Sadly, no more.

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I wrote despairingly about America’s End of Empire at the conclusion of last year and now think I was being optimistic. How years of prosperity and growing wealth were flushed away by a corrupt Wall Street, an incompetent series of governments and an all too willing US borrower, all in a matter of a few years, is now ancient history. What is yet to come is a depression of a severity that will fundamentally change the position of the US in the world, which is still in deep denial of the true depth of the chasm we all face.

It was easy to be reminded of this when reading the current issue of Vanity Fair – still the best photography magazine in the US – which profiles the decaying of the American dream. I’m not about to repeat the populist ethic at work here (anyone buying VF for its writing has a serious case of socialism to attend to) but the pictures accompanying the article are extraordinary.

They are reproductions of the enormous posters Kodak hung in Grand Central Station over four decades. Nothing less than an attempt to recreate the world of Norman Rockwell using photography, the result is in equal parts gauche, tasteless and saccharine. A new low in bad taste which, understandably, has not been repeated in a decade or more as Kodak is …. well …. bankrupt. Hardly surprising for a company whose management makes the captain of the Titanic look like a steady hand with great foresight and judgement.

Without further ado, here they are, all copyright of Eastman Kodak, though I’m not sure it’s something I would sue about:

So how many people did you count who are not named Scooter, Chip or Buffy and have colored skin? Are all these people simply stuffed mannequins ready for Madison Avenue’s predators?

In case you missed it, here’s a snap of the new US Treasury Secretary (I believe I am the first to disclose this) – the dude making the rabbit’s ears – from today’s Wall Street Journal.

He’s right to be concerned as the jerk put all his eggs in one basket.

As for Eastman Kodak, well nothing has changed judging by today’s headlines: