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.

Dispatches: It’s a gas, gas, gas

Dispatches — on John McCain’s oil-drilling plan — went up yesterday.

Here is a letter I received today in response — which will run in next week’s paper:

Its a gas (according to the Luddites),
Nice “Dispatches”,
Of course we all are all suffering from high energy prices. While you, and fellow liberals Obama, Kennedy , Nader, etc.. bash John McCain’s sensible solution of off-shore drilling, you neglect to mention the “dirty little secret” that can solve our
energy problems.
You mention wind, solar, biofuels. These are a drop in the bucket. What about safe, efficient , NUCLEAR POWER? The Luddite knee-jerk aversion to a proven, clean, safe alternative energy source could well be our countries undoing.The French, Russians, and now the Chinese have found the answer. It is only our week-kneed liberal politicians that are holding us back for the most efficient, safe, answer to our energy problem.
That you can write a 3 column article decrying our energy policy, and not even mentioning the Nuclear alternative reveals your misguided, left wing , tree-hugging
bias
Ken White
Monmouth Junction

I won’t comment.

Getting back on track

I was off this week, so the blog postings have been a bit intermittent. I’m back in the office Tuesday — the day after I see Springsteen at Giants Stadium — so readers can expect a bit more consistency.

Why the Pirates are the Pirates

I understand this trade, from the Yankees’ perspective, but I have to wonder why the Pirates pulled the trigger now. Couldn’t they have gotten more than the four prospects the Yankees sent their way?

Yes, it’s true:The Dark Knight is as good as they say

Everything you have heard about The Dark Knight is true. Christian Bales is the best Batman, Aaron Eckhart embodies both sides of Harvey Dent and Heath Ledger — well, it is the role of a lifetime. Madness and restraint, a wicked, complex, terrifying performance.

Pacing of the film left the two-and-a-half hours sweep past quickly.

Best superhero movie I’ve seen.

Black outs and movies in the night

A 10-minute power outage at about 10 p.m. — just as we started watching “Dan in Real Life.” I had to inch my way through the dining room into my office in the dark to find the flashlights.

I don’t remember the last time we lost power.

“Dan in Real Life” was pretty good, a bit cloying at times, but still a nice little movie.