The feds are dumping piles of stimulus dollars on all 50 states, but when you look behind the 11-digit numbers, some interesting disparities emerge. Through subtle decisions and complicated formulas, Congress is showering more largesse on some places than others. Take the $48 billion intended to stabilize shaky state budgets. The bulk is for education, so Congress divvied up the funds partially on the basis of each state's school-age population. The result: States with more young people get more money.

With voice mail, what you say can and will be used against you. Take the case of former Florida state Representative Ralph Arza, who recently pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of witness tampering. The Republican lawmaker resigned eight months ago after he was accused of leaving obscene, racially charged phone messages to intimidate a legislative colleague who had filed a formal complaint against him. The complaint: that Arza had left an earlier racially charged message.