So, did you hear? Celebrity gossip is totally out for 2009. But celebs dishing about themselves - that's hotter than ever. We've selected the best star-penned blogs, from comedy to country to cranky. A whopping four of them turn out to be from "The Office." (Maybe it's easy to blog when your acting job involves sitting in front of a computer all day.) Of course, we can't be absolutely certain that any of these people are really who they say they are. As with Wikipedia or online dating, take everything you read here with a web-savvy grain of salt.

Ricky Gervais: rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php

Why we like it: The online journal from the creator of "The Office" and "Extras" is always infused with Gervais' trademark sharp wit, even when indulging his egotistical side.

Updated: Daily to weekly

I was so drawn to these women on the other side of the pond that I felt like sharing Friday nights with them. In Joanna Trollope's latest novel, Friday Nights (Bloomsbury, 2008), Eleanor, a retiree who lives alone, spots two younger women from her bay window: one a newly widowed mother and the other, a single mom by virtue of her love affair with a married man. As an antidote to the loneliness she senses in them and to her own life of solitude, she invites them to her parlor. Before long, the warm get-togethers, lubricated with wine, become a cherished constant in their busy and dynamic lives.

They were women, of different ages and stages of life, who formed an amazing but unlikely sisterhood. The diverse group -- that numbered only six -- included women who were single, married, divorced, and widowed; unemployed, working at home, working away from home, and retired; with and without children. They came together on Friday nights drawn to the pleasures and promises of female friendship.

Through her characters, Trollope explores some of the universal emotions that characterize female friendships including love, loyalty, passion, and jealousy, as well as the difficulties women face in mastering the challenges of the work-life balance, aging, and balancing time between the women and men in our lives.

This engaging book is reminiscent of several other recent ones that explore the rich friendships between and among women. These include: The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton, The Professors' Wives Club by Joanne Rendell, and The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.

Irene S. Levine, PhD is a freelance journalist and author. She holds an appointment as a professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine and is working on a book about female friendships which will be published by Overlook Press.

Friendship by the Book is an occasional series of posts on www.fracturedfriendships.com about books that offer friendship lessons.

President elect Obama is calling for "swift and bold" action on his "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan" to stop the hemorrhaging of the economy. He also wants to change the way Washington does business, "turn the page" on the petty partisanship of the last decades. He's said to want "substantial Republican votes" for the plan. Politico reports he's looking for as many as 80 votes in the Senate, requiring that more than twenty Republicans climb on board. He's not only invited congressional Republicans to offer their ideas, he is building tax breaks into his plan that Republicans say would make it easier to support. (For updated reporting on this debate over the recovery package go here.)

Now Barack Obama has proven his political brilliance time and time again, so he has earned the benefit of any doubt. But frankly, this strikes me as a really dubious idea - both in terms of policy and politics.

In policy terms, the economy needs exactly what Obama calls for - swift and bold action.

But inviting Republicans into the discussions insures only one thing -- delay. Their leaders, Mitch McConnell and the perpetually tanned John Boehner, have already scorned the need for dispatch, with Boehner calling for "public hearings in the appropriate committees." Delay will simply ebolden the lobbyists swarming to get their special interest built into the plan. Obama has a better chance getting a sound bill passed quickly than opening it up to the feeding frenzy that is the normal legislative process.

Second, Obama's aides say sensibly that they are looking to "do what works." But tax cuts come in a distant second to public investment in actually creating jobs. We saw that last year when the rebate checks didn't have much effect. Much of the money sensibly was used to pay down debt and didn't do much to lift consumption or create jobs. Much of what was spent went to products made in China. In contrast, public investment will be spent, and it is more likely to create jobs here.

Reports are that the Obama plan, still being put together, will contain about 40% in tax cuts. Half of those are devoted to a $500 tax credit for middle and low income workers. Since middle class tax cuts were a centerpiece of the Obama presidential campaign, he's right to dismiss those who say these are designed solely to win Republican support. He's fulfilling a campaign promise that was designed to win voter support. And the money can be dispensed rapidly so the whatever effect they have could be felt quickly.

But the other half of the tax package reportedly will go to businesses - $150 billion or so. These are said to include a Republican measure - blocked repeatedly last year by the Democratic congress -- to allow businesses to write off current losses retroactively against taxes paid on profits over the last five years. This will benefit significantly the very financial and housing companies that inflated profits blowing up the bubble that brought us this mess. Worse, there is little reason to assume that giving a tax break to businesses that are losing money will do much to create jobs. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have pumped in trillions in equity and credit to banks without getting them to make loans. Most companies will use the break simply to bolster their books. Businesses hire people when the markets for their products expand, not because they have more money in their coffers.

There's also talk about a tax credit for companies that create new jobs. This sounds better but it will mostly reward companies for jobs that they would have created anyway. And worse, it will generate a tsunami of fraudulent maneuvers designed to qualify for the break. A reta read more »
Propose An Amendment   Take To Committee  Lobby   Veto
Add to:      want "substantial Republican votes" for the plan. Politico reports he's looking for as many as 80 votes in the Senate, requiring that more than twenty Republicans climb on board. He's not only invited congressional Republicans to offer their ideas, he is building tax breaks into his plan that Republicans say would make it easier to support. (For updated reporting on this debate over the recovery package go here.)

Now Barack Obama has proven his political brilliance time and time again, so he has earned the benefit of any doubt. But frankly, this strikes me as a really dubious idea - both in terms of policy and politics.

In policy terms, the economy needs exactly what Obama calls for - swift and bold action.

But inviting Republicans into the discussions insures only one thing -- delay. Their leaders, Mitch McConnell and the perpetually tanned John Boehner, have already scorned the need for dispatch, with Boehner calling for "public hearings in the appropriate committees." Delay will simply ebolden the lobbyists swarming to get their special interest built into the plan. Obama has a better chance getting a sound bill passed quickly than opening it up to the feeding frenzy that is the normal legislative process.

Second, Obama's aides say sensibly that they are looking to "do what works." But tax cuts come in a distant second to public investment in actually creating jobs. We saw that last year when the rebate checks didn't have much effect. Much of the money sensibly was used to pay down debt and didn't do much to lift consumption or create jobs. Much of what was spent went to products made in China. In contrast, public investment will be spent, and it is more likely to create jobs here.

Reports are that the Obama plan, still being put together, will contain about 40% in tax cuts. Half of those are devoted to a $500 tax credit for middle and low income workers. Since middle class tax cuts were a centerpiece of the Obama presidential campaign, he's right to dismiss those who say these are designed solely to win Republican support. He's fulfilling a campaign promise that was designed to win voter support. And the money can be dispensed rapidly so the whatever effect they have could be felt quickly.

But the other half of the tax package reportedly will go to businesses - $150 billion or so. These are said to include a Republican measure - blocked repeatedly last year by the Democratic congress -- to allow businesses to write off current losses retroactively against taxes paid on profits over the last five years. This will benefit significantly the very financial and housing companies that inflated profits blowing up the bubble that brought us this mess. Worse, there is little reason to assume that giving a tax break to businesses that are losing money will do much to create jobs. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have pumped in trillions in equity and credit to banks without getting them to make loans. Most companies will use the break simply to bolster their books. Businesses hire people when the markets for their products expand, not because they have more money in their coffers.

There's also talk about a tax credit for companies that create new jobs. This sounds better but it will mostly reward companies for jobs that they would have created anyway. And worse, it will generate a tsunami of fraudulent maneuvers designed to qualify for the break. A reta">            |   Bookmarks  

President-elect Obama apparently believes that the crisis brought on by the collapse of the housing bubble will require defaulting on the national debt. The New York Times reported today that Obama believes that "changes in Social Security and Medicare will be central to efforts to bring federal spending in line."

While Medicare is projected to face shortfalls because of the incredible inefficiency of the U.S. health care system, the Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security will be fully funded until 2049 from its own stream of tax revenues and the U.S. bonds it holds.

If Mr. Obama plans to cut Social Security in the near future, then this effectively amounts to a default on the bonds held by the trust fund which were purchased with workers' Social Security taxes. If the budget situation is so dire that it is necessary to default on the government debt, then surely we should be considering defaulting on the bonds held by Robert Rubin, Peter Peterson, and other wealthy bankers, not just the bonds that were bought to pay Social Security benefits for the country's workers.