I'll Take a Combo Platter and a Diet Cola Please

Yes, They Deep- Fry Oreos, but Not in Trans Fats - The Indiana State Fair bans trans fats in the frying oil. Fortunately, the food tastes the same - only now it's health food. Give me one combo platter (one Snickers, two Oreos, and a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, all battered and fried in oil) with a diet, caffeine free Pepsi.

By the way, NY Times, what are your rules of headline capitalization that As Good As News copies so slavishly? For example, in the headline for this story, why is "Not" capitalized while "but" is lower case?

New Civics Class Asks, What Would Muhammad Do? The British government has funded the development and distribution of an Islamic curriculum that emphasizes non-violence and other civic virtues in teaching the Koran. Brilliant - Not! Muslims are already questioning the accuracy of some lessons and asking why just Islam, why not a Christian program that teaches civic virtue. The core problem is more significant. Any government generated program will always be inauthentic and the suspicious reaction may do more harm than the lessons do good. The radical anti-Western jihad has a real, if not incontestable, basis in Islam's teachings, one that is taught as the official version of Islam in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Some Islamic scholars and leaders profess a "moderate" interpretation. As Good As News would love to see and hear more from them. In fact, the only good that might come out of the Brit's effort to turn Islam into a government sponsored civics lesson is the reaction of these moderates. Maybe the moderates will lead a more public challenge to radical jihad themselves, better than leaving it to the government - or leaving Islam to the jihadists.

Vick to Relocate?

Pet Cruelty Accusations Startle Upscale Enclave - Saddle River is a borough of 3200 people in Bergen County, New Jersey with an average home price over $1 Million, average per family income over $150,000 and celebrity residents like Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Sean Combs. A DHL driver recently noticed dogs and cats with matted fur walking among knee high piles of feces while making a delivery to a Saddle River manse. When the Bergen County ASPCA got inside they found a nightmare, twenty-three dead pets, cats breeding out of control and a basement knee deep in feces. The house is owned by a married couple, a stock broker and an entrepreneur, who had recently filed for bankruptcy. They are not talking. Hard to understand why a couple that probably started out taking in strays as an act of kindness could both stand by as the situation disintegrated. Right about now the citizens of Saddle River are seriously questioning the old saying - any publicity is good publicity.

But for Michael Vick there is opportunity in disaster. Mr. Vick, buy this house. Start rebuilding your reputation by saving the pets that are left. Dump that entourage in Virginia that's busy ratting on you to save their own skins and make new friends in New Jersey. The people in Saddle River are a close mouthed bunch who won't even give reporters the time of day, much less the names of the other residents in the neighborhood near the house. Richard Nixon once lived here, now there was a guy who knew how to blow off a reporter and stone wall law enforcement. Apparently even the wealthy in in New Jersey understand omerto, or at least respect their neighbor's privacy. So, Michael Vick, cop a plea, serve your time, cajole your way back into the NFL with repentance and good works. By the time you're ready for a second chance - well Saddle River is an easy commute to Giants Stadium.

Broken In - not Worn Out

Leaving Well Enough Alone: The Rise of the Unrestored Collectible - Today As Good As News features a moderately dull Automobile section story on leaving the classics alone. Forget it - I'm running late. Today's post is really a photo - because it is beautiful, and a want ad. How do I get this car, a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, never restored but in great condition. The XKSS was the ultimate car of its time, essentially a street version of a Le Mans racer. After giving the matter serious consideration, I am not prepared to offer any family member in exchange for this vehicle but all other suggestions will be taken under advisement. Respond now by comment to As Good As News.

What do you mean you're moving to a stadium

With Markets Moving Wildly, Insight Suffers - A Few Late Mortgages Create A Credit Crisis

Troubles In Mortgage Market Start to Strain Manhattan Deals

OK, slowed by vacation travel and basic lack of interest, As Good As News has not really been on top of this story. Apparently while I was not watching (the last four decades), Wall Street took over mortgage lending from Main Street. This was the result of two factors. One was relentless consolidation in the bank business - the bank on Main Street in your town is now always part of a global supersized financial institution. The other is "securitization" - not security, as in the bank holds a mortgage on your house and will foreclose if you don't pay - securitization, as in the debts of many borrowers are packaged together as a big debt, and sold, like a bond. These packages of mortgage debt were popular, funds flowed down to home buyer/borrowers and a real estate boom was fueled. They were so popular that lending was encouraged beyond the point where old fashioned Main Street banks would have been willing to extend credit. Now borrowers are defaulting, house prices have declined below the amount of the loans they secure and suddenly nobody wants to buy packages of mortgage debt, so it is not easy to find money for mortgage loans. In fact people are worried about old fashioned things like bank failures and borrowing money generally is becoming a sticky proposition. Especially hard hit are mortgage loans over $417,000 (jumbos), the largest amount eligible for packaging by Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac - two organizations that sound like fast food chains and may have similar staffing policies but are in fact the preeminent mortgage loan packagers, originally chartered by Uncle Sam.

So, you want to buy a big house, or a large closet in Manhattan, you need to borrow over $417,000 and you can't find a loan - what do you do?

The Jets and the Giants Borrow $1.3 Billion for Their New Stadium - That's right, it does not matter if you are in a high risk industry where your bottom line can turn red based on the performance of a bunch of twenty year old thugs who think a bad record is not a 1-15 season but something they can clear up with a good lawyer and some community service. Just call your prospective country manor a stadium and bankers will throw money at your feet.

Need more than a paltry $1.3 Billion? Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender, borrowed $11.5 Billion from a consortium of 40 banks. Countrywide had to swear off the jumbos to get this money, so on the surface it makes your task even tougher, but think big. Just make sure your bank knows that the country's entire financial system - mortgage loans, corporate loans, stock prices etc, - might fail if you don't get your loan and you will be closing on that dream house next week.

Can I major in comedy?

Forced to Pick A Major in High School - High school freshmen are forced to pick a major at Dwight Morrow High School, a public school in Englewood, NJ - a town with a mixture of mansions and poor areas near the George Washington bridge. Seems a little early to make a career decision. I'm still thinking about my own career choice, and I'm retired. Education experts are lining up loudly on both sides. Kids can be fickle. I attended a kindergarten graduation where the students were forced to announce what they wanted to be when they grew up. The first girl said artist and a class of twenty somehow produced fifteen would be artists. The Dwight Morrow plan could be great - the students get to choose and they end up structuring an academic program around something that interests them. If the major is just a focal point for broad training in analytical skills, Math and spoken and written English, why not? The student is in a position to change majors in high school or do something different in college or career with no harm done. If the major makes high school a little more interesting along the way - well, sounds like a plan. If the major is an early career decision that eliminates choices - disaster. Let's see what happens in real life before we take sides.

The same school features classrooms called Harvard, Yale and Rutgers in an effort to foster an academic track atmosphere. I can just see parents scheming as their kid finishes eighth grade, it's never too early to get into Harvard. Why no class named for MIT, Columbia or NYU? Dwight Morrow High won't get any donation from me.

Dwight Morrow was a senator and diplomat, the father of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a noted Nazi sympathizer who was the wife of the famed aviator. I wonder if they cover any of this in History class? It might generate some interesting graffiti.

Congestion Fees - they're baaaack

New York to Get US Traffic Aid, But with a Catch - The Feds approved $354 Million in aid for New York City's plan to reduce traffic, but: 1) The funding is contingent on implementation of the full plan, including congestion fees (the charge on each vehicle driving below 86th Street in Manhattan) and 2) NYC must come up with more than $200 Million to fund the congestion fee portion of the traffic plan because the US won't pick up the tab. The congestion fees have already started a war between Mayor Bloomberg and the NY State Legislature in Albany. W seems to be fanning the flames - the Federal carrot keeps the issue alive, but Bloomberg needs to go back to Albany once again on the unpopular congestion fee, and the legislators are already shaking their heads like side to side bobble head dolls.

Here are some tactical suggestions, Mr. Mayor. Tell those legislators the fees are not hard to collect. In the 80's no car could move in Manhattan without paying a squeegeeman to smear dirt around the windshield. - if people will pay for that, then collecting the congestion fee is no problemo. Promise Albany you will collect all the fees on the way in to Manhattan - what happens if you collect on the way out, as initially planned, and the driver is broke? That's right - an exit fee turns Manhattan into a roach motel for tourists. Finally, appeal to their competitive spirit, if the Brits can do it so can NYC.

Karl Growing Old at Home?

A Grass Roots Effort to Grow Old at Home - This story features an elderly couple who remains in their Georgetown home thanks to a mutual aid society with the neighbors. Nothing to do with Rove, but you have to love the way the headline about "growing old at home' is placed directly under the photo of W kissing Karl goodbye on page 1 of the hard copy NY Times.

Rove resigns as Bush Aide - The blogosphere is abuzz with speculation on why Karl resigned. The mystery of the fired AGs may be a real problem for Karl, , or just a nuisance. His stated reason, he is doing it for his family, is being dismissed too lightly. It's not the time - as every Blue blogger has noted, why wait until your son leaves for college to head home- but it might be the money. Karl has been a public servant for many years and he is not getting any younger. A successful book and some lucrative consulting work on the 2008 campaign could help him set his family up for life.

Sweatology - The Human Cooling System is Leaky, but it's Efficient - Why does Nixon automatically come to mind when we need a photo of sweat? The science page story on sweatology puts Dick in a whole new perspective - he was actually cool because he perspired so profusely - take that hippie scum.

After Killings, Sense of Unity Surprises Newark -Tragic murder of college bound Newark students unites a city that was turning on it's Mayor. Corey Booker's genuine grief and commitment connected with a community in mourning and forced the Sharpe James brigade of petty pols to hold its collective tongue, at least for now. The complaints and gossip will resurface soon, but Booker may have just established a personal relationship with the community that can endure the sniping.