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This Sunday marks the running of the 2012 New York City Marathon. Though NYC has been devastated by Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Bloomberg has decided to keep the date as planned, instead of cancelling the race.

He is quoted in USA today stating that, “There are an awful lot of small business that depend on these people. We have to have an economy.” This comes as some surprise to sports fans, as the grand opening of the new Barclays arena, which was set to host the season opener for the New York Knicks and new comers Brooklyn nets, was postponed for a later date this past Thursday.

Not all New York residents are entirely sold on the idea of having 47,000 runners hit the streets this weekend. There is now a Facebook paged entitled, “Cancel the 2012 NYC Marathon,” and a world of criticisms being thrown around in the Twittersphere. 

The president of the Staten Island Borough, James Molinaro, opposed the NYC Marathon in the NY Times saying, “ My God. What we have here is terrible, a disaster. If they want to race, let them race with themselves. This is no time for a parade."

While there is much opposition, the event organizers are seeing the race as a way for NYC to move on from an unfortunate natural disaster. New York Road Runner CEO and Race Director Mary Wittenberg believes the race has a bigger impact than just sport, saying to USA Today, “Once again it never seems more true than this year, as was the case after 9/11. Our whole focus now is on delivering an event that can aid in New York’s recovery."

She also went on to say that, “The marathon really epitomizes the spirit of New York City, the vitality, the tenacity, the determination of New Yorkers and now our every effort is to once again tell the world that...New York City, as the may would say, is open for business.”

Though the race may be some what controversial, there is no lack of abundance of elite runners. The men’s field is headlined by a slew of Kenyans, most notably Wilson Kipsang, Moses Mosop and Martin Lel, as well as American Olympian, and former NYC Marathon Champ, Meb Keflezighi. The women’s field consists of Tiki Gelana, Edna Kiplagat, and up and coming American distance star Kim Smith. Tune in to NBC this weekend for all your Marathon needs, and enjoy the great distance action!

One of the big news events coming out of banking and finance was the resignation of the academic hedge fund guy Vikram Pandit who was leading a global consumer bank. Transparency and openness to shareholders is something that Wall Street firms are not accused of. The Vikram Pandit 'resignation' just goes to show how the truth is kept from the public. The good thing is that it has actually come out on in this case.

There have been conflicting reports about the reason behind Pandit's departure and why it came about now. But there is no denying the fact that Citi's troubles existed long before Pandit came to the firm. Some of Pandit's moves did not bode well for Citi with him not listening to head of wealth management at the time Sallie Krawcheck being a prime example.

It made for an unceremonious end for Pandit with Citi's new chairman Michael O'Neill orchestrating the resignation for months. The fact of the matter is that Citigroup has made progress since Pandit took over and the financial crisis hit. A lot of the troubles can't be blamed on the CEO, but investors were not sad to see him go as the stock was up two percent.

CEO succession planning is generally not that effective among these companies, anyway. Unless Citi knows what it is doing, the abrupt Vikram Pandit resignation means that the firm made a bad decision hiring him and buying his hedge fund Old Lane Partners for $800 million.

It was a move that was made by chairman Michael O'Neill who was passed over for the CEO job in 2007 for Pandit. The New York Times has a great piece on how it all went down with Pandit not having a clue of what was to happen to him at day's end on October 15.

Pandit has been looked upon as a huge success story in his country of origin India. The sudden resignation that has become so controversial is definitely disappointing given the genius that Pandit has been for so long.

In this novel, Jeff Shaara entered the world of famous authors in a debut work that is a tour de force of literature that also deftly sets the stage for his father Michael’s timeless classic The Killer Angels, which featured a cross-section of historical participants at the battle of Gettysburg as the lead characters, two of whom –Robert E. Lee and Joshua L. Chamberlain- return in Gods, in which they are joined by Union general Winfield Scott Hancock and the legendary Confederate general Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.

Also making appearances in the novel are historical personalities like Jefferson Davis, Winfield Scott, John Brown, James Longstreet, Albert Sidney Johnston, George McClellan, and Ambrose Burnside, as well as separate chapters featuring generals William Barksdale, Oliver Otis Howard, and Jeb Stuart at crucial points in the tale such as the battle of Chancellorsville in the case of Howard and Stuart.

The novel covers from November of 1858 to June 29th, 1863, covering a sweeping panorama of events that include John Brown's raid, secession of the southern states, First and Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the death of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, interspersed with quieter, introspective, day-to-day life moments.

Shaara's vivid battle scenes include keen studies of courage under fire such as that which Joshua Chamberlain displays as he endures the horrors of assaulting the fateful Sunken Road before Mayre's Heights at Fredericksburg, then huddling on the field afterward hiding behind dead bodies calling out for his brother to see if he is safe, at last receiving a reply of "Lawrence!" from Tom on another end of the bloody field.

Dominant among the four main characters is Jackson. Ably depicted by Shaara as not only a fiery, determined general but also a kind, loving, pious, honorable man devoted to his wife, Anna. When I read Jeff's moving depiction of his death from pneumonia after surviving losing his right arm to friendly fire at Chancellorsville, dying after saying the immortal words "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.", I could not help but be deeply moved. Southern or not, Jackson is still an American and a man whose life was cut tragically short. Even though his death, in an ironic twist of fate, helped ensure America would be reunited with his superb generalship no longer available to the Confederacy.

Since this is Jeff’s first “take” on the Civil War, there are a few minor glitches. For example, the Irish Brigade is depicted as having all their green flags with them at Fredericksburg; actually, only one regiment had one at that point in time prior to the arrival of new banners for each regiment to replace worn out ones. Jeff also depicts General George McClellan as being relived while at a reception in with his officers in a house; in real-life “Little Mac” was alone in his tent penning a letter to his wife Ellen when he got the word he was out of a job as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Finally, Jeff goofs by having Robert E. Lee say “It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.” While watching the legendary Confederate gunner John Pelham firing two cannons at the Union troops massed on the right flank at Fredericksburg; as correctly depicted in the movie version, Lee said those words as a result of the butchery before the very same stone wall on the left flank that Win Hancock’s division and the 20^th Maine suffer so badly before as they fail to cross it smashed to earth by hails of lead and cannon shot.

All that kind of nit-picky jazz aside, though, it is still a marvelous read.

If you have seen the excellent (and unfairly maligned) movie version of Gods And Generals, don't forget to read the novel too!

I do not like creepy crawlies. No way, no how and the insects you see in the photo above are no exception. In fact, from September to October of each year they are the bane of my existence, I swear.  

Since I don’t like them, I barely know the names of most types of insects except for mosquitoes, bees and moths. Whatever these insects are, it seems that one day they are nowhere to be seen, and then the next they are swarming all over my apartment building, especially when the sun is out as September gives way to October.

They can sometimes be found out front, but since the sun does not reach its peak until it is in back, they mostly congregate there.

They seem to concentrate the heaviest on the back door. You can’t escape them going in and out of the parking lot and the sight they make on the door is downright hideous: they practically cover the lower part of the door and every time you go in or out, a few get into the common area of the building.

Each year, a goodly number die littering both the front stoop and back sidewalk with their tinny blackened corpses, but it’s the live ones that are the worst. In fact, since my landlords do nothing about their presence, the building takes on the appearance of a slum whenever the back wall and back door are covered with bugs basking in the sun for whatever reason they do so. I have to keep my mouth closed each time I run their gauntlet lest one of the little microbes flies in.

Thankfully, cool weather this year broke up their gathering here by mid-October. But man oh man, do I look forward to living in a place bugs don’t turn into a borderline slum in some months.