What (Bill) Clinton should've done years ago

This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law
that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of
who they are.

-The President of the United States. 1/27/10

Now, how about all those massive warehouses on Cranbury Road?

Hamilton, West Windsor Malls go solar

Developers Diversified will purchase some of the solar electricity for common area use, and tenants of Developers Diversified will have the opportunity to purchase the electricity generated by the solar power systems.
“There were no upfront costs for the developer and they are collecting roof rent,” said Jamie Smith, vice president of sales for SunEdison. “The roofs were not doing anything. Now they are turning them into cash.”

PSE&G is also considering a solar farm in Trenton, and held a town hall meeting about it recently to address resiential concerns.

Our Fair State may have lost its progressive way on some things, but on renewable energy, we are moving forward. Go Solar!

Wyatt Cenac in Trenton

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Dreaded Bliss
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Yes, we are in the crowd shot, at 3:18. We saw Wyatt Cenac at a distance. This isn't his funniest work, but his point at the end is priceless.

Second Class citizens of Our Fair State

From Geoff Wertime's opinion column at CentralJersey.com, titled Witnessing NJ's Shameful Vote:

My senator, Jennifer Beck, R-12th, cast that last vote with a photo of me and my boyfriend, which I handed her mere hours beforehand, either staring her in the face or — and this is more likely — buried under a stack of papers somewhere on her desk. It’s a photograph of us at a wedding this summer, one of three friends’ ceremonies we attended in the space of a month. She cast that vote after telling me earlier in the day that women had to wait for the right to vote, and that same-sex couples will have to wait as well.

It’s hard not to feel like an outcast when all of your friends are enjoying a privilege that is denied you, especially when a legislative body reaffirms that denial.

I spent part of the day chasing Senator Beck down too, with my husband (I'm part of the class that was awarded a right to marry by the genetic lottery), an old friend and a new one. The senator was quite adept at dodging us but did spend several minutes (of what was clearly a very busy day) listening to our concerns. As she had clearly heard the concerns of many in the recent past.

Yet she voted against equal rights anyway. A shameful vote, indeed. For 20 of our senators, and several who wimped out and abstained.

There shouldn't be two classes of citizenship. We've already proved separate-but-equal is never equal, why are we still allowing it?

Voters in Our Fair State don't forget votes against equal rights for all. I hope the voters in our district remember the day when Senator Beck voted how her party told her to, not how her conscience should have.

Another typical day in Trenton

With today’s vote in the state Senate, the New Jersey legislature defaulted on its constitutional obligation to provide same-sex couples in New Jersey equal protection, as unanimously mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006.

Garden State Equality has more here.

Why I am going to Trenton tomorrow

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me.

-commonly attributed to Martin Niemoller

I will not keep quiet because I am straight and was allowed to marry.
I will not keep quiet while my friends and family are denied equality.
This isn't a "gay rights" issue; it's a civil rights issue.

I am going to Trenton tomorrow. I am going to add my voice to the multitudes who demand equality for everyone.

It's about damn time.

Senate vote TOMORROW on Marriage Equality

1. Call your State Senators and tell them to do what's right. (When following that link, click the "state" tab.) If you already know who your Senator is, go here for contact information.

2. Email your Senator. It can't hurt to do both.

3. If you possibly can go, go to Trenton. Garden State Equality has info here.

Now is the time for Our Fair State to step up and give everyone equal rights. Now is the time for us to show our support.

Start calling.

Happy New Year from CoNJL

I'm still here, just haven't had much to say lately. Happy New Year, everybody.

Marriage equality in New Jersey?

It's about damn time.

As people continue to demonstrate their support, the Senate Judiciary committee is planning on a vote tomorrow to bring this important civil rights legislation to the full State Senate.

Separate is not equal.

It's about damn time.

I'm in love... with audiobooks

I love audiobooks.

I love Neil Gaiman.

I love Neil Gaiman's recordings of his own books.

Am quite fond of David Sidaris, too.

So, so happy was I when I found this; it's an NPR piece on audiobooks, reported by Gaiman, where he discusses audiobooks and interviews Sidaris, too. Only eight minutes long, and well worth the time, if you love them too.

Thanks.

I heard a little of the memorial service at Ft. Hood yesterday while in the car. It was hard to listen while driving, and blinking back tears.

For all sorts of reasons, I was reminded of Dave Barry's essay Hallowed Ground. It's not the Dave Barry you expect- it's not funny, not even a little- but it does show why he's a good writer. It's about veterans of very different wars than the ones we're involved in now. And about respect. And remembrance.

Happy Veterans Day. Thanks.

2009 Election Results for New Jersey

Governor's race

Local races by County:

Atlantic (look all the way to the right, in the box on top)
Bergen
Burlington
Camden
Cape May County
Cumberland
Essex
Gloucester
Hudson
Hunterdon
Mercer
Middlesex
Monmouth
Morris
Ocean
Passaic
Salem
Somerset
Sussex
Union
Warren


NOT EVERY ONE WILL UPDATE TONIGHT. The polls close at 8 PM, so some counties may start updating soon after that. (UPDATE 8:30 PM: several have started updating, and the NJ.com link for the Gov race is active.)

Keep your fingers crossed!

Did you vote?

I voted about 4PM. Was #200 at my poling place.

Voting booths are open until 8 tonight. Go vote!

You must vote.

Go vote. Go first thing in the morning. Go early, before there are lines. Take your neighbor with you.

Go vote.

H1N1 vaccine

My kids' pediatrician has it.

I keep hearing about shortages, friends in other states with the virus rampant in their kids' schools (and sometimes in their kids!), delays in production- so I was surprized to find out that they had it. I called to see when they expected to get their shipment of seasonal flu vaccine, and while they didn't have that, they did have the FluMist H1N1 vaccine.

So maybe call your doctor, or your pediatrician.

(I get a lot of searches which lead people to this blog looking for flu shots in NJ or flu vaccine clinics- maybe this information will help.)

Vote now!

Vote by mail is simple. You don't need to provide a reason to vote by mail in Our Fair State, so why wait? You have no excuses this year. Vote now!

Vote by mail application

Register to vote TODAY

Today is the LAST DAY to register if you want to vote in Our Fair State's election next month. And you can even vote by mail! What fun!

You'll need to visit your county registrar's office to file the paperwork. If you need information about the upcoming election, check out NJVoterInfo.org.

Remember, if you don't vote, you can't complain about the election or the governor at all. So get registered!

Just because I like him doesn't matter

I'm not voting for Chris Daggett.

The Star-Ledger loves this guy. His performance at the debate was pretty impressive. I agree with much of his position. Yet, why am I not voting for him?

This morning, the Times of Trenton ran George Amick's column (which they have unhelpfully not put up on NJ.com yet) titled "Daggett says N.J. is ready for independent gov." Two pages away, they ran a story by Linda Stein (also, unhelpfully not online) titled "Study finds every vote does count" citing Hightstown's recent Democratic primary (tie, 88-88; challenger Dimitri Musing will be on the ballot) and Southampton's school budget, defeated by 10 votes. The article is about mail-in voting, but the juxtaposition is what interests me.

I can't vote for Daggett. I can't risk Christie winning.

Daggett knows I feel this way. I'm sure he hears it from both sides. He has a nice page about how voting for him is not a wasted vote. His supporters know many feel this way; I can tell you who will respond to this post first, and what he'll say. But I still can't do it.

Al Gore came to endorse Gov. Corzine a while back. Do y'all remember the 2000 elections? If 550 people in Florida had voted for Al Gore instead of independent Ralph Nader, the world would be a different place. I'm not exaggerating: the world would be a different place now. That's the difference an independent vote makes. It can change the world.

And there are changes I can't risk.

George Amick has another recent column, helpfully online here, about how the time for instant runoff voting in Our Fair State is NOW. I wish we had it, I do.

Flu shot locator

The American Lung Association provides one here. Type in your zip code and dates when you could go, and there you are! (Specifically for seasonal flu, not H1N1.)

A Most Excellent Resource

Q and A NJ: http://www.qandanj.com/

It's a chat service where you can chat live with a librarian. It's staffed by a cooperative effort of Our Fair State's libraries. Per their web site:

"QandANJ is a service for New Jersey residents and students.QandANJ.org is designed to provide fast answers to your questions, using information found on the Internet and in proprietary databases funded by libraries. In most cases, QandANJ.org Librarians will provide an answer online in 15 minutes or less! If your question involves lengthy research, we'll get you started and/or provide a referral for you or your question. "

This is a most AWESOME tool, which I think libraries don't advertise enough. Librarians love to be asked questions, really they do, and this is a great way to get help writing your paper in the middle of the night, or getting the information in your blog post verified before you hit "publish" and make a fool of yourself, or myriad other uses.