Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

Old-fashioned spy thriller

Four reasons to recommend Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy:

1. Superb acting. Gary Oldham and the rest of the cast offer taut, restrained and pitch-perfect performances as early-’70s spies with Britain’s MI6.

2. Pacing. In a movie with almost no fireworks — no chase scenes, no explosions — the film maintains the highest level of suspense.

3. A great story.

4. Production, design and costume. We too often reserve kudos in these categories for the big period pieces, but the recreation of early-’70s Europe is pitch perfect.

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Lin does it again

I have no idea what to make of Jeremy Lin’s amazing hot streak, including tonight’s 38-point explosion.

The team was in free fall, lack floor leadership and spacing thanks to terrible point guard play. Lin has now managed a terrific four-game stretch and the Knicks have won four straight.

Amar’e comes back Monday, Melo soon after and, while some see problems when this happens, I’m hopeful that Lin can continue to provide floor leadership. When Baron Davis is healthy that will give the Knicks a solid rotation — Stat, Melo, Chandler, Lin, Davis, Field, Schumpert and a forward.

Providing Linn is for real.

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Private hospitals are public facilities

The federal ruling that religious schools and health institutions are required to provide coverage for contraception does not violate the religious freedom of religious institutions.

While Catholic bishops throughout the country are taking to their pulpits to denounce the ruling, the reality is that the church’s decision to offer a public service to the larger public places the question in a very different context.

Catholic hospitals, like St. Peter’s in New Brunswick, serve more than just a Roman Catholic population. They serve the entire community.

In many communities, those hospitals are the only health-care facilities.

In almost all cases, the facilities get tax breaks and generally get federal money for services (Medicare, Medicaid, other health-care money).

These facilities benefit greatly from their roles as community facilities.

Given this, it is difficult to see how we can consider them private and allow religious exemptions.

What do you think? Check out the poll on New Brunswick Patch and weigh in.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Creating jobs by cutting wages: Welcome to third-world America

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels May view this as a victory for workers in his state, but Caterpillar’s decision to relocate to the Hoosier state is evidence not of economic strength but of America’s descent to third world economic status.

That’s because Caterpillar is closing a union plant in favor of a new low-wage haven, something Americans are all too familiar with. It wasn’t all that long ago that American plants were closing and moving to Mexico, South America and other developing nations, as corporations sought the cheapest labor.

It was a race to the bottom that damaged the standard of living here without any measurable improvement in these factories’ new homes. Fast forward to 2012, and it is the United States that finds itself as a low-wage haven — and none of us should be happy about that.

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Only governor gets to have a big mouth

Apparently, it is OK for the governor to say outrageous things, but when his political opponents make similarly obnoxious comments they should step aside.

Let’s be clear: What Vincent Giordano, the executive director of the New Jersey Education Association, said on Sunday was unacceptable.

Responding to the “New Jersey Capital Report” host’s comment that many parents can’t afford to take their children out of poor-performing schools, Giordano said, in part, “Life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that.”

An apology is definitely in order, and maybe Giordano should resign — I’ll leave that for the NJEA membership to decide.

The governor, however, probably should keep his mouth shut on this. Remember, it was just a few weeks ago that Christie called Assemblyman Reed Gusciora “numbnuts” and said that blacks in the South would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights in the 1960s.

This is typical Christie, of course. He’s the blunt tough guy. Everyone else, apparently, should just shut up and deal with it.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.