Mellifluous Name, Bitter Heart

His name, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, rolls off the tongue almost melodiously. But there is no music in the man’s heart, just evil and hatred for the U.S. It’s the name of the jihadist Islamic extremist who, on Christmas day, allegedly attempted to blow up a plane en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan. 

In his failed attempt, Abdulmutallab burned himself instead and was admitted to one of this nation’s best burn facilities, the University of Michigan Burn Center as his reward. He has since been charged under civil criminal law and already has civilian legal representation.

The Obama administration should have detained this man as an enemy combatant, and immediately handed him over to the U.S. military for interrogation and trial under military law.

In an interview on Monday, that is precisely what Congresswoman Candace Miller (R-MI) advocates. Miller, who sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security, says that we are at war, a rather obvious thought.

But with Eric Holder heading the Justice Department and Janet Napolitano in charge of Homeland Security, there is no chance.

President Obama is reported to be upset over the flaws in a system which failed to prevent this near-disaster, one which was thwarted only by the failure of a concealed explosive device to detonate properly. Al-Qaida won’t make that mistake a second time.

Despite President Obama’s reported outrage and stern statements to the media, it remains to be seen whether he has truly internalized the mortal threat posed to the United States and its citizens by the worldwide militant jihadist movement.

His transfer of enemy combatants to U.S. soil from Gitmo, and his insistence on bringing a high-profile terrorist to New York City for trial under civilian law are signs that he needs a transformative change of mind.

Musing about Healthcare

The lead-off editorial in The Sunday Star-Ledger calls the U.S. Senate bill on healthcare “Change, as Ordered.” While fawning all over the Senate’s work, the editorial writer finds it “curious that President Obama’s popularity is at a low ebb,” dismisses New Jersey residents as “a squeamish bunch,” and pontificates that “the restrictions on funding for abortions are obnoxious.”

Just as preposterous is the claim that this bill will “put a brake on rising costs by encouraging frugality.” When it comes to your health, you get worried, you want the best care, and you think about getting well, not about “frugality.”

Furthermore, a government which has never been able to demonstrate even an iota of self-restraint on any type of spending will never succeed in achieving “frugality.” Au contraire, what Washington bureaucrats will do is to deny you proper medical treatment.

On the same opinion page, columnist Paul Mulshine chastises his own editorial board, writing that “This health care plan could be the biggest ripoff of them all.” Mulshine is correct: His column describes a scenario in which the New Jersey Congressional delegation stood by blissfully, while Obama and Reid paid off senators like Nelson of Nebraska, leaving New Jersey badly represented and out in the lurch.

On December 22, I commented in The View from Bridgewater about how Senators Menendez and Lautenberg are AWOL by ignoring New Jersey interests on healthcare legislation.

Merry Christmas . . . .

To all my readers in Bridgewater and beyond who celebrate this joyous holiday, and to all others who share in the same spirit of those who do:

May we rejoice together in the peace of this world, wherever we can find it, however fragile it may be.

Stay safe in the company of your friends and family, and may the angels look over you throughout the coming New Year.

Thanks for reading. See you in the next blog post.

Photo credit: Original artwork by Patty Borgman, an illustrator living in Miamisburg, Ohio

The Angels Came. . . . .

They don’t all have wings.  They don’t all fly. And you can find some right here in the customers who patronize the Bridgewater Commons Mall who have responded to the Salvation Army’s call for help.

Remember those two Angel Wish Trees, one in front of Macy’s on the main floor and the other on the lower level near the courtesy booth?

The wish tags are gone from those trees now, and the evidence that human angels have responded can be seen in the photo of the large box brimming with come-true wishes in front of the customer information booth on the lower level, near Santa’s workshop.

The box is now gone as well, and the gifts are on their way to making Christmas brighter for people whom we don’t really know and whom we will never see. Then again, who knows? Perhaps there will come a time when all those local angels who helped someone have a Merry Christmas will indeed come face-to-face with those they benefited. . . . .

New Jersey’s Senators and our Governor: AWOL on Healthcare $ for our State

While nearly a dozen Democratic senators were busy keeping the U.S. Senate hostage by withholding their votes on the massive healthcare bill in order to obtain special concessions for their states, our two New Jersey senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg have been conspicuously absent from the debate.

New Jersey is one of the most populous and heavily taxed states of the country, and it disgorges one of the greatest outflows of cash into the national treasury. Yet, we are represented by two of the meekest dealmakers in the U.S. Congress.

Moreover, our governor, Jon Corzine, made a mid-course correction to support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign by dumping his endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Corzine moved close to Obama and was one of his preferred economic advisors during the campaign.

So where’s the beef for New Jersey? States like Louisiana, Nebraska, Connecticut and others are, through the personal influence of their senators, getting hundreds of millions in special healthcare dollars, concessions, and tax breaks for their states.

Meanwhile Senators Menendez and Lautenberg are busy playing Mr. Nice Guy with Barack Obama and Harry Reid in Washington, D.C., as New Jersey comes out of this legislation empty-handed and more heavily burdened.

A Snow Job from the Nation’s Capitol

Have you ever listened to Ben Nelson, the Senator from Nebraska? He was the lone Democratic holdout for the healthcare bill currently working its way through the sausage factory of the upper house in the U.S. Congress.

This weekend, I viewed Nelson deliver a live press conference explaining the decision by which he committed his vote in favor of the healthcare legislation being shoved through Congress in the dead of night. The 60 votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate are now sealed.

Nelson is very impressive when speaking. “Gee,” I thought, “This guy should be in charge of the senate instead of Harold Reid from Nevada.” Nelson is much more suave, knows his stuff, appears resolute, and is persuasively calm in his delivery. I was very impressed.

But hold on! That was before I heard of the Cornhusker Kickback to Senator Nelson on Sunday. His deal with Senator Reid contains a singular provision which gives Nebraska – and only Nebraska – tens of millions in undisclosed funding for Medicaid and for insurer tax breaks. (As of this writing, the cost of these special perks has not been revealed.)

According to MSNBC and The New York Times, “Mr. Nelson committed his vote after winning tighter restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions, as well as increased federal health care aid for his state — special treatment denounced by Republicans.”

Except for Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) who opposed the bill, yet also sold her vote for $300,000,000  in extra federal health care dollars for her state, Ben Nelson is thought to be the only other senator who, although he strongly opposed the overall healthcare measure, traded his vote for the same reason.

There is a commonly used noun to describe women and men who sell their bodies for cash. What is the noun used to describe senators who sell their integrity for an analogous reward?

Blitzing Snowflakes

When I awoke and alighted from bed early this morning, it was still very dark outside, and there were no signs of the impending snowstorm. I like to get up early on Saturdays – no sleeping in for me. There were a couple of choices this morning: Go out and get some Christmas shopping done or stay snugly at home.

I chose a variation of the second choice: Get outside in the back yard and do some cleaning up and wood cutting before the storm hits. (I’m not a big fan of crashing the Bridgewater Commons Mall on a Saturday when everyone else will be frantically shopping before the snows come down.)

For those of you who will bravely drive to that big luxurious emporium off Commons Way, you will be pleased to discover that some soft new seating has been installed for your tushes to rest upon as you take a breather in between store visits. The new seating replaces all of the old wooden benches which were slowly being removed as they started deteriorating and eventually broke down. I thought they would never be replaced!

As for me, I headed outdoors after breakfast to do a little cleaning up and to saw some wood for the fireplace. It was 22° when I bundled up and walked into the back yard towards the wood pile. Not a soul outdoors but me. Even the traffic out front was light. I’d bet a $10 bill that not a dozen people in Bridgewater were out working on their properties at that hour.

Having spent half my life in Massachusetts; four years half-way up the state of Maine; and nearly another four years about a mile from the shore of Lake Ontario in New York State, getting out in the cold today was no big deal. After a little outdoor exertion the body warms up and the air becomes invigorating – another blessing from just being alive.

I finished everything ahead of the snows: At the moment, around 3:20 pm, the storm is claiming Bridgewater. Thanks for reading and be sure to take care of yourselves. Be especially careful to drive safely on those soon-to-become treacherous roadways.

“The System Worked”

Last night, a father of three school-age children in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District told me that “the system worked.” He was, of course, referring to the alleged bomb threat at the high school on Garretson Road, one which was providentially averted when an unidentified female student reported to authorities that another 16 year-old student spoke of his plans to allegedly carry out that threat.

When I first heard about this through an e-blast sent out by the B-R Superintendent of Schools, I hesitated to write about it right then and there. The situation had such a high emotional content that it would have been too easy to write some pretty dumb things. Better to let it settle down and get some perspective.

It turns out that this father was right. The system did work. And it is highly edifying to discover that the process and procedures in place at the B-R High School had one key ingredient in place, without which chaos could have struck: the guts of that female student to do what needed to be done.

High school administrators and the on-site police officer have consistently encouraged students to come forth with any information that might somehow threaten the safety of the student body. That is official policy.

Yet peer pressure to conform and to distrust authority can be at its peak during high school years. No student wants to make a mistake and to look like a snitch within his or her peer group. The prospect of a teen being shunned by others is not a pretty one.

So I repeat the words of the father who told me that “the system worked.” And it did so because of one kid who knows the difference between right and wrong and who was willing to stick her neck out.

We in the Bridgewater-Raritan community cannot praise enough the courage that it took to disclose this potential catastrophe. It’s a great Christmas gift to all of us.

Note: Please see this afternoon’s plea to parents by School Superintendent Michael Schilder concerning rumors and student texting in school.

Prince of Peace or Prince of War?

Suddenly, after Obama’s Oslo speech, warfare seems to have become more respectable. While campaigning for the presidency, this man consistently criticized Bush’s position on the war on terror. He now appears to have had a major epiphany with his discovery of the “just war” theory.

The person who once declared himself to be a peacemaker now advises the world that, “We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes.” and, “There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.”

He was supposed to be different, but no: Forget Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. because, “As a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone.”

Those quotes from Barack Obama’s Oslo address are high rhetoric from a man who was supposed to “draw down troops.” Look: Nothing has changed in the war on terror from the time that Barack Obama began campaigning for the presidency to the time that he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. Except, that is, his reversal of campaign promises concerning the war on terror.

In the Oslo speech some of which was “fine-tuned” by Jon Favreau, a 27 year-old speechwriter who graduated from Holy Cross College, a Jesuit institution, the President was ill advised when he stated, “To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism — it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason."

Nonsense! With the use of that last phrase, the President could not be more wrong. It is not the limits of reason which necessitate the use of force. On the contrary, it is the failure to reason.

If our President is going to use “just war” theory as his basis for engaging in major military conflicts, then he needs to read Augustine and Aquinas, the men who wrote the book on it. Neither would it hurt for him to bone up on the full text of Benedict XVI’s Regensburg address on the use of reason, the one that world media completely distorted and which discombobulated such a large segment of Islamic intellectuals.

Marine recruiting ads emphasize the need for “a few good men.” Perhaps Obama could also use a few good Jesuits.

Each Tag Seeks its Own Angel

I think that I’m a sucker for those “Angel Giving Trees” at the Bridgewater Commons Mall, but their raison d’être is worth a second blog post for those of us who are fortunate enough to spend some money this year on gifts.

There are many who will be completely unable to do that, yet deserve a visit from Santa.


Americans, it is said, are a most generous people. I believe that, because the combined charities in this country raise hundreds of millions each year. And plenty more is given out in support of churches and synagogues who also have programs for the needy.

The Salvation Army is one of those charities, and Bridgewater’s Mall management has again generously agreed to allow that charity to place two “Angel Giving Trees” inside the Mall. One is on the first floor, near the customer courtesy booth. The other is situated just outside Macy’s on the main level (the second floor).

There are still plenty of tags on those angel trees – too many left, I think. Each one bears the name of a person – either a needy child or senior – and a request for a specific gift. All that you need to do is to peruse those tags, find one that appeals to you and buy the gift.

It’s easy. You don’t even have to wrap it. Just purchase it and place it in the large box near the courtesy booth on the lower level directly in line with Santa. Done! Go ahead – make your day.

Barack Obama's Peace Prize

Why would the White House downplay the honor associated with President Obama’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize? Could it be the comparative achievements of previous recipients?: People like Lech Walesa, Nelson Mandela, the 14th Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Elie Wiesel, Martin Luther King, Jr., Anwar al-Sadat & Menachem Begin.

The list of such notables goes on and on. The names above, as well as those of other people awarded the Nobel Peace Prize mostly share a common characteristic.  With few exceptions, they have clearly demonstrated a lifetime of accomplishment in furthering peace and human rights, each person in his or her own way. Not talk. Results. Most with humility and some only after experiencing great hardship or death.

Mere days after announcing that he will increase troop levels in Afghanistan, the President of the United States will leave for Oslo, Norway where, amid great fanfare on Thursday, he will accept the Peace Prize. It should be a great honor for him and, by extension for this country.

But where’s the beef? We are still in Iraq and the recent increased violence in Baghdad since our troops have begun pulling out from major population centers only points to the ineffectiveness of the Iraqi regime to maintain order.

The strategy which Obama will use in Afghanistan is similar but confusing: deploy 30,000 more troops while simultaneously announcing their withdrawal in 18 months. The Afghan president has already announced that his country will not be prepared to take over in 18 months.

For that you get a peace prize?

They Came by Stealth

On a quiet Sunday morning, sixty-eight years ago today, when Japanese military planes flew low over the mountain peaks of Oahu, Hawaii headed for the U.S. Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor, they would precipitate a conflict that would end only after President Truman made his fated decision to drop nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

That conflict is but a faint memory in the minds of many Americans, and today’s activities will probably be taken up more with shopping for the holidays than it will be memorializing the conflicts of World War II which, among other tragedies, brought us the Holocaust.

My brothers Roland, Roger and Harvey served in that war, and our family was extraordinarily lucky that they came back home to our cottage on a street where other homes displayed in their windows the gold stars representing fallen men and women.

Together, my brothers covered a wartime territory from Alaska to the Panama Canal Zone; from England to the European continent; and in the Philippines where Roland might have been part of a multi-point force of hundreds of thousands of troops prepared for a massive invasion of the Japanese homeland – an event which became moot after Truman’s decision.

Decades later, Roland would argue for NOT heading into a land war in Iraq. Perhaps he surmised that there would be no political will for the kind of total, overwhelming and unconditional victory which was the only result that America would accept following the six-year conflict brought on by the attack of December 7, 1941.

I miss you, my brothers. Jo-Jo wishes that you were still here for our crazy family get-togethers, especially those we had on New Year’s Day and all of the others on your farms.


Photo by Bergeron: It features a partial view of the Atlantic Theatre section of the WWII Memorial which is located at the end of the Reflecting Pool, opposite from the Lincoln Memorial.

A Long Grey Line Always Turns into a Long Grey Wall

At West Point, the name used for the endless stream of brave young men and women who enter the military academy is referred to as “The Long Grey Line.”

I thought deeply about the meaning of that phrase as I watched President Obama deliver his rationale for sending thousands more of our youth to Afghanistan.

Media commentators like to refer to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as “boots on the ground.” It’s become a catch phrase for talking heads on TV and others who claim that more “boots on the ground” will fix the problem. I strongly dislike and disapprove the use of that term, because it dehumanizes and trivializes our men and women who are sent to face the terror of warfare. In reality, I despise that misnomer.

Soldiers, marines and special ops people serving in Afghanistan and Iraq (and clandestinely in Pakistan) are flesh and blood American warriors with human emotions. They have parents at home; wives, husbands and children; girlfriends and boyfriends; classmates from high school and college which they left behind. They are not inanimate “boots on the ground.” They are not faceless people.

And when they die in combat they leave behind the endless grieving of survivors at home. If you don’t believe me, please go to Don't Be Afraid to Say His Name. You’ll understand.

I hope that I haven’t dampened the joy of your Christmas shopping weekend, but there are too many Americans who are for more “boots on the ground.” Just so long as they or their loved ones don’t have to fill those boots.

Photo by Bergeron: It features a portion of the Vietnam Wall War Memorial with its names stretching in a long grey line, as it points to the Washington Monument.

Seniors Get Dissed by Interest Rates

In today’s edition of the Courier News, guest commentator Silvio Laccetti discusses how prevailing interest rates are hurting seniors. That’s a topic that’s been bugging me for a long time, because the monetary policies of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are the reason why financial institutions are paying their depositors so little on savings and CD’s.

By holding the Federal Funds rate to virtually zero and the Discount Rate to half a percent, Bernanke is giving the banks a bonanza of cheap money: This is strengthening their balance sheets at the expense of average depositors and senior citizens who have seen their income drop as the Fed keeps rates artificially low.

A quick back-of-the-envelope analysis shows that seniors – over 36 million in the U.S. according to 2004 Census data – may have lost as much as $44 billion in annual income since Bernanke dropped rates to the current artificially low level.

Think about it the next time you visit your bank: cheap money for them, lost income for you. The low return on deposits mandated by Federal Reserve policy is in large measure paying for banks’ stability.

The Angels Came . . .

They don’t all have wings and they don’t all fly. And you can find some right here in the customers who patronize the Bridgewater Commons Mall who have responded to the Salvation Army’s call for help.

Remember those two Angel Wish Trees, one in front of Macy’s on the main floor and the other on the lower level near the courtesy booth?

The wish tags are gone from those trees now, and the evidence that human angels have responded can be seen in the photo of the large box brimming with come-true wishes in front of the customer information booth on the lower level, near Santa’s workshop.

The box is now gone as well, and the gifts are on their way to making Christmas brighter for people whom we don’t really know and whom we will never see. Then again (who knows?), perhaps there will come a time when all those local angels who helped someone have a Merry Christmas will indeed come face-to-face with those they benefited. . . . . .

A Symbol with Impact

Tonight the President will lay out his case for more U.S. troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. He will deliver his speech from the United States Military Academy at West Point, in New York State.

It’s a first, because modern presidents have delivered such addresses to the nation from the Oval Office. I don’t know why he has chosen that venue. Presumably he will explain it this evening.

But I firmly believe that if he wanted a symbol for expanding the war, then he could have chosen a location that depicts much more graphically the results of warfare – our dead and wounded – like, for example, the site of the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial.

I was there Sunday, and I assure you, my respected readers, that The Wall and the statues underscore the carnage of that conflict much more realistically than the one the President chose to rationalize what he is about to do. But if he delivered that address near The Wall, what impact would it have on his credibility?

Photo by Dick Bergeron:  Vietnam Nurses War Memorial, Washington, D.C.

An Afternoon of Reflection in Washington, D.C.

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming to an end this Sunday and the good weather making it feel more like early spring, Priscille and I, as guests of the Potomac, Maryland branch of the family, decided to drive into our nation’s Capital. Destination: the war memorials, all within easy walking distance of each other.

I wanted very much to visit those places of reverence again, because America is now at a critical juncture in its multi-front struggle against the extreme elements of worldwide, violent Jihadist terrorism.

Early in the afternoon, we paid our respects at The Vietnam War Nurses Memorial; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall; the statues of The Three Soldiers; the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial.

It was my second visit to those shrines, and the one which has always tugged at me most is The Vietnam Wall: It’s all those seemingly endless names etched on black stone remembering Americans who never returned home. And the whispered silence of visitors as they walk slowly along the rise and fall of that great stone wall, stopping randomly, touching the stone at times, staring at those names, and waiting for an explanation. “Why?”

Vietnam cost America dearly in blood, money and spirit. The war against Jihadist extremists, a very real threat to the West, will cost us just as dearly if it is as badly directed from Washington as was that long-ago conflict in the rice paddies, jungles and tunnels of Vietnam.

Let’s Say Thanks

There is a simple and easy task you can do on Thanksgiving which will go a long way to boost the spirit of our troops serving in the military outposts of the Middle East. Just go to http://www.letssaythanks.com/, a Xerox website whose sole purpose is to send a personal message from you to one of our servicemen and women.

I sent one such message yesterday, as did Priscille. You will find that it’s highly professional and quick to use – just a few clicks and your message is on its way to an American warrior far from home. There is a large selection of excellent messages from which you may choose. You won’t have to worry about what to say.

Go ahead. Do it. You will love the setup of this specialized website and feel a sense of personal and civic pride for supporting our American heroes.

Thanks for reading and have a happy Thanksgiving.  Remember that this country has given each of us much more than we can ever give back except, perhaps, for those to whom you will be sending that message.

Christmas Trees and Angel Trees!

When Priscille and I visit the Bridgewater Commons Mall each year in early November, we never fail to observe how much earlier signs of the Christmas season seem to appear.

The large Christmas tree at center court in the Mall is one such harbinger. It has been up since early November, and Santa has already been quite busy greeting his little visitors, listening to their wishes, and getting them to pose with him for pictures.

There’s one group of disadvantaged children and seniors though, that you are not likely to see visiting Santa at the Mall. Some of those people will most likely not be getting too many gifts this season.

There is, however, a very easy thing that you can do to help out and to make their holiday (as well as your own!) a little cheerier. Those are the people whose names will appear on tags on each of two Angel Trees.

One of those trees will be just outside the indoor entrance to Macy’s on the main level. The second tree will be located near the  Guest Services counter on the lower level. Both trees were behind schedule this year, but they should be in place by now.

All you need to do is to select one of the “Angel Wish” tags from a tree, purchase the item indicated on it, and drop off the unwrapped gift at Guest Services in the lower level, just a few yards away from where Santa is located. Someone will be thankful for your thoughtfulness.

Photo by Dick Bergeron:  Click on it once and once again to see large, high resolution image.

Palin Derangement Syndrome

On Wednesday afternoon, when I drafted this blog post for Saturday publication, the Courier News website was running a poll in the carousel of its home page. The question was, “Is Newsweek’s cover shot of Sarah Palin Sexist?” At 2:40 PM that day, the responses were split 50/50.

Newsweek’s editor Jon Meacham – a Pulitzer Prize winning author – appropriated the cover photo of Palin from Runner’s World magazine without its permission, taking it completely out of its original context and salting it with the provocative statement, “How do you solve a problem like Sarah?” I didn’t know that “Sarah” was a problem. Did you? I can think of a lot more significant troubles facing this country than little ‘ole Sarah from Alaska.

Such media myopia brings to mind the unanswered question of why it is that some middle-age guys in the Fourth Estate – intelligent ones at that – have such a problem with females who look good and who strike such a decisive public impression.

In his Top of the Week essay accompanying the cover shot, Meacham exposes his insecurities as he discusses the potential threat of “Palinism,” calling her “… an heir to the Goldwater tradition.” It’s a very weak comparison. It was President Lyndon Baines Johnson, not Goldwater, who made a mess out of the Vietnam War by escalating it beyond control, a folly which cost him his second term in office.

Anyway, let’s get serious and reduce this thing to its essence: Which image is more likely to draw your attention more than once on the cover of Newsweek, that of Sarah Palin or that of suspiciously botoxed Nancy Pelosi? Crafty Jon Meacham knew which one would be most likely to boost circulation.

One Week to Go!

Yesterday, after glancing at the calendar, I realized – as is the case each year – that the Thanksgiving Holiday had crept up again without notice. It’s one of my favorites because it encapsulates and memorializes very well the concept of gratitude.

It’s a time to pause and to reflect upon the fact that all of us in America sit upon the broad shoulders of all the others who preceded us and who sacrificed to build the great social, economic, and religious platforms upon which this nation rests.

The European Pilgrims who landed in Massachusetts Bay would be only among the first of a long line of immigrants streaming in from all points of the globe – voluntarily and involuntarily – to cast their lot for the success of America. They would work their butts off to found this nation and to make it grow over the centuries into this expansive country which so many of us have grown to love, despite all of its shortcomings.

I only wish our President would spend as much time proclaiming the proud history of America, as he does minimizing it before other countries and apologizing for what we are and for the less-than-perfect way in which we have developed.

An attitude of gratitude is not merely a slogan. It’s a concrete expression impelling us to be thankful for what we have, and a strong incentive to remember that in this nation and world, there are others not so fortunate with needs that have not been met.

I’ll try to remember that as I weave my way through the joyous season dawning upon us.

Ted Kennedy, Healthcare & Abortion

In the course of reading The Boston Pilot, together with data culled from the Internet, I discovered a one-page letter penned by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, dated August 3, 1971. It was addressed to one of his friends and supporters, Mr. Thomas Donnelly of Great Neck, New York. Mr. William Donohue, President of the Catholic League – a Catholic civil rights organization – vouched for the letter’s authenticity.

I found its contents remarkable, because I have always thought Senator Kennedy to have been a staunch abortion supporter. Prior to his recent illness and death, he was not only a pioneer for healthcare reform, but was also a strong advocate of abortion rights.

His letter is very striking though, because it reveals that in 1971 the Senator held a completely different position on the legitimacy of abortion.

Here is an excerpt of his original views as stated in his 1971 letter to Donnelly:

“While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life.”

Kennedy added, “Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized -- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old. When history looks back at this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.”

Resolving the question of Federal funding for abortion was the decisive factor in the recently successful passage of a healthcare bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill prohibits any type of funding by the U.S. Government for the procedure. That topic will continue to be a major issue as the Senate puts forward its own version of a healthcare bill.

The Lone Terrorism of a Lone Killer

I’m watching the beginning of a broadcast of the memorial ceremony for U.S. Soldiers who were killed and wounded on one of our largest military bases, Ft. Hood, Texas. The preliminary music has just stopped and I am anticipating the rest of the program, including an address by President Barack Obama.

Last Thursday, after first hearing of this incredibly heinous act of evil, I was subsequently taken aback in the following days by the official Washington response in which the word “terrorism” was never used. Instead, we heard only platitudes about how there was no evidence that the alleged murderer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, may have acted conspiratorially: As if anyone allegedly acting unilaterally should keep this crime from being designated as an act of terrorism.

But one stalwart Washington leader, Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he will hold hearings. He is one of the few who has the courage to describe this brutal act: The senator declared, “This was an attack on American troops. You've got to see it as if 12 American troops were killed in Afghanistan." Lieberman went on to call it "The worst terrorist attack since 9/11."

Good for him.  It’s a welcome recess from a type of political correctness which has transformed segments of our population into a bunch of sops.

We in New Jersey are honored to have a direct connection with this tragedy – Private Second Class Alan Carroll, a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School. A wounded survivor, he plans to return to this area, on leave to celebrate the holidays with his family.


Material for some of this post came from the Courier News, The Star-Ledger, The Nation, and The Hill

No, They Couldn’t; Yes, We Could!

Finally! Despite the last-minute Air Force One shuttles between Washington, D.C. and Trenton, President Obama’s luster simply was not transferable to Jon Corzine. Nor was the third-person candidacy of Chris Daggett which, in the end, was unable to siphon off enough votes to prevent Chris Christie from snatching the golden ring of the New Jersey governorship.

I extend our newly elected governor the best of fortune in his new job. Nonetheless, I remain optimistically skeptical: Not because I don’t trust the man and his backers, but because, in the 33 years that I’ve been in Bridgewater, I’ve seen elected officials come and go into and out of Trenton, with no relief to the tax burden which continues to grow and to weigh down the common person.

Yesterday, CNN reported a poll which showed the top concerns of NJ citizens:

• 31%, The economy and jobs
• 26%, Property taxes
• 20%, Corruption
• 18%, Healthcare

Governor-elect Christopher Christie was outstanding in demonstrating how good he is at addressing corruption. He now needs to show us how good he is at fixing the first two concerns.

Christie Moves Ahead of Corzine

MONDAY POLL RESULTS. As of 12:30 PM today in its seven group poll-of-polls average, the Real Clear Politics web site showed Chris Christie leading with a 1.2 margin over New Jersey’s incumbent governor, Jon Corzine. Friday afternoon, that same poll average had both men in a statistical dead heat.

Stockton/Zogby has Corzine ahead by 1, and Monmouth/Gannett has him up by 2. The other five polls show Christie leading with a spread of from 1 to 3 points. (Quinnipiac, which previously had Corzine ahead by 3 on Friday, now has Christie up by 2. That’s a not-so-insignificant 5 point reversal for Corzine in just three days.)

The polling is still active and the results could swing either way.

HELP FROM WASHINGTON. Yesterday, President Barack Obama and Jon Corzine barnstormed two of New Jersey’s largest cities, Newark and Camden, pinpointing them both in a last-minute push to motivate voters in those burgs to become the tipping point for the incumbent’s reelection.

You’d think that the President would have larger responsibilities to attend to: Matters such as the problem of a U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan and the corrupt administration of that country’s president, Hamid Karzai. Or another issue such as helping to reconcile the incomprehensible 2000-page health-care bill in the U.S. House of Representatives with the Senate version. Or perhaps another minor point such as the condition of the U.S. economy.

But no, it was time to fuel Air Force One and head up to an annoying distraction in New Jersey. Why? The Obama administration’s real concern is that this state, like Virginia, has two critical governorships up for grabs and, if they both go Republican, the loss will be viewed as a specific indictment of Obama’s policies – that’s the playbook.

MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT!

Chris Daggett: Corzine’s AMEX Card

In a six-poll average appearing on the Real Clear Politics web site as of Friday afternoon, Chris Christie and Jon Corzine are in a statistical dead heat. One of those six polls, Quinnipiac, shows Christie trailing Corzine by five points, while the Rasmussen poll has him ahead of Corzine by three. This could be a stunning turnaround for New Jersey’s incumbent governor.

Should it become a last-minute trend that holds through to Election Day, it won’t be due only to the personal purchasing power that previously helped Corzine gain a U.S. Senate seat and his first term as NJ governor.

If Jon Corzine wins a second term, there will be another even more compelling reason for victory: It will be the impact of Chris Daggett’s insertion into this race that could be the favorable tipping point for Corzine.

Chris Daggett never stood a chance at the golden ring from the beginning of his candidacy, but he has apparently struck a chord with enough voters so that he became a major distraction to Christie and a significant boost for Corzine, the only two contenders with any realistic chance of success.

Daggett’s promise to reduce property taxes by increasing the sales tax base is a 1977-style, Byrne-like, smoke-and-mirrors proposal presented to gullible voters: It is identical to the old thinking that establishing a New Jersey income tax would reduce property taxes.

If those protest voters don’t wake up, their fantasy will be replaced with the reality of another four years of the same.

When Jon Corzine left Goldman Sachs after a fabulously successful career, he took with him the enormous purchasing power of a seemingly unlimited AMEX card. But his second term, if he makes it, will have come not solely from his financial resources: It will have resulted in large measure from something that he could never buy: the dilutive effect of a third-person spoiler, Chris Daggett.

The Price of Democracy

I have to admit that I sometimes cannot understand why it is that Americans have to put up with the sort of extreme, stench-filled diatribes which bubble up from marginal groups such as those of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church.

A handful of people from this group are now touring New Jersey, spreading their own brand of hatred for gays, Jews, and Catholics. Having busied themselves with stirring up the pot of prejudice in New Brunswick, Rutgers and other locations, they have announced that they will demonstrate at the funeral of the Rev. Edward Hinds, a Catholic priest from Chatham who was recently stabbed to death multiple times.

Their vile views are also leveled at mainline Protestants such as Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians and Baptists – and it doesn’t stop there.

The source of this group’s self-proclaimed authority for these homophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic rants is, of course, God. They claim to have what no one else has: The inside track on the thinking of the Divine Source – disgusting.

What do You See When You Look Out the Window?

One of my favorite reading spots in Forbes magazine is the last page entitled “Thoughts on the Business of Life.” It always struck a chord with me because, after a whole batch of serious, well-written articles on economics and business, Forbes’ editors always insert a few aphorisms that make a person stop and think in another dimension.

The very last comment in the lower right-hand corner of the “Thoughts” page is always reserved for a pericope from Scripture. I like that: Some big, bad, aggressive NYC editorial types that are not afraid to go on record by reserving the last word in the magazine to the Good Book.

In one of those quotes, Larry Summers, former President of Harvard University and currently Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, reflects that:

“When I look out the window at my backyard, I can’t think of anything interesting to ask. I mean, it’s green, it’s growing – but nothing occurs to me that any concentrated effort of thought could possibly enlighten.”

Mr. Summers concludes with, “Whereas in economic, statistical, or mathematical kind of things, I can ask lots of questions.”

Do you detect, as I do, a deep sense of imbalance and artificial bifurcation between those two statements? Here, presumably, is one of the brightest lights in the Obama string of luminaries telling the world that, when he looks out at nature, all he sees is a blank canvas – no matter how hard he tries. But put a few numbers and formulas in front of him, and the man’s mind starts to crank.

He says that he can’t come up with any relevant questions about the outdoors, questions that a mere child could pose such as, “Where does grass come from? Why is it green? Why is there earth underneath it? Why is the grass there?”

It reminds me that some of us, no matter how high our IQ might be are so internally oriented, that we fail to recognize the natural clues to something greater than ourselves, no matter how obvious the prompts. If an observation cannot be codified, bracketed within a formula, fed into a computer and the results analyzed, it holds no attraction.

No big deal, you might think. But Larry Summers is the man who, as Harvard President, addressed an audience of his peers, sincerely explaining why women don’t hold as many key posts as men "in tenured positions in science and engineering at top universities and research institutions."

Summers explained that, among other factors, this has to do with "the different availability of aptitude at the high end.” By this not-so-cryptic phrase he meant that according to his research and analysis, more men than women have high IQ scores and that this, therefore, accounts for why fewer women hold high-level posts in science and engineering. A year after presenting his assumptions and conclusions, Summers resigned from Harvard.

This is the man who has the President’s ear on decisions that affect your economic future right here in Bridgewater, New Jersey. I wish that this expressive ivy-league-trained man would go out to the White House lawn one day soon, sit down under a warm sun, and try to conjure up a few meaningful questions about how his actions will have a personal impact on the lives of nearly 305 million Americans, actions that defy codification, statistical analysis, and definitive prognosis.

Note: You can find Mr. Summers’ statement in the November 2, 2009 edition of Forbes magazine, now on newsstands.

Empty ‘Till Spring

While out for a walk yesterday in one of the local parks, I came across two grey abandoned bird houses hanging forlornly back-to-back, anticipating the cold emptiness of winter, yet hoping for the far-away return of spring, when they will be populated again with inhabitants signaling the beginning of another cycle of life.
 
This week, we are enjoying three days of progressively balmy weather, as if Mother Nature is tossing a few freebies at us on its way to winter. These are good days to be out taking advantage of the sun and mild temperatures, at least to the extent that you can.
 
In the back yard, I expect to be doing some more tidying up by trimming away some of the unkempt raspberry briar patch that’s become overgrown, as well as some tall unruly weeds that began their encroachment this summer – just getting ready for another spring, like the inhabitants-to-be in those two bird houses.

Bridgewater Public Works – Still at Work

A few days ago, during what now seems to be a period of interminable rain, wind, solid cloud overhang, and bone-chilling temps, this photo shows a Bridgewater Township Public Works crew that was out in that weather, picking up yard brush, as part of its service for Township seniors. The fall pickup ended October 15.

I’ve written about this before, because it is a great benefit for those of us who have no easy means to dispose of accumulated brush and branches and for whom time has made the chore harder each year. I’m lucky enough still to be able to get out myself and to clean up the yard periodically, and this twice-yearly service is the one thing that helps me to dispose of branches.

The material is carted off to Bridgewater’s recycling facility, and there is no waste. Mulch from this operation is available to anyone for a nominal fee, according to Bridgewater’s new policy. Next step: leaf cleanup. The Township provides bags for leaves and will pick them up curbside from any Bridgewater resident’s property. Just call the Public Works Department to get on the list.

Photo by Dick Bergeron

Jack Ciattarelli, a Man for Our Time

Politics can be a brutally tough game. In order to get anything done, an elected official has to work with a team of peers. It’s even tougher when, in his or her heart of hearts, a politician veers away from the group on a particular topic and acts upon insights that some colleagues may not possess or do not have the will to act upon.

That is why I think that it would have been easy for Jack Ciattarelli, one of five people on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders, to have voted with the rest of the freeholders in maintaining 15 paid holidays for county employees in 2010.

Instead, he was the sole dissenter claiming, as reported by Martin C. Bricketto in the Courier News on Monday, that, “…our holiday schedule is excessive,” two more than even State of New Jersey gets.

The Last Butterfly of Summer

With all of the nonsense going on in Washington D.C. and New Jersey politics these days, I wasn’t mentally up to filling this space with more of the same – will save commentary on that for some other day.

Instead, I thought I’d share with you one of dozens of snapshots that I was lucky enough to have taken in mid-August of this year.

When we came back from our New Hampshire lakeside vacation, we encountered the damage inflicted on our neighborhood in Bridgewater after it was struck by a microburst of wind that brought down literally tons of trees. The big oak in our front yard was lucky to have survived, but it needed some major trimming to bring it back from the brink.

When the tree experts arrived and began their work, I decided to take my digital camera out to the front yard to record the event. As an unexpected bonus, I noticed the butterflies that were being attracted to our garden by the wayside.

That’s when I changed priorities and concentrated my camera on capturing images of these delightfully friendly creatures of the summer. If you’re careful, quiet, and move slowly, you can get your camera very close to a butterfly – easily two feet, even closer.

One of the startlingly revealing facts about nature is its insistence on reminding us that we are merely a part of it, despite the human tendency to think that we are its ultimate product. This is not to degrade the exponential progression of mankind or the value of the human soul, just a cautionary signal that our future is short and our task, heavy.

Businesses Support Large Chunk of Bridgewater’s Property Base

Like most other local real estate property taxes in New Jersey, those in Bridgewater are very high, but they do not reflect what the impact could really be on the typical Bridgewater homeowner.

Were it not for the massive influx of large corporations such as the Bridgewater Commons Mall, Met Life, Sanofi Aventis, Merrill Lynch etc., etc.; as well as hundreds – if not thousands – of small to medium size businesses and professional buildings popping up on the Bridgewater landscape, the tax levy on this township’s residents would be even more intolerable.

Most of your residential property tax bill is taken up by school taxes. Yet, in the midst of a severe recession, the salaries contained in school levies have been increasing annually at a rate above that of inflation. In fact, from March through August of 2009, inflation has been in negative territory. In July and August, for example, those rates were minus 2.10% and minus 1.48%, respectively.

Association contracts for school employees are negotiated on an individual school district level. Contract talks are held behind closed doors with no interim reports to the tax-paying public. And, they are based on wage increases relative to those awarded to other school districts in the state of New Jersey, not on economic factors.

The contract with the Bridgewater-Raritan school district, effective July 1, 2008, provides for a three-year increase of 12.8%.

NJ Taxes and You: Perfect Together

I could have skipped the Somerset County Business Partnership forum at Raritan Valley Community College Friday morning, because I was under the weather and felt more like remaining snuggly covered under the blankets.

But the topic was “Making New Jersey More Affordable for Businesses and Residents: a Public Policy Forum,” and I was determined to get a first hand impression of what the panelists and gubernatorial candidates had to say. Gubernatorial challengers Daggett and Christie were present and offered their views on NJ’s tax mess.

Incumbent Governor John Corzine decided to take a pass and to ignore the people of northern Somerset County.

Well, it was enough to make me even sicker, because it confirmed what I already knew, but about which I obtained a lot more detailed confirmation. Forum speakers and audience questioners emphasized the fact that the negative impact of New Jersey’s tax structure at all levels of government is totally unsustainable:

The crushing debt burden from ill-advised government borrowing; increased deficit spending; and unfunded liabilities for public sector pensions and benefits (said to be from $100 billion to $130 billion) has resulted in a stifling level of taxation, especially for property taxes.

I could go down a list of all the winners and losers in this NJ public spending drama, but it would be wasting your reading time. You know most of them but, if you are serious about learning even more, check out the home page at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/, and click on the “Tax Series Tab” in the carousel. You’ll be amazed at the first-rate job that Courier News journalists did in covering Friday morning’s forum.

First Signs of Christmas Shopping

Well before Thanksgiving, the holiday spending season begins to gear up – much too early for my taste.

However, this year a good argument can be made that if consumers do a good job of it nationwide, it will help to pull our economy out of its doldrums. And who can be against that?

One of the best ways to tell just when the fever takes hold is to keep your eyes open for merchants who set up their store fronts or kiosks to do business only seasonally. By that measure, the Christmas shopping season may have already started at the Bridgewater Commons Mall, because one such merchant is already setting up to offer his wares.

On the first level, at the Macy’s entrance, in front of the escalators being refurbished for the expected holiday crowds, the Day-by-Day Calendar Company installed its racks this week. The shelves were empty when the photo was taken, but you can expect them to be filled with a variety of wide-ranging subject matter calendars very soon.

If you keep your eyes open, you’ll also notice what could be a similar Christmas marketing strategy with Toys-R-Us & Learning Express, firms that weren’t at the mall during the summer months and which may be gone after December.

Go ahead and shop your heart out, but remember to set aside some serious thinking for the real meaning behind the season.

Photo by Dick Bergeron, 6-25-09

The Little Borough that Could – and Did

In a Courier News poll not long ago, a majority of respondents said that the relatives and friends of the victims of the Trade Towers attack should “move on” with their lives. I interpreted that to mean that it’s time to forget – 9/11 is over.

I’m glad that the residents of Raritan Borough didn’t take that advice about WWII and their native son and hero, John Basilone. Each year commemorative events in his honor only seem to grow. That’s as it should be, because to forget the cost of what others did to secure our freedom as Americans is a passive act of ignorance.

There is hardly a week that goes by where I don’t have a recollection for the sacrifices that my three brothers endured when they served this nation in the same war in which John Basilone fought and died.

Pride in the American military’s accomplishments is a cheap commodity these days, especially within Washington’s beltway, where politicians inside the Capitol Building and the White House treat our servicemen and servicewomen like pawns in their game of chess which they play in comfortable rooms, thousands of miles removed from the dirty battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan and the surrounding areas of the beleaguered state of Israel.

I’m not a war hawk, and I wish to see peace reign on this planet, but I do not minimize the nature of the threats posed by dangerous men like the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Venezuela, the last of which has entered into military provisioning agreements with Russia.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in this little corner of the world, Raritan Borough will pause to memorialize once again the example of a man who did what he felt he had to do for his nation.

Construction Continues on Chase Branch in Pluckemin

As the photo shows, construction is moving ahead in Pluckemin on a new branch bank for the investment and banking firm of JPMorgan Chase. I never thought that I’d find myself in the position of favoring one giant financial institution over another, but this is an exception: Just a few hundred feet away from where Chase is erecting its ill-advised building sits a Bank of America branch on Burnt Mills Road.

The BofA branch is sufficiently removed from the intersection in Pluckemin where U.S. Route 202-206 joins with Washington Valley Road and Burnt Mills Road. The BofA location does not disturb the traffic pattern at the intersection.

This cannot be said for the new Chase building which sits on a corner within spitting distance from the sidewalk where it will hamper traffic flows at that busy commuting intersection.

The reason that Chase is setting up on that spot is obvious: That’s where the money is – in them thar’ hills. There is nothing wrong with chasing after the wealth to be mined in the Somerset Hills, but the site chosen for the battle between BofA and Chase (the Peapack-Gladstone Bank is in the Hills Shopping Center just a block away) is incompatible with the personality of the village of Pluckemin.

It’s another bad decision by Bedminster officials who once acquiesced to having a major interchange which would have unloaded traffic from Interstate 78 onto Rt. 202-206. That interchange would have been right on Bridgewater’s border, next to the Bridgewater Manor and would have ruined the character of the village of Pluckemin, not to mention its negative impact on the northern section of Bridgewater.

The citizen pushback on that scheme was overwhelming; State of New Jersey officials and Bedminster had to back off. Too bad that there isn’t a similar rethinking of this unnecessary addition to the Bridgewater-Pluckemin landscape.

High-Priced New Jersey

On Friday, October 2, the Raritan Valley Community College will host a 5-hour program entitled Making New Jersey More Affordable. It is being sponsored by the Somerset County Business Partnership, the Courier News and its web site, together with Allstate and the Affinity Credit Union.

I strongly support this gathering of powerful and influential people who will lend their voices to the debate. All gubernatorial candidates have been invited. I hope all are present and give specifics as to how they propose to pull New Jersey out of its downward financial vortex.

Although I can be highly skeptical at times, I generally have a cautiously optimistic outlook for the future. But for the love of me, I cannot figure out how this state will pull itself out of its financial morass unless it addresses the structural weaknesses which are strangling it.

Public service unionized salaries and benefits are out of control, with not a soul willing to give up a millimeter of ground. Year-after-year negotiated union salaries and benefits continue to rise at a rate above inflation during a time of deflation and national economic distress.

Dishonesty, fraud and corruption in government are rampant, and only the surface seems to have been scratched.

Remember the hollow promise of 1976 when the income tax was passed? It was intended to provide real estate tax relief for all homeowners, but decades of those revenues – billions – have been doled out with no conditions attached, or they have been spent for the preferential treatment of the few. The state never sets aside revenue collected for a specific purpose; instead, the money effectively goes into the general fund and you can kiss it goodbye.

Heck, we don’t even measure up to a state like New Hampshire which has no income tax and no sales tax, yet whose students produced an average 2009 SAT score of 1556, compared to New Jersey’s 1505 – lower New Jersey results for a lot more money, lower, even, than the national average of 1509.

The challenges facing New Jersey’s economic future are enormous, and they won’t be met simply by taxing the super-rich and cutting back on income tax rebates.

Healthcare and the U.S. Postal Service

The postal service in this country has a problem: According to an article in Parade, volume will drop 14% this year. Rates are on the increase, costs are being cut, and post offices will be closed. There may even be fewer mail deliveries.

The solution: Open it up to competition by letting private industry come in to improve service and to stabilize prices. That is what Professor Michael Crew of Rutgers is quoted as proposing in Parade. Now hold on a minute. This makes sense, but how to resolve the contradiction?

In his healthcare initiatives, President Obama proposes just the opposite: According to him, it’s government that should come into the market and provide competition to insurance companies in the healthcare industry.

So let’s get this straight: The government-run U.S. Postal Service needs competition from private industry to keep it on its toes. On the other hand, according to our president, the private U.S. healthcare industry does not compete well and, therefore, needs competition from the federal government to keep it on its toes!

How, exactly, can the federal government which acknowledges its own inefficiency and a high cost structure in one market claim to have better competitive skills in another market?

Anecdote: Years ago, in Rochester, New York, entrepreneurs had put together a local business that operated only in the downtown area. It picked up and delivered first-class mail from one local business to another. No stamps. This short-lived business was doing remarkably well until the Feds caught up to it. The entrepreneurs were hauled into court and were put out of business by the long reach of U.S. Postal Service attorneys.

Eight Years Already?

Friday dawned damp, dingy and cold – a holdover from the previous day that had brought even more rain and higher winds to Bridgewater. It was one of those days that I would have liked to have stayed cozily inside: But there were two things that I wanted to do: some laps at the JCC pool on Talamini Road and, after that, a noontime stop in front of the old Bridgewater Township Administration building for the 9/11 remembrance ceremony.

I wouldn’t have time to go back home and dress up after the swim, so I just showed up in jeans and a rain slicker for the ceremony, leaving my camera behind (too rainy and wet). A shuttle bus was waiting to move participants from the parking lot in front of the courthouse building, but I parked the car nearby, popped open a big black storm-ready umbrella, and walked along the edge of Commons Way towards two tents set up as a shelter on the lawn facing Garretson Road.

It was pouring, but the tents did their job well keeping dignitaries, workers and citizens dry. The ceremony was brief but more than adequate. Police and firefighters from Bridgewater were present. Bridgewater Mayor Patricia Flannery spoke a few words in honor of the victims of 9/11, as well as in remembrance of other local Americans who have since lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two Bridgewater police officers reverently carried a folded American flag out from under the tent and raised it on the Township flagpole under a heavy, wet sky. Firefighter Howard Norgalis had already read the firemen’s pledge; Pastor Todd Buurstra of the North Branch Reformed Church had previously given the opening invocation.

The wind blew persistently as the ceremony continued under dark, angry skies but, as if providentially, the sky brightened momentarily and the rain let up slightly – perhaps a sign of hope for the future – as Mayor Flannery stepped out from under the tent’s roof and was assisted in placing a wreath upon the 9/11 memorial stone and plaque resting on the lawn.

Although 9/11 was eight years ago, its memory is still vivid in the minds of Americans, especially in this area, even more so with those loved ones who have been directly affected. As if to underscore the tragedy of that villainous day, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to produce far too many fresh memories of brave American men and women who continue to give up their youthful lives in the aftermath of that tragic day eight years ago.

McConnell Retires to the Bay State

Monday’s Courier News article by Martin C. Bricketto about Rose McConnell held one item that especially caught my eye: where she chose to retire. After serving many years in public office in Somerset County NJ, McConnell moved to Groton, Massachusetts to be near her family.

Coincidentally, Groton is less than half an hour from our old stomping grounds in Lowell. Priscille and I remember it fondly as one of those quaint, quintessential New England communities.

Indeed, on our way back from vacationing in New Hampshire this summer, we stopped in Massachusetts to visit with two of Priscille’s nieces and their families, one of whom relocated from Lowell to Groton with her husband and children. With a population of about 11,000 in an area of 33 square miles, it’s one of those small big New England towns ideal for raising a family.

The entire area – geographically, politically, and socially – is very different from what former Somerset County Freeholder, Rose McConnell, has been accustomed to in this part of New Jersey.

One example: Groton operates under an open town meeting form of government – once each year the budget plan is presented to voters at a town hall meeting. The community asks questions, debates, considers the proposals, and makes recommendations; then the entire year’s budget is voted upon – no absentee voting! To prepare for the meeting, voters are presented in advance with a printed budget proposal.

I could go on, but I won’t keep you with any more details. Thanks for reading and may the wind be at your back. Rose McConnell: If you see this, enjoy the change of venue – it’s been a long, good run.

Precious Blood

Sometimes you come to a point in a situation where a previously held position needs some serious rethinking. Iraq and Afghanistan now fall in that category for me. All three of my older brothers were actively engaged in World War II. In 1945, my oldest brother, whom I lost last year, was in the Philippines preparing for what was to be the imminent, massive invasion of the Japanese islands.

Then, unexpectedly, the most destructive secret weapon ever developed unleashed its overwhelming fury on Hiroshima and Nagasaki –and within days it was all over. Harvey, Roger and Roland would come home with their minds and bodies intact. Ours was one of those lucky American families. And my life would be forever enriched from the experience and brotherhood of these three street-wise kids who somehow made it through.

After Pearl Harbor, the objective was clear: Mobilize. Get the troops to Europe and to the Pacific – fast. Do whatever it takes. Gear up the entire economy for victory. Finish it. Don’t let a vanquished enemy dictate post-war terms. Above all, finish it.

It’s fundamentally different now – many of our leaders seem to have lost sight of true north, and Congress has gradually shifted its war-declaration responsibilities to the White House, hiding behind lukewarm war authorizations which have resulted in finger-wagging every which way, especially when an administration changes hands. Most wretchedly of all, our leaders don’t know when to fight and when to stay home.

But this one thing is clear: If Iraq and Afghanistan were George’s wars then, they are Barack’s wars now. So what will he do to end those with victory and honor? Truman never complained that he “inherited” WWII from FDR. He came in as a relief pitcher and ended the game decisively. The ball is now in the hands of Barack Obama. Thousands of American families with blood in the game are waiting.

Just What Pluckemin Needs, another Branch of a National Bank

For years, at the intersection of Route 202-206, where it meets Washington Valley Road leading east and Burnt Mills Road leading west, the southwest corner was conspicuously empty, having been occupied by a succession of gas stations.

Across from that location occupying the other three corners of the intersection are an Exxon Station; a shopping center with an A&P as the anchor store; a liquor store, a sandwich shop and other small businesses.

Unless memory fails me, a local Bedminster newspaper once reported that Bedminster officials had considered setting this site aside, removing it from consideration for business development, perhaps as a green zone or a small park. That was and is a perfect use for an already overly congested corner.

No matter: the large investment conglomerate and banking house of JPMorgan Chase seems to have prevailed upon Bedminster that it would be a better idea to add to the vehicular clutter at this intersection.

Consider this: A perfectly adequate Bank of America office sits within an athlete’s stone’s throw from the new Chase branch under construction. Just a block north in the Hills Shopping Center, there is another perfectly fine Peapack-Gladstone branch.

But I suppose that Bedminster officials have felt the need for another giant financial institution to set up shop near the Bridgewater Township border at what is one of the worst possible locations in Pluckemin and Somerset County – more intrusive construction where we don’t need it.

An Uncivil Dialogue

The national debate on healthcare issues in the United States has turned feral. Washington legislators returning home for the summer recess are holding town hall meetings (at least those who are unafraid to stand before their constituents) and, in many cases, are facing an unexpectedly shrill crescendo of opposition.

Seldom have I seen such disrespect and condescending language used so dismissively by high-ranking elected officials. Senate majority leader Harry Reid has called opponents “evil-mongers.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers to them as “un-American.”

Recently, in his home district in Massachusetts, Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee stared down one of his female constituents, accusing her of yelling at him. Congressman Frank bluntly told the woman, “Trying to have a conversation with you is like trying to have one with a dining room table.”

Another volley came from former DNC Chairman, Howard Dean, who warned Republican dissenters to Obama’s healthcare initiatives that “you have to undermine the country in order to undermine the President.” Dean later denied saying that.

Nevertheless, the voice of citizens is having an impact: There now is word that MoveOn.org and Acorn are planning counter-offensives with their own supporter-filled Tea-Party type town hall meetings.

Did you know? Congressman Barney Frank was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He was educated at Harvard College and, like many other students who graduate from Boston area universities, he chose to make the Bay State his home.

A Presidential Vacation

When President Barack Obama vacations on Cape Cod’s island retreat of Martha’s Vineyard, he is expected to pay for part of the $35,000 weekly rental for his family’s sojourn on a private 28-acre estate. The balance will be picked up by the Secret Service and the White House, since he will be accompanied by a large entourage.

I wonder to what extent this will be a time of rest and rejuvenation for the President, or if it will be as much an occasion to withdraw in seclusion outside the reach of all except a few choice guests and policy makers.

There very likely will be a mixture of pleasure and business – no president ever completely escapes his responsibilities while in office. (From ‘The Vineyard’ this morning, Obama – with Ben Bernanke at his side – went before the cameras to announce the re-nomination of Bernanke for another term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.)

Maybe Obama would be well-served after his vacation to spend some serious time onshore visiting some of Boston’s 23 varied neighborhoods – like Dorchester, Roxbury and the South End – where he could walk and talk among his constituents, getting real feedback about what people think and feel concerning his healthcare ideas.

Yes, I know. I must be dreaming, you say. But remaining isolated with staff and other hand-picked influential guests in a high-priced private enclave on one of the nation’s most exclusive islands is not going to give him the insight he needs about the nation’s healthcare problem.

Still Taking Care of Business

On our way to the Bridgewater Commons Mall for an air-conditioned walk (hasn’t it been oppressive outdoors recently?), Priscille and I motored by the Bridgewater Municipal Complex which is undergoing its major additions and makeover. We passed by the older building facing Garretson Road and noticed that all the windows were open – probably to let the air circulate for the workers inside, as the major renovation of that building progresses.

The Public Works Department is no longer at that site, having been relocated to Route 22. I rely a lot on that department. Even though Priscille and I don’t have a very large lot, our place still has a lot of trees, and that means seasonal yard debris and leaves to bag in the fall – and someone to pick it up.

When we came back from our recent vacation, the tornado that devastated parts of Bridgewater had left many broken branches in its wake. That’s where Public Works came in. A few days after our return, I noticed a Township crew working quickly, picking up and chipping branches by the side of a home near our house.

I walked over to the man in charge and asked if he could do the same for me. “Just call Public Works and get on the list,” he said. Yesterday morning while Priscille and I were at the Mall, a crew came over and cleaned up everything that I had dragged down to the side of the roadway.

There’s a lot that’s going wrong with government in this state, but there’s also a lot that’s going well, especially at the local level where it counts the most. Bridgewater Township crews are earning their salaries this summer, as they sweat it out cleaning up the detritus of that last storm.

A Cold Brewski on a Steamy Bridgewater Afternoon

We returned to Bridgewater from vacation to find the yard a disaster area – broken limbs and branches all over. As a consequence, I found myself cleaning up the mess last Saturday afternoon in the intensity of that hot steamy day. Not wanting to overdo it, I called it quits after about three hours, satisfied that the job could be completed another day.

The work clothing was clearly ready for laundry: my cap’s sweat band was soaked with perspiration; the T-shirt could be mistaken for a wet towel (I went through two!); and my socks came off just as wet and speckled with dirt – all items testimony to a good afternoon’s worth of labor.

There is little like the all-enveloping muggy-hot weather of an August afternoon after completing outdoor chores to call up a thirst for an ice-cold frosty brew. The two bottles of iced tea and one of water which I quaffed while working had not quite done the job.

I pulled a chilled can of beer from the fridge, opened the cabinet door for a Cheese-It snack, stepped outside, plunked my butt down on a patio chair, and approvingly admired the blue of the sky and the bleached white clouds lounging in the background beyond the tree line – a good moment to contemplate the blessing of what nature gives us and for which we don’t even have to ask.

The simplest things can often be the most satisfying.

Healthcare Reform or the Bum's Rush?

When President Barack Obama insisted that his healthcare legislation be enacted into law before the August Congressional recess, I became highly suspicious. But if the nature of town hall meetings now taking place all over the nation is any indication of how Americans feel, I was not alone in that sentiment.

The Congressional healthcare bills seemed like too much too soon. They appeared disconnected and few specifics were explained to the public – yet they were accompanied by grandiose rhetoric. One of them runs to 1000 pages that few legislators have read or fully understand.

President Obama and his key advisors, sensing a rising tide of populist opposition, decided to take their case directly to the people. At his first town hall meeting on this topic in the seacoast town of Portsmouth, NH, Obama was hoping to win converts to the cause. He came prepared to take on some very hard questions.

But he went to the wrong place – it didn’t work: At one point, President Obama felt compelled to reach out to the audience by personally soliciting tough questions. No dice.

People of the Granite State respect the man and were not about to tangle with him in a public forum. Obama’s handlers completely miscalculated the nature of that audience. These voters express their differences in the voting booth, not in the glare of a nationally televised event where they can be set up for personal embarrassment.

There is a crucial reason why Obama wanted so badly to have healthcare legislation enacted before the August Congressional recess: The Administration was very concerned that, should this self-imposed deadline not be achieved, Americans would begin asking questions during the remaining summer weeks and into the fall – not good for the President’s strategy.

Pushing a major untried concept through the Congress without a sufficient public airing of views and alternatives is a classic move. It is a political blitzkrieg designed to establish permanence before anyone can figure out what happened.

The most favorable time to mount opposition to an untested idea is before it becomes cast in stone as the law of the land.

That is why Obama is in such a rush.

Where The Elements Dominate

Here in the central and northern reaches of New Hampshire, the weather rules and regulates the lives and fortunes of its residents – this is tourist country.

Businesses are dependent upon the vagaries of nature, whether it be balmy sunshine in the summer to warm the waters of deep spring-fed lakes; or, whether it be a consistent cold during winter to bring and to build the dense snowpack that beckons skiers north on I-93.

It’s good to get away, however briefly, from the highly populated eastern seaboard, and from the illusion which it tends to create that man is in complete control of his destiny. Less people, more space, and more time outdoors away from the large population centers of the BosWash corridor bring out a respect for the impact of nature.

It would be naïve and foolish to deny the significant progress which civilization has built up over the centuries; but, it would be just as foolish to deny how utterly irrational civilization has been in the destruction which it has brought upon itself through sloth, uncaring, and warfare.

We have built great economic systems and erected magnificent building and construction projects. But the mountains and valleys built by nature will survive long after the street canyons of cities like Manhattan and elsewhere in the world have disappeared.

Perhaps with a little common sense, less greed, and a touch of wisdom, our leaders could improve our economic and social systems and make them last a little longer.

(Photo by Dick Bergeron, Franconia Notch, N.H., August 4, 2009)

New Jersey's Own Very Old Bee

According to Hattie Ellis, author of Sweetness & Light, a history of the honeybee, the first concrete evidence of these very energetic social creatures was found in New Jersey. The proof was discovered preserved in the form of the oldest known such fossil, a female honeybee “entombed in the hard orange glow of amber.”

It’s thought that the presence of bees on this planet may go back to even before the existence of people, possibly before the existence of flowering plants upon which modern bees have come to depend for their existence through the production of honey.

These highly prolific insects have a favorably symbiotic relationship with the plants which they pollinate in gratitude for the nectar that is the source of their golden sweet product.

There are at least 22,000 named species of these little bugs, and they exist everywhere on the planet: From the Himalayas to the Arctic tundra and to all of the world’s climactic regions in between.

It wasn’t at all surprising, then, that I should have come across one of these busy little creatures making a momentary stop on one of the many flowers lining the boardwalk to the swimming beach. These creatures work fast – very fast. There is no wasted motion and no stopping to rest as they carry out their highly specialized task.

(Photo by Dick Bergeron, July, 2009)