Did they vet her at all?

A lot of folks have questions not just about how thoroughly the McCain campaign researched their VP choice, but if they even bothered to at all.

By Richard Mauer, Lisa Demer and Sean Cockerham for the Anchorage Daily News:

Questions surround Palin's background check

McCain's presidential campaign spent the day trying to assure fellow Republicans and the nation that Palin's background was thoroughly vetted. The pregnancy of Bristol Palin, 17, came as no surprise to them, they said.
But in Alaska, it was hard to find anyone who had been contacted by McCain's campaign.
Thomas Van Flein, the Anchorage lawyer representing Palin and her office in the legislature's investigation into the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, said he spoke to several representatives from McCain before Palin's selection was announced Friday.
But Van Flein appears to be in a small minority in the vetting of Palin.
The former U.S. attorney for Alaska, Wev Shea, who enthusiastically recommended Palin back in March, said he was never contacted with any follow-up questions.
...
Republican Gail Phillips, a former speaker of the Alaska House, said Friday that she was shocked by McCain's selection of Palin and told her husband, Walt, "This can't be happening because his advance team didn't come to Alaska to check her out." She said she would've heard had someone been poking around.
"We're not a very big state," Phillips said. "People I talk to would've heard
something."
Monegan, fired by Palin in July, said that no one from the McCain campaign contacted him, either. His firing is now the subject of a special legislative investigation into whether Palin or members of her administration improperly interfered with the running of his department by pushing for dismissal of a state trooper involved in a divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister.
Alaska Senate President Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, told The New York Times, "They didn't speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn't speak to anyone in the business community."

Better still, the campaign is acting like they did do a thorough vetting job and not telling the truth about it:

On Sunday, The Washington Post quoted McCain campaign manager Rick Davis as saying the FBI conducted a background check of Palin.
But Monday, the FBI told the Atlantic Monthly no such check took place.
"In general, we do not do vetting for political campaigns except as it might regard investigations needed for security clearances," the magazine's Web site quoted John Miller, the chief FBI spokesman. If the agency had conducted a security check of Palin, it wouldn't have shared it with the campaign, the magazine said.

Do we really want a president who barely met or even researched the person whom he wants to be his replacement, if needed? Someone who then tries to backtrack to pretend that he did check her out?

Why Palin bothers me so much

I don't mind about any (possible, hopefully NOT) vice president having an pregnant teen daughter. These things happen, even to politicians. I wish only good things for Bristol and the baby. They have tough times ahead but will be fine with guidance and love.

I also don't care if the president gets a blow job, or the first lady killed someone in a car accident, or the vice president has a gay daughter. Your personal life is your own business, as far as I'm concerned. I vote based not on family or personal proclivities, but on ability to do the job how I hope it will be done.

What concerns me here is how obviously little the McCain campaign bothered to vet this unquailified pretty face before tapping her. This choice was intended to:
1. Rally the conservatives with an NRA anti-women's-rights beauty queen, and
2. Garner support from former Hillary swing-vote supporters, who obviously vote based on the vagina content of their candidates.
Her ability to do the job doesn't appear to be part of the question; she has close to none. The mayor of East Windsor, NJ, has more executive experience than this pin-up.

Please.

This country does not need another Republican sell-out who panders to voters and rushes headlong into stupid, uninformed choices because his handlers told him it would be a good idea.

Obama says the exact right thing, once again

From MSNBC: Children are off limits

"I've heard some of the news. I've said before I think families are off limits, children limits. It has no relevance," Obama said. "I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. My mom had me when she was 18. And how families deal with issues of children shouldn't be part of our politics. "
Regarding to the accusation from the McCain camp that rumors of Bristol Palin were being spread by liberal bloggers, some with connections to the Obama campaign, the Illinois senator replied: "I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us. I hope I'm as clear as we can be. We don't go after people's families. Our people were not involved in any way. And if I thought anyone in my campaign they'd be fired."

Wonder what the conservative base thinks of this one

Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant

The McCain campaign says they knew this before they picked Palin. (And if anyone, anywhere, seriously, can believe that, there's a bridge in Brooklyn on sale that the CoNJL would like to show you.)

Such a well-vetted, carefully thought-out choice, this unknown and unqualified yet female Governor Palin!!

Better than I could've said it: Pandering to Hillary Supporters Edition

Steve Benen, Washington Monthly:

It's more than surprising; it's the strangest running-mate decision since Dan Quayle. Sarah Palin spent a year working as a commissioner for the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and has been governor for a year and a half. Now, she'll be the Republicans' vice presidential candidate, and if things go well for McCain, one heartbeat from the presidency. When it comes to being untested and unknown, Palin is in a league of her own.

Just yesterday, advisers to the McCain campaign conceded to the New York Times that McCain "thinks highly" of Palin, but "her less than two years in office would undercut one of the McCain campaign's central criticisms of Senator Barack Obama -- that he is too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief." So much for the McCain campaign's message.

Stepping back, we have the man who would be the oldest president in American history, who happens to have a record of health problems, picking a virtual unknown who's been a governor for less than two years. Amazing.

McCain communications chief Jill Hazelbaker told CBS News this morning that McCain is going to "make the choice from his heart." That seems even more bizarre - McCain barely knows Palin, hasn't worked with her in any capacity, and hadn't even asked her to serve as a campaign surrogate at any point in the process. For all the talk about McCain valuing personal relationships above all else, McCain has practically picked a stranger, to himself and the rest of the nation.

(Hat tip to Channel Surfing)

Better than I could've said it: letters edition

Haven't had the time to put together a coherent blog post in a while, so here are three letters published in the print media which said whatever I would have said, but said it better:

From Time Magazine:

The campaign outlined in "A Whole New McCain" is an insult to the intelligence of the American voter [Aug. 18]. When our military personnel are dying in foreign wars, McCain dares to raise Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to the level of a national political debate. With the U.S. facing an energy emergency, McCain jokes about tire inflation. When your 85-year-old mother loses her General Motors health benefits because GM can't sell cars, you want health-care solutions, not McCain's juvenile critique of Obama's European trip. Voters must demand solutions from those running for office--not fifth-grade political campaigns with playground sound bites. As a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, I find it disturbing that McCain has lost touch with reality.
Major Robert Tormey (ret.) escondido, CALIF.

I don't give a damn about any slight, perceived or otherwise, of Senator Hillary Clinton or her backers by Obama or his staff [Aug. 18]. America needs a Democrat in the White House. We need Obama's intelligence, his willingness to seek diplomatic solutions and his patience. Soothe your own bruised egos. Relax the clenched jaws. Pay your own bills. Above all other matters, work hard to get Obama elected in November.
John Gambardella CUNDLETOWN, AUSTRALIA

From The Times of Trenton:

The letter "Hightstown a haven for illegal aliens" (Aug. 19) is a poor assessment of the immigrant experience and is based on myths. Its writ er's arguments play on the politics of fear with words like "dishonest," "de ception" and "illegal criminal invasion," which distastefully demonize immigrants in an effort to support a recall election for Hightstown Mayor Bob Patten -- and that has nothing to do with immigrants. It seems to me to be a smoke screen over the real issue. The letter is an example of the type of rhetoric that impedes genuine discourse to solve a disagreement.
For starters, Mayor Patten supports the constitutional rights of all people. He has not established a "sanctuary" city, but rather has fos tered a culture of tolerance and opportunity for all Hightstonians.
Second, it is important to understand that no one supports illegal immigration, not even illegal immi grants. If the letter writer "encourages" legal immigration but does not support illegal immigration, then why not advocate to increase ave nues for legal immigration? I suspect that what bothers people is not the illegality, but the immigrant -- period.
The perpetrators are not the immigrants, but rather the outdated, broken, irresponsible and economically insensible immigration laws. If anyone is to be held accountable for the illegal immigration problem, it is our lawmakers who have consistently failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would address the writer's concerns -- and mine.
Finally, elected officials represent all those who live within their district. Just because people do not vote does not mean they don't have a voice. If that were the case, then large segments of our population (i.e. kids, legal residents, people on probation) would be unrepresented.
If we are genuinely interested in solving problems, let's talk without demonizing each other.
-- J. CARLOS AVILA, Trenton

Thanks, folks, for putting that into words. Well.

And so it ends

Not ready for the end of summer.

This fall brings big changes around our household in the Center of NJ. I'm going back to school. I've taken classes before, changed jobs before, and generally shook things up around here, but I still think nothing will prepare me for grad school and all I'm facing.

Overwhelmed, that's how I'd put it. Or, at least daunted.

So, we're taking it easy these last few weeks of summer. We did some outings with just me & the children, with Andrew's workfolks, and with mine. Finally had those friends over for dinner that we said for years we'd get together with but never got around to it before. Camped out in the backyard. Walked the dogs every night.

Tryin' to get in as much summer as possible, before it ends.

New, unnecessary addiction

It's raining on vacation today. Am now on Facebook. Am now addicted to Scramble. If you're not my Facebook friend yet, let me know and I'll add you so I can challenge you to a Scramble game.

I can only see the world in 4x4 grids of letters anymore.

Post more later, must play more Scramble now.

An FYI from the Mercer County Clerk

Register to vote and get your absentee ballots early for the Presidential election! (Especially if you're a college student in Our Fair State.)

The election is predicted to create a record surge in absentee ballot applications at the clerk's office this fall, (County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello) said.
"Do not wait until October to get your absentee ballot application processed if you are going away to college," said Sollami Covello, who expects her office will process over 12,000 applications. "Do it now before you leave for college and avoid unnecessary delays.
"In addition, if you have not done so already, do not wait until it is too late to register to vote. Both can be easily taken care of before you leave for college," she said.
The last day to register to vote in time for the presidential election is Oct. 14, and the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 28.

Check with your county clerk's web site to find out your specific phone number or address to get your absentee ballot or register to vote. You can find it here.

Lake Livin' in the Summertime, part 2

Lost spectacularly at poker- big and early. Played a lot of Werewolf. There are rumors of role-playing games in my future. I'm sure there are more games of all sorts coming.

Saw a great boulder field. Swam in a mountain lake. Took several steep walks. Had a lobster salad croissant that was out of this world. Drank much espresso and much homebrew, not at the same time. Let the kids play so much they're exhausted.

Drinkin' homemade limoncello. Listenin' to the blues. Enjoyin' the company.

I love me some Lake Livin'.

And I thought my cats were lazy

Meet Princess Chunky.

44 lb. Princess Chunky was found last Saturday in Voorhees. Her owner lost her home and set her adrift, but she must've not waddled far before she was found. The owner also claimes that Princess is a boy, but his/her weight is so high that that cannot be determined- a vet will have to figure it out.

Wow. I have three cats that could fit into that one.

The Fleecing of Hamilton and NJ: And the headline read...

Hamilton Stuck With Land

Does this surprise anyone? Anyone??

The state Supreme Court has decided it will not weigh in on Hamilton's agreement to buy Klockner Woods.
The court's action ends the appeal process by the township and a legal battle over one of the most politically contentious issues to grip the township in recent memory.
The high court's denial of a township petition on Friday effectively enforces a lower court decision ordering Hamilton to pony up the roughly $4.5 million it owes a developer for 51 wooded acres off Klockner Avenue.

The total comes to nearly $5 mil, when all is said and done. $4.1 purchase, nearly $800,000 in interest and another $30,000 in legal fees. Now, Hamilton has to face the music and come up with the money:

Mayor John Bencivengo did not rule out any scenario yesterday, including
selling the 51 wooded acres off Klockner Avenue or renewing applications for
grants or loans contingent on the land's preservation.
But regardless of what route Hamilton takes, it appears that property
owners in the township will be footing at least part of the bill.

The rest of it, non-Hamiltonians, may be paid by low-interest state loans and a grant from Mercer county- hence, why we were ALL fleeced on this ludicrous land deal.

However, the Hamilton taxpayers will be feeling it the most, and for a long time. For the sake of their wallets, I'm sorry this fight had to end like it did. For the sake of sanity, I bet everyone's damn glad it is finally ended.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

One week only! Joss Whedon et al. has done it again.

Disappears at midnight Sunday, 7/20/08. Read the master plan when you're done.

It'll be longer than just a moment of silence

Blanton's and Ashton's has hung it up.

Moving forward

Y'know that feeling when you have too much to do? So much that you can't even get started?

I got started today. At least it's something.

The Big Read- UPDATED!

From ktbuffy via jayananda:

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, *or not, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. (SEE UPDATE BELOW)

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Asterisk (*) the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
*4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
*5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
! 6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman $#%&!@
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
! 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
*25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
*37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
! 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
! 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
*58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
*60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
! 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
*68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
*78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
! 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
! 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
*94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I added another category - an ! in front of books that I started and either hated or they didn't hold my interest, so I didn't finish them. (In the case of #66 and #43, I got at least 3/4 of the way through and just dropped them.) I've been told to give #82 a second chance, and maybe I will. I think I was too young to appreciate #57 when I tried to read it- maybe it deserves a second chance, maybe on audio.

I also added a string of symbols after #9, which I did finish, and was so disappointed in that I was angry at the author and the time I wasted. Those symbols don't mean anything; I'm cursing Phillip Pullman out.

So, I've read 28 of them. Not bad, I guess, for a future librarian. How'd you do?

*- after Bob pointed out that I didn't post #44 and #51, I did some research to find them and cannot discover who made this list. It seems to be based on the list of the BBC's The Big Read, not the National Endowment for the Art's Big Read, which is an entirely different project. I did, however, find some posts with a complete list so I added those books back. So, it's not really based on an NEA project, but it's certainly someone's idea of fun. Still cool, huh?

If anyone finds proof that it's an NEA project, let me know and I'll correct again.

I know what I'm gonna do next weekend!

Belmar- Revelers in this Jersey shore party town can now legally drink from unregistered beer kegs and give people the finger.

Woo-hoo! Time to get liquored up and be rude!

"I'm not sure anyone even knew that making obscene gestures was illegal," Mayor Ken Pringle said. "Right after we send out our tax bills, I tend to see a few."

Same as every other Central Jersey town, I see.

Here's the real story:

One rule that's no longer on the books related to raising one's middle finger, or the many variants thereof. However objectionable it might be to some people, such a gesture is Constitutionally protected free speech, said Pringle, who is an attorney.
He said the borough was contacted by civil libertarians who questioned the legality of several municipal ordinances.
The ban on "obscene gestures," which never spelled out exactly what was and was not covered, was overly subjective, Pringle agreed. No one can recall anyone being prosecuted for violating it. Another law prohibiting people from loitering in alleyways also was axed.
And a beer keg tagging law, which Belmar enacted last year with great fanfare, withered and died after the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control said a handful of similar local laws enacted around the state requiring beer kegs to have the name, address and phone number of the person renting them was unconstitutional.

Let's just hope the bennies keep some modicum of self-restraint...

Freedom ain't free

Never let us forget that we are the land of the free only because we are the home of the brave.

Spc. Michael Edward Curtin, 23, Howell
Staff Sgt. Terry W. Hemingway, 39, Willingboro
Spc. Gil Mercado, 25, Paterson
Spc. Narson B. Sullivan, 21, North Brunswick
Spc. Kyle A. Griffin, 20, Emerson
Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, Roselle
Spc. Simeon Hunte, 23, Orange
Spc. Marlon P. Jackson, 25, Jersey City
Spc. Ryan Travis Baker, 24, Browns Mills
Spc. Marc S. Seiden, 26, Brigantine
2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin, 24, East Brunswick
Pfc. Bruce Miller Jr., 23, Orange
Spc. Adam Froehlich, 21, Pine Hill
2nd Lt. John T. Wroblewski, 25, Oak Ridge
Spc. Philip I. Spakosky, 25, Browns Mills
Spc. Christopher M. Duffy, 26, Brick
Sgt. Frank T. Carvill, 51, Carlstadt
Spc. Ryan E. Doltz, 26, Mine Hill
Sgt. Humberto F. Timoteo, 25, Newark
Sgt. Alan D. Sherman, 36, Wanamassa
Lance Cpl. Vincent M. Sullivan, 23, Chatham
Spc. Anthony J. Dixon, 20, Lindenwold
Capt. Michael Yury Tarlavsky, 30, Passaic
Spc. Yoe M. Aneiros, 20, Newark
Spc. Bryan L. Freeman, 31, Lumberton
Cpl. Marc T. Ryan, 25, Gloucester City
Pfc. Stephen C. Benish, 20, Clark
Spc. David P. Mahlenbrock, 20, Maple Shade
Lance Cpl. Brian P. Parrello, 19, West Milford
Spc. Alain L. Kamolvathin, 21, Blairstown
Cpl. Sean P. Kelly, 23, Pitman
Lance Cpl. Harry R. Swain IV, 21, Millville
Sgt. Stephen R. Sherman, 27, Neptune
Pfc. Min S. Choi, 21, River Vale
Maj. Steven W. Thornton, 46, with a Fort Monmouth-based unit
Maj. John C. Spahr, 42, Cherry Hill
Staff Sgt. Anthony L. Goodwin, 33, Mount Holly
Lt. Col. Terrence K. Crowe, 44, with a Lodi-based Army Reserve unit
Capt. James M. Gurbisz, 25, Eatontown
Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Sutherland, 33, West Deptford
Staff Sgt. Edward Karolasz, 25, Kearny
1st Lt. Dennis W. Zilinski, 23, Freehold
Pfc. Ryan D. Christensen, 22, Spring Lake Heights
Sgt. Clarence L. Floyd Jr., 28, Newark
Sgt. Matthew J. Fenton, 24, Little Ferry
Pfc. Vincent M. Frassetto, 21, Toms River
1st Lt. Ashley L. (Henderson) Huff, 23, Belle Mead
Lance Cpl. Christopher B. Cosgrove III, 23, Cedar Knolls
Pfc. Donald S. Brown, 19, Succasunna
Spc. Eric G. Palacios Rivera, 21, Atlantic City
Lance Cpl. Michael A. Schwarz, 20, Carlstadt
Pfc. Joe L. Baines, 19, Newark
Pfc. Eric R. Wilkus, 20, Hamilton
Cpl. Thomas E. Saba, 30, Toms River
Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin L. Sebban, 29, of South Amboy
Pfc. Miguel A. Marcial III, 19, Secaucus
Sgt. Michael R. Hullender, 29, Little Falls
Staff Sgt. Vincenzo Romeo, 23, Lodi
Sgt. Sameer A. M. Rateb, 22, Absecon
Staff Sgt. Joseph M. Weiglein, 31, Audubon
Spc. Farid Elazzouzi, 26, Paterson
Sgt. Eric L. Snell, 35, Trenton
Pfc. David J. Bentz III, 20, Newfield
Sgt. Trista L. Moretti, 27, South Plainfield
Spc. Kareem R. Khan, 20, Manahawkin
Staff Sgt. Jason M. Butkus, 34, West Milford
Lance Cpl. Jon T. Hicks, 20, Atco
Cpl. Terrence P. Allen, 21, Pennsauken
Pfc. Luigi R. Marciante Jr., 25, Elizabeth
Sgt. Eric J. Hernandez, 26, Waldwick
Lance Cpl. Curtis A. Christensen Jr., 29, Collingswood
Maj. Dwayane Kelley, 48, South Orange
Capt. Gregory T. Dalessio, 30, Cherry Hill
Spc. Ronald R. Harrison, 25, Mt. Olive
Staff Sgt. William R. Neil, 38, Holmdel
Cpl. Steven R. Koch, 23, East Brunswick

Happy Independence Day.

Lake Livin' in the Summertime, part 1

Relaxing on the shores of Lake Winnipesauke in New Hampshire this week with the spousal family.

Today, we're relaxing indoors while it rains. Yesterday, we were hiding out in the basement until the tornado warning passed. Then we played D&D until we were forced to stop to eat dinner, then again until we were forced to let the young people go to sleep.

The older two cousins played with Andrew and me. The younger two cousins really wanted to help, so they got to roll my dice for me. I kept trying to get them to go away to do somethng else while I was reading the flavor text; I wasn't sure how my sister-in-law would appreciate her younger kid hearing me explain how the players entered the sweltering hall full of blistered, diseased corpses and zombies. "Now that Uncle Andrew touched the dead body, he needs to roll a saving throw!" Luckily, no nightmares ensued.

Never a dull moment!

Art All Night in Trenton

Tomorrow at 3 PM through Sunday at 3PM, there will be Art all Night in Trenton! It's an indoor-outdoor show, in a former factory building and Millyard Park in the Chambersburg section of Trenton.

I'll be out of town, unfortunately, or I'd love to visit. I heard from a volunteer at last year's event that it's a great time as well as a great show. There's Art! and Music! and Food! and it's All Night! What's not to love?

Go. Have fun. Enjoy art in the 'burg all night.

"Equally indifferent to the suffering of all people"

That is correct, Wyatt.

Stupidest quote of the week

In Our Fair State, stupid quotes are pretty much the norm. However, it's already Wednesday, and I haven't seen anything to compare with the sheer silliness of this one from Sunday's Times of Trenton:

"Reducing the zones would have our children pass through a (phalanx) of drug dealers every day," said (Trenton) school board Vice President Alexander Brown. "This would bring drug trafficking 800 feet closer to our schools. Some legislators believe the zones have placed a hardship on drug dealers. To me, I say 'tough.'"

Yep! That's it! Legislators want drug dealers to have an easier time. That's the reason they want to reduce the size of the drug-free school zones and increase the penalties! Because our legislators just love the drug dealers!!

Or, it could be that the law targets minorities in our cities (where nearly every street is in a zone), unfairly chokes our prisons with non-violent offenders who could go to rehab, and hits offenders with two punishments for the same crime. Truly, if you think the penalty zone has restricted the amount of drug dealing in our cities, you had better check your facts.

At least some more logical minds had a few reasonable things to say:

"The Legislature is trying to address discriminatory practices," said Trenton board member T. Missy Balmir, referring to the study. "I think we need to be careful before we take a stand on this issue. I would like more information on how our city is truly affected by drug-free zones."
According to the commission, 96 percent of people jailed for dealing drugs within the zones are black or Hispanic. The commission argued two years ago that drug- free zones do not hinder drug sales near schools.
"If 96 percent of the people incarcerated under the drug-free zone law are black or Hispanic -- groups that only make up 20 percent of our state's population -- it's not a fair system," said Roseanne Scotti, director of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey.
"Plus, there is no evidence that drug-free zones hinder drug sales," Scotti said. "Basically, this law amounts to two different penalties being given for the same exact crime -- the only differences between the two penalties are geography and race."
...
"I think that's an economic drain for the state of New Jersey, among issues of fairness," said Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson- Coleman, D-Ewing, who has introduced a bill to keep the drug-free zones at 1,000 feet while giving judges more discretion in sentencing.
"Was the person dealing drugs to students? Was school even in session when they were arrested?" Watson-Coleman said. "The judge should be able to determine the impact on society, the appropriate remedy, and then sentence accordingly."

Imagine that- a judge being able to determine impact and a remedy. Um, dare I say?- to judge. Then maybe clearer-thinking heads will prevail.

No one is saying drug dealing is a good thing. What is being said is that it's time to revisit a failed drug policy- one of many in our country. Kudos to the legislators and school board members who took the time to find out the facts about the effectiveness of these policies. Hopefully they can come up with a more effective and maybe more logical plan of attack on those who would prey on our children.

Locally Grown 2008

Many of the farmer's markets in Central NJ are open or are opening soon! Susan Sprague Yeske gave us a rundown in a recent Trenton Times of many local markets. Here are the highlights, with some extra:

West Windsor Community Farmers Market -- Saturdays through October, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Vaughn Drive lot of Princeton Junction Train Station (southbound). (609) 577-5113
Lawrenceville Farmers Market -- Sundays June 8 through Oct. 28, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Lawrenceville Fuel, 16 Gordon Ave., Lawrenceville. (609) 206-0344
Hopewell Community Market -- Wednesdays through October, 2 to 7 p.m. near the train station, at Railroad Place off Greenwood Avenue in Hopewell Borough. (609) 466-8330.
Trenton Farmers Market -- Open year round; for the harvest season through October, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Located at 960 Spruce St., Lawrence. (609) 695-2998,
Sergeantsville Farmers Market -- Saturdays through September from 8:30 a.m. to noon on the township green on Route 604 Rosemont-Ringoes Road in Delaware Township. (609) 397-8768.
Liberty Village Premium Outlets Farmers Market -- Sundays through Nov. 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Liberty Village Shopping Center, off Route 12, Flemington. (908) 782-8550.
Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers Market -- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays at Dvoor Farm on the Route 12 circle in Flemington through October.
Burlington County Farmers Market -- 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the former Winner Farm at Hartford and Centerton roads, Moorestown. (609) 265-5020. June 14 through October.
Columbus Farmers Market -- Daily, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Route 206, one mile south of Columbus.
(609) 267-0400.
Montgomery Friends Farmers Market -- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays from June 21 through Oct. 25 at the Village Shopper on Route 206, just north of Route 518.
Rutgers Gardens Farmers Markets -- Fridays 2 to 6 p.m. through Oct. 31 on the Rutgers Garden grounds on Ryders Lane in New Brunswick.
Franklin Township Farmer's Market -- Through Nov. 29, Sat. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at John's Plaza 720 Hamilton St. (Across from New Millenium Bank; Franklin Twp., Somerset County)
Bound Brook Farmers Market -- Sat. 9a.m.-2p.m. through October. At the NJ Transit Parking Lot on Main Street in Bound Brook.
West End Farmer's Market -- Every Thursday 12-6 p.m. June 5-December 4, Parking lot behind Jesse's Cafe & Catering at 139 Brighton Avenue in the West End Section of Long Branch
Freehold Farmers Market -- Tuesdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The American Hotel, 18 E. Main St., Freehold. (732) 946-9639. July to October.

Some of these, such as the Trenton Farmer's Market, have rules about only selling what you grow- but there's no guarantee for the rest. There are lots of "farmer's markets" and roadside stands where, if you look carefully, you can see the folks unloading fruit and veggies out of the same boxes they get at Shop-Rite! Be careful. Don't be afraid to ask where the produce is grown. If you want Jersey Fresh, speak up!

Buy local!

(crossposted from sfoodblog)

The Next Comic Book to Read

One-Eyed Jack.

Go. Now.

What we think, and what we say

(Yay! Yay! I need this time so bad! I have a million things I need to do! I hate doing this anyway! The kids get so muddy! Yay! Yay! Yay!)

"Gee, honey, I'm sorry soccer practice was canceled. The fields are pretty wet. Maybe you can do something fun at home instead?"

(Yay!)

Songwriters singin'

Last weekend, intrepid spouse and I dropped the kids at a relative's house and went with some friends (who did the same with their offspring) to see singer/songwriters David Wilcox and Justin Roth perform in Westfield, as part of the Coffee with Conscience series.

This was the first I'd heard of the series, and that's a shame. Both John Flynn and Susan Werner were there this year and we would have loved to see them. Better late than never, I guess; we had a great time at this show.

I'd also never heard of Justin Roth. His instrumental pieces were probably his best songs but his lyrics were great too. A standout was "Dead Horse Trampoline." (Yes, it is what you think it is. You can find the lyrics on his site but I suggest you go listen to him play it instead.) He also told a great story about dueling GPS devices on the drive to Jersey

David Wilcox was his usual impressive self. If you've never heard any of his music, you've missed much. East Asheville Hardware is a collection of live music to give you an idea what he's all about, and Airstream is his newest. The first album of his I had was How Did You Find Me Here, which my friend Papagoose introduced me to in college. (In some type of strange poetic justice, I lent my copy to the brother of a friend, who never gave it back. That same friend married Papagoose and they were the couple with whom we went to the show. Go figure.)

Singer/songwriter shows can be a lot of fun, especially if they include good coffee like this one did. We very much enjoyed the intimate nature of the location as well as the good seats that only a small space can provide. Papagoose identified the several types of fans who are always in attendance at these shows:

• The Personal Friend: waves his hand and tries to get the artist's attention. "David? David!"
• The Song Shouter: calls out the name of his favorite song before each and every song, hoping the artist will play it. "Rusty Old American Dream!" ("Free Bird!")
• The First Clapper: claps after the first chord of every song, to make sure EVERYONE knows that HE identified the song FIRST.
• The Sing-Alongs: that's pretty self-explanatory. We all fall into this category sometimes.

After the great show, we hit J.J. Bittings, but the kitchen was closing and it was way loud after our folksy evening. So we decided to toilet paper our good friends' house instead.

Luckily for them, they were home so we couldn't go TPing. We invaded their home and stayed until 3AM eating junk food we picked up at the gas station. Hell, we had babysitters. We were staying out as late as we could possibly muster.

The Next Book to Read

Jeri Smith-Ready's next book, Wicked Game, comes out on Friday the 13th. She's posted an excerpt from the first chapter, in case you can't wait for your copy to be delivered.

This is cool: since it's about a radio station*, Jeri has put together a soundtrack for the book:

I got those albums I was waiting for from Amazon yesterday. Now, I have to wait almost two weeks for them to send my copy of Wicked Game. Guess I gotta get busy reading all that other stuff I borrowed from the library...

*a radio station populated with vampires. How cool is that?

My media-verse for spring

I haven't done one of these in a few months, so I thought it might be fun. Here goes!

Music

The kids have discovered that there are other Foo Fighters albums besides Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, so we've been hearing The Color and the Shape quite a bit. (Since I love both albums, I'm not inclined to stop them from playing them, over and over and over and over...) We're waiting for our new Gnarls Barkley album to come from Amazon, so we've been playing St. Elsewhere in anticipation. (If you haven't seen their videos yet, head over to the web site now and play them. Now. I'll wait, it's ok. ... Welcome back! Wasn't that cool?) I recently took a break from audiobooks to listen to something completely different: Yo Yo Ma's Inspired by Bach. A recent post of Brenda Tremblay's reminded me that I hadn't heard that in a while.

TV

30 Rock is still the funniest thing on television, however I've found myself making time on Friday nights to watch The Soup with Joel McHale. (Booya!) Top Chef is keeping itself interesting this year, even with a good batch of chefs and no real bad guy. We powered through season 2 of Weeds on DVD; Season 3 is being released soon! We're still catching up on our Venture Brothers as well.

Movies

We haven't set foot in a movie theater in a long time, so it's all DVD and tape for us. We recently watched all 3 original Star Wars movies with the kids, and I must say, they aren't holding up to time the way most classics do. By the end of Jedi, I had the idea for a new drinking game: every time someone called someone else an "old buddy," or every time the Emperor reminded Luke that his friends (said with demonic derision) were going to die, you had to drink. You'd be so drunk you'd never even wonder how the Ewoks put up such a well-organized and well-equiped attack in the ten minutes they had to plan.

The kids are now asking to watch the three newer movies. It's not very responsible of me to play a drinking game with the kids in the room, so I'll just have to sit through them sober. I don't know how I'll manage. (Maybe episode three will save me; I heard it was better than the other two, but episode two sucked so bad I never went to see it.)

We have two grown-up movies to watch in the next week; Jamie Fox's The Kingdom, and No Country for Old Men. It will be a week of intense movie drama, to say the least.

Books

I've been ripping through books lately and I wonder if I can remember all I've read. Born Standing Up was interesting and well-written. My Horizontal Life: a Collection of One-Night Stands was popcorn and fun. I tore through Power Down, the most recent graphic novel in the Ex Machina series. The Red Tent was a fantastically well-told story from a new point of view. In Defense of Food was common sense codified, and The Year of Eating Dangerously was cute, self-deprecating food and travel writing.

I listened to His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, the Amber Spyglass and The Subtle Knife) The production was fantastic, but "disappointed" doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when I was done listening to them. "Annoyed" is close. As a family, we listened to Inkheart and are deep in Inkspell; different readers change the feeling of the characters, but the books are really good. I'm listening to Neil Gaiman's short story collection Fragile Things, which has some high points, some low points, and is beginning to run together too much. I would have rather read them one at a time in their original collections, I think.

I have several books on tap to read now: The Brief Wondrous Live of Oscar Wao is top of that list, but I'm afraid to start it. See, when the list at the library for it was so long, I picked up Junot Diaz's book of short stories Drown, and I couldn't finish it. It was brutal, both in its level of violence and its tone. I also have Predictably Irrational and The Geography of Bliss to start- I may not finish it all before it has to go back to the library.

So, that's the last couple of months of media around here. What's in your Media-verse now?

The Fleecing of Hamilton and NJ- Quit while you're behind edition

Court upholds land deal
Hamilton stuck with Klockner Woods

HAMILTON -- A state court has again refused to void the township's agreement to purchase the 51-acre tract known as Klockner Woods, keeping taxpayers on the hook for the roughly $4.5 million land deal while township officials contemplate taking the case to the state Supreme Court.
A decision handed down yesterday from the appellate division of the state Superior Court ruled that the township must uphold its 2005 agreement to purchase the land, despite arguments that the township council never approved an appropriation to buy the property.

The township council says they never approved the funds for the purchase, so it isn't legal. Unfortuantely, the courts don't see it that way; they (repeatedly) state that the purchase was legal.

George Dougherty, the attorney representing Hamilton, said he would be recommending the township pursue the matter with the state's highest court.
"I think they absolutely missed the law," Dougherty said. "You can't make a solid commitment unless you have money set aside to do it. You simply don't spend money that you don't have."

Unfortunately, George, spending money we don't have is the American Way. See, right now you're spending Hamilton taxpayers' money to fight a fight you can't win.

But if the Supreme Court decides not to hear the case, or if it upholds the decision of the lower courts, there would certainly be implications for Hamilton's finances, according to interim township business administrator William Guhl.
Besides legal costs, which have climbed to about $30,000, the township will be on the hook for long-term debt payments on the $4.1 million price, plus interest, including a down payment of roughly $200,000, Guhl said.
The township has already paid Fieldstone about $380,000 in interest as part of the agreement, and further interest payments have raised the township's current obligation to about $4.5 million, according to John Buonocore, the attorney representing Fieldstone.
When asked his opinion on the decision, Guhl backed Dougherty's view.
"If you want to buy something, and it's a capital item and you want to" using a bond ordinance, Guhl said, a municipality must "specifically identify in the ordinance what it is you want to buy."
The courts, however, have ruled otherwise. The appellate court affirmed Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg's opinion that a bond ordinance specifically appropriating money for the land purchase was not required in order for the purchase agreement to be binding.
In her decision, issued early last year, Feinberg pointed to other actions the township took that could have funded the purchase, including $5 million appropriated for open space and multiple public attempts by the township to secure outside funding for the purchase.
Feinberg also argued that the cost to taxpayers would be higher if she overturned the settlement to purchase the land, pointing to the cost of the litigation that could ensue.

Just when you thought this whole mess couldn't get worse...

"This has always been about Hamilton politics and it was never about the value of the land," Buonocore (of Feildstone) said.
(former Mayor Glenn) Gilmore backed that claim yesterday.
"The Republican council knew that they were simply wasting valuable taxpayer dollars in lawyer fees and interest cost with this appeal, but they wanted to keep the issue alive for the last election at taxpayer expense," he wrote in response to an e-mail asking for comment.

Add that comment to the (very short) list of things that Glen Gilmore got right.

A friend and Hamilton resident put it very succintly to me once: "Gilmore screwed us." Especially on this issue, you bet. But it's time for the new administration and town council to stop trying to fight old battles and move on to fixing the problems they were elected to fix. Meanwhile, legal fees and interest payments keep piling up, and guess who has to pay for those?

Yes, the land should be preserved. Yes, when the purchase agreement was made SOMEONE should have been looking out for the taxpayers' interest. We all agree to that.

Now is not the time for those arguements- that time was back in 2004 and 2005. Now is the time now for the council to stop shoveling more of the taxpayers' good money after bad and move on.

Clearing the air on October 15th

Atlantic City Council unanimous on casino smoking ban, takes effect Oct. 15.

ATLANTIC CITY - A relentless fight to protect casino workers from secondhand smoke ended Wednesday with a historic vote by city legislators outlawing smoking on the resort's 11 casino floors.
Before a packed chamber of casino workers and anti-smoking advocates, City Council's nine members approved an ordinance that will clear the smoke from all city gaming floors by Oct. 15. The measure does allow casinos to build separately ventilated smoking rooms that cannot be staffed.
The vote was followed by more than a minute-long standing ovation and chants of "thank you!"
...
"There's an industry out here that we have a responsibility to," said (Councilman Bruce) Ward, a driving force behind the legislation. "But we also have a responsibility to our visitors and our workers."

Finally, someone has taken responsibility to protect the health of casino workers. The casinos themselves finally said they would acquiesce if given enough implementation time. The biggest complaint of the casino industry was always that they would lose customers to Connecticut and Pennsylvania gambling; however, both of those states are apparently considering their own indoor smoking bans, so that's out the window.

Just like all that secondhand smoke- out the window.

It's about time.

Earth Day Push to Preserve Petty's Island

The New Jersey Environmental Foundation and the Sierra Club are hoping to push the Governor to make Petty's Island a nature preserve and park:

The coalition argues that now is the perfect time for New Jersey to accept the proposed gift from Citgo Petroleum, because a North Carolina company that had proposed a major redevelopment project on the island recently dropped its plans, citing poor economic conditions in the national housing market.
In addition, the state is in such dire financial straits that it is considering closing some state parks to save money, which means there's scant funding available to acquire new open space.
Citgo, the American subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, offered the 392-acre Petty's Island, which sits in the Delaware River between Camden and Philadelphia, to New Jersey in 2004. At the time, Gov. Jim McGreevey declined the offer. Environmental groups claimed the state was simply pandering to a politically connected developer, Cherokee Investment Partners of Raleigh.
"We should be celebrating today the fourth anniversary of Petty's Island as a park and nature preserve," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club. "Instead, we're asking Gov. Corzine, 'When are you going to step up and save Petty's Island from development?' "

Well, part of the reason he's waiting is that Pennsauken isn't ready to give up hope of redevelopment yet:

Pennsauken Mayor Jack Killion could not be reached for comment yesterday. In an interview in the Courier-Post , township Committeeman Rick Taylor said Pennsauken hoped to find another company to redevelop the riverfront.

The reason cited by Cherokee Investment Partners for dropping their plans is a declining real-estate market. However, as the township is hoping, markets are cyclical and there will once again be a demand for luxury waterfront housing in the Philly metro area. We can only hope that they decide to renovate the mainland real estate instead, the land that will have a beautiful, priceless view of the nature preserve that Petty's Island should be.

Solar fun

Two solar tidbits:

1. I love this season! Not just watching the earth renew and burst forth in bloom, but also that I'm banking kW hours all the time. My last bill, I had 68 banked; this bill it will be more. What that means is, the panels are producing more electricity than I use, so I have credit against the times when I use more than I produce- like the hot, humid high summer.

2. The Whole Earth Center in Princeton opened its addition recently, sporting not just tons of reused and recycled materials but a new set of solar panels! Very cool.

Earth Day Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day is

Biodiversity \bye-oh-duh-VER-suh-tee\ noun

Meaning
: biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals

Example Sentence
Today’s tropical rainforests represent a treasure trove of biodiversity unmatched in any other environment.

Did you know?
“Biodiversity may become the rallying call for the next decade,” wrote David Wake in the journal Science in 1989. Indeed, “biodiversity” is a word you’re likely to encounter in writing about ecology and the environment today. But when Wake used it, “biodiversity” was still a relatively new addition to the English language, having first appeared in writing in the mid-1980s. Of course, the roots of "biodiversity" are much older. It evolved from a commingling of the descendants of the Greek noun “bios,” which means "mode of life," and the Latin verb “divertere,” which means "to turn aside" or "to go different ways."

Instant karma's gonna get you

I was going through some old paperwork for the dogs the other day, trying to clear out the filing cabinet, and I found something interesting. The greyhound adoption agency we have been using helpfully distributes the dog's pedigree and racing record when a dog is adopted. I found the lineage for our late hound, Blackjack, and compared it to that of our new dog, Shadow.

They are cousins. They share a grandfather. How cool is that?

Shadow is at the vet's office tonight, where they're fixing her broken ankle bone. She should be able to walk normally after she finishes healing.

We weren't able to help Blackjack, but maybe we can give Shadow a better life.

What choice?

When I heard that Lautenberg wanted to run for Senate again, I wasn't thrilled. Please understand, I think Frank Lautenberg was a great senator. His voting record is admirable and often in line with what I think. No huge scandals, no major accusations, a distinguished record of public service from a beloved public official. Then he retired. In 2000.

When the Democrats hauled him back from his retirement to replace the sinking ship known as Bob Toricelli in 2002, a lot of people were pissed off. The Republicans screamed, unsuccessfully sued, and called the maneuver a dirty rotten trick.

Because it was.

Lautenberg has served us more than honorably but his time is passed. Amid questions of McCain's age affecting his ability to serve, people have not failed to notice that Our Fair State's senior senator is a full twelve years older than the Republican presidential nominee. I'm afraid that the Dems are running Lautenberg again for the same reason they did in 2002; because voters love him and the pols are sure he can win. Lautenberg has name recognition! Lautenberg has voter loyalty! If Lautenberg's health begins to wane the party can prop him up like Strom Thurman!

I feel pandered to again. I'm a little pissed off again.

Unfortunately, the other option is worse:

(Rep. Rob) Andrews, for example, joined GOP colleagues in supporting a fence along the Mexican border; backed legislation pushed by banks and credit card companies making it more difficult for people to erase their debts through bankruptcy; supported a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning; voted for the estate tax repeal; and opposed permanent normal trade relations with China.
...
Andrews not only supported the (Iraq) invasion but was an author and vocal advocate of the war resolution, and attended the White House signing ceremony. In 2003, he said there was little doubt that there were chemical and biological weapons in Iraq, and predicted that the "evidence will become clear."
He began distancing himself from President Bush's war policy in the fall of 2005 as public support began to deteriorate, and in 2007 voted for a measure that would have required the president to start pulling troops out this year.
Andrews' shift on Iraq came as he was lobbying to be appointed to the Senate seat left vacant after Jon Corzine's election as governor. Corzine, with the power to name his own Senate successor, bypassed Andrews and picked Robert Menendez, then a congressman from Hudson County.

Given this for a choice, I expect that most Dems in Our Fair State will support Lautenberg, regardless of how pissed off or pandered to we feel.

Just in case it works, however, I'll be wishing on the first star I see tonight that Rush Holt will run.

Only the Shadow knows

We've been talking about getting our Darkman a friend for a long time now. We finally took the plunge on the Thursday before Easter and adopted a new dog! She's lovely, she's friendly, she's energetic. Within forty-five minutes of being in the house, she tried to kill one of our cats.

Needless to say, she's someone else's dog now. The adoption agency did "cat-test" her, but I expect that she was distracted with something else in the room and paid no attention to the cat. She paid a lot of attention to our cats, however, and a dog can't be trained out of that kind of behavior. I brought her back to the agency first thing the next morning.

However, we had met another dog at the adoption agency who does get along with all my pets, so I brought her home with me. Shadow raced for a season, poorly, and was retired quite young. She's shy and nervous right now. She suffered a broken bone in her ankle and is recovering, but limps on that leg a little bit.

Darkman seems happy with his new sister, although he wants her to play with him more. That will come in time as she heals up and gets comfortable with all of us.

The cats sure seem happier.

Darkman and The Shadow

It made me smile

A minister, a rabbi and a priest walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, "What is this? A joke?"

And so it continues

4000 Americans have died in Iraq. As well as nearly 90,000 Iraqis.

It's official

Big changes afoot.

I was accepted to grad school. I start working on my Master's in Library and Information Science this fall.

After I took the GREs, one of my kids said to me, "Yay! Now you won't have to spend so much time studying!" Unfortunately, that respite was only temporary; now the real studying begins. (In the fall, anyway.)

Ben Affleck and Jimmy Kimmel

Hat tip to dbk for this one. It's bleeped but I'ts still not quite work-safe. Funny as hell.

Why it takes me so long to finish a book, even though I'm a pretty fast reader

For easily the tenth time in as many minutes, my younger child comes up to me with a question: "Mommy, what are you reading?"

Frustrated, I reply, "A book that I can't actually read because I get interrupted every few seconds!"

"What's it called?"




Even thinly veiled sarcasm can be lost on a six year old.

Leadership

George Amick, on the governor's proposal and town hall meetings:

His plan will inflict financial pain on users of the state's toll roads, but Corzine has chosen to present it to the voters in person and take their questions. He has been willing to modify the details to meet reasonable criticism, including providing toll discounts for daily drivers and dropping the idea of collecting tolls on Route 440. He has displayed a dignity and a respect for his listeners that too many of the listeners aren't reciprocating. And he's doing all this barely 10 months after a catastrophic accident that left him near death on the side of the Garden State Parkway.
It's called leadership. We haven't seen a lot of it from governors and legislators in recent years.
Contrast Corzine's performance with that of his critics.
Republican legislators have decided to try to make political hay through flat-out opposition. Not one of the 49 GOP lawmakers has agreed to support the governor's program, and a group called the Republican Task Force for Fiscal Responsibility is mimicking the governor's strategy with its own series of town meetings. "We strongly, adamantly, 100 percent disagree with Gov. Corzine's toll plan, and we intend to inform the public why," the chairman, Assemblyman Michael Doherty, R-Washington Township, said at a forum in Warren County.
It takes no great political or personal courage, of course, to stand before people who don't want to pay higher tolls or taxes and tell them that they won't have to do it. Simply saying no doesn't take salesmanship.

Not that we expect any great political or personal courage from the Republicans in Our Fair State, but it might be nice if they showed some. Even a little.

Still, many Republicans are peddling the notion that spending reductions are the whole answer. For them, it would be instructive if they provided a specific list of cuts and used their open forums to defend them. Like Corzine, they should do it before audiences that aren't predisposed to be friendly. And they should do it week after week.
Let Republican legislators stand in front of an auditorium packed with state and local government workers and teachers and tell them there must be layoffs as well as modifications in their generous retirement and health-care packages. Let them inform a roomful of cops that the binding-arbitration law has driven up the pay of some public-safety workers to excessive levels and needs revision.
Let them say to audiences of suburban parents and educational professionals that school districts should be consolidated on a large scale for cost-effectiveness. Let them tell tax-averse listeners that an increase in the state's gasoline tax would be a reasonable alternative to some of the toll hikes in Corzine's plan.
All these things make sense, but could the governor's critics take the heat? Corzine has shown that he can.

It's called leadership. Unfortunately, George is right: We haven't seen a lot of it from governors and legislators in recent years. We're used to seeing pandering and and blind eyes turned to our problems.

Even if the proposal isn't the best idea for Our Fair State, at least Corzine has the guts to stand up and make his case.

It's snowing!

Not only is it snowing, it's cold enough that it's sticking!

We've had almost no snow this year, so accumulation is truly exciting. Cool!

Some random thoughts on Saturday's Gov. meeting

A friend and I attended Gov. Corzine's Mercer County meeting on Saturday. I'm sure you read all about it by now, but if not, here are some random thoughts of mine:

• The Gov made his case pretty well. I wish he'd explained a little more about other alternatives that he rejected and why- that might have helped.
• A number of people had well thought out questions about the impact of the plan. Thank you for that.
• A big concern in Mercer county was the fear that a toll hike will push more traffic onto local roads like 295, Route 1, and 130. These are very valid points and I hope they will be addressed with stricter truck regulation on smaller roads.
• Bill Baroni was there. Rush Holt was there. The mayor of East Windsor was there. But only 12th district State Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblycritters Cassagrande and Declan O'Scanlan got up to use the mike to ask antagonistic questions. Don't they have a different forum to talk to the Governor- say, in their respective assemblies in Trenton? Instead, they came down to Hightstown to wrest the microphone from taxpayers- for whom this forum was their best chance- just for political gain. Typical.
• The mayor of Hightstown took the mike too, only to point out that Hightstown High School isn't East Windsor Regional High School. I would call this a similar waste of time to the politicians above, but what he illustrated is the arrogance that keeps Hightstown and East Windsor from discussing any merging of services or, dare I say it, government. I'm sure everyone saw that pretty clearly.
• Note to the guy who kept spouting off about first ammendment rights, the one who got the police officer's badge number, the one who kept mouthing off when others tried to speak, the one who didn't bother to listen, just to shout: You're right, we have a first ammendment right to free speech. So here's my free speech: you behaved like a stupid jerk.
• It's a shame that some people didn't come with open minds. There may be better plans than this one, 's true, but you owe it to yourself to hear fully what's currently on the table.

So, go to your county's meeting if it hasn't been held yet. It was interesting, to say the least.

Release the hounds!

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is on TV tonight, from 8-9 on USA and 9-11 on CNBC.

I love the dog show. I watch it every year, even though it looks exactly like same show each year. Which is the point, really- the dogs are supposed to look exactly the same.

Every year, the greyhound will not win, either. But we root for the breed still.

Vote!

Polls are open until 8PM. The biggest FAQ for elections are listed here. If your'e not sure if you are registered, you must contact your County election office: list here.

Remember, you can't complain about the result if you didn't bother to drag yourself to your polling place. So go vote!

I wish Hillary would stop calling me!

Three times today so far. I stopped answering; maybe she'll get the hint.

Re-vote

Did you already vote absentee- for John Edwards? Well, you can change it! Mercer County plans to let voters switch:

Mercer County voters who cast absentee ballots for former presidential candidates including Rudy Giuliani or John Edwards can still have their vote count.
They will have an opportunity to vote again and replace their original ballot due to a court ruling in Ocean County and a decision by Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello.
The county will follow a state Superior Court ruling that ordered the Ocean County clerk to distribute duplicate absentee ballots to those who voted for formerly viable candidates, Sollami-Covello announced yesterday.
Those affected must apply for the second absentee ballot in person at the Mercer County Clerk's Office by Monday at 3 p.m. Before receiving the ballot, the voters must sign an affidavit saying they had already cast their absentee ballot and that their choice had withdrawn.

Bergen, Essex, Union and (of course) Ocean are allowing re-votes as well. Contact your County Clerk Monday morning if your vote falls into this category!

Bergen County Clerk's office
Essex County Clerk's office
Union County Clerk's office
Ocean County Clerk's office
Mercer County Clerk's office

Make your voice heard- VOTE!

Shelfari

Is anyone out there on Shelfari? It's a book website, where you post what you're reading and you can see what your friends are into now, too.

Send me a note if you are on it. It's fun.

Stand against hate

I've watched the fountain in Hightstown rise and like so many others I couldn't wait to see how it would look when done. One morning a few days ago, I walked past it only to see it covered in a tarp. I figured it was part of the construction. I didn't see the newspaper until later, and found out what had been painted on it.

I know racisim exists. I know it's out there in the world. It's a horrible feeling when it hits so close to home.

About a hundred people gathered last night in solidarity against the racist grafiti found in Hightstown and Roosevelt. Big thanks go to Sandra Johnson, Lenore Isleib and Judith Weiss for organizing a way us to show both our displeasure at these slur in these little towns, and our unity in moving forward- away from hate. It was great to see how many people crowded into the Point and into the meeting afterward. People came not just from these two towns, but from many communities, religions and walks of life.

The good feeling from this gathering erased that earlier horrible one.

Hate Mail, updated

A little over two years ago, I got my first hate mail (actually, harassment mail, I came to find out.) Since then, my husband was the recipient of another such letter, but we didn't even bother to open it; he had also recently written a letter to the editor of the Trenton Times and we recognized the typewritten envelope and the mangled play on our name from my letter.

We figured we weren't alone in receiving these hateful, distorted missives. It turns out lots of letter writers get them:

They come in standard white envelopes. They are addressed using a typewriter. At first glance, they appear to be everyday correspondence.
Once the bundle of papers inside are unfolded, though, the recipient is greeted with pages of propaganda strewn with handwritten comments that range from anti-Semitic and bias commentary to racist and religious rants.
...
Leafing through these missives is a scenario that Times readers who frequently have letters to the editor published in the paper have been dealing with since at least 2004.
Most of the mailings arrive after their letter is published in The Times, and appear to be one person's work.
Some of the mailings, which are unsigned but clearly directed to specific people, have been reported to law enforcement, from local police to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, all without success in finding the sender.

We didn't bother reporting the latest harrasment mail to the police, since there really wasn't anything to be done. Now I kind of wish we had, just to fatten up the file they probably have on this guy.

Note to racist cowards everywhere (including the ones who did this): if you have something to say, have the guts to sign it. If you're afraid to stand behind it, then keep your mouth shut.

Here's to 2008!

Happy New Year from the Center of NJ

Laughing into the New Year

It was a year that strode boldly into the stall of human events and took a wide stance astride the porcelain bowl of history.

It was year in which roughly 17,000 leading presidential contenders, plus of course Dennis Kucinich, held roughly 63,000 debates, during which they spewed out roughly 153 trillion words; and yet the only truly memorable phrase emitted in any political context was "Don't tase me, Bro!''

It was a year filled with bizarre, insane, destructive behavior, an alarming amount of which involved astronauts.

Dave Barry's 2007 Year in Review.

Let Heaven and Nature Sing

Happy Holidays from the Center of NJ.

My media-verse for December

Books:

I love The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. It's not what I'd call a page-turner, in that I've put it down for days several times. (Had to return it to the library, even, and wait until I reached the top of the waiting list again.) Every single page has something fascinating on it; a great, great book. I've been laughing myself silly over Dave Barry's The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog and The Onion's Our Dumb World. You must read Our Dumb World's description of New Jersey- but preferably not out loud when someone's twelve year old nephew is in the room.

Graphic Novels:

Not having had a chance to go see Beowulf yet, I loved reading the Gareth Hinds version to tide me over until the DVD comes out. Hopefully over the holidays I'll have a chance to read the Preacher books I've borrowed.

Movies:

Finally saw 300 the other day, and maybe I had too high expectations for it. It was ok. a delightfully bloody and overacted comic book of a movie, but not interesting enough. We watched Elf for the first time this holiday season and it was truly "fun for the whole family." (Meet the Robinsons, however, wasn't. The kids didn't even appreciate that one. ) Sticking with Will Farrell for a moment, Stranger than Fiction is a very well-written and put-together story; an English teacher friend of mine recommended it, and it's not hard to see why. If you haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth yet, go get it immediately and watch it. At least twice. Scrooge may not be the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol, but singing "I Like Life" and "Thank You Very Much" always gets me in the spirit.

Television:

30 Rock is still the funniest thing on TV- and you can watch episodes online if you missed them. Please, for the sake of all of us who survived the 80s, can we get rid of Christian The One-Trick Pony on Project Runway? (Not to diminish the auffing of Steven, though- what he did to that wedding dress was a shame.)

Music:

My kids are in love with my new Foo Fighters disc Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace. I'm so proud, but I'm starting to wish we didn't have to play it twice a day every day. Ah, but it's time to haul out the Christmas music, and where would be be without Eddie G?

So, what haunts your media-verse these days?

MOM funding boost

Two of my least favorite New Jersey politicians did something pretty good recently:

Nearly $1 million in federal funding for the proposed Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex (MOM) Passenger Rail Line was approved by the House of Representatives last night, according to a news release from U.S. Reps. Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, and Jim Saxton, R-Mount Holly.
The funding for the MOM Alternatives Analysis was included in the U.S. Department of Transportation budget -- which last night passed in the House by a vote of 272-142 -- after Smith and Saxton made a request earlier this year to the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee.

Rail service is essential in helping the growing Mon-Oc area relieve congestion. Any additional funding is good news.

Why Iowa should vote for Mike Huckabee

Not a crook, a weirdo or a Mormon. Let's leave it at that, OK?

(More of Lee Stranahan's campaign parody videos.)

I get searches- not that kind of blog edition

Among the usual searches I get for Princeton Hospital, Carla Katz photo and Raging Rudolph, three terms which brought people to this blog in the last 24 hours caught my eye:

• New Jersey milfs
• nj bongs
• shrooms nj

I'm sorry folks, it's just not that kind of blog.

It's official

Our Fair State is officially out of the death business.

Blue Jersey has a list of reaction from across the country and the world. The Colosseum in Rome will be lit in honor of our abolition of the death penalty:

Death penalty opponents hailed the new law as a historic victory against capital punishment. Officials in Rome planned to light the Colosseum in support. Once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and executions, the Colosseum has become a symbol of the fight against the death penalty.

Although the death penalty hasn't been used in the state since its reinstatement, it's good to know that it never will.

UPDATE: The Colosseum, bathed in light.

Looking for Raging Rudolph?

If you type "Raging Rudolph" into Google, this post comes up as the seventh result, so we've had a lot of visitors coming by looking for the Space Bass holiday adult classic. Welcome!

Space Bass has put several of his holiday films, including Raging Rudolph and The Reinfather, onto DVD and is offering them up on his web site. Looking for a last minute gift? Here ya go.

Go vote tomorrow!

I know it's hard to believe, but I'm not kidding. Deptford, Elk, Franklin, Hamilton, Cheserfield, Monroe, Toms River, Westwood, Hampton, Gread Meadows regional district, Milltown, and Voorhees are among those who have important issues on the ballot tomorrow; issues which will impact both our property taxes and the education of our children.

If you got a sample ballot in the mail, then there is a vote going on in your town. Whether it's about new construction, breaking up a district or other funding issues, you owe it to yourself to find out about it, make an informed decision and GO VOTE.

"Did you really just do that?"

I had to do some shopping yesterday, just a quick stop and a very small purchase. After ringing up the sale, the cashier put my items in a bag and asked for the money. I paid her and, saying I didn't need a bag, put my handful of stuff in my handbag. The cashier promptly crumpled up the fresh plastic bag and threw it out.

I stood there for a split second, then said incredulously,

"Did you really just do that? Did you really just throw away that perfectly good bag?"

She stammered, "Oh, um, did I?" and proceeded to make up some cockamamie story about how some customers won't take previously used bags. At this point, the cashier at the next register joined in and asked just as incredulously, "Seriously? Someone wouldn't take a used bag?" At this point, now committed to her hastily made-up defense, the first cashier stood firm that yes, some people won't take a used bag. The second cashier looked at her like she was plainly crazy.

Instead of pointing out that the bag had hardly been used, I just left. I know she was embarrassed and that pressing the point would only have made her feel worse.

Hopefully, she'll think twice next time about tossing away plastic bags. At least, in front of the customers, that is.

A happy hound and adopter

I've always thought that the most famous retired racing greyhound is Santa's Little Helper, the dog who was thrown out of the track and became a Simpson in the very first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. "He's a loser! He's pathetic!... He's a Simpson."

However, I think it's now safe to say that Bart Simpson is no longer the most famous retired racer adopter:

"Something magic happened in our kennels a few days ago. A very nice lady booked an appointment with us with a view to adopting a female Greyhound, to go with her male Jack Russell terrier Butch. We asked her all the usual questions including how long the dog would be left alone and she told us that she worked from home. Her husband and her lovely family and Butch were there. They finally found a little blue girl who got on great with Butch and it was love at first sight. One could see that they were a very kind family and their body language with the dog was marvellous. The family all agreed upon the little girl Sapphire and the lady completed the adoption form, signing her name, JK ROWLING. A very private but wonderful lady. We asked her if she would send us a picture for our website. She kindly agreed and here are some photos of a very happy Sapphire."

Welcome to the adopter's club, Ms. Rowling. I know Saphire is thrilled to have you and to be in her forever home.

Post-script to Santa

From Oldest's letter to Santa (Oldest is fully aware of the true status of Santa, but wrote a letter because Youngest was writing one):

"P.S. Why elves? Why not dwarves? They're skilled workers. Or robots?"

Love that kid. Time to let Oldest roll up a D&D character, methinks.

Somebody's birthday is coming up...

... and I think we all wish him a Happy one!





Happy 20th, Happy.