Parents, Students, and Bridgewater-Raritan Busing

On Wednesday, September 3rd, thousands of Bridgewater and Raritan kids will be outside awaiting the arrival of buses that will shepherd them to their schools for the first day of the 2008-2009 school year. For some young ones and their anxious moms, it will also be the first time that they are separated from the nest.

On Commons Way, in a small office next to the Transportation and Maintenance garage, there is a dedicated staff of four people who have spent much of their time since school closed in June, gathering information about your kids and entering it into a sophisticated computer queuing program that matches up all of the information to place your children on the right bus, at the right time. The results are reviewed for accuracy.

For the most part, given the complexity and logistics of matching up individual bus capacity and most efficient routing with specific students, time, pick-up location, and specific school destination, the process should proceed smoothly.

However, be prepared for glitches. They do happen. Most of the time, they are minor. Sometimes, but rarely, they are not. Either way, you can expect that the phone lines into the Bridgewater-Raritan Schools Transportation Department will be jammed for at least a week or two.

If something doesn’t go quite right for your kids and you need to make contact with your school and the transportation department, here’s some advice that is virtually guaranteed to get you a better outcome: More bees are attracted with a little honey; none with vinegar.

Horizon Gives its Members the Blues

When the President of the Medical Society of New Jersey takes time to submit a carefully crafted letter to the editor, we need to read it. When Dr. Raj Gupta, the Society’s head, goes on to write in the Courier News that New Jersey’s citizens are about to be ripped off by the terms of Horizon’s proposal to go ‘for-profit,’ we had better listen closely.

The purpose of an insurer like Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is to provide the funds to cover the health-care needs of its premium-paying members. Its obligation is to do that as thoroughly and as effectively as possible, while maintaining reserves sufficient to meet that goal. It is not a business; nor is it a welfare institution. It is an organization whose purpose is to meet the needs of its members. Other objectives, though they may be noble, are not within its purview.

But, because the delivery of health-care is so unequal and so fractured, Horizon’s management currently sees an opening to change the purpose and vision of Horizon’s charter. That perceived opening is the combination of New Jersey’s current fiscal mess and its salivating Trenton politicians who may be ready to grasp at any straw to gain any advantage, however temporary, to infuse cash into the system.

As Dr. Gupta points out in his letter, the measly one billion dollars that would accrue to New Jersey citizens comes down to an equivalent, one-time payment of about $588 for every uninsured person in this state: In other words – peanuts. But, as Dr. Gupta points out, the windfall for top Horizon executives could be in the millions: That, of course, is the real purpose and motivating force behind making Horizon a publicly-traded corporation.

Look, I’m just as conservative and as profit-minded as many others in the Garden State. But the Horizon proposal is not about providing uninsured New Jerseyans better health-care. It’s about stuffing the pockets of executives who either don’t know or don’t care about what the purpose of their organization is all about.

Non-existent government oversight and management malfeasance within the financial industry have caused the collapse of a once-thriving real estate market. We don’t need to see a mini repetition of that in New Jersey in the form of an ill-advised initial public offering of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield stock. (And, by the way, which Wall Street investment firm is Horizon working with to craft this misguided health-care boondoggle?)

Dr. Raj Gupta’s letter-to-the editor is a splendid piece and well-deserving of your reading time. You can find it at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080825/OPINION04/808250308/1063. Don’t miss it. Thanks for your patient reading. Have a good end-of-summer.

Never any Guarantees

The most telling moment of the finals of the Olympic Games matchup between the women’s U.S. soccer team and heavily-favored Brazil was expressed in a quote by Brazilian superstar, Marta. After she missed a point-blank scoring attempt late in regulation play, she lamented, “I don’t understand why the ball didn’t go in . . . in other games, we were able to score easily.”

We see it all the time. Teams who aren’t given a chance surprise everyone and win the golden ring. The N.Y. Giants did it to the undefeated New England Patriots in the last Super Bowl. The Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA championship against teams with presumably bigger superstars. In a 1980 “miracle on ice,” a gaggle of U.S. college kids stole the gold medal in hockey from a superior U.S.S.R professional team. In these Olympics, the heavily favored U.S. softball team lost the gold to a Japanese team that didn’t know it was supposed to lose.

Similarly, the women’s U.S. soccer team didn’t buy the notion that it stood little chance against the formidable Brazilians led by Marta. The U.S. won 1-0 in overtime. Four of the soccer heroines hail from New Jersey: Heather O’Reilly, Christie Rampone, Carli Lloyd (she scored the winning goal), and Tobin Heath from nearby Basking Ridge.

Skill combined with confidence, tenacity and a will never to relent until the game is over is a human characteristic that is present not only in sports, but in all aspects of life. That is why every day, hundreds of thousands of people overcome seemingly insuperable disadvantages and hardships to achieve similar personal victories of their own.

Note: For a recap by Kevin Manahan describing the women’s U.S. soccer team victory, see http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/beijing_when_the_final.html

The Bear is Back

If anyone ever thought that the breakup of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 would result in a declawed, friendlier Russian bear wholly unable to assert itself on the international scene, recent events in The Republic of Georgia have reminded the world community that the Russian bear will be a very potent influence in the 21st century.

Vladimir Putin – a former KGB agent and judo devotee – is still smarting from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which he labeled, “The greatest political catastrophe of the last century.” Now buoyed by the economic stimulus provided from Russian oil fields, he seeks to reassert Russian influence over some of its strategically-positioned, former client states.

In June, 2001, when Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin first met in Slovenia, they both seemed to hit it off well personally. At least President Bush thought so, because he voiced his opinion that, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."

Well! Well! I don’t know about you, but I have enough challenges just trying to get a good sense of my own soul, let alone anyone else’s. I prefer to leave that relationship up to the Almighty.

If George Bush was about to dance with this particular Russian bear, he would have been much better off to forget about trying to peer into Putin’s soul; and, instead, to keep very alert for the condition of that bear’s claws – that, it seems to me, would have been a much more accurate indicator of the state of Putin’s soul.

Bridgewater’s Michael Hsing

Bridgewater Councilman, Michael Hsing, recently announced that he would run as an independent for the U.S. Congressional seat in the 7th District. That seat will be vacant as a result of Rep. Mike Ferguson’s decision not to run for re-election.

As a Republican who was initially in the GOP primary, but subsequently decided to pursue the seat without party affiliation, Mr. Hsing is reported to be a conservative on hot-button issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

He will be running against two big guns: Democrat Linda Stender of Union County, who is currently serving her fourth term in the New Jersey General Assembly; and Republican Leonard Lance of Hunterdon County, who was elected to the General Assembly in 1991, and who is currently serving as a New Jersey State Senator.

Stender came close to unseating Rep. Mike Ferguson two years ago. Consequently, some prognosticators have written that Mr. Hsing could draw heavily upon the district’s Chinese-American community and, should he garner enough total votes, be a spoiler to Lance’s winning the 7th District seat.

Nonetheless, I doubt that Michael Hsing is running for any purpose other than to win – he’s too smart to do otherwise. If he doesn’t make it, he gets to live for another day, although he will have some fences to mend. His hurdle is that of an untried state entity attempting to push aside two very well-known politicians who enter this contest with high name recognition.

For example, whether we liked them or not, who can forget those interminable TV ads branding her as “Stender the Spender?” Over time, things change. What once might have been considered a very negative ad may have solidified Stender’s name in the public imagination.

As for myself, I’m looking forward to a vigorous campaign by all three candidates and, especially, to see how sincere or phony their promises prove to be.


Note: The candidates’ web sites may be found at, http://www.lindastenderforcongress.com/, http://www.hsingforcongress.com/home.asp, http://www.leonardlance.com/

A Mom, Her Boys, and 9/11

My better half went swimming at the JCC in Bridgewater this morning, while I, still nursing a summer cough, decided to stay out of the water – perhaps tomorrow I can do a few laps. Instead, the Taurus took me to Harry Dunham Park, a municipal oasis in Liberty Corner, close to our home. Paved walking paths encircle the park, with nothing but green grass in between, the big sky above, trees and grassy berms lining the perimeter.

You can’t complete circling that park without passing by the 9/11 memorial to the World Trade Towers victims who fell to craven terrorism on that unforgettable day. From a distance, a tall U.S. flag first draws your attention. When you come right up to it, though, the impression is unmistakable: Steel beams from the World Trade Towers spread out at the bottom of the flag post, hallowing the entire area with reverence for the memory of innocent lives lost through the actions of a small group of bin-Laden-inspired barbarians.

If you believe in shrines, then believe in this one, because that is its most appropriate description.

This morning I stopped for a breather and sat on a bench just behind the steel girders of the memorial. A young mom with three boys, the oldest of which appeared to be about 10 years old, walked by. Something drew her attention to that hard brown steel and, as she walked on, she turned past the line of shrubs, and inside to the round area whose slate floor is inscribed with names of area victims from that fateful day. Her boys followed her.

I overheard the ensuing conversation, which went something like this: “See those beams,” she told the boys, “they come from the buildings that were destroyed by the attack on this country on 9/11.” “Is that right?” one of the kids replied, as all four continued to walk right up to the girders, seeing, touching, and believing.

“Imagine,” the mom continued, “the heat and intensity of the explosion that it took to make those two skyscrapers come crashing down,” she went on. “Wow!” the oldest boy exclaimed, as the two younger ones listened. The conversion was much more extensive, but you get the idea.

Today, that one mom gave her three boys the best history lesson that they will ever get about what happened on 9/11 – more compelling, I wager, than any that they are likely to get in some watered-down text book later on in school.

The New Journalism

Kelly Heyboer, writing for Jersey Blogs, asks, “Is it time to write the obituary for newspapers?” I don’t think so. Even though the newspaper industry is undergoing a major structural transformation, few prognosticators, if any, have a crystal ball accurate enough to predict the exact outcome of such a fundamental industry shift.

The impact of print newspaper circulation shrinkage in our own backyard of Bridgewater and Somerset County is undeniable. It’s easily observable in the heavily reduced on-site reporting for state and local proceedings; as, for example, in meetings of elected officials. Newspaper bureaus do their best, but it’s simply not possible to cover the entire waterfront with a severely reduced staff.

One of the major casualties is full, on-site coverage for boards of education meetings. It was hard enough for a reporter to sit through often interminable, long-winded meetings and be able to capture the one moment or two where someone might bring up a controversial topic, or try to slip through a crucial, but otherwise undetected item. Lack of funds for full coverage of public meetings has made it impossible for editors to even consider such full-time coverage. The public is the ultimate loser in this seemingly endless circulation slide.

However, I am an optimist on this matter. Blogger Chris Hedges writes – as reported in the Star-Ledger – that transferring news gathering to the Internet is an illusion. He goes on to conclude that, although “bloggers and internet addicts . . . can produce stinging and insightful commentary . . . they rarely pick up the phone, much less go out and find a story.”

Hedges claims that, “at least 80 percent (of all reporting) is done by newspapers and the wire services. Take that away and we have a huge black hole.”

I agree with that assessment. Take, for example, the latest flap over the proposed salary increase for Bridgewater’s Township Administrator. Without the original reporting and follow-up of an on-the-ground writer like Kara L. Richardson of the Courier News, you wouldn’t have known anything about this until the game was over. As it turns out, her story on the topic prompted two editorials, one in the Courier News, and the other in the Star-Ledger.


Note: 1.) Responsibility for any omissions or errors of fact in this blog post are strictly my own. 2.) Richardson’s story may be found at: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/NEWS/808050381/1012/NEWS0201

Getting Down and Dirty

Sometimes, it feels good to get down and dirty – literally down and dirty, where your body, mind and soul get to meet the elemental earth. That may sound kind of kooky, but it’s something with which farm workers, landscape people, and home gardeners are on intimate terms.

I did a little weeding today, and found myself on my hands and knees, using hand tools to cut and pull out stubborn weeds encroaching on a few shrubs, as well as around the perimeter of the mulching bed. When you’re down on all fours like that, you get dirt black. But, it’s with a satisfaction that comes from the knowledge that it’s from honest work done on honest soil put there by God’s own creation.

Some politicians, through their actions, have given the intrinsically good expression ‘down and dirty’ a bad name by changing its original, derivative meaning to one in which dirt is seen as a negative noun.

We can fix that: Instead of sending convicted politicians to serve time in prison, maybe the judge could dole out sentences in which offenders would be required to spend spring, summer, and fall out in the open working the soil, thereby helping to restore nature’s lost reputation.

They Played, We Pay

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is holding the discount rate to a below-market 2% and, together with Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, has pulled out of the fire the collective butts of some prominent investment firms; as well as those of national and international banks, most of which speculated heavily in high risk, hybridized, mortgage-backed financial instruments.

Nonetheless, housing markets are still in a funk, and artificially low interest rates perpetuate poor lending practices, while possibly encouraging inflation. On top of this, the U.S. Congress and the Administration seek to bail out borrowers whose credit worthiness is sub-par.

Thirty-five years ago, the late, iconoclastic Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that, “Unless lower interest rates and easier borrowing are accompanied by good prospects for selling goods or houses, nothing much may happen.”

Well, nothing much is happening, except that the housing market hasn’t hit bottom yet, GDP growth is hovering barely above recession levels, and the U.S. taxpayer is picking up the tab for corporate mismanagement, poor legislation, anemic regulation, a deflated dollar, dead-beat loans, and an increase in core inflation.

If one wishes to empty a cesspool, one has to drain its contents, nor merely stir them about.