Rainy Day Musings (Part 1)

In the past few weeks since my Dad's diagnosis I've spent a great deal of time reflecting on all those things one normally does when a serious situation arises. You think about the nature of life, it's fragility, the seeming unfairness that most of us experience from time to time, the randomness of tragedy, and about immortality. And you get a greater appreciation for that which you do have, and get a sense of the proportionality of a bigger picture, that the whole scheme of things is so inner connected and transcends any dogmatic spiritual belief.

Last September I wrote a review of Mitch Albom's book Have A Little Faith, a work that points us in a direction to recognize that religious faith should be a mechanism to unite us rather than fragment our society, and in a larger scale, our world. One of the topics Albom talked of in his story of his friendship with his aging and ailing rabbi was that each one of us dies two deaths, the first when we kick that proverbial bucket, and the second when there is no one left who remembers who we were, what we did, who we loved, and what we accomplished in our lives. I guess part of the appeal of being a movie star or recording artist is that a piece of you lives on for generations.

For the past two months I've immersed myself in music.....most of you know I'm a classic rock dinosaur, so that playlist included the usual suspects; Bruce, Zeppelin, Clapton, oldies like Humble Pie, cult performers like Richard Thompson, Gregson and Collister, and my beloved Fairport Convention.

And then there was Queen and Freddie Mercury. November 24 will mark 20 years since Freddie's passing- and it doesn't seem possible that it's been that long, or even that he has truly died. While listening to some of Queen's later songs like The Show Must Go On, Who Wants To Live Forever, These Are The Days of Our Lives I gained an appreciation of the band's (and Freddie's) sense of mortality in a way I never could before. In their final album with Freddie Mercury, Innuendo, it was clear that Freddie was dying from AIDS; the result was an album that was a curtain call, a farewell, and an epitaph.

But while listening to the songs I was reminded that Freddie Mercury did die that first death (the physical one), but he is far away from the second one- his music lives, and he is far from forgotten. And even to those who wouldn't know the difference between Freddie Mercury and Freddie and the Dreamers, all you have to do is go to any ballpark or stadium throughout the world, and on any given day you will hear the foot stomps of We Will Rock You and the triumph of We Are The Champions.

I thought about my Dad and his 30 years of teaching, and the thousands of lives he touched along the way- there are people who might have known my Dad better than I did at the time, and just maybe he was that special teacher who pointed them in the right direction, and changed their lives. And after retiring from the classroom he spent another 15 years as a fulltime employee- and a state president- of the teacher's union.

Yes, Dad was one of those guys our conservative brethren loved to hate. My father was one of those pesky union activists who helped insure collective bargaining rights for the New Jersey's teachers, and subsequently for those in other parts of the country. Obviously Scott Walker, John Kasich, and professional tough guy Chris Christie are not popular figures with this household, this family, and this blogger.

My Dad spent his life touching lives, and helping to improve them. To see his work demonized by implication courtesy of some bullying political opportunists alternately saddens and angers me. But that should and will be the subject of another blog entry.

To be sure I felt some sense of isolation in the past month or so......but then I looked at the number of people who have visited in the past couple of years, over a quarter million, and that's just since I installed the counter. And I feel grateful that more than 250,000 people have taken time to read my words....and I know that I'm not alone at all.

Thanks.

The anatomy of an $11 billion myth in New Jersey | NJ.com

Hello again everyone. I'm back after taking a week off that was greatly needed. I'll be adding some new and original posting very soon, but first I'd like to link up this January 16 post from The Star Ledger's Tom Moran.

Be sure to read this prior to watching this Sunday's edition of Face The Nation when host Bob Schieffer will interview New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Moran's column explodes the myth that Christie reduced the state's deficit of $11 billion dollars. The real story, according to Moran, is that the deficit actually rose despite the draconian cuts made by the Christie administration and the deficit will be almost the same for the next fiscal year.

In a related story, yesterday about 3,000 public employees and other union members rallied in Trenton yesterday in a driving rainstorm with 35 mph winds to show support for public employees in Wisconsin. Some protesters displayed their anger at Christie, who along with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida's Rick Scott, and Ohio's John Kasich are at the forefront of an apparent assault on public employee unions' benefits and their right to collective bargain.



The anatomy of an $11 billion myth in New Jersey | NJ.com

The Official Mid Winter Cabin Fever Is Killing Me Entry

Above- the view of my street after 14 inches of snow fell in Central New Jersey last night. It's only January and already it's made it to #6 snowiest winter of all time in the NYC Metro area

I used to kid my brother who now lives in northern Ohio about living in a snow belt, with lake effect snows and even days when it's so cold snow comes down with no clouds in the sky.

So I suppose there's some reverse karma at work right now....the New Brunswick area is starting to look like Ashtabula. But we were among the luckier ones; we never lost power (6,500 residents did) and my cousin in Clifton got socked with 19 inches of the white stuff.

Yesterday we had two separate storms, the first of which was 4 inches of wintry mix that began in the wee hours of Wednesday and ended in the early afternoon. Then it was the main event, a Nor'easter that had ripped through Florida early in the week and churned up the coast with warm air hitting cold air in the Mid-Atlantic, causing "thunder snow" (see previous post) and freezing rain that felt and sounded like a tropical storm, then a changeover to a heavy, wet snow that downed trees, powerlines, and made travel impossible in these parts. Central Park in New York recorded 19 inches of snow and passed the 30 inch mark for the month; this was the snowiest January in New York's recorded history.

And we've got two more months of winter to go.....Groundhog Day can't come fast enough. Please Phil, give us some good news!

Everyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm no youngster....heck, I still own a SONY WALKMAN (and it still works). And I'm starting to feel the physical ravages of removing snow two and three times a week.

But I must admit....snow sure can be beautiful, even awe inspiring. And it's more aesthetically pleasing than gray skies, brown lawns, and bare trees.

Here's some pics from the first few minutes prior to the beginning of snow removal.

The back patio. Check out the picnic table

The deck in the back garden

The back door, freshly dug out!

The view from the top of the driveway before I started removing snow. At the end of the driveway is a five foot tall wall of snow, courtesy of a township snowplow.

The Old Homestead

Somewhere under that four foot pile of snow are daffodil bulbs hoping to make an appearance sometime in 2011.

Rudy Giuliani To Chris Christie- "They Elected You Governor.....They Expect You To Be There".

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared on Friday's edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, and guests Lesley Stahl and Donny Deutsch, and the onetime Republican presidential candidate had a constructive critique of his successor's handling of last week's blizzard, and also of the governor of New Jersey's disappearing act during the weather emergency.

Giuliani said that overall New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has done a good job as mayor, and shouldn't be judged by the poor snow removal performance in the city last week. A Marist poll has said that only 21% of New Yorkers thought that the mayor handled the situation well, while more than 70% thought he did a poor job.


But Giuliani's most pointed criticism was directed towards New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who went to Disney World on the day the blizzard hit, while his lieutenant governor was also vacationing. State Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat and third in command, was in charge while the Republican governor was in Florida. Rudy joins Republican stalwarts Pat Buchanan, Ed Rollins, and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman in tweaking the YouTube star Christie for his no show during a statewide emergency.

In the interview Mika Brzezinski asked.... "Was it (taking a vacation during an emergency) a mistake on Chris Christie's part?"

Giuliani- "Yeah. Chris should have come back. If he would have asked my advice I would have said, 'They elected you governor, they've got an emergency, they expect you to be there. You've got to be there if you are a governor, a mayor, or even a president if it's important'".

There's a famous YouTube video that might be responsible for putting Chris Christie in the public eye. In it, Christie tells a teacher at a town hall meeting that if she doesn't like the conditions in schools that she doesn't have to teach.

And turnaround being fair, if Chris Christie doesn't want to govern during a weather emergency, then he doesn't have to be governor.

But it is the business he has chosen.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Scocca : Chris Christie Is Too Important to Care About Snow, or Cancer, or His Job

To borrow a a line from Ricky Ricardo....."Chris Christie, you've got some 'splainin' to do."

Much has been said and written about Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's decision to go ahead on a vacation the day a blizzard hit the state, leaving third in command Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, to handle the emergency. Sweeney was sworn in as acting governor because Lt Governor Kim Guadagno was also out of state. On Monday morning Sweeney appeared on News 12 New Jersey and declared a state of emergency. When asked why he was serving as acting governor, Sweeney replied Christie was vacationing in Florida, and he didn't know where Guadagno was.

Some in the Christie administration have countered the criticism of Christie by calling it partisan sniping. But when voices like that of Republican stalwart Pat Buchanan tell MSNBC that Christie should have been on the first plane back to New Jersey after 30 plus inches of snow fell in Monmouth and Union Counties, and similar amounts in the rest of the state, well...that's trouble. The STAR-LEDGER's resident conservative columnist Paul Mulshine has called Christie's absence during a statewide emergency "inexcusable".

I've read dozens of blogs, editorials, and stories related to Christie's no-show and abdication of leadership during this event, but none so pointed and as on target as Tom Scocca's entry in Slate. Click the link below to read....he won't be on Christie's Christmas card list in 2011.

Scocca : Chris Christie Is Too Important to Care About Snow, or Cancer, or His Job

16" +.....The Holiday Blizzard of 2010, and The Case of The Missing Governor and Lt Governor

For lack of a better term, it's being called the The Holiday Blizzard of 2010, with 30" of snow falling in New Jersey's Union County, and with an unofficial estimate by yours truly of 16 inches locally in this end of Middlesex County. The snow began around 10AM on Sunday (December 26) and ended in the wee hours of December 27th, with wind gusts in excess of 30 mph and bone chilling cold, and drifting snow blowing all over the place.

A state of emergency was declared in New Jersey by Acting Governor Steve Sweeney who's filling in for the vacationing Chris Christie....I have a few things to say about that, but be patient, it's coming. It's bad out there, and the bottomline is simple; if you don't have to drive, stay home. There's been stories on all of the news outlets of people throughout the region being stranded on highways for 12 or more hours, or in airports, train stations or on subways overnight.

We had three significant snow storms last winter, one in December and two in the same week in February. I'd say this was worse than any of last year's storms, and this might have been the worst storm to hit New Jersey since the Blizzard of 1996.

Now here's the interesting thing....to those of us following this thing as of Christmas Eve, on just about every local news station, the consensus was that the storm would miss the area almost entirely. On the 11:00PM news on WNBC (New York) on Christmas Eve, the forecast was for cloudy skies Christmas Day, and with a near miss of the developing storm with the Twin Forks of Long Island getting a couple of inches of snow, and New York City and New Jersey getting a dusting to perhaps an inch of snow. The minor snow event would start late on December 26, and would be of little consequence. Go about your business and enjoy Christmas. The brunt of the storm would be a hundred miles of more out to sea.

No big deal, right?

So on Christmas Day, I went about my business and had a nice day, enjoying it all and relishing Santa's bounty. After a filling dinner and a few drinks on Saturday night, I went to bed, but had a hard time sleeping. I got up and had some coffee at 7AM Sunday.....I put on the news. I hadn't watched any news, picked up a newspaper, listened to news on the radio, or been online since Christmas Eve.

And the storm that was going to miss us? GOTCHA!!!!

It was only a few hours from hitting New Jersey, New York, and the whole Mid-Atlantic Region.

It was the re-energized storm that dumped ungodly amounts of rain in California, and even deposited snow in the Deep South, like in places where it never snows, in Georgia and South Carolina, the first White Christmases in those states' histories.

And surprise.....an intense blizzard was about three hours away; and I didn't even know the status of my snow blower. It always had a knack for dying on me when I needed it most. Hopefully there was no bad gas in it from last year, and the carburetor didn't gum up on me again.

So before breakfast, it was off to Home Depot to get some two cycle oil and carburetor cleaner, and then on to buy fresh gas for the snow blower. Home Depot, at 9:00 AM Sunday morning, was a total freaking madhouse. Literally pallet after pallet of ice melt and snow shovels were coming out of storage. The parking lot was packed, the store was full, and I overheard one employee say to another, "I've never seen anything like this, ever, at this store". It was one of those scenes you see on the news, and you watch and shake your head in disbelief.....but this time I was part of the same incredulous scene.

After Home Depot I went to a local HESS gas station with my empty gas can. At the station there was one attendant working four lanes, with about six cars deep in each lane, and also with a few guys standing around to get their gas cans filled. It seemed that many people decided to get an early start and hit the road before the storm hit on Sunday, and most gas stations staffed like they would for a typical Sunday morning; that is, very minimally. They were slammed. It took a half hour to buy one gallon of gas, and the situation was the same all over.

And then Came The Blizzard......

The ornamental reindeer with antlers is about three feet tall, his grazing female mate is buried under the snowfall.

Between the two candles is a three foot tall Santa Claus

I had intended to include more pictures of the aftermath of the Holiday Blizzard of 2010 before removing snow, but while walking around out there I got stuck in the snow bank created by the snow plow.....I mean, physically stuck. The snow was close to three feet in depth in that spot, and yes, I literally had cold feet (rimshot!).

BTW....Where was the Governor when the blizzard hit? Better yet, where was the Lt Governor?

Before beginning to dig out of the worst blizzard since 1996, I watched the updates from News 12 New Jersey. On air at the time was the Acting Governor of New Jersey, State Senate President Steve Sweeney, who declared a state of emergency in New Jersey.

It was explained to the viewers that New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie was vacationing in Florida, and Sweeney, a Democrat, was serving as acting governor. But that led to the next obvious question....where was Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, Christie's running mate and the New Jersey's first ever lieutenant governor?

Steve Sweeney didn't know the whereabouts of Guadagno when asked. But it appears that she too was on vacation, leaving town at a time when a major snow storm threatened the region.

The voters of New Jersey chose to create an office of lieutenant governor in 2005 after a turbulent period where New Jersey had five governors in five years. Previously the state Senate President served as the acting governor while the governor was ill or out of town.

So let me ask the obvious....why do we have an office of lieutenant governor in New Jersey if both governor and lieutenant governor choose to vacation at the same time? It's back to a letting the Senate President run the state...and in this case, it's during natural disaster, doing the the job we voted for a lieutenant governor to do.

Lame duck governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania was on the job during the blizzard. So was lame duck governor David Paterson of New York as the storm threatened.

The joke among New Jersey Democrats is "How is Chris Christie unlike God?".

"Because God is everywhere....and so is Christie- except in New Jersey."

OK....Governor Christie does deserve to go on a family vacation over the Christmas holiday if he wishes. But shouldn't his #2 be there to mind the store while he is away?

This is a really bad job an both of their parts....and they can't blame this error in judgment on Barack Obama or Brett Schundler.

Maybe they'll hang it on the crew of THE WEATHER CHANNEL.

When Stink Bugs Attack!!!!!

Just when I thought I had 'em all out.....they find their way back in!

This morning while reading the editorial pages of The Star-Ledger- ironically, the op-ed piece that Joe Scarborough wrote about Sarah Palin that I commented on in my last blog entry- I felt something buzz past my left ear. And I knew they were back, and I had failed.

The previous Sunday I bought an eight pack of Hot Shot Indoor Fogger at Home Depot, and proceeded to bomb the garage and the basement, using two cans in the garage in my vain attempt to stop the invasion of the latest peril from the Far East.

We've been told ad nauseum that in a few years the Chinese economy will exceed that of the United States. I'm no economist, but I do know this.....an invasion from China has already begun. And New Jersey is one of the first places to be conquered.

Because the ugly, disgusting, and prehistoric looking Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, a species that hitched a ride from China to Allentown, PA in 1996 has been a constant (and unwelcome) visitor in my home for months now. And I've been lucky....I'm only finding  maybe one or two a day. Many New Jerseyans are finding dozens of the little guys in their houses and apartments everyday. And during autumn the situation only seems to get worse; the stinkers try to get into homes before the onset of winter, when they become dormant.

They are so named because of the foul odor they give off when they are squished; and consequently they have few natural enemies. Birds don't mess with them, and only certain spiders, wasps, and mantises will eat them; and for the most part, they're dormant at this time of the year.

Last week I shot a can of a generic "flying insect bomb" directly at a stinker as he walked across the wall in the family room; I sprayed for five seconds...ten seconds...15 seconds.....he was still moving! Eventually he fell to the floor, I picked him up in a tissue and sent him for swimming lessons in my septic tank- maybe he's like Rasputin, and should have been shot a couple of times just to make sure he was a goner.

Yes, the little guys are harder to kill than Freddy Krueger, Jason, or Dracula combined. The website Ask The Exterminator says a professional exterior treatment with Talstar Pro may help to keep the stinkers away, but the best way to prevent a home invasion of these guys is to make sure doors and windows are sealed. Over the summer I found some stinkers trying to get in the house through the window mounted air conditioners; when I took them down at the end of the season the problem in the affected rooms ceased.

There has been some research done at universities as far as developing traps for the stink bug, but so far none has proven to be effective. And they may soon become more than a household pest; because of their diet, stinkers may become a very real agricultural problem as their numbers become larger and their range grows.

Some bits of good news are that stink bugs won't reproduce in homes, and that the invasions usually stop during the winter months; they head for cover until spring when the cycle starts all over again. They usually eat fruits, veggies, and plant life, and cause no damage to home exteriors or interiors.

And I know...."stink bugs"...."New Jersey".....yeah, let the jokes begin.

Let me be the first one- "Don't kill that stink bug! He's our state bird!".

First Read - N.J. court rules citizens cannot recall U.S. senators

Chalk one up for the Constitution of the United States of America, and a loss for the Tea Party in New Jersey.

In a 4-2 decision today the New Jersey Supreme Court struck down a provision added to the New Jersey Constitution  in 1993 that gave New Jersey citizens the power to recall US Senators. New Jersey Tea Party members had been trying to recall New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez. The following passage is from MSNBC.

The only way to end a Senate term early, the court said, is clearly spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, which empowers each house of Congress to "determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member." As far back as 1906, the New Jersey Court said, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that a senator's seat "could only become vacant by his death, or by expiration of his term of office, or by some direct action on the part of the Senate in the exercise of its constitutional powers."

I find it continually amazing, fascinating, and sometimes amusing that Tea Partiers, who claim to be so concerned about about preserving and "restoring" the US Constitution, seem to have such selective memory about it's provisions.


Below, the link to full story as reported by MSNBC's Pete Williams.

First Read - N.J. court rules citizens cannot recall U.S. senators

Christie-anity; A Sampler Of Cartoons Starring The Governor of New Jersey

I was going to say a few words about the Governor of  New Jersey- now that his National Tour 2010 has ended and he's staying in state for a few weeks- but then I decided to let it pass. Anyway, our blogger pal TC wrote an excellent piece featuring Chris Christie called Journalism; The Good, the Bad, and The Republican. It shows the vindictiveness of Governor Christie, no holds barred, and how he had no qualms about allowing the personal destruction of a woman who spoke disparagingly of him.....even if it meant choosing to ally himself to a convicted criminal to do so.

There are 45 Chris Christie entries on this blog, and many more related to New Jersey politics. I think I'll just post some of the works of the nation's and New Jersey's best cartoonists, and amuse or outrage you, depending on your political views.

And in closing.....today 130 employees of New Jersey Network received their layoff notices, effective in 45 days. Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

New Jersey Network went on the air in 1971. It's purpose was to provide New Jersey specific news to the only state in the union that did not have its own VHF television station at that time. In a cost cutting move, the governor and members of the legislature want NJN to be privatized or to become a non profit. The lights will go out at NJN at the end of the year if no alternatives can be found.

So far, no plan is in place for the future of NJN.

Rush Holt Gets My Vote in the New Jersey 12th

This coming Tuesday I will vote for my incumbent congressman, Rush Holt, a Democrat representing the 12th District in New Jersey. I agree with the groups and publications who have endorsed Mr. Holt for another two year term. He has served the 12th well, and is the better choice than his Republican challenger, Scott Sipprelle.

And of special note, Congressman Holt took the time to send me a personalized letter via snail-mail after I voiced my concerns about offshore oil drilling following the Deepwater Horizon disaster this past summer. Not every public servant would be so cordial and responsive, but Rush Holt has proved to be one of the good guys.

He deserves re-election. And I feel honored to have such a man of integrity representing the interests of Central New Jersey's citizens in the nation's capital.

Christie To Kill ARC Project- Tunnel Vision For The Future; His Own

Commentary

There was once a time when New Jersey made things. We had auto assembly plants, breweries, factories that made electronic components, and New Jersey built some of America's first super highways, like US 1, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. We had "cloverleaves" and bridge projects, and Trenton used to make, and the world did take.

We used to have a film industry here as well. Actually, the first films were produced by Thomas Edison, and there were studios in Fort Lee, before sunny California beckoned the fledgling movie moguls. In more recent years TV became an important industry in New Jersey with The Sopranos and most recently Law and Order; SVU.

Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese wanted to film HBO's Boardwalk Empire in Asbury Park. However, the tax credit given for film production was discontinued by the new administration of Governor Chris Christie, the tough talking guy who's the nation's Republicans have fallen in love with- probably because they don't have to deal with him on a daily basis. Anyway, Boardwalk Empire moved it's operation to Brooklyn, and SVU crossed the Hudson into New York after spending it's first 11 seasons being filmed in New Jersey. New York offers a tax credit for film production; NJ doesn't. Say goodbye to New Jersey's film industry.

On May 3, 2009 the largest public works project in the United States was begun in North Bergen, a new railroad tunnel, the first in nearly a century to connect New Jersey and New York. The project was known as Access to the Region's Core, or ARC. The tunnel would burrow 100 feet below the Hudson River and end at a new 34th Street train station in Manhattan. At the station there would be access to 14 subway lines, PATH trains, and the Long Island Railroad. The full story behind the tunnel and the history of previous construction can be found here.

The tunnel project would provide thousands of construction jobs in Northern New Jersey, as many as 40,000 permanent job after the completion of the tunnel project, would cut the commute time for some riders in half, and add increased property value to tens of thousands of New Jersey homes. Candidate Chris Christie supported the tunnel project and reaffirmed his commitment to it after his election.

But today, Governor Chris Christie, citing cost over runs of $1.1 billion to $5.3 billion has decided to cancel the ARC project for good. He initially canceled the project on October 7, but then conferred with US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, and went on to further review the funding over the next two weeks, in between his stops across America campaigning for Republican candidates in this year's mid term elections.

Some will call Chris Christie a man of vision. But I for one see him a man of only one vision- of himself as the Republican challenger for the presidency of the United States in 2012.

Christie appears to be adamant in obtaining federal money to cover any cost overruns; in using this approach he puts the onus on the Feds for the collapse of the ARC project while enhancing his status as a tax cutting, spending slashing, fire breathing star of the GOP. He can flip flop on his commitment to the tunnel project because it died because the Obama administration won't give New Jersey anymore money....so he'll say.

And while federal authorities have offered to find alternate financing or even scale back the project, Chris Christie appears to be entrenched and inflexible in his position, despite the benefits the completion of the ARC project would have. The commuter, already saddled with higher fees and less service since Christie took office, is getting socked yet again.

Here's what I find most disturbing. When the state of New Jersey said it would not fund the $1.5 billion New Meadowlands Stadium, the ownership of the Giants and Jets found ways to get it financed and built. I find it it impossible to believe that New Jersey, with the resources available from both the public and private sector, couldn't find a way to cover any potential overruns. If the overrun was low at $1.1 billion, you mean to say the state, the Feds, and the Port Authority couldn't find a way to get the cash and get it done now? Because the bottomline is new tunnels will be needed, and needed soon. At what point do the existing one hundred year old tunnels become so unsafe that they have to be closed, leaving New Jersey, New York, and AMTRAK in an impossible situation managing the masses that commute or use the train for travel along the Eastern Seaboard.

In this two week window of review since the first closure of the ARC project, it appears that Governor Christie spent little time in seeking alternate financing to get the job done. It's pretty hard to do your job properly when the chief executive of New Jersey is at a GOP dinner in Indiana..... or in in Connecticut campaigning for Linda McMahon.... or in Florida, stumping for Marco Rubio. In the past six weeks or so when this crisis was bubbling to a surface, we could find Christie in Pennsylvania speaking for numerous candidates, or in California campaigning for Meg Whitman (and ripping into a protester in the audience....there's nothing like being confrontational to someone YOU think is confrontational to calm things down).

The Chris Christie Ego Tour 2010 seems to be winding down with the midterms on Tuesday. And much like his fiasco regarding the loss of $400 million in federal RACE TO THE TOP funding because of a clerical error- and Christie's unwillingness to compromise (or even APPEAR to compromise) with the NJEA, his decision to sink the ARC project seems to be driven by political ambition over the real needs of the state of New Jersey. This is a mistake that will impact not only New Jersey, but the whole region as well.

We....all of us....deserve so much better than this.

Follow the Money (Part II) Chamber of Commerce Sponsors Attack Ad in New Jersey 12th District

Congressman Rush Holt, Democrat, New Jersey 12th District

A most topical political attack ad has been seen by thousands in Central New Jersey.

The fine print at the bottom of the ad tells this part of the story...."The US Chamber (wwwuschamber.com paid for and is responsible for the content of this ad. Not authorized by any candidate or any candidate's committee."

According to this advertisement, Republican candidate for the New Jersey 12th District, venture capitalist Scott Sipprelle, had nothing to do with an attack ad on his Democratic opponent, incumbent Rush Holt.

This ad has been airing on TV stations the New Jersey 12th District, which gerrymanders through of parts of Somerset, Monmouth, Middlesex and Mercer counties in that wonderful world between the New York and Philadelphia megalopolises we call "Central Jersey". And it's my home district.

Below is the ad in question.



Alright.... neither Mr. Sipprelle, the Republican Party, nor agents of the candidate or the party had anything to do with this attack ad. It's from the Chamber of Commerce- they take full credit for it. Either click the link, or type in the web addie at the end of the video. It's from the Chamber, let there be no doubt.

I have three questions, not as a Democrat, or a self styled "citizen journalist" but as a voter in the New Jersey 12th District....are the charges that foreign multi-national corporations are dumping perhaps millions of dollars into the Chamber of Commerce to produce attack ads like this one true?

And one has to ask....what is the motivation for a foreign company to weigh in financially in American elections unless it is to gain some sort of influence?

And finally, should a candidate who'd benefit from such ads repudiate them, if it can be determined that these ads are even partially paid for by foreign corporations who may have their own motives to support the ads?

Christie Fires Schundler; The Fallout Continues

On Friday morning New Jersey Governor Chris Christie fired Education Commissioner Bret Schundler in the wake of the controversy regarding the denial of $400 million in RACE TO THE TOP money for Garden State schools because of a clerical error. The HOME NEWS TRIBUNE's editorial board contended that Schundler lied to Christie. My Letter To The Editor below says there is no smoking gun saying that Schundler lied, to the best of anyone's knowledge.


"Education Commissioner Bret Schundler got caught in an apparent lie- worth $400 million- and got canned by Gov. Chris Christie as a result".

This is how your editorial regarding Christie's firing of Bret Schundler in the Saturday (Aug 28) edition of the Home News Tribune began. I have a real problem with the wording of that statement.....it should read "Bret Schundler was fired partly because Governor Christie says Schundler was caught in an apparent lie".

After New Jersey lost out on the RACE TO THE TOP millions, Christie decided to blame Washington bureaucrats and the President of the United States for New Jersey finishing out of the money. When the tape surfaced that showed the New Jersey's representatives in the application process were at fault, Christie said that Schundler gave him bad information of what happened during the process.

Now, according to other media sources- broadcast, online, and in print-  Schundler denies that he gave the governor bad information. According to those sources Schundler told Christie not to make the claims against Washington and President Obama....but Christie did so anyway. Schundler has emails that support his claims, but other than that it's a "he said- he said" scenario.

Schundler had to go; with this $400 million clerical error somebody had to take the fall, and the ball was in Schundler's court. But your newspaper has no impirical evidence whatsoever that Schundler lied to the Governor. Christie made the situation worse with his over the top and foolish fixing of blame on the Obama administration when the fault was with his own team. The Governor once again played tough talking prosecutor and made sure the other guy- Bret Schundler- was painted in the worst possible light.

The bottomline- a very embarrassing performance by all involved. And maybe with some investigating- and with time- the truth about what really happened will surface.

Update! According to The Auditor in Sunday's Star-Ledger, the United States Department of Education held a workshop last year regarding the second round application for RACE TO THE TOP funding. Tips were given on the correct way to submit the application, as well as reminders to proofread, and that no new information could be submitted after the June 1 deadline.

The workshop was held on April 21 in Minneapolis. In all, 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico sent representatives to the workshop.

New Jersey did not, and finished eleventh, out of the money

The ten states that finished ahead of New Jersey and received funds attended the workshop.

According to The Star-Ledger Governor Christie's office has declined comment.

Mr. President- Have A REAL Sub (Jersey Style)! And Don't Forget The Provolone!

You may love President Barack Obama....or maybe you don't. But you'll have to admit one thing....he can really pick a good sub shop.

Tomorrow the President of the United States visits my backyard on a trip to the Tastee Sub Shop on Plainfield Avenue in Edison, NJ, just around the corner from Route 27....the former senator from Illinois will be yards away from what used to be called "The Lincoln Highway". The President will meet Tastee co-owner Dave Thornton, and three other New Jersey small business owners; Theo Mastorakos of Rochelle Park, Catherine Horsburgh of Wayne, and Brian Bovia of Sicklerville.

I first went to Tastee Sub Shop when I was a kid, a whole lot of subs and many pounds ago. Now, the President won't have to worry about having to wait very long to get served....its one of his job perks. And parking won't be a problem either (it can be pretty tough at lunchtime). Just be careful...it's bad corner, and sometimes Jersey drivers get an attitude (not me......I haven't given anybody an obscene gesture in at least a week).


A few suggestions, Mr. President.....with all due respect. Get a whole #2, with extra oil and vinegar, everything on it....but NIX on the hot peppers, you still have to meet the ladies on The View....and if the counter guy asks you what kind of cheese you want ask for PROVOLONE!!!!! No Swiss, cheddar, American, Cheese Whiz....only PROVOLONE for a REAL Jersey sub.

Remember John Kerry campaigning in South Philly in 2004, and he went for a cheesesteak....and PUT SWISS CHEESE ON IT?

In my opinion, that Swiss cheese gave George Bush a second term.

My cautionary tale is over.

Mangia!!!!! Eat your heart out, John Boehner!

LOST IN JERSEY; The 9/11 Monument You've Never Heard Of

It lies directly across from Manhattan, with Brooklyn in the distance, Staten Island to the right, and the Statue of Liberty is straight ahead. And the question is this; if a 100 foot tall monument to 3,000 slain people is built and there isn't anyone there to see it, is it still a monument?



There was a family emergency in the past week, and my cousin Rich came up from Georgia. After things began to fall in to place we started to talk about the usual stuff relatives do when we haven't seen each other in awhile.

Over a beer or two Rich asked if we had ever been to the "Teardrop Monument" in Bayonne. We had no idea what he was talking about. Then Rich explained to us that there was a monument to the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks at the World Trade Center in Bayonne, about 20 miles north of here, facing the the spot where the Twin Towers once stood.

Sorry....never heard of it. Where did you hear this?

Rich explained that the monument was a gift from the people of Russia to the United States, and it was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the attacks in 2006,

Sorry Rich....this ain't ringin' any bells. Are you sure this isn't some Urban Legend?

No, its the real deal, Rich answered....his wife checked it out on a site dedicated to separating fact from fiction. Yes, the so-called "Tear Drop 9/11 Monument" was real, and it was in Bayonne, New Jersey.

So, on Saturday July 24, 2010, in near 100 degree heat we set out on our expedition to find the rumored but seldom seen "Tear Drop 9/11 Monument".

We headed north on the Jersey Turnpike and got off at Bayonne, and we got lost in the harbor area for about an hour.... but we could see a large tower in the distance, but couldn't find the road we wanted (no, we had no address, so GPS was out). After asking three different people for the same directions three times we finally got some that made sense; he directed us to Harbor View Park, the former Military Ocean Terminal, or 51 Port Terminal Boulevard, off of Route 440.

And there it was....100 feet high, a magnificent sculpture, the work of Russian sculpture Zurab Tsereteli. Moved to tears after the attacks, Tsereteli wanted produce a monument to the victims of 9/11. He went to work almost immediately, and chose the site on the Bayonne waterfront that faced directly where the Twin Towers once stood. The monument would be of a tower being split in half, with a single four ton nickel tear drop suspended from the center. The Russian government got into the act, and President Vladimir Putin was present for the groundbreaking of this gift to the American people from Russia on September 16, 2005.





Tsereteli was at the dedication of the monument on September 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the attacks. Former President Bill Clinton was a keynote speaker, New Jersey Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, Governor Jon Corzine, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and Mayor Joe Doria were among those present at the dedication, as were many Russian notables. LeAnn Rimes was on hand to sing AMAZING GRACE. The dedication was captured on video and posted at the website. But there was one large problem with the ceremony....most of the media wasn't there.

The media, for the most part, was concentrated on the ceremonies at Ground Zero where President George W. Bush was to be part of the agenda. The news cycle that day was dominated by the New York ceremonies, and by rebroadcasts and discussion of the events of September 11, 2001.

Consequently, the "Tear Drop 9/11 Monument" in New Jersey was praised, dedicated, sanctified....and then more or less forgotten about by just about everyone.

Below, some pictures we took at the site. The story continues below.

So....we have a one hundred foot tall monument (featuring a four ton tear drop) given to the United States by the people of Russia (with their president at the groundbreaking) to memorialize the senseless deaths of 3,000 people across the harbor; a former President of the United States and a couple of senators, and a cabinet member....AND LeAnn Rimes....dedicated the memorial on the fifth anniversary of 9/11; but nobody knows about it.

My cousin, a guy from Georgia, told me about it. We live in the most populous area of the United States and the media center of the world.....and I'll guarantee that if you asked one hundred people on the street within a 50 mile radius of Bayonne "Where can I find The Tear Drop 9/11 Memorial" at least 90 would have no idea of what you were talking about.....and nine of the remaining would make something up to keep from looking too stupid.

The question is....how did the existence of this monument erroneously fall into the realm of "Urban Legend"? A monument that almost no one knows about....on the day we visited, we were the only ones there; it was a Saturday afternoon in July.

I think there are several reasons for this monument being under publicized. Part of it was timing. On on September 11, 2006 most of the nation (and the world) focused on the ceremonies taking place at Ground Zero. President George W. Bush was at that event, as well as the one at Shanksville, PA for a wreath laying where United Flight 93 went down. At the Pentagon Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld were the guests of honor in that ceremony. And most of the day the news media concentrated on discussion of the events in 2001, plus replays, and doing the things talking heads do on the 24/7 news stations; giving opinions.

From a GOOGLE search I did on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, I can find no mention of a ceremony in Bayonne, NJ. CNN, for example, offered no coverage at all. And it appears the dedication of the "Tear Drop Memorial" received no mention by anyone else in the electronic media, not even locally.

A GOOGLE search for "Bayonne NJ 911 Memorial" turns up less. It's mainly reports from bloggers and includes amateur photos and home videos, and a brief report from The New York Times that the memorial might include 40 names too many of the victims of the attacks because an outdated list was used.

And one conservative blogger suggests (and some of his readers agree) that the "main stream media" deliberately chose not to cover the story. The only problem with that theory is that few (if any) conservative and Far Right talkers and bloggers have said anything about this memorial either; no Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, or O'Reilly....no FOX NEWS. Nada.

A search for videos of the "Tear Drop Memorial" turns up less than two full pages on GOOGLE. "The Tear Drop Monument's" only reference by a local TV station is included in a list of the many others found in New Jersey.



Now....let me introduceChester Burger to our story. Mr. Burger was the very first television reporter with CBS back in 1946, and has had a long and distinguished career in media and in public relations. In his series Unexpected New York Mr. Burger tells the story of the monument, and why it is such a secret to even those within its shadow.



At that's his bottomline....New York was still haggling about what kind of memorial to put up and Ground Zero; Jersey City found the monument to be a political football; and Bayonne couldn't raise the cash. The Russians, led by Vladimir Putin, an ex-KGB agent, got it funded and built as a gift to the United States. And, if you can accept Mr. Burger's story, that's the reason the monument has been under the radar....to avoid public embarrassment at several different levels as to who, what, and how it was built.

Sounds good to me. Maybe the circumstances became such an embarrassment that State of New Jersey decided to not even change the signs as to who the current governor is at the park; it reads "Jon Corzine" instead of "Chris Christie". I know New Jersey is in an austerity program because of it's fiscal mess, but at least change the sign..and fix the darn access roads, for goodness sake.

My closing thoughts....the monument is pretty hard to find, but the most direct way is to get on Highway 440 in Bayonne, and watch the signs for Harbor View Park.

Better yet.....make sure your GPS is fully functional.

The Worst Tax Burden Per Person of Any State; And the "Winner" Is..........

 Red state, blue state....Republican, Democrat....conservative, liberal.

But the bottom line is.....it matters little. Because for all the bluster you hear about "tax and spend liberals" and "fiscally responsible" conservatives, the bottomline is remarkably similar.

A listing of the Pain Index found in US News & World Report shows that of the Top Ten states with the most tax burden per citizen and the biggest budget cuts, resulting in less "bang for your buck", is evenly divided among what are nominally designated as "red states" and "blue states".

Five of the states are traditionally Democratic, and the other five usually vote Republican. But here's an interesting note; of the five "blue" states listed- California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Delaware, Rhode Island- all but Delaware have Republican governors (Don Carcieri-RI, Arnold_Schwarzenegger- CA, Linda Lingle-HA, Chris Christie-NJ).

Don't shoot me....I'm only the messenger. Talk to Mort Zuckerman.

But the winner is....as shown in the list below.....the 49th state.

Alaska....the state that gave us a famous half term governor, is the state that leads the nation in The Pain Index.


1. Alaska: $1,265
2. California: $855
3. Wyoming: $698
4. Rhode Island: $619
5. New Jersey: $602
6. Delaware: $453
7. Hawaii: $444
8. South Carolina: $475
9. Utah: $437
10. Oklahoma: $470


Sarah Palin, who left office after little more than half of her term was complete- and made a zillion dollars in the process- apparently had left a real mess for her successor, Sean Parnell, to clean up.

And there's a sizable group of people in the Republican Party- and the Tea Party- who want this woman to run for president in 2012.


Read more...........www.walletpop.com.

New Jersey To Host Super Bowl XLVIII In 2014!

The Super Bowl is coming to a cold weather city in 2014.

And that cold weather city is.....East Rutherford, New Jersey!

That's right. It's not "The City That Never Sleeps". But it is the city that will host Super Bowl XLVIII (when will it be OK to can the stupid Roman numerals? Didn't they go out of fashion in 476AD, or is the NFL waiting for the Empire to strike back?).

Officially the bid went to New York/New Jersey (doesn't "J" come before "N") over Tampa Bay and the announcement was made today by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. And almost immediately the New York electronic media went gonzo...wasn't it great that the game was coming to New Yawwwwk!

Mmmm...am I missing something? Was part of the deal that the game should be played in Buffalo, because that's the only professional football franchise within the sovereign state of New York. There are two NFL teams that have "New York" in their name and on their uniforms, and they've been in violation of truth in advertising for decades....both teams play their home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey. When you go to the New Meadowlands Stadium and and park your car, New Jersey gets a piece of that. You buy a hot dog and a Bud, NJ gets the sales tax on that as well. Apparel sold in the stadium, New Jersey gets some of that in sales tax.

Got the picture?

You can see Manhattan in the distance from the stadium; the Empire State Building is 8 miles away (according to GOOGLE MAPS)....or a "15 minute drive"- yeah, what the hell are they smokin'? The only way to cover that in 15 minutes is if your name is Obama and the cops leading your motorcade are clearing the way.

The weather in February? I've seen it 60 degrees in that month....but this past year February was the snowiest month in recorded history for the region....EVER!

But what the heck....we'll watch the participating teams play on the Frozen Tundra as the Ghost of John Facenda looks down and smiles on them...and starts to cheer if one team is the Philadelphia Eagles.

I wonder who will play the halftime show, The Boss or Bon Jovi? Can Richie Sambora still play lead guitar while wearing mittens?

And how are all of the stars of the TV shows being hawked by the network broadcasting the game going to be recognized when they are bundled up like Dr. Zhivago escaping from Siberia?

But most importantly....will the geographically challenged talking heads covering the game actually be able to tell you what state they are actually in without consulting their GPS?

On that note....check out the ESPN video below.






Wait!

I just thought of something.....according to the Mayan calendar the world will end in 2012.

Too bad, East Rutherford.

So this is much ado about nothing. Kindly disregard everything I said in this entry, and enjoy yourself while you still have time.

Letters To Governor Chris Christie

Many of you have been following the drama in New Jersey, where Governor Chris Christie has been waging a verbal war with the New Jersey Education Association and other educational groups in the Garden State. Christie wants concessions from the unions to close New Jersey's budget gap. In doing so Christie is using some of the tactics he used as a federal prosecutor. But the tactics used to put the "bad guys" in jail usually don't translate to reconciliation and consensus building. One of my "jobs" these days is to help edit and collate my Dad's correspondence. I want to share two letters to the Governor from two teachers, both union members, both committed educators. I've made the editorial decision not to disclose their names. Their eloquence is something that deserves to be shared with a wider readership.



The Honorable Governor Chris Christie
Governor’s Office
State Street
Trenton, NJ

April 20, 2010

Dear Governor Christie,

I am a teacher. As such, I have worked with all kinds of children, those who are bright and hard working and those who struggle to find success. Those who speak English and those who families speak a language different than English. I have worked with children from traditional homes and the homeless. Those children whose families fill their lives with rich experiences and activities and those whose parents are so overwhelmed with life that they have no time for anything else beyond survival. I have worked with children who are healthy and those who have severe medical issues, those children who are socially and emotionally well-adjusted and those who can’t cope with the world around them. I have taught kindergarteners and high school students how to read and write to the best of their abilities. I have dealt with the death of one of my first graders and the illnesses of my students and colleagues from sick buildings. With all of these diverse experiences I now know why it is that you hate teachers so much.

You see, there isn’t a teacher alive who hasn’t dealt with you in their career. We all know your secret. You are the 5 year old who shoves other kids around on the playground. You are the 8 year old who steals others lunch money. You are the teenager who pushes the weak kid into the locker or who flushes their coat down the toilet or the ‘cool kid’ who insults and humiliates those around you. You are the child who relentlessly picks on those who don’t, for some imagined reason, live up to your ideal of worthiness. Governor Christie, you are a bully!

I don’t say this lightly. You’re not a physical bully. You don’t punch or kick or provide physical harm. You sir, are a verbal bully defined by teasing, taunting, public humiliation, sarcasm, insults, name calling as well as spreading gossip and malicious rumors. With a bully it is never about the issue at hand, in this case, a salary freeze. It is about getting others to bend to your will. It is about making you feel self-important. A bully needs to intimidate others, break down their self-confidence and isolate them. You will not do that to me sir! We don’t tolerate bullying in today’s public schools!

Yes, I am a teacher and I am the target of your bullying behavior. You have called me names and insulted me. You have attempted to humiliate me and have been sarcastic about my behavior as a teacher. But the thing is, I know the truth! I know that I have done an incredible job as a teacher influencing the instruction of children for 33 years. I know my skill at my job has had a profound influence on the future of hundreds of children and families. I know I have no reason to apologize or feel badly about a salary that reflects my 33 years of experience and my BA degree, MA degree plus more than 45 credits beyond that. I know that my salary was frozen for 2 years while we negotiated. I know that my salary increased by less than 2% when we finally came to a settlement. I know that I have worked hard and earned and contributed to my pension every single day since I was 22 years old.

Yes, I am a union leader and member. I served as President of my local for 16 years, as a member of the NJEA Executive committee for 9 years and a member of the NEA Board of Directors for 6 years. I worked collaboratively in my district to resolve problems and provide “Great Public Schools”. I fought for clean and healthy school buildings. Many times I had to protect staff members from political interference and patronage, much like you did as the state Attorney General. While I didn’t hire, evaluate or fire staff members, my job was to make sure that due process and law was followed if someone had a problem. I know that in districts where there is a strong union, teachers feel free to be creative problem solvers and develop high quality educational programs for the students they serve.

I am a voter in New Jersey. I will vote yes today for the school budget to protect the programs and staff our children need to get a first class education. I know that as a contributing member of this society we call New Jersey, I will continue to pay more than $9,000 in property taxes this year. I will volunteer time and contribute to charities and continue to make New Jersey flourish as a vibrant state. I know that the economy of the entire country continues to struggle and that it has impacted on New Jersey. I know that I am not to blame for this happening. I know about ‘shared sacrifices”. I will be doing just that when my property taxes go up and I don’t receive my property tax rebate. I will share the sacrifice when I have to contribute more to charities that will no longer have state support in order to provide needed services. I will share the sacrifice when there isn’t paper for the classroom or books in the library or guidance counselors for the students in my school district.

Governor Christie, I don’t want a governor who is a bully. I want a man who can work with others. I want a governor who doesn’t look for someone who shows weakness but someone who appreciates the strengths that others have to offer and bring to the table. I want a governor who is inclusive rather than exclusive and an isolationist. I want a governor who makes others feel good about what they have accomplished, not someone who looks for others to fail. I want a governor who is meticulous with his facts and doesn’t use public forums to spread rumors and misinformation. I want a governor who is thoughtful when he speaks and not someone who resorts to name calling. I want a governor who knows the difference between the big issues and the small issues and who doesn’t blow either of them up out of proportion. I want a governor who can diffuse a situation instead of throwing gasoline on the fire and making it worse. I want a governor who is a statesman and a leader and not someone who is a prosecutor treating the world around him as criminals.


I am proud of who I am and what I have accomplished. I will not allow you to discredit me, intimidate me, or threaten me. I am a teacher. I am a union leader. I am a voter. I am a part of what makes New Jersey a great state.


Sincerely,

And below, a second letter to Governor Christie.

To The Honorable Chris Christie,

I am the enemy. I never realized this until your election to governor. In a few short weeks, you have made this fact explicitly clear to me. A large portion of your budget address was about my profession, and how we have caused the problems this state now faces. I want to thank you for opening my eyes to this fact. However, I am not sure I understand how I am the problem or how I have caused the state to be in such debt.

I have been teaching in our public school system for 9 years. I started at $36,000 a year. My college roommate started as an office worker at an accounting firm for $75,000. It was the same year. He told me he mostly made copies and plugged numbers into a computer. I was designing lesson plans, teaching classes of 30+ students, some of whom had problems with drug abuse, crime, and depression. After nine years experience I made $52,000 last year. I would like to point out that this is $8,000 less than your “media relations” person. You know, the 25 year old who runs your Twitter and Facebook accounts. My college roommate? He makes double what I do now. We both have bachelor’s degrees. But what do I know? I am the problem.

You tell the people of New Jersey that we teachers get a free ride on the pension “gravy train”. Well, I contribute to my pension. It has been deducted from every paycheck I have ever received. Thousands. You do not contribute to my pension even though it is legally and contractually required. You have lied to the people of New Jersey and your refusal to pay the pension just puts off the inevitable. Leave the problem for the next generation, I suppose. I also paid over $6,000 in property taxes. It’s convenient that you leave us to be blamed for property taxes when we pay just as much as everyone else. You and those who attack us seem to forget that. But what do I know? I am the problem.

During my time as a teacher, I have volunteered many late hours….volunteered. Although you seem to think all I care about is me, me, me, I have coached girl’s powder-puff football for nothing. I have chaperoned school dances, plays, and fundraisers. I have worked the concession stand at football games. I wasn’t paid for any of this. I have bought hundreds of dollars worth of shirts, cookie dough, pizzas and countless other items I didn’t really need because I wanted to help support my students and their activities. I have “canned” at football games to help needy students, stayed late waiting for parents to pick up kids who missed their busses, and bought classes pizzas and breakfast to reward them for their excellence. I cooked a class eggs and waffles once because they brought in over 500 canned goods for our local homeless shelter. I have been in a dunk tank not once, but twice to fundraise for my school. I have taken pies to the face and almost had to kiss a ram, all for my students. My coworker and I once organized a pancake breakfast for a student battling cancer. We and many of our colleagues whom you demean were at school at 4:30 in the morning to prepare pancakes for a school of over 2,000 students. We raised over ten thousand dollars for that student. I never asked once, “What is in it for me?”

You have declared open season on teachers. You have made us the bane of New Jersey’s existence. I know, I read the comments on the APP.com and Press of Atlantic City websites. Teachers are lazy, overpaid, underworked. We are whiners. I guess that is what I am doing right now. You have made it okay to bash us. Some of the public are rejoicing that my colleagues will lose their jobs. Until you opened my eyes and opened their mouths, I never realized what a terrible person I was.

When I decided to study education in college my mother warned me that I had better not teach unless it was a passion. She told me if I just wanted summers off I wouldn’t last. She was a teacher herself. She said I could get paid better doing other things. She told me my efforts would not be appreciated, that it was only a matter of time before politics made us the enemy again. I didn’t listen. Teaching was a calling for me, and I thought that even though I wouldn’t be paid a lot, at least I would have good benefits, a pension, and job security. What a fool I was. I thought I was doing the right thing, helping kids, improving society. Turns out the whole time I was none of these things. I was the enemy. I was the problem. My own government has forsaken me; my own community would like to banish me. For the first time in my career, I am questioning my decision, feeling my passion diminish.

Thank you for showing me the light. My only hope is that the next generation does not see the light, and does not listen to you, because if they do there will be no more problems like me, there will be no public education. You will have won your war against the middle and lower class. You will create a society where the rich get educated and the poor do not. But then again, what do I know? I am the problem.


Sincerely,
A 2007 Nominee for the Governor's Teacher of the Year Award

Tea Party Comes To Town

Its happened in my backyard. Practically.

As reported in this morning's Home News Tribune, Tea Party activists had a picnic in Babbage Park, North Brunswick, NJ yesterday despite the cloudy and rainy weather. About 50 people were there, most of whom appeared to be Republicans. From what I gather at least one of the attendees was Republican candidate for Middlesex County Sheriff, Keith B. Hackett, as well as Republican candidates for county freeholder and North Brunswick township council.

Also among those who were at the picnic was African American Barbara Summers, who in the past has been a guest on Glenn Beck's show on FOX NEWS.

She is reported to have said the following....

“The tea party people are not racist. I'm here. I'm very, very militant and I would never stand for that. I feel welcome when I come here."

It was never disclosed in the article how many of the other 50 attendees were members of ethnic minorities.

Some of the things they allegedly talked about were the size of government, healthcare, and taxes. But the article points out President Obama was not the most mentioned individual at the picnic. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was.

Quoting one attendee (by the HOME NEWS TRIBUNE)....

"If we look at our governor, I compare him to George Washington.He made it to Trenton. We got to get the rest of the troops there."

Hmmmm. Don't you think its a bit premature? Comparing a governor who's been in office only three months to the man who beat the Hessians at Trenton, the British at Princeton and Yorktown, survived brutal winters with his troops at Valley Forge and Morristown.....and just happened to be elected as our first President?

Get that space on Mount Rushmore ready.

What if the Gov was magically transformed to George Washington? What would that look like?

How about.........

Finding the uniform was the easy part. The powdered wig? Well....they just don't make 'em like they used to. Thank goodness for PHOTOSHOP.

Click here to read more about the Tea Party picnic in North Brunswick.

Floods and Storm Damage in NJ; State of Emergency is Declared by Governor

Above- uprooted tree crunches playground in the Nor'easter of March 2010; Bicentennial Park, East Brunswick, NJ


New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has declared a state of emergency while the state deals with flooding, downed trees and powerlines, and other storm damage from a powerful nor'easter that hit the state over the weekend and is still being felt today.


Here in my home town of East Brunswick we have been instructed to boil our drinking water until notified otherwise because of flooding that has occurred in water treatment plants. Eleven towns in all have been affected by this "boil your water" instruction.

As many as 24,000 East Brunswick residents lost power during the storm, some for as long as 12 hours. Service to most has been restored. During the height of the nor'easter on Saturday and into Sunday morning our lights flickered numerous times and there were power surges, but we were among the lucky ones. As many as 300,000 people may be without power in the tri-state area, and as many as 500,000 lost power at some point this weekend.

So far, we've had about seven inches of rain since Friday night, and its still raining lightly as I type this. The storm is expected to make a full exit by the early morning of March 16.

The town of Bound Brook, about six miles from here on the Raritan River, has been inundated by waters in the worst flooding since Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

See the video below, courtesy of 6SpeedVert on YouTube, of the flooding in Bound Brook.



Two people were killed in New Jersey by a falling tree in New Jersey on Saturday- and CNN has said that at least seven people have been killed by the storm in the affected areas.


Personally, this is the most damaging storm I have ever seen in this area. During hurricane season storms have hit Central New Jersey but have fallen apart once it hits the colder waters of the Atlantic offshore. Conventional wisdom was that hurricane force winds would lessen inland....but this storm defied that logic; we had measured gusts up to and exceeding 75 mph, as you would see in a Category One storm.

For more news and photos of the Nor'easter of March 2010 see nj.com and mycentraljersey.com.

Update 3:55PM March 15, 2010

The rain was letting up, and I took some photos of storm damage during a walk around the neighborhood. Since we are on high ground, there was no flooding, but dozens of trees snapped or were uprooted. We aren't out of the woods yet; there are many trees leaning that weren't doing so last week- a strong spring or summer thunderstorm could topple them.

Below, some neighborhood pics...

Remarkably, there appears to be little property damage to homes from falling trees, though its a real mess out there. One person has a mature evergreen leaning dangerously close to his house, tethered to a telephone pole (last photo above). About an hour ago a tree removal company cut the tree down before there was a worst case scenario.

The "boil water" mandate is still on locally, and it appears it will be in effect for the foreseeable future.