"Right, Wing Nut!" is taking a break - perhaps permanent, perhaps not.
Both the quantity and quality of my posting has diminshed lately. There's a few reasons for that:
- I have a new job (well, since last May) which sucks up much of what used to be "free time". Not necessarily complaining (yet), nice to get paid close to what my value is, but boy-oh-boy do they extract their pound of flesh.
- somewhat related is that Blogger is one of the few sites that is inaccessible from my office computer; which disallows the old "lunchtime post". It's always been a dangerous game, as I have been in the media business for some time (a tough place for a conservative), but now as a full time employee of one of the major "MSM" outlets, caution in this regard would probably make sense anyway.
-most importantly, my passion has dimished.
Really, am I adding anything new to the dialogue? Lately I have done more "reporting" than analysis; and I always felt that context and analysis is one of the most important functions of the blogosphere (one the MSM sorely lacks). There is plenty to write about, both locally and nationally, and yet I cannot rouse myself to do more of the important work; with multiple links backing up my "thesis statement", or debunking another's false hypothesis. These have been my best read, best linked, and most "meaningful" works (even occasionally drawing responses/rebukes from public officials -sweet!); and I honestly haven't done a good one in a long, long time.
Lately I don't feel I've made a dime's worth of difference (if I ever did!). If I am simply reprinting a news article or someone else's post with a few snarky comments of my own, well... what is the point?
Interestingly enough, my readership has steadily increased while my "inbound links" have steadily decreased. Maybe snark is my forte? If so, then that is a different project altogether...!
So I am taking some time off until I find myself again. I love to write (although I do not have the talent or wit of some), and I will begin posting again. I do not know if it will be here under the guise of The Jerseynut, or if it will be something completely different. I do have many stories I would love to tell (it's been "a wonderful life", for which I thank God) that are not politically related; perhaps I will shutter this old storefront up for good and hang a shingle in another far-off corner of the 'sphere, sitting in the digital equivalent of a rocking chair on the wooden deck of a rural cottage, spinnin' my yarns...or perhaps I will return here, with a more certain and strong voice.
Time will tell.
Special thanks to the 75+ folk who seem to stop by here on a daily basis; I appreciate and honor the respect you have shown me.
I think I'll simply post a picture on top of my final disquisition here, kind of like a test pattern that TV stations used to run when they "signed off" for the evenings. I'll switch it every now and again, just so one may know that I still live in some way, shape, or form. Maybe it'll go off one day and I will start here anew, like a small-town TV station returning to the air at 5AM on a dead morning.
And should I decide to re-appear elsewhere, I promise I will leave at least a hint of a forwarding address...
Thank you. Thank you all, very much.
Be well.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Corzine delivers a knockout blow to boxing in New Jersey !
What a grand list of accomplishments Jon Corzine has as Governor of New Jersey! First, he shreds the social contract by pushing the legalization of gay marriage, he spends us into bankruptcy with liberal pork projects, he endangers the safety of every man, woman, and child by turning the state into an illegal-immigrant "sanctuary zone", he attempts (and fails, hopefully, with the stunnung defeat of the bill's two biggest backers) to eliminate hunting and fishing while supporting the rights of bears over humans, and finally...drives out the nation's best boxing commissioner because he dared warn of flaws in the system:
When New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram fired boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard last week, it removed another experienced boxing administrator from a sport that sorely needs as much help as it can get.
.... Hazzard was forced out, leaving behind a situation that he believes will be hazardous to the health and safety of boxers and mix martial arts fighters who fight in New Jersey.
The attorney general's office would not comment on why Hazzard was fired. Hazzard was appointed to the newly created New Jersey State Athletic Control Board by Gov. Tom Kean in 1985 and had served at the pleasure of the other governors since. Apparently, Gov. Jon Corzine wasn't too pleased when Hazzard sent him a letter outlining his concerns that his staff had been gutted of experienced people and that had created a situation that was putting boxers in jeopardy.
"We had highly paid indviduals who make $90,000 doing nothing more than inputting data into computers," Hazzard said by telephone from his Edison, N.J., home this past week. "Some of the blunders that were being made are very serious and putting boxers in situations that could lead them to being seriously injured or killed."
Hazzard said he had his lawyer, James Binns, put those concerns in a letter that was sent to Gov. Corzine.
"I asked for some assistance in addressing these issues," Hazzard said. "Instead of addressing the issues that needed to be addressed, they brought me into the office, thanked me for my years of service and let me go."....
Hazzard, who was one of the best referees in the game before moving to the administrative side of boxing, wasn't going to win any contests for Mr. Congeniality. But the New Jersey boxing commission was one of the best in the world under his leadership....
Ah, there's the problem! Not that Corzine had his cronies making almost six-figures doing (a poor job of) data entry, but that New Jersey (gasp!) was the best at something. Why, that might make other states feel bad, and lead to hurt feelings!
So was Corzine's motive vengence, or liberal stupidity? Does it matter? Once again, under his leadership, New Jersey continues to sink into national irrelevance, while becoming a national joke...
When New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram fired boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard last week, it removed another experienced boxing administrator from a sport that sorely needs as much help as it can get.
.... Hazzard was forced out, leaving behind a situation that he believes will be hazardous to the health and safety of boxers and mix martial arts fighters who fight in New Jersey.
The attorney general's office would not comment on why Hazzard was fired. Hazzard was appointed to the newly created New Jersey State Athletic Control Board by Gov. Tom Kean in 1985 and had served at the pleasure of the other governors since. Apparently, Gov. Jon Corzine wasn't too pleased when Hazzard sent him a letter outlining his concerns that his staff had been gutted of experienced people and that had created a situation that was putting boxers in jeopardy.
"We had highly paid indviduals who make $90,000 doing nothing more than inputting data into computers," Hazzard said by telephone from his Edison, N.J., home this past week. "Some of the blunders that were being made are very serious and putting boxers in situations that could lead them to being seriously injured or killed."
Hazzard said he had his lawyer, James Binns, put those concerns in a letter that was sent to Gov. Corzine.
"I asked for some assistance in addressing these issues," Hazzard said. "Instead of addressing the issues that needed to be addressed, they brought me into the office, thanked me for my years of service and let me go."....
Hazzard, who was one of the best referees in the game before moving to the administrative side of boxing, wasn't going to win any contests for Mr. Congeniality. But the New Jersey boxing commission was one of the best in the world under his leadership....
Ah, there's the problem! Not that Corzine had his cronies making almost six-figures doing (a poor job of) data entry, but that New Jersey (gasp!) was the best at something. Why, that might make other states feel bad, and lead to hurt feelings!
So was Corzine's motive vengence, or liberal stupidity? Does it matter? Once again, under his leadership, New Jersey continues to sink into national irrelevance, while becoming a national joke...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Dissection
The serial tanking of virtually each and every anti-war/anti-American movie that Hollywood has vomited out has been the subject of many a blogosphere post over the last week or so, but I found the ideas posited by Roger Simon to be the most disturbing. He knows Hollywood - he lives there, works there, socializes there - and his analysis of the industry's elite is just...revolting. Literally. Read his post, and one can literally visualize our so-called"legends" melting, melting into foul goo, with a writhing not unlike the last moments of the Wicked Witch of the West:
....And there is another benefit. (Here is where I am really going to make enemies.) Making movies like these or making extreme liberal public pronouncements make you seem like a good guy to yourself, when in your private life you are a miserable, self-serving bastard.
In order to understand how important that is you must never forget that Hollywood is a brutal place. It is just as vicious and competitive as dramatized in TV shows like Entourage, only nowhere near as entertaining. Only the most ambitious and determined survive and, to do that, the chances are you will not come out of the process a nice person. You will step on the backs of your colleagues, mistreat your staff and have generally erratic personal relationships based much more on status and connections than love or genuine affection.
Of course I am overstating to make a point, but I have noticed, in the years I have worked in Hollywood, that, with rare exceptions, the more successful people are, the more wretched they are to others. And those with the most obvious public liberal credentials are often the ones who are the most despicable in their private behavior...
Much of this public liberalism of the excessive knee-jerk variety stems from a form of self-loathing. These same people do not want to be bastards – life just put them in that position. But, at the same time, they do not want anyone to take away what they have – the vast acclaim and fortune – even if deep down they wonder if they are worthy. What to do? What to do?
The solution is to create another self, a kind of mini-me, who goes out and loudly proclaims what a fine liberal humanistic person he or she is- a public projection to obfuscate the private self. Sometimes this results in actual good works, but usually it is basically blather (see Streisand’s website) or dopey showing off like Sean Penn putting in an appearance with Hugo Chavez.
Other times, distorted work emerges like the current group of films no one wants to see.
There is something about this that rings so true (and I do not doubt that Roger will lose some friends over this post) that even the thought of going to another movie makes my stomach churn.
F*ck 'em all. I'm gonna stay home and watch hockey instead...
....And there is another benefit. (Here is where I am really going to make enemies.) Making movies like these or making extreme liberal public pronouncements make you seem like a good guy to yourself, when in your private life you are a miserable, self-serving bastard.
In order to understand how important that is you must never forget that Hollywood is a brutal place. It is just as vicious and competitive as dramatized in TV shows like Entourage, only nowhere near as entertaining. Only the most ambitious and determined survive and, to do that, the chances are you will not come out of the process a nice person. You will step on the backs of your colleagues, mistreat your staff and have generally erratic personal relationships based much more on status and connections than love or genuine affection.
Of course I am overstating to make a point, but I have noticed, in the years I have worked in Hollywood, that, with rare exceptions, the more successful people are, the more wretched they are to others. And those with the most obvious public liberal credentials are often the ones who are the most despicable in their private behavior...
Much of this public liberalism of the excessive knee-jerk variety stems from a form of self-loathing. These same people do not want to be bastards – life just put them in that position. But, at the same time, they do not want anyone to take away what they have – the vast acclaim and fortune – even if deep down they wonder if they are worthy. What to do? What to do?
The solution is to create another self, a kind of mini-me, who goes out and loudly proclaims what a fine liberal humanistic person he or she is- a public projection to obfuscate the private self. Sometimes this results in actual good works, but usually it is basically blather (see Streisand’s website) or dopey showing off like Sean Penn putting in an appearance with Hugo Chavez.
Other times, distorted work emerges like the current group of films no one wants to see.
There is something about this that rings so true (and I do not doubt that Roger will lose some friends over this post) that even the thought of going to another movie makes my stomach churn.
F*ck 'em all. I'm gonna stay home and watch hockey instead...
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Veteran's Day 2007
Praise and honor unto all those whom have put their lives on the line answering our nation's call; I'll let others who articulte better than I have the last word(s):
How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ~Maya Angelou
In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain, Notebook, 1935
"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." ~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC
“The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.” –Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing is worth a war, is worse.” –John Stuart Mill
“No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.” –Woodrow Wilson
Now sing it with me:
And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood
How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ~Maya Angelou
In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain, Notebook, 1935
"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." ~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC
“The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.” –Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing is worth a war, is worse.” –John Stuart Mill
“No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.” –Woodrow Wilson
Now sing it with me:
And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Lest We Forget...
....may I bring up a "grim milestone", to borrow a MSM phrase?
In Paris, on Nov. 7, 1938, a 17-year-old boy, Herschel Grynszpan, distraught over the treatment of his German Jewish parents in Poland, shot and killed the German minor official Herr von Rath. That was the excuse for Kristallnacht two days later.
Thousands of people participated in this horrendous carnage, an organized massacre dictated by Berlin. Not just hoodlums, but ordinary middle-class men and women, neighbors, former friends, smashed windows, looted Jewish shops, burned synagogues, tortured and beat senseless thousands of Jews and the rest sent to concentration camps. In my Vienna, the bloodshed was even greater; hundreds of Jews committed suicide. There it happened on Nov. 9. Austrians had one great regret, that so much needless damage was inflicted on property.
Crystal Night was the beginning of the Holocaust. It sowed the seeds for the Second World War. Had Hitler been stopped at that time, the war and genocide might have been avoided. All these valuable people, Jews who had contributed so much to the world in science, art, music, mores and medicine, could have continued giving their invaluable gifts to mankind.
Europe, it appears has not forgotten - instead, it appears hell-bent on creating a sequel. Check out the fun the Brits are having:
...According to the police, Jews are four times more likely to be attacked because of their religion than are Muslims.
Every synagogue service and Jewish communal event now requires guards on the lookout for violence from both neo-Nazis and Muslim extremists. Orthodox Jews have become particular targets; some have begun wearing baseball caps instead of skullcaps and concealing their Star of David jewelry.
Anti-Semitism is rife within Britain’s Muslim community. Islamic bookshops sell copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the notorious czarist forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion; as an undercover TV documentary revealed in January, imams routinely preach anti-Jewish sermons.
Opinion polls show that nearly two-fifths of Britain’s Muslims believe that the Jewish community in Britain is a legitimate target “as part of the ongoing struggle for justice in the Middle East”; that more than half believe that British Jews have “too much influence over the direction of UK foreign policy”; and that no fewer than 46 percent think that the Jewish community is “in league with Freemasons to control the media and politics.”
But anti-Semitism has also become respectable in mainstream British society. “Anti-Jewish themes and remarks are gaining acceptability in some quarters in public and private discourse in Britain and there is a danger that this trend will become more and more mainstream,” reported a Parliamentary inquiry last year. “It is this phenomenon that has contributed to an atmosphere where Jews have become more anxious and more vulnerable to abuse and attack than at any other time for a generation or longer.”
Of course, like in 1939, the Jews can be blamed for bringing it all on themselves.
Does it matter? When we say "never again", we don't mean it. We just say it, and hope it can be worked out via an international peace conference. If not -and the worst happens - we can always protest to the UN as a last resort....
In Paris, on Nov. 7, 1938, a 17-year-old boy, Herschel Grynszpan, distraught over the treatment of his German Jewish parents in Poland, shot and killed the German minor official Herr von Rath. That was the excuse for Kristallnacht two days later.
Thousands of people participated in this horrendous carnage, an organized massacre dictated by Berlin. Not just hoodlums, but ordinary middle-class men and women, neighbors, former friends, smashed windows, looted Jewish shops, burned synagogues, tortured and beat senseless thousands of Jews and the rest sent to concentration camps. In my Vienna, the bloodshed was even greater; hundreds of Jews committed suicide. There it happened on Nov. 9. Austrians had one great regret, that so much needless damage was inflicted on property.
Crystal Night was the beginning of the Holocaust. It sowed the seeds for the Second World War. Had Hitler been stopped at that time, the war and genocide might have been avoided. All these valuable people, Jews who had contributed so much to the world in science, art, music, mores and medicine, could have continued giving their invaluable gifts to mankind.
Europe, it appears has not forgotten - instead, it appears hell-bent on creating a sequel. Check out the fun the Brits are having:
...According to the police, Jews are four times more likely to be attacked because of their religion than are Muslims.
Every synagogue service and Jewish communal event now requires guards on the lookout for violence from both neo-Nazis and Muslim extremists. Orthodox Jews have become particular targets; some have begun wearing baseball caps instead of skullcaps and concealing their Star of David jewelry.
Anti-Semitism is rife within Britain’s Muslim community. Islamic bookshops sell copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the notorious czarist forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion; as an undercover TV documentary revealed in January, imams routinely preach anti-Jewish sermons.
Opinion polls show that nearly two-fifths of Britain’s Muslims believe that the Jewish community in Britain is a legitimate target “as part of the ongoing struggle for justice in the Middle East”; that more than half believe that British Jews have “too much influence over the direction of UK foreign policy”; and that no fewer than 46 percent think that the Jewish community is “in league with Freemasons to control the media and politics.”
But anti-Semitism has also become respectable in mainstream British society. “Anti-Jewish themes and remarks are gaining acceptability in some quarters in public and private discourse in Britain and there is a danger that this trend will become more and more mainstream,” reported a Parliamentary inquiry last year. “It is this phenomenon that has contributed to an atmosphere where Jews have become more anxious and more vulnerable to abuse and attack than at any other time for a generation or longer.”
Of course, like in 1939, the Jews can be blamed for bringing it all on themselves.
Does it matter? When we say "never again", we don't mean it. We just say it, and hope it can be worked out via an international peace conference. If not -and the worst happens - we can always protest to the UN as a last resort....
Thursday, November 08, 2007
New Jersey: Not So Deep Blue?
The signs are there:
Republicans swept the hard-fought races in the 12th Legislative District, where Democratic state Sen. Ellen Karcher conceded to GOP Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck Tuesday night. Beck was outspent almost 6 to 1 by Democrats; the state party poured millions of dollars into the race.
That's bad news for the Democrats, for sure, when folks are ignoring their propoganda and voting with their gut.
Toms River weighs in:
Come January, Republicans will occupy the Toms River mayoral seat and all seven council seats, after they swept the general election Tuesday, according to unofficial results released by the Ocean County Clerk's Office.
The Asbury Park Press makes the point:
It was a sweet night for Republicans in Monmouth and Ocean counties Tuesday.
Republicans won all 18 available seats in the Legislature.
Not to bad for Middlesex, either:
SAYREVILLE — Sayreville Republicans ran away with Tuesday's election, which found incumbent Kennedy O'Brien re-elected to the mayoral post for a third term and the party picking up two, three-year Borough Council seats.
And the Dems were thwarted in Old Bridge as they tried to steal one:
Democrats in Old Bridge have conceded the final council seat they had been disputing into the late hours of Tuesday's elections. The last of three contested at-large township council posts will go to Republican Brian J. Cahill..
And one last gloat about the defeat of Corzine's pet stem-cell initiative:
In rejecting borrowing $450 million to fund stem cell research, New Jersey voters dealt a blow to Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine and supporters who touted the funding as key to finding cures and boosting the state economy.
Corzine spent $200,000 to help run ads supporting the measure that would have funded 10 years of research on embryonic and adult stem cells and he campaigned heavily for it, but 53 percent of voters rejected the spending.
There's a breeze a blowin' thru Jersey, folks...with God's blessing it will only pick up strength.
More here and here....and for a less enthusiastic analysis (but perhaps more realistic?), pull over at the Parkway Rest Stop...
Republicans swept the hard-fought races in the 12th Legislative District, where Democratic state Sen. Ellen Karcher conceded to GOP Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck Tuesday night. Beck was outspent almost 6 to 1 by Democrats; the state party poured millions of dollars into the race.
That's bad news for the Democrats, for sure, when folks are ignoring their propoganda and voting with their gut.
Toms River weighs in:
Come January, Republicans will occupy the Toms River mayoral seat and all seven council seats, after they swept the general election Tuesday, according to unofficial results released by the Ocean County Clerk's Office.
The Asbury Park Press makes the point:
It was a sweet night for Republicans in Monmouth and Ocean counties Tuesday.
Republicans won all 18 available seats in the Legislature.
Not to bad for Middlesex, either:
SAYREVILLE — Sayreville Republicans ran away with Tuesday's election, which found incumbent Kennedy O'Brien re-elected to the mayoral post for a third term and the party picking up two, three-year Borough Council seats.
And the Dems were thwarted in Old Bridge as they tried to steal one:
Democrats in Old Bridge have conceded the final council seat they had been disputing into the late hours of Tuesday's elections. The last of three contested at-large township council posts will go to Republican Brian J. Cahill..
And one last gloat about the defeat of Corzine's pet stem-cell initiative:
In rejecting borrowing $450 million to fund stem cell research, New Jersey voters dealt a blow to Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine and supporters who touted the funding as key to finding cures and boosting the state economy.
Corzine spent $200,000 to help run ads supporting the measure that would have funded 10 years of research on embryonic and adult stem cells and he campaigned heavily for it, but 53 percent of voters rejected the spending.
There's a breeze a blowin' thru Jersey, folks...with God's blessing it will only pick up strength.
More here and here....and for a less enthusiastic analysis (but perhaps more realistic?), pull over at the Parkway Rest Stop...
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Promising Election Results in New Jersey ?
As a Republican, every election night in New Jersey is a Stephen King novel come to life, with electoral horrors to boggle the mind and sear the soul.
Last night's results are all yet to be fully tallied, but here's what I like best so far - that at least two of those insane ballot "propositions" look likely to go down. And it's a repudiation of the idiocy of Jon Corzine by the state's voters. To wit:
Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) voted Tuesday at a Hoboken firehouse, and took time to give his agendas a last-minute push.
New Jersey voters are heading to the polls to elect 120 lawmakers to the state Senate and Assembly. They are also taking up the issue of whether the state should borrow millions for open space preservation and stem cell research.
"We can be on the very cutting edge on helping human beings, families, fighting degenerative diseases," Corzine said of the stem cell measure....
Let's see how the governor did with his attempt to use half a billion dollars of New Jersey taxpayer dollars in order to poke a stick in George Bush's eye:
Question 2 - Stem Cell Research -- 4,134 of 6,289 precincts reporting (66%)
No 450,099 - 54%
Yes 381,271 - 46%
And what about his scam to use a tax hike in order to set up...another tax hike? Hmmm, not so well, Guvvie :
Question 1 - Dedicated Use of Taxes -- 4,134 of 6,289 precincts reporting (66%)
No 438,738 - 54%
Yes 377,045 - 46%
And can I be any prouder of my home district? We re-elected one of the best Republican lawmakers in the state with a boffo margin (and kept good folks in the Assembly as well):
State Senate - District 13 -- 109 of 156 precincts reporting (70%)
Joe Kyrillos GOP 18,527 - 63%
Leonard Inzerillo Dem 11,049 - 37%
State Assembly - District 13 -- 109 of 156 precincts reporting (70%)
Samuel Thompson GOP 16,254 - 29%
Amy Handlin GOP 16,712 -29%
Patricia Walsh Dem 12,355 - 22%
Bob Brown Dem 11,422 - 20%
At this juncture, it appears as if the Democrats have not picked up any additional seats locally this year - and yes, that's a win at this point in time in New Jersey. You need to stop the wave before you can turn it back...and with the key '08 elections rushing down upon us, this is as good a time as any to make a stand.
Finally - looks like Corzine's "idiot" statute - or "Voting Rights", to use Orwellian Newspeak - has passed:
Question 4 - Voting Rights -- 4,149 of 6,289 precincts reporting (66%)
Yes 479,368 - 59%
No 328,526 - 41%
Too bad -guess he still gets to vote....
Last night's results are all yet to be fully tallied, but here's what I like best so far - that at least two of those insane ballot "propositions" look likely to go down. And it's a repudiation of the idiocy of Jon Corzine by the state's voters. To wit:
Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) voted Tuesday at a Hoboken firehouse, and took time to give his agendas a last-minute push.
New Jersey voters are heading to the polls to elect 120 lawmakers to the state Senate and Assembly. They are also taking up the issue of whether the state should borrow millions for open space preservation and stem cell research.
"We can be on the very cutting edge on helping human beings, families, fighting degenerative diseases," Corzine said of the stem cell measure....
Let's see how the governor did with his attempt to use half a billion dollars of New Jersey taxpayer dollars in order to poke a stick in George Bush's eye:
Question 2 - Stem Cell Research -- 4,134 of 6,289 precincts reporting (66%)
No 450,099 - 54%
Yes 381,271 - 46%
And what about his scam to use a tax hike in order to set up...another tax hike? Hmmm, not so well, Guvvie :
Question 1 - Dedicated Use of Taxes -- 4,134 of 6,289 precincts reporting (66%)
No 438,738 - 54%
Yes 377,045 - 46%
And can I be any prouder of my home district? We re-elected one of the best Republican lawmakers in the state with a boffo margin (and kept good folks in the Assembly as well):
State Senate - District 13 -- 109 of 156 precincts reporting (70%)
Joe Kyrillos GOP 18,527 - 63%
Leonard Inzerillo Dem 11,049 - 37%
State Assembly - District 13 -- 109 of 156 precincts reporting (70%)
Samuel Thompson GOP 16,254 - 29%
Amy Handlin GOP 16,712 -29%
Patricia Walsh Dem 12,355 - 22%
Bob Brown Dem 11,422 - 20%
At this juncture, it appears as if the Democrats have not picked up any additional seats locally this year - and yes, that's a win at this point in time in New Jersey. You need to stop the wave before you can turn it back...and with the key '08 elections rushing down upon us, this is as good a time as any to make a stand.
Finally - looks like Corzine's "idiot" statute - or "Voting Rights", to use Orwellian Newspeak - has passed:
Question 4 - Voting Rights -- 4,149 of 6,289 precincts reporting (66%)
Yes 479,368 - 59%
No 328,526 - 41%
Too bad -guess he still gets to vote....
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Go out and VOTE, Dagnabit!
Yeah, I know it is raining outside and there are no "major" seats up, but it is in these off-year elections with less than 40% voter turnout that one can make their voice truly heard for a change.
As for myself, I am going to vote "no" on all those stupid ballot initiatives; each one is a way to drain more dollars from the taxpayer's pocket (yes, even the sales tax/property tax initiative is a scam; just allows the Legislature to raise taxes elsewhere). As far as "Question 4" - changing the wording of "idiot or insane person" in the voting rights clause - well...I'd like to keep them in. May be able to be used in the future to keep certain far-lefties away from the booth....!
And locally, I gues I'll be voting for unaffiliated Matthew Sulikowski for Mayor of Old Bridge. Met him (and all the mayoral candidates) at the bus stop; while the mainstream party candidates seemed bored while going through the motions of back slapping, Mr. Sulikowski came off as...completely nuts.
Makes him perfectly qualified to hold office in this state, as far as I am concerned.
Have fun!
As for myself, I am going to vote "no" on all those stupid ballot initiatives; each one is a way to drain more dollars from the taxpayer's pocket (yes, even the sales tax/property tax initiative is a scam; just allows the Legislature to raise taxes elsewhere). As far as "Question 4" - changing the wording of "idiot or insane person" in the voting rights clause - well...I'd like to keep them in. May be able to be used in the future to keep certain far-lefties away from the booth....!
And locally, I gues I'll be voting for unaffiliated Matthew Sulikowski for Mayor of Old Bridge. Met him (and all the mayoral candidates) at the bus stop; while the mainstream party candidates seemed bored while going through the motions of back slapping, Mr. Sulikowski came off as...completely nuts.
Makes him perfectly qualified to hold office in this state, as far as I am concerned.
Have fun!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Hollywood stumbles; Robert Redford blames "unfortunate" choices of Americans...
In today's New York Post, Kyle Smith takes aim at Hollywood's string of anti-war, anti-American box office failures:
This fall Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron are going belly up at the box office after gobbling up too much reality about the Iraq War.
"Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah" are already dead in the water, while surveys show that "Lions for Lambs," which opens Friday, is arousing about the same level of interest as you'd expect from "Charles in Charge: The Imax Experience." Meryl Streep stars in two of these movies, in an act of uncontrolled cinematic gorging unseen since "Super Size Me." .
He's got a great review of "Rendition" as well:
Compare it [The Deer Hunter] to "Rendition," which contains all the surprise and excitement of a sixth-grade filmstrip from an Iranian school ("Straight Talk About the Great Satan and You").
A few minutes into the movie, Reese Witherspoon starts asking people, "Where's my husband?" Forty-five minutes later, she's demanding, "Where's my HUSBAND?" An hour after that, she's screaming, "WHEEERE'S MY HUSBAAAAND?"
I used to think that in Hollywood, The Great God of Profits would undoubtably persevere; and overcome all this worthless self-indulgent tripe being vomited out by its perpetually clueless thespian population.
But alas, even as they dangle on the precipice, they see not the great chasm yawning beneath them...watch Robert Redford, in an interview in today's Daily News, question the American public for refusing to take their moral lead from his and his crony's insipid anti-war movies:
"Lions for Lambs" is a movie that raises a lot of issues without offering easy answers. What questions do you hope audiences will be asking when they come out of the theater?
It's absolutely an attempt to provoke, and the issues are not new. But they're used as food for thought to look at the broader, deeper picture of what's happened to us in the past six years. What's happened to the media, to politics, to education? My hope is that people come out of the film thinking about what we've done and what we haven't done about those things.
It's been said that if Hollywood ignores the war, it's got its head in the sand. But none of the movies that deal with Iraq and Afghanistan so far have been successful with moviegoers. Why is that?
If that's true, it would be unfortunate, and it makes its own statement about where the country is. But that speaks to what this film is trying to get us to look at, questions like: Where are we? Are we awake to what's going on at different levels of our society? But if it's a fact that those films haven't been successful, it will make it more difficult to make more of [that kind of] film.
Can any work of art or entertainment awaken people's consciences today?
Some part of me doubts it....
There is no doubt that Redford throws aroud these ugly remarks as his own way to insult the intelligence of the "unenlightened" American people, and solidify his position as an elite...we who know better wear his derision as a mark of honor...
This fall Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron are going belly up at the box office after gobbling up too much reality about the Iraq War.
"Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah" are already dead in the water, while surveys show that "Lions for Lambs," which opens Friday, is arousing about the same level of interest as you'd expect from "Charles in Charge: The Imax Experience." Meryl Streep stars in two of these movies, in an act of uncontrolled cinematic gorging unseen since "Super Size Me." .
He's got a great review of "Rendition" as well:
Compare it [The Deer Hunter] to "Rendition," which contains all the surprise and excitement of a sixth-grade filmstrip from an Iranian school ("Straight Talk About the Great Satan and You").
A few minutes into the movie, Reese Witherspoon starts asking people, "Where's my husband?" Forty-five minutes later, she's demanding, "Where's my HUSBAND?" An hour after that, she's screaming, "WHEEERE'S MY HUSBAAAAND?"
I used to think that in Hollywood, The Great God of Profits would undoubtably persevere; and overcome all this worthless self-indulgent tripe being vomited out by its perpetually clueless thespian population.
But alas, even as they dangle on the precipice, they see not the great chasm yawning beneath them...watch Robert Redford, in an interview in today's Daily News, question the American public for refusing to take their moral lead from his and his crony's insipid anti-war movies:
"Lions for Lambs" is a movie that raises a lot of issues without offering easy answers. What questions do you hope audiences will be asking when they come out of the theater?
It's absolutely an attempt to provoke, and the issues are not new. But they're used as food for thought to look at the broader, deeper picture of what's happened to us in the past six years. What's happened to the media, to politics, to education? My hope is that people come out of the film thinking about what we've done and what we haven't done about those things.
It's been said that if Hollywood ignores the war, it's got its head in the sand. But none of the movies that deal with Iraq and Afghanistan so far have been successful with moviegoers. Why is that?
If that's true, it would be unfortunate, and it makes its own statement about where the country is. But that speaks to what this film is trying to get us to look at, questions like: Where are we? Are we awake to what's going on at different levels of our society? But if it's a fact that those films haven't been successful, it will make it more difficult to make more of [that kind of] film.
Can any work of art or entertainment awaken people's consciences today?
Some part of me doubts it....
There is no doubt that Redford throws aroud these ugly remarks as his own way to insult the intelligence of the "unenlightened" American people, and solidify his position as an elite...we who know better wear his derision as a mark of honor...