Brother Jim's Ketchup

Time to see what Brother Jim is sending me. I hear he was making a nice dinner the other night.

Salon: Are we in the beginning of another Great Depression?

All we have to do is ignore what the markets and other economic indicators are telling us right now and continue down the disastrous path we've been merrily skipping along for the last 25 or so years. Want to see "The Great Depression: The Sequel"? Here's a handy three-step do-it-yourself action plan.

1. Continue to ignore growing income inequality and govern the United States for the benefit of the rich at the expense of the many.
2. Continue to whittle away at the safety nets that exist to cushion Americans from economic ill winds.
3. Continue to weaken government oversight of Wall Street.

Or, in other words, combine Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's toothless regulatory "overhaul" (which, absurdly, would actually result in less government oversight of the financial markets than currently exists), with Sen. John McCain's pledge to continue the economic policies of George W. Bush (read his lips: make the tax cuts permanent). Presto: A severe recession gets the opportunity it has long been waiting for and heads south for parts unknown for almost a century.

Coolness - an amazing door chain.

Jon Taplin: We have entered The Interregnum.

Since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 the American political ruling ideology has been based on the twin poles of the Neoconservative philosophy first elucidated by Irving Kristol in The Public Interest in 1965: in domestic affairs the national government should shrink (by cutting taxes and business regulations) and in foreign affairs the government should grow (by becoming the world’s sole military superpower). Four kinds of business firms have done very well by this strategy: finance,oil, drugs and military. And while their shareholders and executives like our Vice President and former Secretary of Defense get very rich, the middle class is losing ground. The election of 2006 brought the neoconservative era to a close, but did not define “the new order” and so we are in an Interregnum.

Jim's next PC will have a British accent.

The Davy Crockett W-54, how soon will someone say let's use this sucker? Damn Interesting is a great site - check out the next article on an April Fool's Day joke by Jonathan Swift, if it is not itself an April Fool's Day prank.

How the world really works, Krugman writes The Illuminati are targeting Iceland. Krugman is great, also see his short post on why John Edwards hasn't endorsed yet.

Jim's short film, ZombiNation, will be the first film shown, preceding the opening night full length film, at the San Marco's Indie Film Festival this September 5th. Here is their earlier zombie short film, Last Stand.

The TSA now making flights safe from nipple rings.

A portfolio on life in the 21st century - from US Steel over forty years ago.

Who did this 22-year-old know to get $300 million in Pentagon arms deals? Photo of the latest rogue in Miami's arms dealer community. His grandfather says leave his smart grandkid alone. Caveat Emptor, Pentagon.

Jim adds Liz Edwards is still relevant.

Tags: Jim, liberal news