New York, New York. The city so nice, they named it twice.

"If Johnny jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump off too?" Hell no, it's too far to the water. That's the view from the Yankee Clipper, a ferry that shuttles baseball fans from north Jersey to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, making a hundred stops in between. However, with a bar on board, the 90-minute trip seems to flash by!

Part of the seminar I attended in Newark on Monday included a trip to Yankee Stadium to see the Yanks/Red Sox. Unexpectedly, the walkway from the ferry stop to the ballpark included the rubble of old Yankee Stadium, and fearing that I'd lose contact with my group I neglected to take a photo. Nevertheless, the memory is etched in my brain and even though I'm not a Yankee fan, I do appreciate the history and it saddens me to realize that an historical landmark is now a pile of concrete next to the new palace.

It's unofficially "baseball week" around here. Monday's Yankee game was soon followed by the Tuesday night Phillies/Pirates affair that featured a bobblehead doll of Phillies ace Roy Halladay. Sadly, there was a 25-mph wind blowing in and the temperature was more suitable for storing wine than playing baseball, so I beat a hasty retreat after a couple of innings.

Thursday I'll be at the ballpark for what they call a "Businessperson's Special," which is probably more like an "Unemployed Special" or a "Slacker Game" featuring warmer temperatures and a different team. I'll probably stick around for that one.

Saturday I'll be in Wilmington watching the minor league Blue Rocks, but you don't really care about that.

Here's a view of Yankee Stadium from behind home plate.

On a more mundane topic, octogenarian Senator Arlen Spector lost a primary to "young enough to be my grandson" Joe Sestack. I'd say, it's about time. I think 30 years in any job is enough, and it's time to either get promoted or retire. Since Spector was never a candidate for President, I'd say it's time to retire. He'd tell you that "there's more work to be done," but that will always be the case. Government is an endless fountain of work to be done, and it will still be there long after Specter is gone, just as it was before he showed up. It's short-sighted and egotistical to think that he's the only person capable of doing it. But then, politicians are inherently egotistical.

Otherwise, why would somebody spend millions of dollars for a job that pays $174,000 a year? I suppose that makes me a supporter of term limits, but it isn't a Kingdom, it's a Republic. Sentimentality has no place in politics. Meanwhile ...

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Wednesday delayed final action on a sweeping financial regulation bill, raising a last-minute obstacle to the legislation as it approached the home stretch

Democrats appeared within reach of the 60-vote threshold needed to move the bill toward passage, however, and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said he would seek a new vote Thursday.

The legislation, which seeks an overhaul of financial regulations unseen since the 1930s, would set up a mechanism to watch out for risks in the financial system, make it easier to liquidate large failing firms and write new rules for complex securities blamed for helping precipitate the 2008 economic crisis. It also would create a new consumer protection agency, a key point for President Barack Obama.

A new Consumer Protection Agency? Really? Is that what we need, more government? I thought we already had a consumer protection agency. If that one worked, why would we need a new one? More patronage jobs, government contracts and retirement benefits to pay. That's almost a good idea.

Without going into details about a complicated bill, maybe Congress could do something to help us, like ending the so-called "float" that banks enable to make your money unavailable to you. Why is it that I can deposit cash into my checking account in the afternoon and come home to log-into my account and see that it has already been credited - yet, if I want to transfer money from one bank to another, or (God forbid) pay a bill, it takes two days to a week for the funds to appear. There's something a lot less complicated that our government can do to help us - a facility that seems to be in short supply these days.

But then, I live in a dream world.