Following up on the posts about economic bad news and our current lack of leadership, a great quote from the administration.  Why can’t we have foreclosure relief?  According to an anonymous White House official, “We’re done in two months. The next administration can try to find a way out of that maze.”
Yeah, no worries. It’s not like there’s a crisis or anything. (h/t TPM)

For the last couple months, many members of my generation (known as The Youth) have been feeling an odd sensation, correlating closely with Obama’s rise in the polls and subsequent election win. After being raised on a steady diet of Simpsons, irony and cynicism, and after 8 years of Bush, we’ve started to feel something I understand is called “Hope.” Hope for our future, hope that we may not be irreversibly screwed, even hope that there may be jobs available next year. It’s a really great sensation, and I’ve been …

Via Reuters:
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a 26-year high last week as employers tightened their belts to help weather what many fear will be a deep, long recession.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits jumped last week by 58,000 to 573,000, suffering the biggest increase since September 2005, the Labor Department said on Thursday. It was the highest reading since November 1982.
I actually remember 1982. It wasn’t fun. Mostly I remember my friends’ fathers moving to other cities in attempts to find …

I’m a little unclear whether this technically qualifies as “indie,” but since this is a storybook/toy project that arose from a tiny art show, I’m going to err on the side of rags to riches at worst.  Andi Green designed these “WorryWoo Monsters” originally in 2001 for an exhibition called “Monsters in My Head” and then went on to create storybooks and plush toys for each.  My favorite is here but everyone is sold out.

the lonely little monster, $14.50 (book w/plush toy here for $36)