We've always been at war with Eastasia.

While reading this article about rising wholesale prices and unemployment numbers, I noticed the following in the sidebar (copy/pasted because I can't do a screenshot):

Stiglitz: Washington Should Stop Worrying, U.S. Has "No Problem" Paying Off Its Debts - Peter Gorenstein

We're "Absolutely" Headed for Another Crisis Without Reform, Economist Stiglitz Says - Heesun Wee

We Need a Second Stimulus Now, Says Nobel Laureate Stiglitz, or Americans Will Be Unemployed for Years - Henry Blodget

So ... which is it? I ask only out of facetiousness; these headlines serve only to show the importance of getting the information for yourself. We are no longer in a world where we can rely on third parties to tell us what to think -- and unfortunately, most of the world doesn't realize that. I know that sounds a little Glenn-Beck's-off-his-meds-again, but I don't care. I'm tired of pulling my punches. I've thought for a while that life as we know it won't end with a bang, and I'm becoming increasingly less sure about the whimper. I think it'll be more of a soft squish, like a shoe sinking into the mud. You don't notice anything's wrong until it's over the top and your sock gets wet, and then the only thing to do is leave it there and walk away.

Sorry if that bums you out. Like I said yesterday, I'm tired and sore and really punchy this week. Victor Davis Hanson is a real ray of sunshine today, too.