As I thought, the boy in the balloon story was a hoax from jump...and now the parents will be charged.

Paul Krugman says that while the banks that move money around are making money, the banks that actually lend money to businesses and consumers are not doing well, which bodes ill for any economic recovery.

Robert J. Samuelson wonders about what can be done to start creating more jobs.

The worrying rise of Mr. Wrong.

E.J. Dionne hits the nail on the head when he worries about apathy among youth voters heading into the 2010 mid-term elections. I suspect younger voters, who turned out in larger than normal numbers for Obama in 2008, will return to normal patterns for the 2010 elections, meaning the electorate at that time will be older (it will also, I suspect, be whiter and more conservative), all of which points to a good year for the GOP.