I posted a link to a Paul Krugman column the other day. Since then, though, I saw that a financial guru whose work I respect very much, William Bernstein, thinks highly of Krugman. So, I found myself looking at the Krugman archives on the NY Times website. Unfortunately, most of the archives require payment, but there was one long article, from the September 13 edition of the NY Times magazine, which was available for free. It is the most thoughtful and insightful deconstruction of Republican tax cut rhetoric that I have ever seen. I don’t know how long it will continue to be available for free. So go, read, and raise your economic IQ by 10 or 12 points.

There is an editorial in this morning’s New York Times which summarizes the contradictions inherent in today’s Republican party.

At the moment, I think that the American people have a choice between the Republicans, with an agenda full of contradictions, and the Democrats, who don’t seem to have an agenda at all.

Two of the hardcover books that I received for Christmas have ragged right edges on the paper. That is to say that after the book was bound, they cut along the top and bottom edges to make them even, but they didn’t cut along the right edge, leaving you with pages that are slightly different widths. At first I thought this was an accident – an error at the book bindary – but all of the copies that I saw of these two titles were the same way, so I suppose it was intentional.

Bah! I say. It may be an effect that some book designers like to add, but I hate it. Will you please just finish the book instead of leaving me with this ragged edge! I’m seriously tempted to take a blade and do my own trim job, but I’m afraid that I’ll make matters worse instead of better.

It has been almost exactly 10 months since Mister Rogers left us. For Christmas, my mom got me a little book called The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember. It is a delightful little collection of quotes from Fred Rogers, though I do wish that better attributions were provided. The most amazing thing to me was that as I read each quote, I felt as if Mister Rogers were speaking directly to me personally. That was always his way.

Two little gems:

The world needs a sense of worth, and it will achieve it only by its people feeling that they are worthwhile. The child is in me still… and sometimes not so still.

It has been almost exactly 10 months since Mister Rogers left us. For Christmas, my mom got me a little book called The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember. It is a delightful little collection of quotes from Fred Rogers, though I do wish that better attributions were provided. The most amazing thing to me was that as I read each quote, I felt as if Mister Rogers were speaking directly to me personally. That was always his way.

Two little gems:

The world needs a sense of worth, and it will achieve it only by its people feeling that they are worthwhile. The child is in me still… and sometimes not so still.

I’ve just started working on my own new year’s resolutions, and I’m not terribly likely to report them here. In this morning’s New York Times, though, Paul Krugman has an outstanding set of election year resolutions for journalists.

My personal favorite:

Don’t fall for political histrionics. I couldn’t believe how much ink was spilled after the Gore-Dean event over Joe Lieberman’s hurt feelings. Folks, we’re talking about war, peace and the future of U.S. democracy � not about who takes whom to the prom.