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.

Bad moon on the rise

I know there are specific definitions of recession and it is possible that we have yet to meet them. Any way you slice it, the economy is in the tank and it is hitting those hardest who can least afford to be hit in the first place.

WASHINGTON – Employers slashed 63,000 jobs in February, the most in five years and the starkest sign yet that the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already.

The Labor Department’s report, released Friday, also indicated that the nation’s unemployment rate dipped from 4.9 percent in January to 4.8 percent last month as hundreds of thousands of people — perhaps discouraged by their prospects — left the civilian labor force.

Job losses were widespread, with hefty cuts coming from construction, manufacturing, retailing, financial services and a variety of professional and business services. Those losses swamped gains elsewhere, including education and health care, leisure and hospitality and the government.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Bruce at the Basie


This is sure to be a great show that, unfortunately, will likely be out of my price range. Alas, the Count Basie is a great venue and Bruce, well, do I have to say it? Just think about it.

In any case, here is the release from the Basie Web site:

Bruce Springsteen will perform a benefit concert at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ on Wednesday, May 7th.

Proceeds from “An Evening with Bruce Springsteen” will benefit the historic Count Basie Theatre and help offset the cost of the renovation and restoration of the theatre that will begin this summer. A portion of the concert proceeds will also support other programs and operations at the Theatre, such as the Cool School. Patti Scialfa serves on the Board of the Basie Foundation and as Honorary Chair of the Capital Campaign.

Tickets will be made available to the public through an online “Make Your Best Offer” Auction beginning March 20th at http://www.countbasietheatre.org. Instructions on how the auction will work will be provided at www.countbasietheatre.org/ on
March 20th. Concert information can also be found at www.brucespringsteen.net/ and www.backstreets.com/.

Rusty Young, CEO of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation, said, “We are excited that Bruce Springsteen will be performing a benefit concert and deeply appreciate his willingness to help preserve and restore the Basie.”

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

McCain’s erratic environmentalism

More McCain environmentalism — well, environmental schizophrenia maybe a better description of his record. Matthew Yglesias points to a piece by Brad Plumer in The New Republic that outlines his erratic approach.

One of the things that strikes me about this is that McCain seems to wing things — a tendency that is not confined to his environmental record, but to most of his domestic agenda. As Yglesias writes:

The overall picture of the domestic McCain continues to be of a kind of ignorant conservatism punctuated by bursts of thoughtless stabs at reform.

In a word: erratic. Not exactly a trait you want in someone occupying the Oval Office.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.