Vanity Fair's editor, Graydon Carter, laid out a compelling case for Wall St's hijacking of Washington DC.  Unfortunately, he allowed blatant partisanship to cloud his objectivity when evaluating the role of Senate Republicans in the battle for financial reform.

As gold prices rise past $1200 an ounce and the Euro tumbles due to the debt contagion, Congressman Ron Paul continues to implicate the U.S. Federal Reserve as the one of the primary culprits for domestic and international monetary problems.

Last Friday, Gov. Schwarzenegger detailed the brutal budget cuts coming, saying the state doesn’t have the money, and that the current system is broken and must be repaired. Further, he said he will not sign a budget that does not contain substantial pension, budget, and tax reform.

If the rains hold, Central Valley orchards are set to produce two bumper crops. Growers, packers and distributers were concerned that a frigid winter and the need to import more pollinators would undermine the golden state's largest agricultural export, the almond. Exporters are breathing sighs of relief as the first indicators of the proportions of this season's almond crop have been analyzed.