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.

When did New Jersey move to the North Pole

The view from our front window.

The pool is about 5 feet tall.
Gives you some perspective.

Today’s first post is a short rant — very short. I hate snow. I hate snow. I hate snow.

Another foot on the ground, impassible streets — I hate snow.

Is that clear?

  • 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.

Who is U.S. government rooting for in Egypt

Hosni Mubarak is considered a U.S. ally, a friend in the war on terror and someone we can trust when dealing with Israel.

He’s also a brutal dictator.

Now, with unrest in the streets of Cairo and Mubarak cracking down, we will learn which value is more important to the American oligarchy. Are we committed to the spread of democracy or will we attempt to prop Mubarak up, if he seems to be teetering?

My suspicion is that, despite our grand democratic rhetoric, we will side with the dictator. This is just a gut feeling, but given that we attempted to shut down Hamas even after the organization won what most observers considered to be a fair election and that we seem to care little about who runs most countries unless they are under out control, I just don’t see democracy as our primary objective.

  • 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.

Brief thoughs on Charlie Louvin

It is difficult to explain how important Charlie Louvin was to the history of country music.

Recording with his brother, Ira, the duo made some of the greatest music the genre (or any genre) has seen — as the above video can attest.

I was lucky enough to see Charlie Louvin a few years ago when he opened for Lucinda Williams on Long Island and the did several duets that were magical. I have a CD that he signed and I listen to on more than a rare occasion.

Louvin’s death leaves a void, but the music lives on and will live on.

(Check out Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’, a remarkable tribute album to get a sense of the duo’s importance — or just pick up some Louvin Brothers songs.)

  • 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.

Death penalty back on table in New Jersey

Eleven Republican Senators want the death penalty reinstated for the worst of the worst. I disagree — state-sanctioned murder is still murder, we can never be sure that the man or woman we are killing is guilty, there is no way to protect the poor and minorities against the biases built into the syste.

See my column tomorrow on East Windsor Patch.

  • 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.

How to say very little in 75 minutes

So, the president spoke for 75 minutes and pretty much said what was expected — though he did mention, but not say a lot about, Iraq and Afghanistan. The gist, when the thousands of words are boiled down, is this: Bipartisanship good; partisanship bad. Compromise good, even on core beliefs; steadfastness, bad.

Yes, centrism at work.

  • 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.