The return of American Idiot watch

This post isn't dedicated to any particular idiot, just idiots in general, on this Friday before the Super Bowl.

Sales rush shows we want our big TV for the big game

On Super Bowl Sunday, hundreds of North Jersey residents will sit down with their beverages, chips and dip and watch the big game on their latest and proudest possession – a big screen, high-definition television.

And local retailers are expecting to sell hundreds more of the sets today, Saturday and Sunday.

"People are just going nuts," said Tom Galanis, vice president of operations for Sixth Avenue Electronics, which has nine New Jersey stores, including two in Paramus. "They want a big screen, high definition, and they want it flat and they want it yesterday."

Personal savings rate drops to lowest in 74 years

Americans once again spent everything they made and then some last year, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the savings rate for all of 2006 was a negative 1 percent, meaning that not only did people spend all the money they earned, but they also dipped into savings or increased borrowing to finance purchases. The 2006 figure was lower than a negative 0.4 percent in 2005, and was the poorest showing since a negative 1.5 percent savings rate in 1933 during the Depression.

Party like it's 1929 -- that's the American way.