Robert Samuelson reminds us that currency misalignment was a contributing factor to the Great Depression in a piece titled "Our Depression Obsession."  It might actually be our "Great" Obsession, as the former Fed Chairman and the President's advisor Paul Volcker has taken to calling the economic mess we are in the "Great Recession." China is being called on its polluting ways by the International Energy Agency.  But economic concerns, especially now, when the Chinese government is trying to rev up the economy, are taking precedence over the concerns about the environment.  You might say: "What else is new?"  And we say: "California."  Its unemployment, to be exact.  It was reported last Friday that the state's unemployment accelerated to the level past 11 percent, the highest on record.  Unfortunately, it'll probably get worse, and more and more workers will have to rely on government aid.  Here's how the aid distribution system works for laid-off or displaced by trade workers in Maine.