Self-described war nerd Gary Brecher knows he’s not alone. He knows there's a community of large, lonely, mostly basement-dwelling Americans, most of whom are stuck in thankless, TPS-report producing desk jockey jobs, who enjoy reading about war because of their deep dissatisfaction with their own lives.

He has been described this way: "Part war commentator, part angry humorist àla Bill Hicks, Brecher inveighs against pieties of all stripes — Liberian generals, Dick Cheney, U.N. peacekeepers, the neo-cons — and the massive incompetence of military powers. A provocative free thinker, he finds much to admire in the most unlikely places, and not always for the most pacifistic reasons: the Tamil Tigers, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Danes of 1,000 years ago, and so on, across the globe and through the centuries. Crude, scatological, un-P.C., yet deeply informed, Brecher provides a radically different, completely unvarnished perspective on the nature of warfare."

Self-described war nerd Gary Brecher knows he’s not alone. He knows there's a community of large, lonely, mostly basement-dwelling Americans, most of whom are stuck in thankless, TPS-report producing desk jockey jobs, who enjoy reading about war because of their deep dissatisfaction with their own lives.

He has been described this way: "Part war commentator, part angry humorist àla Bill Hicks, Brecher inveighs against pieties of all stripes — Liberian generals, Dick Cheney, U.N. peacekeepers, the neo-cons — and the massive incompetence of military powers. A provocative free thinker, he finds much to admire in the most unlikely places, and not always for the most pacifistic reasons: the Tamil Tigers, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Danes of 1,000 years ago, and so on, across the globe and through the centuries. Crude, scatological, un-P.C., yet deeply informed, Brecher provides a radically different, completely unvarnished perspective on the nature of warfare."

Energy solutions may be our single most pressing problem, but it also might provide the single greatest opportunity for our country to fix our financial problems. But, just how bad is American energy policy, and how out to lunch are we and our government on the issue of climate change?

To start to find solutions on the energy and climate crisis, we talked to one of our favorite experts on the topic, Brad Johnson of Think Progress. Brad provides excellent coverage of the behind-the-scenes wrangling in Washington as it pertains to both energy policy and the climate crisis, and is also co-author of the Technomanifesto, a history of the information revolution.

Energy solutions may be our single most pressing problem, but it also might provide the single greatest opportunity for our country to fix our financial problems. But, just how bad is American energy policy, and how out to lunch are we and our government on the issue of climate change?

To start to find solutions on the energy and climate crisis, we talked to one of our favorite experts on the topic, Brad Johnson of Think Progress. Brad provides excellent coverage of the behind-the-scenes wrangling in Washington as it pertains to both energy policy and the climate crisis, and is also co-author of the Technomanifesto, a history of the information revolution.

The deficit, obviously, is the big to-do in the world these days, and the question usually is, “What do we do about the deficit?” but the actual question should be, “Why do we have a deficit and what can be done to solve the underlying problems that are creating the deficit?”

To get answers, we talked to Jon Walker of FireDogLake.com, who has been producing some excellent coverage of the healthcare crisis and its effect on our nations deficit.

The deficit, obviously, is the big to-do in the world these days, and the question usually is, “What do we do about the deficit?” but the actual question should be, “Why do we have a deficit and what can be done to solve the underlying problems that are creating the deficit?”

To get answers, we talked to Jon Walker of FireDogLake.com, who has been producing some excellent coverage of the healthcare crisis and its effect on our nations deficit.

Is the best way to stick it to the banks to refuse to raise the debt ceiling? One of our favorite guests on the subject, and one of the smartest people publishing advocating on the issue is Chris Whalen. Chris is co-founder of Institutional Risk Analytics and a columnist at Reuters.com.

Is the best way to stick it to the banks to refuse to raise the debt ceiling? One of our favorite guests on the subject, and one of the smartest people publishing advocating on the issue is Chris Whalen. Chris is co-founder of Institutional Risk Analytics and a columnist at Reuters.com.

Barry Ritholtz, CEO of FusionIQ, The Big Picture blog and author of Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corruputed Wall and Shook the World Economy.

Make sure to check out Barry's blog at http://www.ritholtz.com

Barry Ritholtz, CEO of FusionIQ, The Big Picture blog and author of Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corruputed Wall and Shook the World Economy.

Make sure to check out Barry's blog at http://www.ritholtz.com