THE GOOD . . .
The good news is that Hillary Clinton has been selected by President-elect Barack Obama as his choice for the cabinet position of Secretary of State. We think this is a wonderful choice for Obama and for the nation.
Clinton has a tremendous amount of experience traveling around the world and visiting other nations as a First Lady for eight years. She brings honor, wisdom, respect and first hand experience to the highest profile job in the foreign policy team.
Both Clinton and Obama are stepping right into difficult global times on the heels of the horrific terrorist attacks on foreigners and tourists in Mumbai, India last week.
President-elect Obama promptly called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last Friday, November 28, to offer his condolences and prayers for the nearly 200 people who were slaughtered in Mumbai by a band of just 10 terrorists who wanted to go down in history.
On Saturday, November 29, Clinton said of the situation in India, “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families touched by these acts of terror in Mumbai.” She also spoke of the loss of Brooklyn Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, who moved to India to run a local Jewish Center called the Nariman House.
We think that the initiative shown by both of the politicians shows great promise for shaking our government out of its current malaise right from day one - January 20.
THE BAD
The economy is in a bad way, however the early indications on the amount of spending we did as a nation on Black Friday registered a solid gain of 3 percent over last year’s tally. Internet sales on Cyber Monday, December 1, proved to be quite busy too.
Merchants seemed to be willing to deal early this season with the customers who show up without leaving their bottom lines at the mercy of the weather.
We repeat earlier advice, “Keep it in Queens.” Spend as much as you can with your local merchants, here in our wonderful malls, Queens Center Mall, The Shops at Atlas Park, etc. Help our local businesspeople to stay in business and keep our jobs too.
. . . THE UGLY
How ugly we humans can be. A crowd of impatient shoppers outside the Wal-Mart in Valley Steam, Long Island, rushed the door before the store’s 5 a.m. opening. To save a couple of dollars on a television set offered in limited supply, these brain-dead, crazed bargain hunters trampled a Wal-Mart worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, of Rosedale, Queens, to death on Black Friday morning. Those involved in the deadly incident will have to live with the consequences and memory of their actions forever.
