Posted 10:00 AM by Robert

Valediction, A Little In Advance

Remember Herr Doktorprofessor Paul Von Krugman? He's been laid so long in his TimesSelect tomb that some of the very young are said to confuse Herr Doktorprofessor with Professor Poopypants. Alarming. Merger of the memory of the real Vlad the Impaler with long existing middle European vampire folk legends eventually created Dracula. Could such a future lie in store for Herr Doktorprofessor's memory? Que sera, sera! But whatever his future may be, his present seems a definite gloaming, as the most recent list of "most e-mailed" from the Times indicates, a list he once strode as a colossus - as an emperor:

1. As Young Adults Drink to Win, Marketers Join In.

2. Meet the Life Hackers.

3. Item: Sisters Think Parents Did O.K.

4. At Public Universities, Warnings of Privatization

5. Chasing Ground

6. Op-Ed Columnist: It's Bush-Cheney, Not Rove-Libby

7. The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal

8. Op-Ed Contributor: God Is in the Rules

9. Stem Cell Test Tried on Mice Saves Embryo

10. Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity

11. Power Companies Enter the High-Speed Internet Market

12. The Coroner: For Trumpet-Playing Coroner, Hurricane Provides Swan Song

13. Op-Ed Contributors: Recipe for Destruction

14. Op-Ed Contributor: Beethoven's Paper Trail

15. News Analysis: Administration's Tone Signals a Longer, Broader Iraq Conflict

16. Long Island Journal: Confronting Bullies Who Wound With Words

17. Poet, 79, Wins Prize and New Audience

18. The Short of It

19. Op-Ed Columnist: Mind Over Muscle

20. The Hidden Cost of Documentaries

21. Belgrade Rocks

22. Program Disorder: At Clinic, Hurdles to Clear Before Medicaid Care

23. A Personal Account: My Four Hours Testifying in the Federal Grand Jury Room

24. Restoring Slumberland

25. Op-Ed Columnist: The Big Squeeze By PAUL KRUGMAN If large corporations continue to cut wages, America's already-eroding working middle class may wash away completely. Something must be done.

Little, gentle, wandering soul,
My body's guest and friend,
To what far places are you borne?
Naked, cold and pale.
As the warmth and joy of life
You loved so slips away.