All That Is Necessary

All That Is Necessary…

  • Financial Follies: Plenty of Blame to Go Around

    A straightforward guide to the financial mess. I missed it when it first came out, but the New York Review of Books last month published one of the best comprehensive explanations I’ve seen of the causes of the current economic unpleasantness. Weighing in at just over 5,000 words, it’s not a quick read — but […]

  • Current Recession Not (Yet) As Bad As 1982

    After repeatedly invoking the specter of the Great Depression to frighten the public into supporting the “stimulus” bill, the Obama administration has moderated its rhetoric. Professor Mark J. Perry of the University of Michigan offers statistics to show just how inappropriate it is to even talk about comparisons with the Depression: The chart above shows […]

  • Googliath Continues Patchwork Expansion in NJ

    Patch.com, the venture-capitalized, Google-zillionaire-backed startup that recently launched town-specific news and information websites in Maplewood, South Orange and Millburn, today announced plans to expand into an additional three nearby communities. The newest Patches are slated to open in May in Summit, Westfield and Scotch Plains (including Fanwood), all in Union County. Summit is contiguous with […]

  • Freeman Screed Shows America Dodged A Bullet

    Chas Freeman — who would have been in charge of producing policy-neutral reports synthesizing the findings of America’s 16 intelligence agencies — described the opposition to his appointment thusly: The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the […]

  • Freeman Withdraws, And He Finally Makes Page 8

    On page A8 of the New York edition, today’s New York Times finally publishes its very first article about Charles Freeman, after nearly two weeks of blogospheric controversy that was severe enough to scuttle the nomination, but not severe enough to attract the attention of the mainstream media. The Times reports: WASHINGTON — Charles W. […]

  • Obama Honeymoon-Over Watch: Jon Stewart and Chas Freeman

    I’ve been neglecting the “Honeymoon-Over Watch” category of my blog because the notion of “watching” for something implies infrequent sightings, not a target-rich environment. The media certainly has not been hounding Obama as mercilessly as it did his predecessor, and I’m quite confident that will never happen. But the stimulus fight and economic news have […]

  • Live-Blogging the Tuscan Road Water Main Break

    As the crisis unfolds, the Avellino Waterproofing ad appears as a cruel joke… mocking me. About 6:05 a.m., Eastern DAYLIGHT Time — The Web Goddess reports no water pressure at any upstairs faucet. “I hope we don’t have a burst pipe in the basement.” Yoicks!! This would have to happen on the very morning that […]

  • Seaman Recruit Harry Kirk Petersen, United States Navy

    The other day I sat in a restaurant and watched my son become a man. Harry recently bailed out of college. He was in the third year of a five-year construction management program at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and he hated the place. He had been working at the Philadelphia Housing Authority through Drexel’s co-op […]

  • Step Aside, NY Times — Patch Is Bringing Google Zillions to Hyperlocal Maplewood

    I got interested in the hyperlocal Maplewood BlogolopolisTM because the mighty New York Times was wading into the fray (and I happen to know the local Times reporter). But it turns out the Times is only the SECOND-best capitalized hyperlocal effort in Maplewood. The newcomer to watch is something called Patch.com. I barely noticed Maplewood […]

  • Looks Like A.T.I.N. Is Going Hyperlocal For A Little While

    I’m going to have a followup post later today about Patch.com and (I hope) the Maplewoodian, but in the meantime I want to call attention to Alan Wolk’s fact-filled post about the NYT launch. I may have gotten my post up sooner yesterday, but he’s done a lot more research. His post starts: One suggestion […]

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