Good morning to you all. I wasn't sure I would find much to say today. Everything is a little 'late' because we never change our clocks before we go to bed. We always do that in the morning as our coffee is brewing. I found this set of before and after pictures of affected areas in Japan. They are absolutely stunning. Just roll your cursor over the picture to see the differences.

Jon Walker (no relation) has this suggestion on Firedoglake that makes a lot of sense. He cites one example of a successful union-owned bank but another route some unions and others found was to form credit unions. I once worked for one that started with a workers in a specific industry and has since expanded to anyone who wants to join. But here one has to be careful. I don't know how well credit unions, as a group, have fared in this miserable economy. And, like banks, you can probably find bad actors. But I think the key is to keep the bank (or credit union) focused on the local people and their needs. Once a bank (or credit union, or company) is cut off from that base and no longer dependent on it and no longer responsive to it.