As if having a police force that entered renters’ homes at all hours of the night without a warrant or probable cause wasn’t enough, my roommate picked up on this news story yesterday: Pregnant Policewoman’s Request for Light Duty Denied by New Jersey Township Officials. Granted, due to the increased scrutiny from a national media, this story has come to a somewhat amicable resolution, but how much more bullshit needs to happen in Ocean Township before there is real change in this town?!

Stories abound at Monmouth University about the way that the Ocean Township Police Department violates the civil rights of those students who live off-campus (yes, including the vast majority of student renters who are NOT blights on the local community). The local papers run near-weekly stories about major drug busts in Ocean Township. A few years ago the Mayor of Ocean Township was federally indicted for bribing local business owners (and, oddly enough, shortly after the Mayor was indicted the top Code Enforcement official and Chief of Police both retired…shady anyone?). Local high school kids are rounded up by the dozen and arrested for underage drinking (which I’m not opposed to - but arresting? Come on…).

Just search Ocean Township on this blog and you’ll find years and years worth of ridiculous stories coming out of this town. And now we can add this to the bunch - not immediately accommodating a decorated, pregnant police officer. Shameful. Downright shameful.

In the mean time, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!

Inspired by a suggestion from a reader on my other blog to read the NJ Real Estate Report (linked on our sidebar now), I came across a post that compared renting a home to owning a home. In truth, the article was linked from another source, but it gave some interesting points of view on the classic owning vs. renting debate. For my part, after I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad series I began thinking about money in a different way. What I like about the article linked on the NJ Real Estate Report is that it talks about some of the same principles (in a roundabout type of way) that Rich Dad, Poor Dad talks about. For example…

The NJ Real Estate Report post lists 5 different reasons why you should rent instead of own. One of these reasons is because it’s cheaper. The post says:

Cheaper. When you consider the cost of being a homeowner — mortgage payments, association dues, property insurance, property taxes, repairs, maintenance and upgrades to protect your home’s value — most of the time, renting will be cheaper.

This is true. The financial planners who subscribe to the theory that a home is one’s biggest asset are at odds with these realities. Assets should appreciate in value (not in this market!) and they really shouldn’t cost you too much money. Look at the costs above from a New Jersey perspective: mortgage payments are between $1200 and $1500 depending on the size of your mortgage and the rates; I’ve seen association dues range from $175 per month to $350 per month; property taxes are out of control in New Jersey and for the places that I’ve been looking at, they are around $4000 per year; repairs, maintenance, and upgrades - let’s place a conservative $200 per month into this pot. All in all, you could wind up spending $2400 per month on your house alone! That doesn’t take into account utility bills, food, gas, clothing, etc.

Now, as the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series taught me, let’s say you spend $1000 per month on rent. That leaves about $1400 open each month. If you were to sock that $1400 away in a the stock market, a high-yield savings account, even bonds - you’d get a higher annual return than your house would appreciate. This ridiculous current housing bubble aside, houses appreciate between 3% and 7% per year depending on market factors. Long-term returns from the stock market show double-digit gains for investors.

Makes you think - is it really worth losing money to own a house?

The Asbury Park Press ran a story this morning that talked about how vendors located on Asbury Park’s Cookman Avenue were gearing up for what they believe will be a very successful summer season. From the article:

For one thing, some new stores are coming as promised to his already active 600 block. Asbury Bark, the dog boutique, moved over from Bangs Avenue, and clothing shop Organic Style and a new bookstore are set to open in May.

For another, he said store and restaurant owners have banded together to create events such as concerts.

I used to work on the office at the old Harry’s Roadhouse located on the 600 block of Cookman Avenue. We had it all going on at that place including a special Christmas concert by Asbury Park’s own Bruce Springsteen! But our ownership was shoddy and didn’t like to pay the bills so we eventually shut down. I heard that there are new owners in that place and that there is a new wind blowing through Cookman Avenue. This area had a mini-resurgence some 5 years ago (around the time I was working in the area) and while most of the shops have remained open and in business over the last few years, there was always something odd about Cookman. That weird “oddness” is what made people stop shopping there. I really can’t put my finger on it, but it always felt more like people were walking around in a movie than on a city street shopping.

This concert series sounds interesting, though. I’ll be looking out for more information on these events!

USA Today is reporting that new home sales have dropped - again - to their lowest point in some sixteen and a half years. Well…duh. Is anyone surprised by this news? We have a horrible economy and that certainly isn’t helping, but has anyone actually looked at the price of a new home these days? It’s outrageous! That is, of course, unless you want to live in the Ozarks somewhere or unless you have Mommy and Daddy money paying for the home.

Speaking for young adults in New Jersey, it is almost virtually impossible to buy any home (new or used) that is on the market. Property taxes, car insurance, student loans, groceries, gas, cell phone service, cable service - everything costs way too much money per month for anyone to buy a home. For a young, single guy like me bringing in a one-person income - forget about it! But I even know married couples who are having a hard time putting together enough money to buy a home in a place where they actually want to live in this state.

Times are tough and it sucks.

In the mean time, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!

While looking around FOXNews.com I noticed a story about a high school student arguing that his “American Government” textbook is biased. The article cites some parts of the textbook that claim global warming is still being studied and that the Supreme Court decision on striking down the Texas law regarding gay sex harmed the fragility of the federal system.

What bothers me is that this story is nothing more than a high school student with too much time on his hands - and a considerable liberal bend - trying to take the low road on each of these debates. The low road, as anyone who keeps an eye on political discourse can tell you, is to immediately claim that the other side’s argument is wrong and presents an inherent bias. It’s sad, really.

But I don’t blame the kid. In fact, I admire his will to put himself out there in the public eye. I do, however, blame the horrible education system in New Jersey that apparently has failed this child. A citation from the article linked above:

Another part of the book that the report criticizes deals with a Supreme Court decision overturning a Texas law banning sexual contact between people of the same sex.

The authors wrote that the Supreme Court decision had a “benefit” and a “cost.” The benefit, it said, was to strike down a rarely enforced law that could probably not be passed today, while the cost was to “create the possibility that the court, and not Congress or state legislatures, might decide whether same-sex marriages were legal.”

Derek Araujo, the report’s author, said that’s a matter of opinion and that gay-rights activists, for example, see it differently. “The major problem with this is they describe the costs and benefits of the system in a very political way,” he said.

No, you morons, this is not a matter of opinion. Stop blurring the fucking issue that the textbook is talking about, damn it. The “political” part of this debate is not looking at the issue in terms of American Government (which is the purpose of the class and textbook in question). American Government can ONLY be taught from the facts, not from a biased point of view. When it IS taught from a biased view or to an audience/class that has inherent biases with no preparation for a clean discussion, you get stupid stories like this one.

From the standpoint of American Government, the issue here is the Supreme Court making a decision about an issue that is not specifically cited in the Constitution. A teacher (and a textbook) MUST make that connection. Now, if you want to ignite some debate with the students you can always ask for their opinions on the issues themselves (in this case, gay marriage). That will probably bring a lively discussion. But the authors of this textbook (James Wilson and John Dilulio) are correct - the root issue here is the Supreme Court deciding whether or not gay marriage is legal. Does anyone read the Constitution any more besides Ron Paul?! This type of issue is to be decided by the states, period.

Now, if one wants to make an argument that certain freedoms are being restricted and thus the Supreme Court needs to step in, then I can buy that argument if it’s made well. But the issue at hand here and as discussed in this textbook is one that is not inherently political. It’s a basic, fundamental discussion of how the American federal, judicial, and legislative system work together. Get over it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT use this textbook in my class on American Government that I taught last semester. I did, however, use a previous version of this text as a student at my ultra-liberal Graduate School. Also, I was sent an updated copy of this text by the publisher when I began teaching my course and I made the decision last semester to switch to the college version of the textbook in question.

Microsoft is hoping to duplicate the rabid success of Nintendo’s Wii by re-creating the Wii Remote for use with XBox 360. For all of the younger gamers out there, this is exactly what Microsoft did when it took over Netscape as the top internet browser in the late 1990’s and this is how Microsoft began to dominate the personal computer market.

Granted, I do not think this will be successful because all of the bad things about Microsoft and Windows (poor customer support, extremely high prices for a mediocre product, and unexplained stall-outs on the hardware) are present on the XBox 360 and gamers are famously fickle about such issues. However, this is pretty pathetic. The gaming division at Microsoft lumped all of its hopes in bigger and better, but much like their personal computing division, they didn’t ask the consumer what they wanted. The same problem happened with Sony and the miserable sales performance of PlayStation 3.

Nintendo created a new gaming experience at a reasonable cost with a decent presentation and they’re decimating the competition. Will high-definition gaming take over the market at some point? Absolutely. But that time is not now nor is it in the near future. Gamers wanted something new that didn’t cost them a sizable portion of their paychecks and Nintendo delivered. No fake XBox 360 wand will be able to replace that fact.

But it’ll be fun to watch Microsoft try…

Found this e-mail from about two years ago buried in my “saved e-mails” folder. I got a kick out of reading it again - I hope you do, too!

Gore and the Clintons are flying on Air Force One. Bill looks at Al, chuckles and says, “You know, I could throw a $10,000 bill out the window right now and make one person very happy.”

Al shrugs his stiff shoulders and says, “Well, I could throw ten $1,000 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy”.

Hillary tosses her perfectly sprayed hair and says, “Of course, then, I could throw one-hundred $100 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy.”

Chelsea rolls her eyes, looks at all of them and says, “I could throw all of you out the window and make the whole country happy.”

Ha ha ha! Go Chelsea!

Just thought I’d add a comment that passed through my head this morning as I was driving to work. Do you ever find yourself in the left lane (the fast lane) and you’re moving along at a regular pace until you come to a car that is going about ten miles below the limit?

Happens all of the time in New Jersey (especially on I-195). Well, I understand that some people don’t drive as fast as others, but what always confuses me is that sometimes you get the person in front of you to switch into the slower, right lane and then they speed up! I generally coast along with my cruise control so I know that I don’t slow down - what gives?

When you are essentially bumped out of the fast lane and forced to switch into the slow lane, why the hell would you speed up in the slow lane?! Geez, if you had been going that fast to begin with you wouldn’t have been bumped into the slower lane!

New Jersey.

Anyone who lives in New Jersey knows that there are two kinds of police officers. The first (and more prevalent) type of officer is the man or woman who is out to do some good for his or her community. These are the folks who always wanted to be police officers and who always wanted to serve the greater good. The second (and more talked about) type of officer is the complete asshole. You know this guy - this is the one who pulled you over and got in your face just because he felt like it. This is the police officer who broke up your college party, but also punched three people in the face while doing so. This is the guy who stops you on the boardwalk and slams you down on the ground because there’s nothing you can do about. This is the prick with the snide comments while he’s writing you a ticket or standing outside of your car.

And this is the type of police officer that just cost Seaside Park $1,271,000. Wait - you think that’s bad? Here’s a clip from the linked article:

The borough’s insurance carrier, the Ocean County Joint Insurance Fund, has previously settled five excessive force claims for more than $1.5 million over the past 2 1/2 years. A total of 14 excessive force lawsuits were filed against the police department over the past three years.

Overly aggressive police officers have cost Seaside Park $2.8 million. I don’t know about you, but if I was the Mayor or the Chief of Police, I’d be going ape shit at my officers. In fact, I’d be on a firing spree. I don’t think you’ll find that in Seaside Park, though. If you read the article, it goes on to say:

The settlements have included no admission of wrongdoing by Seaside Park or its police department. The officers involved, and their attorneys, have strongly denied using excessive force in any of the cases. No officer has ever been disciplined for any action related to the cases.

So not only have these police officers cost Seaside Park almost $3 million in insurance expenses, but they’re not admitting that they’re wrong. Of course they are admitting wrongdoing via the huge payouts, but there is no official, “Hey, we’re sorry. Our bad.”

What a sad commentary on some of the people who get into law enforcement, huh? And the worst part is that not only are these the type of police officers getting headlines, but they are the only ones getting headlines, period. If the egomaniacs and those with Napoleon complexes would just get out of law enforcement, we wouldn’t have to deal with such aggravating stories.

But that’s New Jersey for you…

Just when you think that New Jersey can’t become a bigger disaster than it already is…surprise! The state has come in and screwed up once again. Only this time, not only does their mistake hit critically close to home, it actually contradicts previous decisions by state agencies and (most importantly) promises to destroy the open area that so many of us fight so hard to preserve.

Some of you may be familiar with the acronym COAH. In New Jersey, this means Council on Affordable Housing. This state is in so many crunches at once that it’s hard to keep a handle on all of the problems that are going on, but we are in serious need of affordable housing. For those of you that aren’t up to speed on what “affordable housing” means in New Jersey - this isn’t government housing, it’s not “the projects,” it’s not the place where the drug addicts live, etc. In New Jersey, a new term has come to take the place of affordable housing: workforce housing.

Believe it or not America, New Jersey’s workers cannot afford to live in this state. Nurses, young doctors, police officers, government employees, cashiers, retail managers, salesmen, waiters - no one can afford to buy a new home in New Jersey unless they come from a two income household that is making at least or above our state’s median income (roughly $67,000 depending on whose numbers you believe). New Jersey is not affordable for ANYONE.

The latest smack in the face comes as a one-two punch from Governor Money Bags and COAH and is directed at most non-urban areas in the state. Just last week Governor Money Bags told many of the smaller municipalities that they were having their state aid drastically reduced. As if that wasn’t bad enough, COAH has announced what they call “Round Three” requirements for New Jersey’s municipalities. Round Three will tell the state’s towns, boroughs, and cities how many units of affordable housing they need to produce.

Aside from Money Bags diverting even MORE money away from the suburbs, it would seem that being told what your affordable housing obligations are isn’t the worst thing in the world, right?

Wrong.

In Round Three many suburbs are facing an obligation that is QUADRUPLE what they were previously held accountable for. Take the case in my hometown of Roxbury Township. Not only does their COAH obligation jump from some 245 units to 837 units, but Roxbury was told by ANOTHER state agency that they can no longer build in the green areas of the township! What does COAH want to have happen here? Would they like it if the existing housing - which has stood for decades, even centuries - was knocked down so higher density homes can be put in their place? Completely outrageous!

Taken from the Roxbury Register article:

Councilman Richard Zoschak said this latest COAH proposal just causes more confusion and presents more contradictions.

“How do we deal with the Highlands legislation and this? The Highlands legislation says no building here. COAH says we have to build here,” Zoschak said.

Sustainable growth in New Jersey? Not a chance. Continued destruction of the non-urban areas so more money can be pumped into Newark and Camden? Absolutely! More from the article…

Smith faulted the state for having what he called “no coherence, no coordination and no central planning mechanism.”

“We are all being told what to do by different parties, all with power, and they all conflict with one another,” he said.

For those of you who do not live in New Jersey, let me explain how this state’s government “works.” COAH says that Township A needs to create 50 units of affordable housing. The Highlands Council says that Township A only has enough space to put up 5 single family homes. The State Planning Commission approves Township A’s master plan that cites no buildings may be built over 3 stories high. The Governor’s Office tells Township A to meet its COAH obligation or it gets no more state money.

What is the Township to do? They only have room for 5 more single family homes, but - assuming that these open lots are all next to each other (which is near impossible) - are they to build an extremely high density 3-story apartment building (in an area likely not zoned for apartment buildings) with extremely small, 600 square foot (if that) rental units so they meet all of the above obligations? Oh, and this would be built in a generic neighborhood setting where there are no apartment buildings and only single family homes. Oh, and for each apartment you need to provide one and a half parking spaces (in a residential neighborhood, mind you). Oh, and these are affordable units, which means they have to be income restricted and not just any citizen can apply to rent a unit. Oh, and with such a high density unit police, fire, sanitation, and civil services need to be increased (spending more taxpayer money). Oh, and Township A may need to create a housing authority (spend more taxpayer money) to oversee this complex.

Listen. I’m one of the many people in this state who NEED workforce housing to exist. I cannot afford to buy a decent home in New Jersey and - right now - I can only afford to pay a very low monthly rent. But if the plan above is Governor Money Bags’ idea of how to plan for MY future housing needs, then he can take this plan and shove it.

When will it stop in New Jersey?