Author: hankkalet

I had to pass along this editorial from The Star-Ledger. I think it says all that needs to be said about this nutty plan.

Channel Surfing, The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

John McCain is finally facing some of the criticism he deserves — though, it is too bad it had to come from students at a graduation ceremony. Too bad the mainstream media is not quite prepared to follow up. (What exactly is Maureen Dowd trying to say here, anyway?)

Channel Surfing, The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

I’m exhausted. What a game — four Yankee runs in the first and it looked bad, but a Beltran homer, a Nady homer, Matsui’s ribbie and great bullpen work. And then, with two on and two outs David Wright comes through against Mariano Rivera.

No idea what the next two games will bring, though I can certainly hope for Martinez and Glavine to do what they’ve been doing so well so far. I’m not dopey enough to write off the Yankees, but this is one tough Mets team.

(And the Phillies lost, so it’s back to a three-game lead.)

Channel Surfing, The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Paul Krugman’s column offers a dark take on the last few days on Wall Street, one that chimes with warnings about an overheated housing market and criticism of the way in which economic statistics have been used to hide the real pain that too many in our economy feel everyday.

He calls it “gravity,” as in that magnetic force that drags things back to Earth, and it poses danger for the U.S. economy — and by extension, all of us:

(T)he return of economic gravity poses a definite threat to U.S. economic growth. After all, growth over the past three years was driven mainly by a housing boom and rapid growth in consumer spending. People were able to buy houses, even though housing prices rose much faster than incomes, because foreign purchases of U.S. debt kept interest rates low. People were able to keep spending, even though wages didn’t keep up with inflation, because mortgage refinancing let them turn the rising value of their houses into ready cash.

As I summarized it awhile back, we became a nation in which people make a living by selling one another houses, and they pay for the houses with money borrowed from China.

Now that game seems to be coming to an end. We’re going to have to find other ways to make a living — in particular, we’re going to have to start selling goods and services, not just I.O.U.’s, to the rest of the world, and/or replace imports with domestic production. And adjusting to that new way of making a living will take time.

Will we have that time? Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, contends that what’s happening in the housing market is “a very orderly and moderate kind of cooling.” Maybe he’s right. But if he isn’t, the stock market drop of the last two days will be remembered as the start of a serious economic slowdown.

Channel Surfing, The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Every consideration short of humane treatment — that’s apparently the reality in Guantanamo. the administration remains committed to the detention center and its refusal to follow international norms, even with a U.N. report coming out today that is critical and the continued destruction of American reputation abroad.

Channel Surfing, The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press