, which customers should be weary of when eschewing the older, more accredited institutions whose “primary mission [is] to deliver education, not make money,” Ron Dzwonkowski wrote in 
