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The amount of money the central bank parceled out was surprising even to Gary H. Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1985 to 2009, who says he “wasn’t aware of the magnitude.” It dwarfed the Treasury Department’s better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.

Please note the date. That 7.77 Trillion was just the beginning. So, the next time you wonder what the Occupiers at Wall Street want, perhaps just like every other American, they feel that they should see a return on their 7.77 Trillion investment that the 1% do. Seems fair to me.

Fascinating account of the world of virtual currency. Unsurprisingly, it to is subject to the same control that all trading from the dawn of time has been – trust. And, since all currency is simply a construct for the exchange of trust, guess what happens to the currency when the faith is shaken?

Civic achievement, banal as it sounds, can be found without following a flow chart during a public meeting at City Hall. It is a buzzing park, a painter turning a street corner utility box into art, block after block of thriving independent businesses, a festival for every obsession and persuasion—it’s growing, engaged immigrant communities. Minneapolis is all of these things. It is not a utopia, not by any stretch. It’s just a city that works.

RT is a bad ass.

What we see and what we experience of the world is largely a lie, made up by us to satisfy some deeply evolved needs and tendencies.

Inspiration for your quiet place somewhere. 

The desert is reclaiming buildings in Kolmanskop, a Namibian ghost town that was once home to a working diamond mine.

Eventually, nature will reclaim us all.

The San Francisco company on Wednesday is opening a social networking site for neighborhoods so that anyone can create a private online community, where members can recommend a plumber, offer up a lawn mower for sale and vent about a barking dog plaguing the block.

I could see this being not only useful but also a good way to get people to actually meet their neighbors.

Soul Kitchen is a new restaurant opened in Red Bank, New Jersey, by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea. The establishment offers a “pay what you can afford” payment model, and serves wholesome, gourmet food made with fresh ingredients grown in the restaurant’s garden, and other local produce.

I’d say this is quite a bit more than half way there.

You’re welcome to this for READINGS if you wish. What I’d ask is that you (or Ms. Rosenbush, whom I respect but fear) not copyedit this like a freshman essay.

Classic DFW. So, so, good!

It’s kind of a paradox: In order to get the most out of the connection it’s crucial that you know how to disconnect and how to use the disconnected time.

I actually just started reading Hamlet’s Blackberry so this interview came at just the right time.