Soft Landing

Whether you want a bit of cushioning for yoga on the go or a compact ground cover for outdoor activities, the TMat Pro fits the, well, derriere. Measuring 21 by 29 inches, so it's not meant for lying full length, the neoprene mat rolls tightly into a bundle 6 inches wide and 4 inches in diameter, secured by an integrated Velcro strap. The quick-drying mat comes in neon colors and patterns and fits in a purse or carry-on bag. TMat Pro is $24.95 at www.tmatpro.com ; 866-759-2888.

It started off, appropriately, with County Councilman Joseph F. Kelly singing "God Bless America. " The 53-year-old Irish tenor set the lighthearted tone for his last council meeting. Delaware County dignitaries gathered yesterday to bid farewell to Kelly and outgoing controller Thomas M. Hayward, both in the final days of their second terms, and both by law unable to seek a third. For Kelly, the send-off was a chance to bask in the warm glow of Republican Party recognition - something not frequently afforded to him since his apparent fall from favor with party bosses.

Like a hungry man after a fast, the stock market has been on a binge, stuffing itself on good economic news and hopes that corporate earnings for the quarter ending tomorrow will be juicy. The Dow Jones industrial average yesterday set its ninth record this month, having jumped 4.5 percent in the last 10 sessions and 8.5 percent since the start of the year - four times the gain it made in all of 1994. Yesterday the Dow closed up 0.22 percent, or 8.99 points, at 4,160.8. At one point, the Dow was up more than 46 points.

History never repeats itself, but it sometimes rhymes. Mark Twain's observation seems to fit the way the economy is playing out, at least as far as David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, is concerned. "We have another soft landing," he said. "It's exactly what the Federal Reserve did in 1994. It orchestrated a soft landing and prolonged the expansion. " So the Federal Reserve is rhyming. Lereah was among a group of real estate experts weighing in on the present and near-term state of the economy at the National Association of Realtors' November convention here.

Thomas B. Stish, the former state House member from Luzerne County who switched parties just days after the 1994 election and gave Republicans a majority, was tossed out of office last November by angry voters. Less than a month later, Stish experienced a soft landing - as a paid consultant for House Majority Leader John M. Perzel (R., Philadelphia). Perzel spokesman Stephen E. Drachler yesterday said Stish began working for Perzel Dec. 1 as a consultant on education issues.

President Bush is scared - so scared he canceled a two-week trip to Asia. What caused this chill? The suffering of millions of Americans? The spread of homelessness and crime? No, what alarmed the president was the message sent by Pennsylvania voters who overwhelmingly rejected former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh in their state's Senate race. Suddenly the president decided that Asia could wait; he had better stay home for a while. This sounds cynical, but cynicism is the hallmark of this administration.

Housing construction rose in September at the fastest pace this year, the government reported yesterday, leading analysts to predict another Federal Reserve interest-rate increase to head off inflation. Builders started construction in September on houses and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million units, up 4.4 percent from August, the Commerce Department said. Analysts had predicted that housing starts would drop last month, and Treasury bond prices fell because yesterday's report was seen as new evidence the economy is growing more vigorously than Federal Reserve Board policymakers want.

The economy grew at a moderate 2.5 percent pace in the second quarter, the government said yesterday, down from the first quarter's rate but strong enough to stop any new predictions of imminent recession. The Commerce Department reported that the 2.5 percent growth in the gross national product from April through June compared with a 3.7 percent gain in the first three months. The GNP is the nation's total output of goods and services and its broadest measure of economic growth.

The economy eked out a 0.5 percent growth rate in the spring, the slowest pace in more than three years, the Commerce Department said yesterday. The increase in the nation's gross domestic product was held back by sharp declines in home building and factory output, particularly for automobiles. The second-quarter gain in the GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States, was a marked comedown from the 2.7 percent annual rate of growth in this year's first quarter and the torrid 5.1 percent pace in 1994's final quarter.

Strawbridge & Clothier yesterday reported a disappointing financial performance in the quarter that ended Oct. 28, blaming a poor retailing environment. The department-store chain saw its earnings fall nearly 40 percent from the third quarter a year earlier. Sales volume was virtually the same as last year. "I think we are seeing a generally soft retail environment, and . . . sales have been soft," said Peter Strawbridge, the company's president. "I feel I am reading and seeing more references to mini-recession - or what they used to call a soft landing - than I have for a number of years.

Whether you want a bit of cushioning for yoga on the go or a compact ground cover for outdoor activities, the TMat Pro fits the, well, derriere. Measuring 21 by 29 inches, so it's not meant for lying full length, the neoprene mat rolls tightly into a bundle 6 inches wide and 4 inches in diameter, secured by an integrated Velcro strap. The quick-drying mat comes in neon colors and patterns and fits in a purse or carry-on bag. TMat Pro is $24.95 at www.tmatpro.com ; 866-759-2888.

No Schuylkill? No problem. Ride the Ducks, a tour-boat company, said yesterday that it has approval from the Coast Guard to reboot its operations on the Delaware River, after the city denied its bid to operate on the scenic Schuylkill. "I'll expect that we'll aim for returning to the Delaware, and we're going to work closely with our stakeholders, being the Coast Guard and the city, on that decision in the coming weeks," Chris Herschend, president of the company, said yesterday.

The e-mail video that General Motors Corp. sent to its Saturn dealers Tuesday night was an odd mix of apology and pep rally. The automaker had just told Congress it would do away with Saturn as part of a drastic restructuring plan to qualify GM for billions more in emergency taxpayer loans. For 209 Saturn franchises across the country - a dozen of which are in the Philadelphia area - the news was potentially devastating. "I know you've been dealing with the emotion of it, the frustration of it, maybe even the anger of it," Jill Lajdziak, general manager of Saturn, said as dealers Tom Zimbrick and Todd Ingersoll sat by her side in the video.

Gov. Rendell should reverse his hypocritical hiring of a Democratic pal for a state job in the midst of a hiring freeze. In September, faced with a worsening budget deficit, Rendell ordered state agencies not to fill about 5,000 vacant jobs. He also told department heads to cut their budgets by 4.25 percent. In December, as the recession took hold, Rendell froze wages for more than 13,000 nonunion state employees. "I am asking all commonwealth employees to pull together during this difficult time," the governor said.

It's bad enough that taxpayers are being asked to bail out Wall Street firms and banks to the tune of $700 billion for their greed and recklessness. But lawmakers should draw the line at asking the public to pay for golden parachutes for the CEOs who helped to bring the financial system to the brink of collapse. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson presented Congress over the weekend with a two-year bailout plan. The document was only three pages long, a brevity belying the enormous consequences for the U.S. economy and world markets.

There's nothing harder for a mom than letting go. A mom is a human Star Wars defense system, scanning the skies for incoming threats and blasting them to smithereens. And then one day your kid walks through the shield and off to college, and you don't know his friends or where he's hanging out. You're forced to let go. Last summer was my time to let go. My son, Owen, started at Penn State in the fall. But before he left, we took a cruise to the Caribbean - one last vacation together - and signed up for adventurous excursions, including a thrilling zip-line ride.

Former City Controller Jonathan Saidel will abandon his mayoral bid, possibly clearing the way for a run for mayor by his close friend U.S. Rep. Bob Brady. "As I thought about the race, what it would take to win, and the impact it would have on my ability to earn a living and take care of my family, I realized that I could not be as committed to the race as I would need to be," Saidel told The Inquirer through his spokesman yesterday. The decision comes after two weeks of intense back-and-forth discussions between Saidel and Brady.

Though admitting their chances are slim, scientists said yesterday that they would try to land a Volkswagen-sized spacecraft on the rugged surface of an asteroid. The craft has been orbiting the potato-shaped body for the last year. The proposed Feb. 12 landing, which was not part of the plan when the craft was launched in 1996, would be the first on an asteroid. Called 433 Eros, the asteroid is about 21 miles long and 8 miles wide and is one of thousands that orbit the sun, along with the planets of our solar system.

History never repeats itself, but it sometimes rhymes. Mark Twain's observation seems to fit the way the economy is playing out, at least as far as David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, is concerned. "We have another soft landing," he said. "It's exactly what the Federal Reserve did in 1994. It orchestrated a soft landing and prolonged the expansion. " So the Federal Reserve is rhyming. Lereah was among a group of real estate experts weighing in on the present and near-term state of the economy at the National Association of Realtors' November convention here.

Renowned jazz musician Grover Washington Jr., 56, died last night after collapsing during a television production at CBS studios in New York. Mr. Washington collapsed around 6:30 p.m. while waiting at the CBS studios after taping four songs for a performance on today's Early Show, said Hal Gessner, the show's executive producer. Security staff members were summoned and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, Gessner said. Mr. Washington was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:30 p.m., according to Jim Mandler, a hospital spokesman.