For those who feared corporate America is taking over Hoboken, it should be noted that the biggest indicator of such fears -- the number of Starbucks opening in town -- will soon be at four when #4 opens up by the 9th Street Light Rail station.

...and we STILL don't have a G-Damn Banana Republic here, which (as noted in this space less than 100 times) would do gangbusters here no matter what the economic conditions of the country are.

Gangbusters.

Shame the Yankees waited until they were all-but-eliminated before they decided to play like a $200 million team is supposed to.

Hank Steinbrenner is a hoot, isn't he? You can feel the jealousy oozing from the newspaper when he basically said Joe Torre accomplished nothing by winning the NL West because they play in a bad division.

Yeah...even a small market team like the Devil Rays could win the NL

West, right Hank?

Oh wait...they ran away with the juggernaut that is the AL East.

I used to kind of like those FreeCreditReport.com commercials, but that one where the lead singer spells out (well, sort of) "f-to-the-r-to-the-e-to-the-c-to-r-to-the-e-d-i-t.Free-to-the-credit-to-the-report-to-the-com. C'mon everybody get on up and sing along" was kind of its jump-the-shark moment, wasn't it?

And by the way, if the credit report is free, how can they afford to have commercials on every 9 minutes on 70 different channels?

If you ever doubted Barack Obama's intentions for becoming President other than ego and a need for fawning attention, look no further than the events of this week.

The American economy is in a credit crisis and a bailout bill needs to be hammered out. John McCain suspends his campaign to return to Washington to use his influence to get something done. He even calls for a debate on foreign policy postponed from Friday night to a date to be determined.

Makes sense, right?

So what does Obama -- you know...the guy who said he could bring both parties together in a time of crisis, do?

He doesn't suspend his campaign. He doesn't agree to a postponement of the debate. He instead has his lackeys say that McCain is actually afraid to debate him.

Right.

The same McCain who asked for ten joint-Town Hall meetings with Obama.The same Obama who flatly turned down such a proposal (teleprompters are hard to read in such situations).

This is clearly a case of America's Political Idol being in way over his head.

What a joke.

Come November, hopefully he'll finish second...

...like Clay Aiken did once.

Clay's coming out of the closet is as predictable as Perry Klaussen of a Hoboken grass-roots community blog reminding us how hard he works at running the site.

Being a control freak can be exhausting, after all...

Speaking of Klaussen, it appears that his cougar-crush Beth Mason won't be running for Mayor next May.

Running a city and nearly collapsing the local legal system with lawsuits simultaneously can be exhausting, after all...

The Parker House back porch is still open as I write this.

And after seeing Spitzer's girl Ashley Dupree and Uber M.I.L.F. Dupree there at least14 times this summer, there's a very good chance you'll see them there now if you hurry...

In speaking to other people running Hunt spots this year, it appears that the days of 150 people knocking down your eVite trying to get out to Far Hills are over.

Since Vegas doesn't get involved in such local matters, here's your unofficial odds for who will win the Mayorship (I think I just made up a word) in May:

Peter Cammarano 9-5
Mike Russo 2-1
Dave Roberts 3-1
Carol Marsh 8-1
Other 20-1

This place is never brought up in conversation when it comes to Hoboken's best pizza places, but Mario's on 8th and Garden will always have my vote.

With Imposto's a very close second...

Congratulations to Aidan Boyle and McSwiggan's on its reopening after that devastating fire last January. Seeing it on Thursday immediately reminded me of the New Arnold's after the old Arnold's burned down in a memorable two-part episode of Happy Days where Fonzie, Malph and Potsie nearly bit it in the Fonz's office (the men's bathroom) before Richie, who was just about to get to second base in the back parking lot with future bride Lori Beth, was able to pull the bars off the bathroom window with a rope and his car somehow.

Anyway, before I go off on a tangent, the New Arnold's looked awesome compared to the old Arnold's (which was failing miserably from a business perspective at the time), and the same can be said for the new McSwiggan's (although the old Mcswiggan's was doing fine). Write it down: It will be as popular as the Shannon has become since it made a major transformation two years or so ago.

By the way, you know one bar who secretly isn't happy about McSwiggan's return?

Green Rock.

They did gangbusters when it was gone even more than they usually do.

Not for profit NFL winners this week:

Chiefs +9.5 over Broncos
Bengals -3.5 over Browns
Jaguars -7.5 over Texans
Jets -1 over Cardinals
49ers +5 over Saints
Panthers -7 over Falcons
Vikings +3 over Titans
Packers +1 over Bucs
Rams +8 over Bills
Raiders +7.5 over Chargers
Redskins +11 over Cowboys
Bears +3 over Eagles

Just go opposite and you could bail out AIG.

Getting back to the whole economic mess, how do you think a proven businessman and Mayor like Mike Bloomberg would do if HE suddenly decided to enter the race as an independent?

That's a rhetorical question...