Gun Control

   In the wake of the unthinkable massacre at the Sandy Hook elementary school last Friday, new debates on gun control have taken over the air waves. Everything in this country, ultimately, turns in to a political debate. It makes the executives at Fox News and CNN happy as their ratings grow, but these debates take away from the focus of what the real problems are.

   This isn’t Global Warming or the tax code, this effects  the well-being and safety of every single American! It does not matter what your age, gender, color, race or bank account is…random acts of violence knows no boundaries. These tragedies can occur without warning or reason. Just like acts of terrorism, it is impossible to stop every potential act. However, it is possible to make these acts as difficult as possible to perform.

   After 9/11, the government created the TSA. The TSA’s sole responsibility was to make sure no one ever boards as U.S. plane with anything resembling a weapon. Those who travel by plane know how annoying it is to stand in security lines and have to dis-robe before they enter the metal detector. As bothersome as it is, the necessity far outweighs the annoyance.

   Other than Tim McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, most every other massacre is perpetrated with the use of a gun or guns. One must ask why guns are the weapon of choice to commit these heinous crimes. The answer is simple…it’s very easy and quick to kill with a gun. Building a bomb takes time and money. First, the would-be killer needs to learn how to make a bomb. Then they need to buy the bomb-making materials. Then they need build the actual bomb. Then they need to figure out a way to get the bomb inside the potential killing field. Then they need to find the best place to put the bomb to kill as many people as possible. Then they need to set the bomb off and hope it explodes. There is no guarantee a bomb will explode especially for  a novice bomb maker.

   We live in a remote-control society. Count how many remotes you have in your home and you’ll know what I mean. Killing with a gun is tantamount to killing with via remote control…standing there pressing a button is all you have to do. It’s easy, it’s quick, it takes minimal effort and gets maximum results and that it what our society is all about.

   Gun enthusiast are making the most head-scratching excuses saying what happened last Friday had nothing to do with guns and everything to do with mental illness. if Adam Lanza did not have access to his mother’s guns, would he still have murdered all those innocent people? I find it extraordinarily hard to believe that he could have done just as much damage with a knife and as stated earlier, building a bomb is not the easiest thing to do. He took his mother’s guns because they were there and killing with a gun is too easy…that is why it is the weapon of choice for these murderers.

   Mental illness is an epidemic that is spreading like a bad virus.  Combine that with our kid’s mind’s that are saturated with violence you have a very scary formula that creates these types of massacres. Everything must be done to try and prevent this from happening…EVERYTHING!!! Stronger gun laws and a ban on all assault weapons WILL make it harder to commit these crimes. Again, if Lanza did not have access to his mother’s guns, what would he have done? Would he have tried to buy illegal guns? Maybe, and maybe he would have bought illegal guns from an undercover agent who could have prevented this from happening. This isn’t about the government taking away people’s guns, this is about protecting our most innocent of of people….our children!

   If making guns harder to obtain prevents just one of these senseless acts of violence then it is worth it. How anyone can think other wise is beyond me. If a person truly feels that President Obama is trying to take away their guns and turn us in to the old Soviet Union then pack your bags and get out. There’s about 200 other countries around the world to live in. This is not a political issue folks! This is not left-wing right-wing. This is about protecting our citizens and doing everything to prevent this.  Some say teachers should be armed with guns of their own. Let me ask this, if someone walks in to a classroom with weapon already drawn and, presumably, the teacher’s weapon is in their draw or holster, what do you think will happen? The teacher would be killed before they had a chance to retrieve their weapon. What’s next, arm each student?

   What happened last Friday makes me sick to my stomach. The subsequent debates make me angry. People are so brainwashed in this country that they actually believe they need to own gun(s) to protect themselves against the government. Even though the vast majority of gun owners are level-headed people, too many guns fall in to the wrong hands. Everything and I mean everything must be done to prevent this from happening. Just like with the TSA following 9/11 and airport security, if it prevents just one senseless act then it is worth it.

NJ’s Top 10 Beaches

NJ boasts 127 miles of coastline. That’s a whole lot of beaches.

Voting for the top 10 NJ beaches has become a yearly tradition by the NJ Sea Grant Consortium, and the finalized list is unveiled just before Memorial Day weekend. To cast your vote, go to http://www.njtoptenbeaches.org.

Beaches can be favorites for many reasons: The atmosphere is right. The boardwalk is close. The beach is quiet. The beach is clean. Surfing’s great. Nature’s on your mind.

There’s so many more reasons why you might like your favorite beach. My favorite is Sandy Hook beach (the whole enchilada) because the beach is clean, it’s close to my home, the north end has a lot of beautiful sea glass to collect, and all of the old batteries and barracks are cool to photograph.

Visit the ProudNewJersey.com message boards and tell us what beach you’re voting for and why at: http://forum.proudnewjersey.com/User/Discussion.aspx?id=320736

Kaboom! Goes Kaput

After nearly half a century, one of the country’s biggest Independence Day fireworks displays has died. Kaboom! fireworks display, a yearly tradition on the Navesink River in Red Bank, has been cancelled siting budget cuts and security costs. As citizens turn to cheap alternatives for entertainment, the Kaboom! show has always produced a great bang for the buck, pun intended. Families have much enjoyed packing a picnic dinner, finding a great viewing location, and waiting until dusk for the show, so in this economy, it’s no wonder that the show has in recent years drawn record numbers of attendees. That’s just one reason why security costs have doubled in the past three years.

The nearby Rumson fireworks show will also be cancelled this year, and with that cancellation, it has many citizens concerned with the fate of another area fireworks show, the Hazlet fireworks at Veterans Park. Last year the Hazlet fireworks were initially cancelled, but after much hemming and hawing by residents, a little shuffling of the budget, and possibly a private donor or two, the fireworks were back on. As more and more municipalities face budget cuts and crises, one has to wonder, how many more fireworks shows will be cancelled? Where will we all go to celebrate Independence Day?

Will you miss the fireworks? Tell us on proudnewjersey.com message boards: http://forum.proudnewjersey.com/User/Discussion.aspx?id=320738

Goodbye, Senor Juan Epstein

New Jersey’s own Robert Hegyes, most notable for his role as Puerto-Rican Jew Juan Epstein on the 1970’s sitcom “Welcome Back Kotter” has died. Hegyes was born in Perth Amboy, graduated from Rowan University, and even returned to teach master acting classes at the university later in life. He was rushed to JFK Medical Center in Edison on Thursday in full cardiac arrest.

Although Hegyes was most known for his role on “Welcome Back Kotter,” he also made appearances on “Cagney & Lacey,” “Diagnosis Murder,” and “The Drew Carey Show.” As sad as this news comes to us on a rainy Friday morning, let us always remember the way he entertained us, helped New Jersey’s aspiring actor youths, and what a great New Jerseyan he was.

We at Proud New Jersey thank you, Mr. Hegyes, and will miss you. Rest in peace.

Will The Cost of Living in NJ Continue to Rise?

In short, yes. According to a recent article on the Asbury Park Press website, there’s eight things that will cost you more this year. What’s the most recent increase on people’s minds? Tolls. As you all know, the tolls on both the GSP and the NJ Turnpike went up 50% on January 1st. Personally, I’ve noticed a significant increase in the amount of drivers on Route 9 in Sayreville in an effort to avoid the Driscoll tolls. Although this alternate route always had heavy traffic during rush hours, it’s even more so now that the tolls have increased. I’m sure once the newness of the toll increase has died down, people will revert to using the GSP in that area again, but the increase in costs doesn’t end with the tolls.

This year, food goods are expected to rise 2.5-3.5%. I’m sure some of you may have already noticed the price increase in dairy products and coffee. Our local pizzeria increased their prices to reflect the pinch they’re feeling from an increase in flour costs. Our local Foodtown is working toward its closing, and with less supermarkets in the area, that means less competitive pricing, and for all of us that’s bad news for our wallets.

The cost of heating oil has risen 14% over the past year. Gas prices are continuously rising. Tuition increases have been made across the board at colleges, and the list goes on. How do all of these cost increases affect the common New Jersey citizen? The kicker here is that wage increases have not kept up with the rate of inflation. Smaller raises or no raises at all means that New Jerseyans have less to spend, and with less to spend, our economy will keep up this downward spiral.

You’ve heard of the phrase, “You have to spend money to make money,” right? Well, in order for our economy to get better, one thing we need to do is increase our consumer spending, and in order to do that, we need wage increases that are competitive with the inflation rate. Until that happens, our cost of living will continue to rise in this great Garden State, which makes it, well…not so great at all.

Stop The Insanity!

If you’re from New Jersey or anywhere else, odds are you’ve had experiences like this:

There are few things in life I enjoy more than the experience of a live sporting event. Being there, live, at the stadium or arena rooting for my team is truly a special occasion. You get to scream and yell and boo and see things that the TV camera does not show you when watching from home. High-fiving the fans around you when your team scores a goal or a run or a touchdown is so cool. Saluting your victorious team is the pinnacle of it all. Heck even if your team loses it is still, to an extent, an enjoyable experience.
There is an epidemic that has been infesting sporting venues all over the world for decades that is spoiling every one’s good time and that is public drunkenness. Unfortunately, we’ve all experienced the unruly behavior of those people who have had “one too many”. It seems to be happening more frequently. I can pretty much guarantee you’d see someone drunk off their you know what at any live event. Alcohol mixed with testosterone mixed with stupidity is a recipe for disaster.
Fights in the stands among fans is becoming all too common. It used to be an anomaly. Now it’s like, oh, another fight in the stands *yawn*
It’s starting to spill out in to parking lots as was witnessed in Los Angeles when a fan of the San Fransisco Giants was beaten into a coma by Dodger fans. It’s even spreading beyond the grounds of the sporting venues. We recently saw Philadelphia Flyers Fans sucker punch New York Rangers fan outside of a cheese steak eatery after the NHL’s Winter Classic. I’m sure there’s hundreds of other stories that were not reported by the media/made their way to You Tube.

Some epidemics are incurable. This one is very much curable and it does not take a brilliant scientist or expert virologist to figure it out. The cure is STOP THE SALE OF ALCOHOL AT SPORTING EVENTS!!!!
Sorry for the caps, but, as you can see, I am passionate about this. Without going into specifics, I’ve had it with intoxicated behavior at sporting events and after sporting events. I understand the venues make a boatload of dough from the sale of beer but the safety and well being of the majority of the fans is more important. If the politicians are able to ban smoking at most public places, they should easily be able to ban beer sales from stadiums and arenas. If you’d like to watch a game and throw down a couple of “cold ones” go to a sports bar…that’s what they’re there for.
Of course, the majority of spectators at a game who drink stop at a beer or two and behave themselves quite nicely. In most cases I do not believe in penalizing the many for the egregious indiscretions of a few but this is one case where something has to be done and done right away.
I really don’t know what more evidence is needed to ban beer sales. Money isn’t everything. Owners of these teams make so much off tickets, parking, merchandising, and food/non-alcoholic beverages…I think they can absorb the lack of income. I am sad to say it will probably take someone dying from an alcohol related brawl for the powers that be to finally do what needs to be done. If you’re also sick and tired of drunk buffoons, email your congressperson and vent away. Maybe we should have an “Occupy Beer Stands” movement. If the people who have the power to do the right thing won’t, then maybe it’s time to take matters into our own hands.

In response to a letter to the APP editor: If marriage is sacred, why so many divorces?

From the Asbury Park Press:

If marriage is sacred, then why so many divorces?

Thank you for your editorial supporting gay marriage: “Gay marriage: Time to say ‘I do,’ ” Jan. 15.

I will never understand people’s opposition to gay marriage. With a high divorce rate among heterosexual married couples, I am surprised that there are still people out there yelling and screaming that marriage between a man and a woman is a sacred bond. The bumper sticker on the back of my car reads, “Did We Vote on Your Marriage?”

Love is sacred, no matter the gender.

Elana Knopp

Union Beach

 

Kudos to Elana for this thoughtful letter to the editor. I don’t understand people’s opposition either. There are so many more things we could be worrying about in this great state than whether two people who love each other have the right to marry each other, regardless of gender. We Americans consider ourselves so progressive of a nation, and yet we argue about this topic of marriage (notice how I didn’t label it Gay marriage? Yeah, because I didn’t have a Hetero marriage! It’s just plain marriage!) and we haven’t legalized marijuana yet even though we know it’s beneficial for those with serious illnesses. Yes, I know we’ve got medicinal appropriations in this state, but that’s not enough. There’s still so much red tape and Nimby-ness about distribution centers…and now I’m getting off topic. The point is, we think we’re so progressive, and yet, we’re so backwards!

I love Elana’s bumper sticker and I wish I had one too. Someone send me one and I’ll put it on. It shouldn’t even have to be something we need to vote on. Our state’s residents deserve to be happy, no matter the sex of who they’re happy with!

New Jersey’s Dumbest Crook

From the Asbury Park Press:

KEANSBURG — A Leonardo man is facing various charges after he broke into a Carr Avenue home Friday, stole a cellphone and then fell asleep on the couch, police said.

Dennis Bannon, whose age was not provided by police, of the Leonardo Motel on Route 36 was found sleeping on the couch about 3:30 p.m. when the homeowners came back to their residence, according to Deputy Chief of Police Michael Piggott.

The residents called the police, and it took responding officers several minutes to awaken Bannon from his sleep, Piggott said. Bannon was in possession of a cellphone that belonged to the homeowners, police said.

Bannon is charged with burglary, theft, criminal trespass and possession of stolen property, police said. Bail was set at $20,000, and Bannon was being sent to the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township on Friday night, police said. Police did not provide a photograph of Bannon.

 

Okay, who breaks into a home and falls asleep on the couch??  The homeowners actually came home, managed to call the police, the police came and then they had trouble waking him? Was he a narcoleptic burglar? I find this completely boggling!

Libraries: Is reading so important anymore?

With the digital age in full bloom, one must ask, is reading important anymore? In short, yes. Being able to read and comprehend still is one of the most important skills a human can have. Think about it. You read every day. You read road signs, directions, instructions on food packages (and you’re reading right now). So, knowing that reading is one of the most important human skills, why is it that so many libraries lose their funding?

Just recently, there was an article in the APP that the Middletown Library was going to need money from its coffers to cover part of its operating budget this year. Now, anyone who has been to the Middletown Library knows that it’s more than just books there. It’s a community center with books, computers, dvds, games, recreational meetings, clubs, study space, movie and film showings, artist and author visits, and so much more. Are most libraries like this? I’d say no. So why, then, would anyone cut their budget?

More importantly, (getting back on the literacy issue) why would any town or city cut a library’s budget, knowing just how important reading is? According to the United Way, it is estimated that the cost of illiteracy to business and the taxpayer is $20 billion per year. And, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 50 percent of the nation’s unemployed youth age 16-21 are functional illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.

Now, knowing just those two statistics (and believe me, there are more), wouldn’t it make sense to not only not cut a library’s budget, but to also raise it? Reading and literacy are so important, and yet more and more people see the library and reading books as a thing of the past. It’s time to get the word out. Tell your friends, family and neighbors that the library needs you. Go, take out some books. Volunteer. Pay your overdue fines. Do what’s in your power to help your community’s library before it goes the way of the 8-track.

Bald Eagle Milestone

Our nation’s symbol of pride, the American bald eagle, has hit a major milestone in its reintroduction to New Jersey. After numbers of nesting eagles declined by the early 1980’s due to the use of DDT (only one nesting pair was counted in NJ in the early 80’s), a reintroduction program started and eaglets were released. Today there are 102 nesting pairs in 18 of NJ’s 21 counties. Congratulations, Sam Eagle, your offspring are going strong!