Who would have thought I would still be doing this? Certainly not me. Nor do I know why I continue, except for my addictive personality.

Prayer Rooms In World Trade Center

Samuel J. Freedman reported in the New York Times on Friday, that there was an official Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor of the south tower and an unofficial prayer room in the stairwell between the 106th and 107th floors of the north tower. This unofficial room was created by roughly three dozen Muslim staff members who worked at Windows on the World. At least two of these staff members died on 11 September 2001—very likely in their makeshift prayer room. Please, read the story; and pass it on.

Budget Deficit Lower Despite Stimulus

This fiscal year’s budget deficit is supposed to be almost 10% lower than last year’s. Despite the fact that the media keep claiming the everyone cares deeply about the deficit (they don’t), that very same media don’t seem that interested in reporting this surprisingly good news.

We All Wish We Were as Smart as Paul

For some time, Paul Krugman has been pushing the fact that the main long-term budget problem we face is Medicare and medical cost eating up a bigger and bigger part of our income. But there is a bigger picture here. In his blog yesterday, he said, “And let’s be clear: you could not have gotten the cost savings without the move to near-universal coverage, for both political and technical reasons. This thing really is a package—a package that, with all its flaws, both makes our society more decent and improves our long-run budget outlook.” Amen.