JIMMY BUFFETT: Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's nobody’s fault

Has the Governor really morphed into Jimmy Buffett?

In Buffett’s song, Jimmy starts, as noted above, by refusing to lay blame for his pitiable condition. By verse two, as if in an evolving stages of grief scenario, Buffett acknowledges “it could be my fault”; while by the song’s end he admits “it's my own damn fault.”

This is surely not the David Paterson scenario, I suspect in the Governor’s second verse ends verse “but I know, it's Sulzberger's fault,” while by verse three he’s gone on to blame Whitey in general for some sort of double standard.

The Invisible Sea of People Without Jobs

By Michael Boyajian

Back in 2008 when I was laid off from my state job as a judge the Poughkeepsie Journal wanted me to do a column that would track my job search.  I considered the idea but then decided against it.  You see, being laid off without cause was a humiliation that I did not want to share at that time.  I was especially unnerved because I had recently adjudicated with great success two of the biggest cases in state history and also because I had never been reversed on appeal as a judge.

Now that former Councilwoman Helen Sears has ended her weekend as a Republican, the Special Election to replace former State Senator Hiram Monserrate is down to 2 candidates.

Assemblyman Jose Peralta has the Democratic & Working Families lines while Hiram is the candidate of the Yes We Can party.

Most observers think the support of Peralta by the Democratic organization, various unions plus Hiram's bad deeds make Peralta the favorite.

But I wouldn't be so sure.

Special Elections are low turnout affairs and they usually come down to which candidate has the best "pulling"operation.

Stamp Collecting: A Symbol of a Peaceful Unified World

By Michael Boyajian

When I was a kid I collected stamps from around the world.  It was so remarkable seeing these small colorful works of art from around the globe.  I recently started collecting them again because it is a relatively inexpensive hobby and a good substitute for actually seeing the world an endeavor these tough economic times make hard to justify.

[This piece is intended as a sidebar to this article] 

THE BOOK OF PSALMS: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy

In each of the first two parts of my 44^th Councilmanic Moby Dickstein, I’ve promised an anecdote which illustrates the lengths to which City Council candidate Joe Lazar will fetch, heal, rollover and play dead for Dov Hikind. As I stated in part two, the issue involved is not really important to the work of a City Councilman, but it says everything one needs to know about Joe Lazar’s independence.

Everyone knows Israel is Dov Hikind’s passion.

NEW YORK TIMES: Two months later, Mr. Salinger is back at the typewriter thanking his friend for an update he devoured “greedily.” This time, though, he reports that he has become less enamored with New York’s charms. “Meaning,” he writes, “that there aren’t any places I like or love there any more. With the exception of the Museum of Natural History.”

While that was also a spot that Holden found comforting, Mr.