So remember how the pres told us all we should go shopping to show our loyalty after 9/11? Here’s a guy who is the antidote to shopping, Rev. Billy! Check him out at http://www.revbilly.com. This courageous (and slightly crazed) character walks into Victoria’s Secret with a bullhorn and tells customers to stop shopping, cause Vic’s slick ‘n’ sexy catalogues are raping Canadian forests. He’s right, of course. Shouldn’t there be signs in the window, right next to those little images of the credit cards they accept?

Credit card debt in the US, as of Christmas eve, was up 26 percent from last year. Experts say “the subprime mortgage is partly to blame” for our $920 billion in collective credit card hell. That makes sens; point the finger at an inanimate entity. No subprime is going to stand up and squawk, “It ain’t MY fault!” So who’s fault is it? The pres? Advertising? Social pressure? Maybe a little over-indulgence? There’s plenty of responsibility to go around. And sure, sometimes things really do get tough and I’ve been there, when you have to buy groceries with your credit card or you don’t eat. But I also think that as a nation, we’re pretty self-indulgent. Have you ever taken a vacation you were still paying for long after your tan faded? Was it worth it?