+$100: Americans opened our hearts (and wallets) in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti: President Obama pledged $100 million in aid, and Twitter and texting — the newest giving mediums — alone bring in $7 million and counting in relief to the island nation. An unintended consequence of this wave of generosity: it's forced a closer look at how credit card companies profit off charitable donations and pressured phone companies to waive their text messaging fees for donations via SMS.

-$700: Calling Captain Obvious: Wall Street's fat cats finally admit they may have screwed up. A more stunning revelation: bankers say they never considered the housing market would fall. Is that what gets you a $1 million bonus these days? Because I could do that.

+$640: In better news, we're growing! We're working! The stimulus package has spurred GDP growth and created jobs (PDF), the White House bragged this week. Too bad that fortune hasn't rubbed off on homeowners looking to restructure a mortgage. The loan modification regime has reduced just 31,000 loans so far, well short of the 4 million promised.

+$2,500: Meanwhile, gearheads gathered in Detroit to see what the auto industry has planned for the future of motoring. (Hint: not public transit.) No one paid any attention to the bailed out American automakers, but watch out for Volkswagen and Tata's Cozy Coupe, I mean Nano, coming kinda soon to a go-cart track near you. Just don't expect to pay $2,500 for it (+$2,500).

+$1,980: What the heck is happening to TV? There's NBC's late-night/prime-time disaster. (Who's loving this? Letterman!) American Idol is losing Simon. (Who's loving this? Ellen!) Even Hannah Montana is on the way out. (Who's loving this? I am!) So what are we going to watch? The same thing we did 20 years ago: Pee-wee!

This week's total: $4,520. That's enough for my first Cougar cruise! I won't even need to stop off at the local pawnshop to cover all those new airline fees.

Last week: Haiti was relatively intact, the domestic economy was showing signs of recovery, and Las Vegas conventioneers flew remote-controlled drones via iPhone. Missed it? Check last week's This Week.

Comments (0)

Log in with Facebook to post a comment

Post with Facebook

Sign off

By clicking on the "Post" button and making this information available to Bundle and to third parties on the Bundle website and/or on Facebook you are agreeing to be bound by all of the Bundle Terms of Use as posted on the Bundle site and as updated from time to time by Bundle.