After the elections in Iraq, its democracy is in question, but at least it's not as dangerous as Kashmir. Maybe, like America, the people -- not the government -- are the problem. Asia is buying US debt; pesky bankers still need to self-regulate -- nothing's changed, and corruption's here to stay. Time for some self-editing, Bob Rubin/ Goldman and Twitter style (but if you're online, do look after your child). Timothy Geithner's wishing he could make like Soros, but he should listen to Buffet. It's not only economics making KF's brow furrow -- we've got unhappy hipsters, internet addictions, silence, noise, erased memories, the ongoing saga of online vs print, and future web charges to worry about.

But even depression has an upside as Delia and Heston get it on (menage-a-trois with Keith McNally, guys?). Rabbit gets approved for all you eco-carnivores out there -- just don't tell Jonathan Safran Foer. We're loving French Cougars and Wally's "yacht-island" (ignore the cost of floating cities and rogue waves). We wish we worked for Apple -- till then we'll get a pseudonym and try to stop media overload. As Sinclair and Moore set out across England we're mourning Mark Linkous, discovering David Foster Wallace's archive, reading Chabon and respecting Eggers. If only we could "pull a Roth", as we marvel at the Milky Way, Tron Legacy's new trailer, this 3d visualizer and this sinewave synthesizer.

All this makes the Whitney Biennial look a bit, well, budget -- enough to make you angry and angsty. Although Hauser & Wirth are expanding, do prices need to be cut? It's time to revolutionise photojournalism (again), wise up like Marina Abramovic and Laurie Anderson, and check out the new extension at Gagosian Beverly Hills. We're assessing NYC's Armory Show (does it need work on its branding?), the art-market rebound (we'd bid for Le Buffle) and if we should swing with Buchel. There's an anti-mainstream mainstream show (confused? stick with Fischli and Weiss rip-offs), while JR goes guerrilla and Leibovitz keeps her rights. Time to fire the architecture critic -- does he have a future? -- and appreciate Rolf Fehlbaum, IM Pei, Claude Parent or Ron Arad instead. Bruce Graham and Raimund Abraham pass away, Koolhaas loses his second star, the skyscraper goes horizontal, London's giant ferris wheel turns ten and the capital is to get a modern medieval castle and painted houses. At the Oscars, there was a Kanye moment and a pointed speech from Mo'Nique. But who is The Hurt Locker's mysterious Nicolas Chartier?