The green light flickered and our show “Mother Earth’s Weekly Squirms” was on. Our Mars TV panel, back from vacation, was complete. “Dear panel,” I began, “the news from Mother Earth is increasingly bizarre. We see a near collapse of financial systems moving toward a deflationary spiral, sparks of another Middle East war, religious strife is booming and the Obama administration is still using Bush for all the ills that they created themselves. Shamus, can you explain?”