Thomas Jefferson on Our Unfolding Financial Disaster:

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." From an 1802 letter to then Sec. of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, per Liberty-Tree.

Naomi Klein on the "Shock Doctrine"

Apologies for the repeat, but I think Klein's insights are of critical importance, and too few people are aware of them.

We've already seen "shock therapy" administered following the Iraq invasion and Katrina; next is the rapidly unfolding financial crisis in the U.S.

The crisis probably would not have happened if we hadn't previously allowed conservative forces to dismantle much of the regulatory protections put in place after the Great Depression, such as Glass-Steagall, S&L regulation, and adequate funding for bank regulators and the SEC.

Instead of restoring those protections, of course, the Bush administration is already using the financial crisis as an excuse for rolling out radical new changes; see, e.g., here and here.

Not worried enough yet to act? "As journalist Naomi Klein so succinctly put it, when the next administration takes over the White House, they’ll find it empty. Agencies that might have dealt with the blowback from two pre-emptive wars and the current economic crisis are no longer functional. . . . From the Gipper to BushCo, the dissolution of our social contract has transformed the United States from an imperfect union to a ruined [I'd say, looted] corporation. Its engineers will not relinquish the power – or the money – they have taken from us." (From OpEdNews.) And that's just the beginning of what Klein's pieced together.

If we don't understand her insights, we're sitting ducks. The video is just over 8 min. Please watch it and share it.

Milwaukee International Art Fair

"International"'s prolly meant humorously, but my li'l home town kinda is -- a great Mex community, and restaurants, decades before NYC; not to mention German, Polish, Czech, et al.

I understand the last fair was more about fun than commerce. This year's "Dark Fair" (opening March 28) will be held without natural or electric light, other than candlelight, flashlight, and glow-in-the-dark stuff -- maybe a little like snuggling up to someone else's computer at night. Some cool galleries will be there, including Dallas's own Angstrom.

Ok, I'm a sucker for the original "Star Trek";

plus, this bead-curtain Kirk by Devorah Sperber flatters my delusion that I see through men (to their fervent wish that they only were so shallow).

Google Services Conflict with Privacy Rights Outside the U.S.

Of course, thanks to the U.S. "Patriot Act," we in the U.S. have allowed many of our own privacy rights to be eliminated.

But other countries still care about theirs and are nixing companies' use of Google services based on the fact that Google's servers can legally be spied upon by the U.S. gummint. More here and here.

We should not assume the chickens are safe while the only check on the foxes is their need to strike a deal among themselves.

More than Half of the World's Largest Economies Are Corps., Not Countries

Based on a report for the Institute for Policy Studies, for example, General Motors, Wal-Mart, Exxon, and Ford are bigger than Poland, Saudi Arabia, Finland, or Venezuela.

Who needs allies; easier to deal with corps., which are often much less answerable to their supposed constituents.

Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War

" . . . disrupted an Easter Mass on Sunday, shouting and squirting fake blood on themselves and parishioners in a packed auditorium." Ok, they're not actually schoolgirls; that's just what the activists call themselves.

"Speaking after the service, [Cardinal] George said, 'We should all work for peace, but not by interrupting the worship of God.'" (More here.)

I was under the impression that actions such as working for peace actually are the worship of god (as opposed to, e.g., mere words unaccompanied by actions)? (Assuming the sermon interrupted did even actually address any of the great evils of our times?)

Guess Cardinal George's god isn't as evolved as mine? -- scary, 'cause I don't even have one.

One attendee complained about the possible effect on children present. I concur; but I'd like to know what he's done about the deaths of over a million Iraqis, likely including at least tens of thousands of Iraqi children.

Heart Fountain

By Billy Chasen. It'd've been even better at the 2004 RNC.