• Governor Christie Is In Control. Thank God we have a leader like Governor Chris Christie in charge of New Jersey during this chaos. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you have to respect the way that Christie took on this situation directly and without any delay. He warned people well in advance to get out of certain areas of the state. He is on-site managing cleanup and recovery efforts. He isn’t making stupid decisions like attempting to hold a marathon in the middle of the mayhem (a rare miss by New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg). Christie is doing an amazing job for the state and I’m glad that we have him on the job during this time.
• The Governor Throwing Politics to the Side. Again, unlike some of his pathetic predecessors, I have to praise Governor Christie for his direct statements about President Barack Obama and the leadership that he showed during his visit. When a FOX News reporter asked Governor Christie about how he felt about potentially giving Obama a pre-election bump in the polls after thanking him during his visit, this is what Christie said: “I endorsed Mitt Romney 13 months ago because I thought he was the best guy for the job and on Tuesday I’m voting for Mitt Romney because I think he’s the best guy for the job. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t turn the President of the United States of American and say to him ‘Thank you, sir, for providing good leadership during this crisis and for helping the people of New Jersey,’ and to extend my hand of friendship to him.” Can you imagine a liar like Governor Jim McGreevey or Governor Jon “Money Bags” Corzine giving as direct and noble an answer as Christie did?
• The Immediate Post-Hurricane Shoppers. What I really don’t get about the aftermath of the hurricane are the people who stormed the grocery stores and left with wagons and wagons filled with food. First, didn’t these people do the same thing not but two days earlier when the entire state was in a panic over the pending storm? And if they did, then did they eat through a wagon (or two) filled with groceries in just two days? Stop eating so much! Second, if these people did not fill up their pantries and refrigerators prior to the storm hitting… why not?! What part of a major storm aiming directly for our state did you not understand? Get with the program, people!
• Staten Island is Decimated. I can’t believe the pictures and video coming out of Staten Island. Seriously, if you’ve not seen these pictures, then you need to do a Bing or YouTube search and you’ll see the devastation that I’m talking about. It’s absolutely unbelievable. I’m going to comb through some of my clothes to see if I can donate some of them to the people who lost everything in the storm.
• There Are Always Dumb People. If you live in New Jersey, then you’ve probably tuned in to NJ 101.5 at some point in the last week. I heard one called say that she was really upset that there was so much focus by the utility companies on the Jersey Shore region and not where she lived up in Northwest New Jersey where she was without power, too. Typically, I’m with this woman and I think that the people in Northwest New Jersey are often overlooked when it comes to government-regulated services. But what really irked me was what this idiot mentioned in her rant. She said that the utility companies were disregarding the people in her area because “we don’t live right on top of each other like it’s the Third World like they do down the shore.” What a moron. The hosts of the radio show were quick to tell her that what she thought was her biggest selling point – that the people in Northwest New Jersey live in a geographically dispersed region – was actually what was preventing the utilities from focusing on them. Anyone with half a brain realizes that these utility companies have to get power to the most people as quick as possible. So they’re obviously going to choose to restore power to those areas that are heavily populated versus those that are widely dispersed. I wanted to call in to this woman and tell her that if she was annoyed that this happened all of the time, then she should go out and buy a generator. Yes, if you live out in the woods (like all of my family does and like I would like to do again some day), then you should be prepared to buy a generator for situations like this one. Get real, idiot.
• We’re a Strong, Hardy People. The populations of New Jersey and New York are strong. We’re a tough people, a hardy people. We’re the American versions of the British mentality of keeping a stiff upper lip. In other words, as soon as it was safe to go outside and start cleaning up and helping people recover their lives, we began working. Companies opened, neighbors helped neighbors once the power came back on, people began donating old clothes and other items in mass quantities, congregations began organizing food drives. This part of the Northeast megalopolis is packed with tough, stern individuals. We relish being challenged. We love overcoming adversity. We typify the American angst and, frankly, anger at being put off of our various courses in life. When things get bad, the New Jersey/New York population digs in fights back. This entire area will come back stronger for the effort.

I was conflicted on whether or not to add a final thought in a final bullet point up there. The final thought relates to my last sentence in these bullet points about coming back stronger for the effort. I’m not entirely sure that we should be planning to come back in the same form or with the same function as we were before the storm hit. Let’s be honest – when the people who were living below sea-level down in New Orleans were obliterated during that storm, there were voices from throughout the nation saying that they should not be rebuilding in those low-lying areas that are prone to destruction. The same chorus can be heard each year when parts of the Gulf States and Florida, in particular, get battered by hurricanes.

That same thought is running through my mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Should we rebuild everything as it was or should we rebuild things differently? If you think we should rebuild things differently – how so? What should be different?

Other than additional reinforcement of some of our structures, I don’t know what could have been done to protect against a storm of that nature. I’m interested in your thoughts, so please share them!

The Manhattan Skyline Before the September 11th Terrorist Attacks

The first thing I remember is my Mom waking me up by calling me on the phone. I was only living in the fraternity house for a few weeks and school only just started the week prior. I didn’t have class until a little bit later that day so I was sleeping in. Anyway, I didn’t have a cell phone yet so my Mom called me on my house line (I was the only one in the fraternity house with a house line – more on that later) and wanted to know if I was watching the news. I said no, but flipped on the television to see what she was talking about. I hopped from MSNBC (my channel of choice back then) to CNN and finally to FOX News to see what was going on. And what I saw was pretty amazing – one of the buildings that comprised the Twin Towers was burning… and pretty high up, too!

I asked my Mom what was going on and she said a plane flew into one of the towers. We talked for a few minutes and then hung up. I kept laying in bed watching the television wondering if they were going to show a replay of the plane going into the building. And as I laid there watching the television screen, it looked like I got what I was looking for because I saw a plane fly directly into one of the buildings. Except, as I was watching the television I focused in a little bit more and noticed that there was already a building burning – this must have been a second plane! It was shocking to see that happen on live television. Absolutely, utterly shocking to witness.

Now, I don’t want to go through a minute-by-minute recap of that day, but needless to say that within an hour or so the entire fraternity house was awake and all classes had been canceled on campus. But unlike other days off from school, the guys didn’t rush out to get some food and drink to enjoy the day – we were all glued to the large screen television in the living room waiting to see what would happen next. Right after the plane flew into the Pentagon, I remember thinking and saying out loud that the airspace over the Pentagon was restricted and no one could get over it in the first place (I was wrong). I remember flipping through all of the channels on the dial and, remarkably, every single channel on the dial was either broadcasting news coverage of the terrorist attacks or on standby with a message of condolence related to the attacks. And folks, when I say that every channel was covering the attacks or on standby – I mean every channel on the dial. Every single one. It was truly a moment in television history, for sure.

One of the guys who lived in our house was a volunteer fireman. Somewhere around midday – after both towers had fallen – he jumped in his car and went to New York City to help with recovery efforts. When he came back later that night not only were we all still glued to the television, but he had the World Trade Center dust on his fireman boots and gear. It was unbelievable.

Another one of my vibrant memories of that entire situation was how poorly one of my professors handled the situation. I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this particular professor, but he was straight out of the 1940’s university setting – down the ultra elitist attitude and tweed elbow patches on his jacket. Anyway, what I remembered about this first class back on campus (the day following the attacks) was that this professor opened the class by saying, “Notwithstanding the events of yesterday morning, we are here for a different reason. So, let’s open our books to chapter one and begin reading about Cain and Abel.”

I was amazed at how cold and callous that professor was that night – especially considering that he was talking to a room filled with scared, horrified college students. This was a British Literature class where, over the course of the ensuing semester, we talked about traditional literary themes like good versus evil and the loss of innocence. Looking back, I shake my head at the lost opportunity that this professor let slip through his fingers. Here he had a chance to not just talk about these themes, but to show real world examples of these themes occurring all around us.

Anyway, the guys I lived with and I stayed up all night watching coverage of the cleanup and recovery efforts in New York City. We had news coverage on all day, every day. Everyone – including me – started caring a lot more about politics and who was trying to do what in our political leadership. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of the guys I lived with as well as the students on campus either became Republicans or began voting Republican. It was the general feeling of the nation and that feeling was alive and well on Monmouth University’s campus.

It was a scary and yet fascinating time to be a college student.

And it was only ten years ago. On the one hand, it feels like September 11th happened yesterday. But on the other hand, the world has changed so much since then. It makes me wonder where we’ll be in another ten years. Hopefully, terrorism will continue to decline over the next ten years and we can – as a global society – begin working towards a stronger world peace. No, not the hippie version of world peace where we’re all holding hands and singing Kumbaya. Instead, I hope we can move towards a real, workable peace that serves to advance the human race as a whole.

Moving in that direction seemed impossible ten years ago. But today it seems like a totally reasonable expectation for the future. What an amazing ten years…

“ATLANTIC CITY UNCONVENTIONAL”
DEF: BEING OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Atlantic City new jersey by the sea,….the ideal place to see and be.
a great resort to spend your vacation or visit for a day, easy to reach and only a short trip, away.

come by auto,bus, rail or sea, centrally located between New York and Pa.

Make Atlantic city deluxe hotels and casinos your second home and destination don’t think twice before you book your hotel reservation. You will love the luxurious accommodations.

enjoy the casinos, shopping, restaurants and all other attractions and activities you will find along the board walk, beach, marina or the bay. Welcoming hotel staffs will help make your day.

Enjoy the home of first generation shopping malls and outlets, golf, water sports events and world class entertainment and activities so, let luck be your lady tonight

Come roll the dice, to add some spice. Forget all your woes, worries And troubles,….as your champagne flows and bubbles.

Dine tonight at a world class restaurant, later, attend a show, Where famous stars perform nightly, while stage lights glow and Shine brightly.

catch the nightlife and entertainment at our caberets, clubs, lounges and casinos and don’t forget that championship fight.

allow atlantic city, the jewel of the new jersey shore to be your perfect host 24/7 for all your entertainment,leisure, enjoyment, business, pleasure and conventions needs.

Atlantic city, new jersey by the sea.

copyright revised 2009 joseph p.martino american writer, poet (1937~) millburn, n.j.

Have a great day!

In any event, last year I put myself on the mailing list for the Constitution Party. This party, as I understand it, supports a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution. Frankly, as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science I can certainly appreciate the fact that not many people in our society understand the basics of the Constitution nor the powers or limitations of our federal style of government.

Back up for a moment – I’ve also spent some time considering the words that politicians use in their campaigns and what the reality of their campaign promises mean through the vernacular of their campaign rhetoric. For example, then-Senator Barack Obama campaigned to be the President of the United States by making a lot of promises – some of which he simply could not fulfill. Obama promised that taxes would not go up “one dime” for anyone making less than $250,000 per year. Well, that’s not something that Obama can promise because in our system of government the President does not unilaterally make tax policy. More properly stated, Obama should have said, “I pledge to work with Congress and push a policy of not raising taxes on anyone making under $250,000.” However, who wants to hear a promise of “trying” to push a certain policy once elected? Exactly…

But words are interesting in politics and as someone who has been tangentially monitoring the Constitution Party over the last year, I find the survey on their site to be worthy of an entry on this blog. By the way, you can read (and take) the survey by clicking here. What do I find so interesting about it? Well, click on that link and take the survey.

Notice anything? How about the style in which the questions are written? Look at this question:

The undercutting of our free market system, begun by Republicans and accelerated by President Obama, has resulted in near government ownership of too many banks and industries. Do you agree that the Constitution Party (CP) should remain steadfast in opposing both parties’ push for more federal control over our financial sectors and businesses?

For those of you who study this type of stuff (i.e. communication), I’m sure you’re loving this question right now! How about that first sentence? Why not say, “This is what the Constitution Party believes about this particular issue and we’re going to ask you to agree with us in the next sentence, okay?” Honestly, this is a little bit disappointing from a third party that I think has some potential at the local and regional level of politics.

From what I’ve gathered, the Constitution Party is trying to present a real alternative to those in the Republican and Democratic parties who expect this country to be operated as the Constitution dictates that it must. That’s an honorable goal – especially in today’s hyper-partisan political climate where both the Republicans and the Democrats use interpretations of interpretations of interpretations of clauses in the Constitution as the base of their domestic and foreign policies. But where the Constitution Party does itself no good is to put up a “survey” that is packed with leading questions. Not a good strategy.

A better strategy for the Constitution Party would be to go to the 23rd District of New York and set-up camp. This is a district that provided 45.2% of the vote to a Conservative Party candidate. Imagine if the Constitution Party could legitimize itself to the voters in the 23rd District and make a real showing in future elections? Better yet, a good strategy for this party might be to recruit well-known candidates to run for office at the local level and build on local success. It’s almost like building a new business – you don’t just open up 50 Wal-Mart-sized stores in 50 states and expect them to be successful tomorrow. You need to build a brand.

But building that brand should not include time wasted on self-aggrandizing surveys.

The dentist also commented that my gums look very healthy. Part of that has to be the fluoride from the water that I used to drink when I was young growing up in New York and part of it has to be genetics (my Father had strong teeth).

However, even with my awesome teeth, the dentist recommended that I get some fillings for my molars and that I get two cavities filled in. Again – not really that bad of a diagnosis considering that I haven’t been to the dentist in ages. I’m pretty content. Anyway, that’s the start of my weekend so far – a generally great report from my dentist!

Every time a customer purchases products with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf tag, they support the brands that support the fight against hunger. At ShopRite, customers are not just filling a grocery bag; they are helping to fill empty bowls for thousands of hungry families in your community.

ShopRite Partners In Caring is the Recipient of the Following Awards – among others:

• Good Neighbor Award – Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
• Retailer of the Year Award – America’s Second Harvest/Feeding America
• Outstanding Achievement Award – Hudson Valley Food Bank
• Crystal Toque Award – Philadelphia and South Jersey
• Outstanding Spirit Award – Monmouth and Ocean County Food Bank
• Connecticut Food Bank – Bill Liddell Award
• Corporate Excellence Award – Food Bank for New York City

Companies that have joined ShopRite in the fight against hunger are marked in stores with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf label. By choosing these products, ShopRite customers support manufacturers who contribute to the program.

Each of the 217 ShopRite stores in the six states that ShopRite serves (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland) selects qualified local organizations to benefit from the program. These local food charities use their designated funds to acquire supplies at a food bank.

Today, the ShopRite Partners In Caring program supports 23 regional food banks and more than 1,400 charitable agencies with food or meal components. With a $2 million annual donation, more than $20 million has been donated since 1999 in the fight against hunger.

For more on the program, visit www.ShopRitePartnersInCaring.org.

What bothers me the most about the cancellation of Kings is that it appears NBC is taking the easy way out of a show that could have really had some legs to it. NBC owns the USA Network, Bravo, SyFy, some Spanish channels, and any other number of channels that could have successfully aired this show. If any of you are Kings fans out there, would you have had a problem watching this show on SyFy or USA Network or Bravo? I think not.

In any event, when the DVD set is released on September 29, 2009, you can bet that I’ll be purchasing it. Although I was a little freaked out by the fact that there were too many “perfect” people on the show (not enough “regular” folks), I really did enjoy watching Kings and I believe that NBC could have found another platform on which to display this asset. If you’ve already clicked over and read the note from the creator of the show, then you can skip ahead. However, if you haven’t yet read that note, let me share a portion of it that I found very interesting:

— Some have speculated that the cost of the show was prohibitive. While it is true that the episode budget was high for a first season show, that number was reduced by the outstanding aggregate 30% tax benefit New York provided (which we all hope will remain in effect), thus bringing the cost down to rates comparable to other prime time dramas. And, of course, plans were already made to bring the costs down to whatever number the studio required of us in the future.

Isn’t that something? Kings was allowed to film in New York City and they even were given a 30% tax benefit for doing so. Sounds like some pretty good economic conditions if you ask me! Another piece of the note that I found interesting:

Your interest in show here is, to me, evidence enough of this. (As an interesting aside, Kings was #1 on iTunes on the day we were cancelled.)

How about that? On the day that NBC tossed this show, Kings was the top downloaded show on iTunes. That’s great! And yet…NBC cancels the show.

It would be great if Kings achieved the type of post-cancellation success that Family Guy or Futurama have both achieved (did you hear that Futurama was uncanceled a week or so ago?). That’s what I’m hoping for at least.

The new format was called Jack-FM and their slogan was, “Playing what we want.” Well, it seems that absolutely no one gave a shit about what music they were playing as they went from 8th in the New York market to 16th. This just shows you, again, how out of touch the powers-that-be at CBS are with the contemporary marketplace. Idiots.

I distinctly remember family members telling me how upset they were when 101.1 switched from oldies with Cousin Brucie (who can be heard on Sirius XM, by the way) to playing whatever some idiot marketing genius thought Generation X wanted to hear. This was just a horrible, dumb, stupid business move and whoever thought of it and put the “ok” on it should be fired immediately. Not only was the oldies format in 8th place in New York, it was the #1 rated oldies station in America. Why would anyone want to change that?!?

But stupidity with radio decisions isn’t anything new in New York. Let’s not forget that K-Rock switched from the #1 rock channel in the city while it had Howard Stern to some bullshit called FREE-FM after they lost him. Since the ratings for that style went straight to the shitter, in May CBS Radio brought K-Rock back and dumped their sub-par at best talk show format. Again, if I was at CBS Radio at a higher level and I knew who originated the idea to switch to an all-talk format in the wake of Howard Stern’s departure, I’d fire the person on the spot. How do you take the #1 rock station in both New York City and Northern New Jersey and just change it to an all-talk format? Idiots! But then again, this is the station that is keeping Opie and Anthony on the air when they routinely score 0.0 in the ratings for the New York market. Actually, their ratings may have gone up, but they’ve been a dismal failure since they entered New York.

I digress…

It’s good to have the oldies back on in New York City. The fans of 101.1 didn’t deserve to have their station snatched away from them and I’m glad that the stupid, iPod format of Jack-FM was a miserable failure.