October---(10-2-97)**(10-9-97)**(10-16-97)**(10-23-97)**(10-30-97)
November-(11-6-97)**(11-13-97)**(11-20-97)**(11-27-97)
December-(12-4-97)**(12-11-97)**(12-18-97)**(12-25-97)
January---(1-1-98)**(1-8-98)**(1-15-98)**(1-22-98)**(1-29-98)
February--(2-5-98)**(2-12-98)**(2-19-98)**(2-26-98)
March-----(3-5-98)**(3-12-98)**(3-19-98)**(3-26-98)

Our state legislators promised us two years ago, that if we reelected them, they'd take care of our problem of having the highest auto insurance rates in the nation.
Last fall, Governor Whitman also promised us that auto insurance would be her top priority if we reelected her to another four years. We're almost four months into the new year, and our legislators are still undecided on how to solve this problem.
I still like the plan to place an additional tax on gasoline to cover the basic liability coverage. Everyone would pay for coverage as you drive. The more miles you travel, the more you would pay. If you only traveled a few miles a year, you'd pay less.
You would still buy additional coverage, plus collision and comprehensive, from a local agent, but the basics would be covered and we would eliminate the uninsured motorist, which is estimated to be over 300,000 cars in the state.
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If the legislators can't agree on this, or any other plan, I'11 make another suggestion. Why not eliminate all laws that make insurance compulsory?
We had a system like that for years, and it worked. It wasn't the best system, but it was better than what we have today, and the cost was considerably less.
Treat auto insurance like we treat homeowners insurance. If you don't buy insurance on your home, and it burns down, you're just stupid and out of luck.
Unless your home is mortgaged, and the lender requires it aspart of the loan, there are no laws that mandate you to buy coverage to protect it.
You take your chances of losing everything if you're uninsured and someone trips and is injured on your property. The law doesn't seem to care about this, but you can't do the same with your car. Doesn't make sense, does it?
If the lawmakers really wanted to be fair to us, they'd devise` a plan that would let us buy insurance that covers the driver, instead of the vehicle, and would eliminate laws that dictate how the insurance companies can sell coverage.
If I was a good driver, I'd pay less because the insurance companies would be after my business. If I was a driver with a bad record, I'd have to pay more to en- courage the companies to accept me as a risk.
This is called free enterprise, and it works perfectly until the government gets involved and screws it up with laws that don't make sense.
In the case of New Jersey, it's gotten so bad that we end up with rates that only someone on a legislator's part time pay $35,000 a year can afford.
You can do something. Call-Assemblyman Jack Collins' Woodstown office at 769-3633 and tell him you want something done about our high insurance rates. Your call can make a difference... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

I came across some interesting statistics the other day. Some of them are truly amazing. Such as...
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Of everyone who was ever born on this planet, 51 percent are alive today. That percentage will continue to balloon as the population explodes.
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In the United States, 40 percent of the homes control 70 percent of the disposable income. And the gap between the "haves and have nets" continues to grow.
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Out of the 8760 hours in each year, about 2,000 hours are spent working. Another 3,500 go towards personal time, such as watching tv, reading, etc.
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It is estimated that eventually, anyone not possesstng computer keyboarding skills will be unemployable.
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The days of printed encyclopedias are over. Only five percent are still produced that way. Most are available on CD-ROMs which come bundled with new computers. Actually I still own a set of printed encyclopedias, but admit that I usually turn to Microsoft's Encarta, which is well organized, quick to use and a lot of fun.
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There are approxjmately 250 million computers worldwide, with the U.S. having a computer in one out of ten households.
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Looking for a state job with good pay in New Jersey? Call your state legislator and tell him to let you know when a vacancy occurs in one of the good paying jobs. How about director of Aeronautics at $75,962 a year. Or maybe you could be director of outdoor advertising at $71,726. How about the executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission at $65,000. That pays better than a member of the Commission on Native American Affairs, which is unsalaried, but may be reimbursed for expenses.
If you really want a great paying state job, put in your application now for one of the boards or commissions.
Membership on the Board of Public Utilities will get you a paycheck of $92,500. That's a little better than the Casino Control Commission, which only pays $90,000.
If you're looking for somethine a little less strenuous, try out for the Executive Officer of the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, which oversees binge games at $60,534.
And just think how many cars it takes to cross our bridges to make up the $102,269 salary of the director of the Joint Toll Bridge Commission. Of course, the actual operation of the biggest bridges is under the direction of the director of the Delaware River Port Authority, who is paid $135,000.
If you're starting to get "hot" about these salaries, then you'd be perfect for the directorship of the Northeast Interstate Low Level Radioactive Waste Commission at $66,000 a year... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

Seems as though a lot of people are worried about what has become known as the "Year 2000 Problem". Once again, I'm here to offer a solution that is so simple, I can guarantee you it won't be used.
A lot of people think the problem is only related to computers, who generally have only two numeric digits for the year. Many computers, who read 99 as 1999, will think that 00 is referring to 1900.
If you wake up with a hangover on January 2, 2000 and get bill for $2 zillion dollars on your loan payment, saying you owe 99 years of compounded interest, you'll know that your bank hasn't fixed the problem yet.
But the problem isn't only a computer one. The Associated Press recently reported on a Problem with people who have had gravestones pre-inscribed with a "19___" that only needed to have the last two digits filled in after death.
Since people are living longer many will need to have the "19" filled in and a "20___" put in its place, at a cost of a lot of money. And who wants a headstone with a portion chiseled out and a piece added back in?
Every restaurant in the world has piles of sales books with, a line for the date, and a "19" ready for the year to be placed after it. The cost of replacing these books could double the price of a hamburger and lead to worldwide inflation.
Every one of my checks also has a 19 ready to be filled in with the year. Could the banking business come to a screeching halt when companies start returning checks with dates from 100 years ago?
I'm surprised that no one else has come up with my idea to solve the problem. It's really not an original idea, since the post office has been using it for years on, rural routes, before the new 9-1-1 change. I've just adapted it.
When someone had a new home built between 1999 Main Road and 2000 Main Road, they'd just add a 1999A. We could do the same thing with the calendars and this would give us 26 years to figure out how to solve the problem and let us direct our attention to more important things, like the Clinton sex scandal.
And if it took more than 26 years, like things controlled by the government usually do, we could just add an -AA after that.
Sure it'd take a little work to figure out a date, but kindergarten kids could be taught their ABCs a little differently, such as A-1, B-2, C-3, etc. And could it be any more cumbersome than trying to figure out your income tax return with 19,000 pages of tax law?
Computers could just have a little loop program added to them telling them that when they see a 9A, just to consider it one year higher than 99.
Someday, in the year 1999ZZZB, my great-great grandchildren will probably read about me in their history books while the government is still trying to figure out the "year 2000 problem"...

** Franklin Township's police department and volunteers have been stretched to the limits during the past few weeks, and in my opinion, deserve a big 'thank you' from the community.
The murders in the center of Franklinville are continuing to take their toll on the police department, who must assign manpower to solving this difficult crime. Countless hours are necessary in investigating a crime of this magnitude along with addressing the contlnumg concerns of the neighbors.
To have a shootout in the center of town, with two killed and one injured takes a toll on the entire community, but especially on those who have to be first on the scene to render assistance and first aid.
The Township also suffered its first fatal fire in years with the death of Louis DeMatteo in his Malaga home. There is probably nothing that affects a firefighter as much as having fire claim a life.
And then last week two young high school students were killed in an accident involving a firefighter answering a fire call. In total, this has been a horrible start to a new year for our emergency services.
Franklin Township is broken down into five fire districts, while the ambulance corps has four stations. By doing it this way, emergency services are spread out so that response time is cut down to a minimum.
There have always been friendly, and sometimes not so friendly, rivalries among the firefighters and EMTs. You'll often hear station members bragging that they have the best equipment, fastest response time, or best trained staff. Just ask any group of firefighters what the best color Is for a truck and see how you can get a friendly argument started.
There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, a friendly rivalry keeps each station on their toes and trying to do a better job. Every station should also be ready to accept constructive criticism, with an eye on making our volunteers even better than they are today.
Franklin Towdship has some of the best trained and dedicated volunteers that I've ever encountered, and in the 30 plus years that I've been doing this job, I've seen a lot. I'd put up our volunteers against any paid department, and have no doubt we'd come out the winners.
Our volunteers spend countless hours training and retraining, in an effort to save the lives and property of you, the residents.
Each of our fire companies and ambulance stations are always looking for new members and are alutious to talk to you if you have an interest.
You can call the county communications center at 694-0911 and tell the dispatcher that you're interested in becoming a firefighter or EMT. They'll determine where you live and have the Chief or Station Lieutenant contact you.
There is probably nothing a person can do that is more important than giving his or her time to benefit saving lives and property. If you've got a few extra hours, please volunteer. You'll be glad you did...Don'tcha think... or Don't ya:,

** It's that time of the year again when People are starting to think about home Improvements. All too often we read stories about elderly people getting taken by rip-off artist m the home repair business.
I'm not a scam prevention syecialist, and won't offer you a complete list of things that you should do to prevent being rlpped off, but I will caution you to use common sense.
Common sense in that no reputable businessman can do a job for nothing. If someone offers to seal your driveway for $50, or to clean your basement for $25, think twice before doing business with. them, especially if they're going door to door seeking work.
Always remember, if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Too many people have ended up with a gooey mess on their driveway after the workmen have left the area. Others have found out that the junk in the cellar isn't the only things missing when the workers leave.
Before doing business with anyone who is going to be doing a dangerous job, such as putting on a new roof or cutting down a tree on your property, make sure that they have the proper insurance. Ask for an Insurance certificate that has at least $300,000 in coverage. Don't assume that your homeowners policy will cover workmen on your property in all circumstances, since it may not.
You don't need to find out that your homeowners insurance doesn't cover a situation after the fact. You could end up losing your home and life savings.
Most reputable businesses will offer you a free estimate and will not pressure you to buy immediately or lose that "special price". Make sure that you get the price quote in writing and that you state that you won't be responsiple for any additional work unless It is also agreed upon in writing.
If a price doesn't seem fair to you, don't hesitate to obtain other estimates. Make sure that the estimate details exactly what is going to be done, and what materials are going to be used. Find out if the contractor will be responsible for cleaning up, etc.
You can also ask the contractor to supply you with a list of people in the area who have used their services recently. If possible ride by the address or call the people. I know that I've never been hesitant to offer a recommendation of a contractor that has done a good job for me.
You should also make sure the estimate spells out the terms of payment. DO NOT, and I emphasize this, pay for the entire job before it is completed.
It is not unusual for a contractor to seek a portion of the cost before starting work. I don't think that it's unfair to pay for 50% of the job when the materials arrive on the job. On small jobs I don't pay the balance until the job is complete and I'm satisfied. Larger jobs may need the remaining 50% to be paid in installments, but always hold back a sufficient amount to insure the job is completed.
I also like to use a contract that spells out when the job will be done and how long it will take. All too many contractors start too many jobs and don't concentrate on getting any of them done. Most reputable contractors will agree on a performance clause that has penalties if they don't complete the job on time, unless the delay is caused by a valid reason.
Use a little common sense and get that home and yard ready for spring. You'll thank yourself in the long run...Don'tcha think... or Don't ya

*** With the way those large, out of area banks change their names they ought to use signs with the removable letters to make the frequent name changes easier. We're quite lucky that we have a half dozen or so local area banks that have been here for years that we can deal with. Having dealt with both local, and banks headquartered out of the area, I can honestly Say that I've always been treated better at a locally owned bank.
I finally pulled one account from an out of area bank that insisted that I needed new checks with a new account number because they changed their name and owner. When they wanted to charge me for the new checks I quickly closed the account.
Another great thing about using a local bank is that your money stays here, in the community, to be used to finance homes, business and other projects that benefit us all.
If you're not using one of our local banks, why not open up an account and see if I'm not right?
And I still can't figure out why some of those account numbers are bigger than the number of people on earth. My American Express card number has 15 digits. That gives them 999 trillion combinations. That's 200 times bigger than the national debt, which is a number larger than I can think about.
Here's a great idea that I heard about recently. A number of people have figured out how to rid themselves of telemarketers making calls at supper time with a caller I.D. unit. But they haven't been able to get rid of the junk mail. That's where this idea comes in. Tear off all the address labels from your junk mail so you can't be identified and save the rest. When someone sends you a business reply envelope with the postage prepaid, stuff all your unwanted junk mail into the prepaid envelope and mail it. The more you stuff-in the envelope the better. It costs a fortune in postage for these pieces and if enough people do this, it will slow the volume of junk mail you get considerably. A side benefit of this is that the post office will make a good profit and won't have to raise the rates of first class mail. A win-win situation.
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Fresh out of Trenton... Assemblyman John Roberts of Camden has introduced a bill to make towns who use state police services pay for them. Seems only fair since if you live in a town with police protection you pay for it and for a share of the other towns' state police services. Last year it cost $44 million to provide state police protection for the 74·full time, and 24 part time municipalities who use this service.
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Now that a judge has ruled that the PGA's rule about having to walk during a tournament is invalid, can it be long before someone takes this even a step further and we have NBA players in wheelchairs? Sorry folks, this one doesn't make any sense to me. Although there were times when I thought a couple of Phillies outfielders would have moved faster that way... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

**... I recently read an article that mentioned that prime real estate in New York City was going for more than $500 per square foot. That's over $20 million per acre. And to think that all of Manhattan was purchased for some trinkets. That's a return better than last year's mutual funds... I can remember not that many years ago when building lots were available in South Jersey at $500 each. Quite a bit bigger than a square foot too.
My congratulations go out to Governor Bush of Texas on his decision not to stop the execution of Karla Faye Tucker. If every person in prison who claimed to be innocent or reformed was released tomorrow, our corrections budget would drop to zero. The death penalty was applied in this case for a brutal murder of two people with a pick ax. It was right and just for anyone committing such a crime, man or woman.
Despite borrowing $2.8 billion last year for the state's pension system, a debt that your grandchildren will still be paying for, the state still has to come up with $453 million on July 1st. When are we going to learn that we can't mortgage our next generation's future to pay for our extravagances?
The cost for ABC to broadcast Monday Night Football is going to be $550 million a year, or about $30 million a game. The network is now trying to get it's affiliates to cough up $50 million to help supplement the cost. I wonder how many of them will ante up? Look for the cost of broadcast tv commercials to skyrocket if they do, at the same time that network tv is losing viewers at a record rate.
I can't help wonder why my tax dollars should be used in a futile effort to re- build coastal beaches after each major storm. A heck of a lot of this beach is in front of expensive private homes and boils down to being welfare for the rich. It's time to put an end to this insanity.
I've had enough of the Clinton sex jokes. They've gon'e from being funny to just plain pathetic. The moral fabric of this nation has a big rip in it, and it's sad that a majority of people don't think anything should be done if the president is lying. Our system of justice will only work if we can be sure that people tell the truth under oath, and that if they purger themselves, severe penalties will result.
If the president, who is the top law enforcement officer in our nation, is proven to have lied under oath, I can think of no less a penalty that removal from office. If we can't expect the truth under oath from our President, how can we expect it from anyone else. And without a penalty for lying, our judicial system ceases to work. Not a nice thought... Don't cha think... or Don't ya?

In the very near future, Probably before next fall, we'll be getting a new area code for our telephones Those of us in Cumberland, Salem and Gloucester counties are gomg to have to get used to
not having the "609" in front of our phone numbers.
Phone officials tell us that we're running out of numbers in the "609" area code. They expect the new area code to last until 2005, at which time they think it will fill up and have to be split again.
This absolutely makes no sense to me. If they know this is going to happen agam so soon, why don't they address it now. Why not just go ahead and assign an area code to each of the five counties that will be affected by the "609" change and give us 20 or 30 years before a change is necessary.
Personally, I don't know why the didn't avoid this mess altogether by assigning a different area code to fax machines and mobile phones.
I already have to dial an area code on my car phone whenever I'm out of my local calling area and my car phone is preprogrammed with the area codes already in it for my most frequently called numbers. The same is true of my fax machine.
We could probably put off an area code change for decades if the phone company would just reassign the new code to fax machines and mobile phones.
With the seven digits available after the area code, we have 10 million numbers available. Most businesses have several phone lines, all with different numbers. If the main number is busy, the call is automatically switched to the next line.
Why not just program the main phone company computer to use the same number for all the company's lines and switch them automatically without a different number for each line. This could save hundreds of thousands of numbers.
The cost to business to have an area code change will be huge. Stationary will have to be reprtnted, phone systems reprogrammed, and business will be lost when out of area firms try to reach them and give up when they get another party.
And what about adding an eighth digit to a phone number. That would give us 90 million more numbers in each area code.
People today are use to big numbers. We use a nine digit social security number for many things. I have account numbers on credit card bills and payment books that have more numbers on them than stars in the universe.
Seven digits is not a universal standard for phone numbers. Many European countries use various combinations of digits for their telephones.
Would an eight digit be so difficult if it allowed us not to have to dial an area code each time we wanted to make a medium distance call of ten or twenty miles?
And to think that 40 years ago I could pick up the phone and when the operator said "number please" I'd reply 179-1J2 and be talking to mom. Now I hit an additional digit and get a busy signal. That's progress... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

** Leave it to Bill Clinton to give a whole new reason for young boys in America to want to become President.
What are you going to tell your son when he comes to you and says that he wants to grow up to be President so he can have all the girls he wants and can lie and cheat and get away with it?
Personally, the girl thing doesn't upset me as much as the lying does. I think we in America expect our leaders to have the courage, when they make a mistake, to stand up and say so.
We all knew that Bill Clinton had the morals of an alley cat when he was first elected. Reports from the last few days have leaked out that he admitted his Gennifer Flowers affair in depositions that he made in the Paula Jones case.
He's not the first President to stray. We know about FDR's affair, Eisenhower's while a general and Kennedy's White House exploits are legendary. The manner in which Vice President Rockefeller died has was one of the most talked about things in Washington for a long time.
Clinton's predecessors at least had the good sense to choose women who kept their mouths shut and didn't cast a black mark on the highest office in the land. Of course, one could make the argument that it isn't the class of woman, but the class of man in the President's office that made a difference.
It seems as though Clinton thinks it's alright to distort the truth or to use carefully worded phrases to attempt to make a situation appear differently than it happened. As Americans we don't like this type of behavior from our President.
When we found out that President Johnson had lied to us about the Gulf of Tonkin we felt anger and revolt much like we did over Kennedy's Bay of Pigs fiasco. Lies brought down Richard Nixon and have to wait and see where Clinton's deception takes him...
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In our "Dumber Than Dirt" notebook, Paul Breakfield, a disc jockey with WFBC in Greenville, SC, was recently charged with reckless driving and given 240 hours of community service. Seems that Breakfield, in a tribute to blind musician Ray Charles, decided to drive his car blindfolded on Interstate 395.
His producer was in the passenger seat and was giving him instructions. Come on people, how stupid can you get? Anyone that dumb should have had his license permanently revoked.
Then again, maybe Breakfield should apply for a chauffeurs job around the White House. President Clinton could then have use of the back seat of the Presidential Lime without having to worry about who was seeing what...Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

**The recent ice storm a few hundred miles north of us got me thinking of just how dependent we are on those ribbons of wire that run into our homes.
A huge ice storm took down power and communication line in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Millions of people were left without power or phones as a result of the storm. Thousands were still without power, two weeks after the storm moved out of the area.
Can you imagine what it would be like to go two weeks without electrical power?
For most of us the loss of electric also means the loss of heat in our homes. Even if you have natural or bottled gas heat, an electric blower is usually needed to distribute the heat throughout the home.
Unless you are hooked up to a municipal water system, a power loss also means an end to your water supply. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, you could melt and boil the ice or snow to provide drinking water, but it is a slow process and until you've tried it, you can't imagine how much snow it takes to make a pot of water.
Many people in the affected area were able to go to emergency shelters, such as schools, that had their own generators and were able to provide heat and food for the victims. But their homes were left to the elements, with frozen and cracked water pipes to be dealt with when residents returned.
Could a similar situation happen here?
Although not as likely as in the far north, it has and could happen here again. While it is probably impractical to try and provide for every possible emergency, there are a few practical things you can do in a similar situation.
If you don't have a standby heat source that isn't dependent on electric, learn how to turn off your water pump. You probably have a valve on the bottom of your water heater that can be used to allow gravity to drain the pipes in your house.
While it's a pain to do, it's a lot easier to drain the water than to fix the problems that broken pipes can cause. Keep a gallon or two of recreational vehicle antifreeze on hand that you can pour into your toilets and drains to keep them from freezing. It's available for a few dollars a gallon and will last years if unopened.
A few candles in jars will provide a warm glow, as well as soothing smells during the blackout. You should have a flashlight, battery powered radio and spare batteries so you can keep abreast of the latest developments and how long officials expect the power to be out. You'll also be advised of the nearest shelter.
Use extreme caution with alternate heat sources that aren't vented to the outside. Many people in the last few weeks suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning when they used unvented heaters to keep warm.
If you take an hour or two to prepare for the worst now, it could save you hundreds of hours of cleanup later. Remember the Boy Scout motto and "Always be prepared." That's good advice...

My Granddaddy was quick to point out to me that "there ain't no free lunch." Obviously some of our state legislators didn't have granddaddys that were so smart.
Recently our state lawmakers introduced legislation that sounds so good that hardly no one can vote against it. It is a bill that would freeze the property taxes of eligible senior citizens.
What none of the press releases point out is, who is going to make up the difference in the amount of taxes that will no longer be paid for by the seniors. None of them are telling you that it will be a tax increase for anyone who is not an eligible senior. And, in fact, most seniors will not be eligible. Yep, a lot of seniors are going to see their tax bills go up due to this bill.
In the State Assembly, the bill is sponsored by Speaker Jack Collins of Pittsgrove Township. The Senate version is co-sponsored by Senator John Matheussen of Washington Township.
What I'd like to see is the legislature work as hard on giving us real tax reform as they do on promoting them-selves to special interest groups.
Why not get the governing body together with the Governor and work on reducing the budget. Every dollar cut off the budget is a real tax reduction for everyone in the state.
Fact: The state budget is 1,000 times bigger in 1997 than it was in 1950. To put that in perspective, you'd have to be making $100,000 today for every $1,000 you made in 1950.
And our Legislators are still crying poor mouth, saying they need at least another $10,000 to their $35,000 part time salaries to keep pace with the rate of inflation. Bull! They're the reason the rate of inflation has risen so much.
What I'd like to see is legislative salaries pegged to my property taxes and automobile insurance. Since they want to mandate what coverage I must have, and programs I must pay for, then their salaries should be adjusted by increases or decreases in those items.
I'd be willing to raise their salaries $1000 for every $100 they saved me in property taxes or auto insurance. Conversely, they should lose $1,000 for every $100 they go up.
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Theodore Kaczynski may not fit the legal definition of being insane, but he's not the kind of person I'd want living next door to me. I can't imagine sitting on a jury and not having questions about the sanity of a hermit living in a 200 square foot cabin in the deep woods who felt he could save the world by eliminating modern technology.
Why doesn't the federal government accept his offer to plead guilty in return for a life sentence? Wouldn't this save the taxpayers millions of dollars for a trial that would probably turn into a media circus?
To pursue the government's course may lead to the death sentence for the Unibomber. But even if it does, it will still mean years of appeals, and the chance that he will die in prison before the execution is ever carried out. Let's add a little bit of common sense to the judicial system.. ...Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?.

I can't help but wonder how our prisons got into the shape that they currently are. Prisoners are peimitted appliances and entertainment centers in their two man rooms, as well as other perks.
Top prison officials say that by permitting the men to live more like they would on the outside, it makes prison life more bearable and results in fewer problems between the prisoners and the staff.
I was under the mistaken idea that you were sent to prison to pay a debt to society, and that it was supposed to be bad enough to be a deterrent so you wouldn't want to be sent back.
Last fall when I wrote a story on parole reform, I was permitted to attend the hearings at the new Southwood Prison in Bridgeton. One thing I noticed was that everyone was wearing different clothing, and if the guards weren't in uniforms, it would have been impossible to distinguish them from the prisoners.
Many people probably think that prisoners live in conditions similar to those in one of my favorite old movies, "Cool Hand Luke" starririg Paul Newman Luke is an inmate in a southern prison where everyone wears a striped uniforn and is only permitted out with chains attached to his ankle.
In reality the new prison was more like a college dorm, except for the razor wire fences surrounding the buildings. Spacious areas were separated by a combination of concrete block on the bottoms with glass walls on the top. After all, it should be nice when we taxpayers pay out $100,000 a bed.
I couldn't help wonder how the authorities would distinguish a prisoner if he escaped from the facility and was wearing street clothes. And I couldn't help wonder why they weren't required to wear a uniform.
Since last fall, former Corrections Commissioner William Fauve, who had the largest department overtime bills ever in the state, has resigned. Acting Commissioner Gary Hilton has put out an order that effective May 1st, prisoners will no longer be able to possess or wear street clothing.
From now on each inmate will be issued prison clothing, which will consist of khaki pants and Shirts, a white dress shirt for visitation day, a military style jacket and wool cap, unmarked canvas sneakers, work boots and brown gloves.
I can't help wonder if the prison laundry didn't waste a lot of time keeping whites and colored clothing separate. I haven't been permitted to get closer than five feet from the washer ever since I washed a new maroon sweatshirt with a load of underwear. Of course much of them were mine, and even repeated bleachings didn't get rid of the pink tinges on my skivvies.
I'm tipping my hat to Acting Commissioner Hilton for putting some sense back into the system. He may have a long row to hoe, but uniforms will go a long way to promote discipline and order. It will also prevent inmates from fighting over a $200 pair of athletic shoes and should speed up the process of laundering prisoners clothing.
But I would suggest that after May 1st, you shouldn't go jogging in front of a prison if you're wearing a set of khakis.... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

Another year has rolled around and if you're like me, most of the resolutions we made last year went unfulfilled. Every year I resolve to lose weight and to get into better shape, but temptation always wins and I have another bowl of pasta. Since about 90 percent of all people who take weight off every year put it back on within six months of ending their diet, I don't feel so bad about not adding that to my resolution list.
This year I asked Santa for a crystal ball, so I could look into the future and then make resolutions I could keep. After thinking about it and consulting the crystal, I decided to make some New Year predictions. We'll look back at them next year and see how accurate I was.
**I predict that stories on El Nino and Princess Diana will continue to dominate the news. One supermarket tabloid will report that Princess Diana was secretly saved and now lives with JFK and Elvis.
**I predict that almost all politicians will continue to do what's politically correct rather than apply common sense to a problem.
**I predict that President Clinton will order all postal employees to take three tablets of St. John's Wort every day in order to calm their nerves and keep them from shooting one another.
**I predict that rumors of global warming will lead to the sales of even skimpier bathing suits.
**I predict that in an effort to boost sales, Christmas merchandise will go on sale in August. Mrs. Santa will parade around Deptford Mall in a bikini to stimulate interest.
**I predict that after exhausting all other possibilities, someone will conclude that an alien spacecraft shot down TWA Flight 800.
**I predict that every politician will talk about it, but your auto insurance bill will be as big, or bigger when the premiums come due.
**I predict that within one month, Sing & Snore Ernies will be readily available in stores for $30, and all those people who paid several hundred dollars for them will realize what idiots they were.
** I predict that a prominent area businessman will attempt to stop smoking through hypnotism. The hypnotist will become so frustrated with him, that he will make him believe he is a 240 pound canary, that can only fly backwards. His cat will keep him treed for a week before firemen save him.
** I predict that most of you will continue to make New Year's resolutions, and will not keep them. This is one prediction that I can almost guarantee will come true... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

**When are taxpayers in New Jersey going to have enough and stand up and demand more for our educational dollar? Advocates for poor children in the state are now urging the Department of, Education to spend another three guarters of a billion dollars a year to decrease class sizes and to provide social and health services to students in 28 poor districts.
New Jersey now spends more money on education per pupil than any other state. One of the results of that spending I has been average SAT scores that have fallen consistently below the comparable national average since 1960, with verbal scores dropping 26 points since 1972.
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that throwing more money after the problem Isn't golng to solve It. You can't remove a child from a bad environment for six hours a day and expect the other 18 hours at home not to be a-major factor.
Unless society is willing to address the problems that occur in the home, it will never be able to solve the resulting problems that happen in the classroom.
In the 1960's the Federal Government started a tragic program th7t basically said that if both parents were at home and working, no welfare beneiits were payable. Fathers abandoned the home and we ended up with single parent homes. Society soon abandoned the stigma against unwed mothers.
This social experiment failed, and we ended up with a generation ol' fntherless children. Frustrated mothers, usually only children themselves, didn't know how to deal with the situation and kids turned to gangs for support and guidance.
Maybe it's time for our legislators to turn the incentives around, and spend the money to rectify our past mistakes. Welfare bonuses, for a set period of time, could be paid if mothers and fathers agreed to live together and raise their families. Additional bonuses could be paid for children succeeding in school, maybe a $100 bonus for each "A" on a report card.
Despite what all your modern sociologists spew out about how sec'ety is better off today than yesterday, the fact is that our culture was built on a nuclear family, and has been for thousands of years.
Until we can undo the mistakes of the past 40 years and get back to reuniting families, we're going to continue to see problems in our school systems. When parents start stressing the importance of education, for whatever reason, children will begin to learn.
Until then, throwing more money at the problem is only going to give false hope and bring more frustration to parents, teachers and the general public.
The alternative, which we're doing today, is to build more prisons, at $100,000 a bed, to house frustrated individuals whose answer to escaping poverty is to steal from those who have or to sell drugs on a street corner. The choice seems clear to me;.. Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

**SLAM... The last time I got slammed was probably by my mother who wacked me for slamming the screen door. I got slammed again recently without even knowing about it,
In case you're not knowledgable about the jargon, slamming is the act of changing your telephone carrier without your knowledge.
My primary business carrier is Bell Atlantic. Under the plan that I'm on, the company bills me in six second increments at an extremely attractive rate, less than a dime a minute. Some of these plans are available to anyone, but you usually have to call Bell and request them. Prior to getting on my present plan I was paying 17 cents a minute with a one minute minimum per call.
The other day a representative from Bell called the office in order to confirm that I had switched to another local carrier. I was quick to point out that I had not authorized any company to change my service and requested that I be switched back immediately.
A few weeks ago, another local business owner had told me how she had also be slammed, and didn't know it until receiving a bill for a long distance call that was more than five times what she was used to paying.
How does the switching occur? In some cases it's Iegimate and due to the consumer failing to know what they're signing. I've been mailed checks for a dollar or two that have small print on the back noting that if you cash the check you're agreeing to switch telephone companies. I always rip these into pieces.
I've also seen people fill out coupons to enter contests. Part of the fine print gives them the right to switch your phone company when you submit the entry.
In other cases, as a phone company representative told me, the company just goes ahead and switches you. It may be done by a telephone solicitor who switches you whether you agree or not just to collect the commission. You can protect yourself. I called Bell Atlantic and asked what a consumer could do to protect themselves from being slammed. I was advised to call 1-800-339-9911 and request that a PIC Freeze be put on my lines.
When you make the request, they ask you for a piece of generally unknown information, such as your mother's maiden name, that will allow them to verify information in the future.
After you have the PIC Freeze put on, the phone carriers that you have chosen will remain in place until you request a change and verify it with the generally unknown information.
This will prevent another company from slamming you without your knowledge. Only you will be able to change your carrier.
Bell Atlantic also told me that if you are slammed you should call the company that slammed you, inform them that you did not authorize the change, and demand that your account be credited for all the unauthorized charges.
If they say that you authorized the changes, insist that they supply you with proof. Unless you signed an agreement, they won't be able to do that. You can also insist that you be changed back to your original company.
It's Your money. Get the most value you can for it and insist on sticking up for your rights... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

I can hardly believe that some members of the New Jersey Legislature are seeking a 29% percent increase in their paychecks.
Our Assemblymen and Senators now make $35,000 a year. In addition they receive $40,000 for staff aids, a furnished office paid for by the state, stationary, 10,000 postage stamps, a telephone credit card, state health insurance and a pension plan. Not bad for a part time job. What they want now is a $10,000 a year raise, and future yearly pay increases tied to the rate of inflation.
Do you, the taxpayer, really think they're worth it ? Personally, I don't.
I wouldn't mind paying them $45,000 a year, but only if they could agree that being a member of the legislature would become a full time job, and that they be forbidden to hold outside jobs.
Many of the members of the legislature are attorneys, and often hold lucrative solicitorships that pay them tens of thousands of dollars additional. Many of the members make well over $100,000 a year in public monies.
These are the same wienie whiners who couldn't do what is right for us, and get a decent automobile Insurance package passed. If they don't like the pay quit. I'm sure it won't be hard to fill the seats with people who are quite happy to work part time for that pay and benefits.
Assemblyman Jack Collins receives an additional $11,667 for serving as speaker of the house. Add that to his Rowan salary and we're talking about real money..Your money.
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Isn't it funny that auto insurance debate has quieted down now that election time has passed? Assemblyman Collins helped keep a bill off the Assembly floor earlier this year. Suppose that justifies his additional salary.
***
Glad to see that the Centerton intersection has finally been finished. It was started back in July. New curbs, a traffic light and repaving of about a thousand feet of roadway were done. If the pyramids had been built at the same rate that this road was they'd still be cuttin stone.
****
Can you remember back a few years when scientists were predicting that we were starting to go into another ice age. This year's predictions is that we have huge problem with global warming. Vice President "Spotted Owl" Gore has made this his personal campaign, leading up to the next presidential election.
The fact is that many learned scientists admit that no one can accurately predict weather trends on a short term basis. Historically, major changes have happened over long periods of time, with swings of a few degrees or so common. More rapid changes have been precipitated by major climatic catastrophes, such as a large volcanic eruptions.
It would be prudent for our politicians to move with extreme caution on this matter, especially since some proposed measures would damage our economic base. Let's sleep on it for awhile. Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

It was hard not to smile about a hard fought for treaty that was agreed to recently in Germany that makes international bribery a criminal act.
A total of 29 countries have agreed to the treaty that has been pushed for by the U.S., where it has been illegal for over 20 years to offer bribes in order to secure a contract.
What I have a hard time understanding is what exactly constitutes a bribe?
What do you call a major contribution to a political party by a local law, accounttng or engiqeering firm that then secures a lucrative contract without competitive bidding? This is done is virtuaIly every town and county in the nation.
What do you call a contribution to the Democrat or Republican National Committees that secures you a night in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House and a lucrative government contract, again done without competitive bidding?
Actually I think it's much more open and competitive to grease the palm of an official or company head to gain a contract. At least I know I'm playing on an even field. If my bribe is the bigbest and accepted I'll get the contract.
As it is now, you don't even know who the players are. And anyone who doesn't think the game is played here has their head in the sand. Except we don't call them bribes, we politely refer to them as political contributions.
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Just in time... Our thanks go out to Ken Camp of Buck Road Sport Shoppe for his number one reason to take your wife deer hunting with you. "Wives can spot a blond hair on your Jacket at a distance of 35 feet. Think of what she could do tracking your downed deer!"
Score... How many of you can remember when Vineland had its own ice skating rink? It was located in the building where Maniero's has just relocated on South Delsea Drive. Just a little ahead of its time.
Worth more dead than alive department... I can't help but wonder how many billions of dollars have been made off the death of Princess Diana? I recently saw a calendar offered for $15 dollars with 12 pictures of Diana. Come on people... get a real life!
Reports indicate that this year "Black Friday" wasn't as big a sales day as it has been In the past. Maybe it's because people have discovered merchants have previously offered deep discounts in the days just before Christmas. Or maybe it's because "Black Friday" doesn't fall on the first of the month, when welfare checks arive.
Remember to support your local merchants when doing your holiday shopping. These are the people who put profits back into the community by supporting local sports teams, etc. They're also the people who can give you the personal attention and support you deserve. Buy local or watch your town disappear... That's not something any of us want.. Don'tcha Think or...Don't Ya ???

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I spent the last week in Ireland, exploring the country's metamorphosis from an agrarian to industrial nation. Much of the change is due to Ireland being a member of the European Community (EC).
Under the proposed EC plan, member nations are free to trade with one another without the imposition of tariffs. This allows member countries to take advantage of low cost labor, which is what Ireland now has available. They can ship raw materials- into Ireland, have it assembled with inexpensive labor, and ship it back into~ their own country at less cost than they can make it at home.
The entire country seems to be prospering. The area around Dublin is growing rapidly, much as the U.S. did in the mid 1980's.
The EC is also hotly debating eliminating all of the local currencies and using one note, called the Euro. Several countries are expressing strong opposition and only the next few years will tell if the move can be successful.
It would simplify trade immensely. Currently more than a dozen different currencies are used in an area the size of Texas. Each time you move from one country to another the money must be converted. Imagine living here and having to convert your money each time you went to shop in Philadelphia, Delaware or New York.
I'm not sure how the plan will work out. The other day I was at a luncheon with Congressman LoBiondo, He stated that he was against the "fast-track" legislation that is sought by President Clinton based on our experience with NAFTA. He noted that the balance of trade between the U.S. and Mexico has not been favorable to the U.S., to the tune of several billion dollars.
One of the problems I saw in Ireland was the lack of a strong infrastructure. There are literally no highways in the entire country. Tractor trailers are avigating narrow country roads, often bordered with rock walls and no shoulders on each side.
A journey that would take an hour in the U.S. took nearly four hours in Ireland. Signs are minimal,at best and often not existent. Navigating was often done with a AAA roadmap and a Docket compass, especially in the more remote areas.
Another problem was the apparent lack of environmental standards. Much of the country still heats with pear or soft coal, the gases of which permeate the air in the cities.
To their credit, the Irish people are some of the friendliest that I've ever met. They were always willing to offer suggestions and directions. The social life still revolves around the pub, short for public house, in which you will find cold beer, a warm fire and even warmer people.
Pubs seem to be everywhere. You can drive for miles without seeing a person, and come upon a crossroad containing a pub.
The Ireland of whitewashed cottages with thatched roofs is almost nonexistent today, and will probably disappear completely in the next ten years. In its place you'll find a nation that won't be much different from what we have here. That's sort of sad... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

** I can remember as a child, my sister and I riding in a car with my parents and going over a bridge. My sister would close her eyes and tell me to let her know when we had passed over it.
I always thought she was kind of silly. After reading a report last week, I realize that she was more right than wrong.
The Associated Press did an analysis of data collected by the Federal Highway Administration and found that 31 percent of the bridges in the United States are rated as deficient.
Deficient doesn't mean that the bridge is ready to fall down. In many cases it may just be too small to handle the capacity that needs to travel over it.
But it does give you cause to wonder when you drive over th'e majority of area bridges and look dt the date they were built, which is usually inscribed on it. Many were built in the 1920's, 30's or 40's.
It wasn't that long ago that a rain swollen river led to the collapse of a bridge on the New York Thruway that ended up taking the lives of ten people. And this is a relatively new roadway.
Many other bridges and roadways weren't built to withstand today's traffic volume. The Interstate Highway System, which was started in the 1950's during the Eisenhiower Administration as a national highway system to move troops in time of war, wasn't desigfted to carry the volume of traffic that we see today.
Constant pounding by 40 ton trucks take a quick toll on bridges, as do the massive amounts of salt that is used to keep them clear of snow and ice in the northern winters.
Government officials say that they have to keep many bridges open in order to prevent massive traffic delays for long periods of time instead of closing them for preventive maintenance.
But it seems that the delays are with the government, and not with the contractors who build the bridges. We were able to see, in two area cases, of how quickly a bridge can be rebuilt when it actually has to be.
I've often'wondered why a bridge or road project can't t~e contracted out so that work is continuous, 24 hours a day,seven days a week until it is completed.
A massive storm a few months ago took out several bridges leading to Atlantic City. They were rebuilt in a matter of weeks and traffic was once again flowing over them.
And when a tire fire closed down a bridge on Interstate 95 in North Philadelphia, crews rebuilt it again in a matter of weeks.
If these projects can be done in weeks, rather than months or years, it demonstrates one thing to me... keep the government bureaucrats out of the project and it can be done with minimal impact Oh the motoring public... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

**The other day on television I was watching one of the top basketball players in the NBA trying to justify the cost of athletic shoes with his name on them.
He claimed that the shoes weren't priced too high, at over $150 a pair, and that the cost gave kids an incentive to work and save so they could buy them.
Maybe if you're making $15 million a year tossing a basketball through a hoop, $150 for a pair of sneakers can be justified, but it's got to be a burden for the average family.
How you can take two or three dollars worth of materials, put them together with foreign, low paid labor, add another 50 cents for shipping to the U.S. and then charge $150 a pair is beyond my comprehension.
It amazes me that I can buy a pair of quality, leather men's shoes, that will last for years, for less than I can buy those name brand athletic shoes. But then again, no one is being paid millions of dollars to endorse my purchase of the leather shoes.
When my son was growing up it seemed like I was always buying him a new pair of "athletic shoes." Between growing feet and just wear, two, three or four pair a year wasn't uncommon.
I can remember when I was growing up (1950s), and "sneakers" were the cheapest shoes you could buy. As.hard as it is to believe, sneakers and bluejeans weren't allowed to be worn in public schools.
I usually had three pair of shoes, one for school, one fur church, and sneakers, which were changed into as soon as you got home from school.
Sneakers were high topped, black and usually made by U.S. Keds or Redball Jets. The only people who wore white, low cuts were those who were playing tennis in little white dresses.
They were meant to provide support for feet, and not to be a fashion statement or to blink with red lights everytime you took a step.
They wore out fast, but at a couple of dollars a pair, it wasn't a major financial burden for a family, even a family with three or four kids to keep the family in "play shoes."
Somehow in the past 40 years, the shoe companies figured out, in the same way the bluejeans makers did, how to elevate their products from the bottom to the top of the clothes pricing world.
Take that pair of Keds and Wranglers, slap a designer label on them, charge $350 for the outfit and you've elevated them to fashion musts.
I've even been to black tie affairs where some people had on sneakers, jeans, a ruffled shirt, bow tie and tuxedo and no one seemed to think of it as out of place.
And yes, I'd rather be in jeans and sneakers that any other outfit. But I refuse to pay those kinds of prices for the name brands. My "bo-bo's" as my son used to call them, are just as comfortable and last just as long. The money I've saved makes watching a basketball game all that more enjoyable...Don'tcha Think or...Don't Ya ??????

**A friend of mine likes to point out that while the human mind has a qualified capacity for knowledge, its potential for stupidity is unlimited.
Some recent events in the state drive this point home.
In the first, which occurred in Millville, a 26 year old woman robbed a city bank by announcing to the teller that she had an explosive device. The woman, who was unmasked and caught on the bank's video surveillance cameras, was given an undisclosed amount of money and made her getaway... in a schoolbus.
It didn't take police long to track her down and arrest her. I can hear the radio dispatch now... "Be on the lookout for a 26 year old woman bankrobber driving a 42 foot Yellow schoolbus. She may be armed and dangerous..."
Yes, the name of the bus company and the bus number were prominently displayed on the "getaway" vehicle.
You gotta be daffy to rob a bank anyway, with all of their security systems and exploding dye bags, but you've got to be doubly dumb to use a schoolbus that you drive on a route everyday as your getaway vehicle.
In the other case, which happened in Paterson last July, the pastor of a church was arrested and charged with violating the city's noise ordinance.
Prior to his arrival, the parishioners were raising their voice in praise to the Lord, when neighbors complained and called police.
The pastor arrived and suggested that the congregation go outside and pray for a peaceful resolution to the situation. Police arrested him when his congregation started praying and singing in the street.
I find it hard to believe that when people are "making a joyful noise unto the Lord" it could be interpreted as a violation of a noise ordinance rather than a constitutional right to peacefully congregate and worship God, but it was done nonetheless.
Fortunately the judge who heard the case recently brought some common sense to the bench. He suspended all fines and court costs after noting that the worshipers were not trying to be intentionally disruptive.
Then there was the trio who robbed a North Jersey jewelry store and attempted to get away through the Lincoln Tunnel. When the car was spotted by an alert Port Authority police ofticer and he attempted to question the driver who was stopped in heavy traffic, the trio abandoned the car, and over $300,000 in jewelry, and fled on foot. They were caught a few blocks away.
But none of these events are as bad or as stupid as some of the political commercials that have been on television prior to the election.
I can't believe how campaigns could take so much information and intentionally distort it. How do politicians think they can have any credibility at all after they've been slinging mud back and forth at their opponents?
Next year I'm thinking about changing my name to "None of the Above" and running for office. The frightening part is that I would probably win... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

**One reason that newspapers are taking a bad tap in my opinion is because they continue to endorse candidates for public office.
It's like saying that they know better than the public who you should vote for.
The truth is that in many cases, the paper's editorial board is often a lot dumber than the public. Any group that can sit down and agree that it's all right to violate a persons Second Amendment rights against being able to keep and bear arms, and yet goes on defending its own First Amendment rights on the freedom of the press, can't be that smart.
The Sentinel does not run endorsements, nor do we print letters from people that are strictly political in nature.
While I won't endorse a candidate, I will tell you that I do have some strong opinions on various candidates from working with them.
I've worked with both Sean Dalton and John Matheussen who are running for the Senate. Dalton's tried to buffalo me with fancy facts and figures that he's been unable to back up when I've questioned him on them. I've found Matheussen to be a straight shooter although I don't always agree with him.
Jim Hogan is one of those people who dive into a job and always finds a way to do it better than it was done before. I can truly say he is one of the best managers that I've ever had the chance to work with.
George Geist has probably impressed me more than any other politican that I've ever met. It seems like the man is everywhere. We"ve had assemblymen in the past that I wonder if they even knew where Franklin Township and Newfield were. It seems like George is always here. He has a 100% attendance record in the Assembly and has always responded to every request that I've made of him.
In Franklin Township, Robin Young has come a long way during the three years he's been on the Township Committee. His work with the 9-1-1 program is to be commended. His opponent, Jerry Jessick has proven his capabilities while serving as a Councilman in Newfield before moving to Franklin Township. Jessick is also chairman of the County Planning Board.
I'm really disgusted with the race for the Governor's office. I can't get behind the Governor in her quest for reelection. She's had four years with a Republican legislature to get something done about automobile insurance and hasn't sueceeded. I can't believe she'll do anything in the next four.
The Democrat opponent, Senator Jim McGreevey doesn't impress me any more. He's part of the group that created the problem we have now.
So go out and vote for the candidate that YOU think will do the best job. If you're happy with an incumbent, reelect him or her. If not, vote for their opponent. The important thing is that you get out and vote. That way someone else isn't choosing a representative for you.. That's the way it should be... Don'tcha think... or Don't ya?

* The other day I received this nice catalog in the mail from the Colorado Pen Company.
The full color catalog consisted of 36 big pages just filled with pens. Page one started off with a $975 Montblanc Czar Nikolaii. It promised that this pen will "reign as your most prized writing instrument."
Heck yeah! If I paid $975 for an ink pen I'd expect it to write these weekly columns all by itself!
I can lose pens faster than any other human. Give me a good pen and by the end of the week it will be missing. In fact, I have a drawer full of ink refills that don't have pens to go with them.
I had a nice Cross that had my initials engraved on it. I hope it ended up being used by another JRK. Newfield National Bank sent me a nice pen last Christmas with their name on it. I really enjoyed that pen for the two weeks it lasted until it disappeared.
Losing pens used to bother me until I climbed a tall mountain and had "the secret of the pens" revealed to me.
"Buy em by the dozen. Only 99 cents. Cheap", said the swami. For the cost of that $975 Montblanc I can buy 13,000 Bic Sticks. Now, when someone asks me if they can borrow a pen, I don't-even give it another thought. If they walk away with it, I just reach down into the drawer and pull out another handful.
Pens have come a long way since I was a boy. Back then we still had fountain pens. I don't know how many of my shirts were ruined by a blue stain on a pocket from a leaky pen. Any kid who doesn't know what blotter paper is can truly be thankful.
Next came the cartridge fountain pen. Instead of having to dip the end of the pen into a bottle and suck up the ink with a little lever on the side of the pen, you just popped a new cartridge in.
Then came the ball point. I can remember being given a new Parker... T-Ball Jotter if I remember right. It had an ink cartridge that was about three times a normal one. I lost that pen long before it was time to refill it.
I also remember what had to be my favorite pen. It was about as big around as a baseball bat and had about a dozen cartridges in it, each one a different color. Modern technology!
By the looks of my catalog, the fountain pen is making a big comeback. On page 7, you're instructed that "slowly filling your pen from an inkwell is a relaxing antidote to. technology." Needless to say, the picture doesn't show the way it's really done. It doesn't picture the pen dripping ink on that new pair of $100 slacks you just bought, or the aforementioned ruined shirts.
Nor does it tell you how slowly the ink dried, usually being smeared illegibly as you fold the check to put it into the envelope. And you can have all this "relaxing antidote" for only $185.
Just call me old fashioned and pass the Bic...
Don'tcha Think...or Don't Ya ?

* I was trying to stay out of politics this year, but once again, I'm being forced to throw my hat into the ring.
During the last two weeks I've seen too many television commercials where the Republican and Democrat candidates for governor have been slinging mud at each other.
Both blame the other for the sad state of insurance in New Jersey. I blame them both.
The Democrats are responsible for the sorry mess that is auto insurance in New Jersey. And the Republicans have had control of all the government in New Jersey for the past four years and have done nothing to fix it.
The Democrats haven't proposed a workable plan that is better than the one we've got. And Christie's plan to reduce rates by 2546 is a sham that makes you give up your right to sue for a decrease that will only amount to a few percent on a policy that includes full coverage.
When 23 lawyers in the New Jersey legislature make a substantial part of their income from auto insurance, you can bet your sweet bippy that it ain't going to get fixed too fast.
So I've decided to run as a write-in candidate for Governor, Assemblyman and Senator. Yep, I'm running for all the seats. That way, if elected I won't have to share power with anyone else and can promise you insurance reform.
In fact, now that I'm a politician, I promise you that auto insurance will be free if you elect me. I plan to charge Pennsylvania drivers a $25 fee when they come across the bridge trying to get to their beach houses. That money will be-used to pay for our insurance.
I don't intend to live up to all my campaign promises, but I'm telling you that in advance. Yep, I'm the only candidate that is running as an honest liar.
In face, if large corporations start sending me on golf vacations overseas like many of our current legislators have been doing, I.will, at the least, send you a postcard. When was the last time you received a postcard from your present Assemblyman? Maybe it's because he's too busy trying -to juggle all those government Sobs.
As Governor/Assemblyman/Senator Jim, I'11 have enough income coming in that I won't have to look elsewhere for funds I will also name and confirm myself as the Grand Poobah of Education, and give every high school graduate an additional degree in law.
That's right, if you graduate high school you'li also,become a lawyer automatically. That way, you'll be able to further the mess our courts are in by suing without having to hire someone to do it for you.
So as you go to the polls don't forget to write me in for every open seat. I PROMISE you'll be glad you did.. Don'tcha Think...or Don't Ya ?

* She weighs 37,300 pounds empty, and 65,500 pounds fully loaded. She can cruise 5000 miles at 290 miles per hour and she is responsible for winning World War II in Europe.
She's the Aluminum Overcast, one of only a dozen flyable B-17 Bombers that are still airworthy in the world.
Recently, I received a phone call from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) that Millville would be on the Honor Tour '97, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. This is one of the few places where the Aluminum Overcast would be landing. I also learned that a few opportunities would be available to fly the old bird.
The Flying Fortress is legendary in aircraft history. A total of 12,731 were built. In fact, the first American Combat loss in World War II was a B-17 on the way to Pearl Harbor that was shot down by Japanese Zeroes.
It gained the nickname "Flying Fortress" for the firepower it carried. A total of 13 .50 caliber machine guns protected it from attack from the air. She was able to carry 17,600 pounds of bombs in her belly.
But flying her on mission after mission was not the dream of pilots in the European Theater. Losses were extremely high, especially in the early days of the war. In fact, on the first mission the Eighth Air Force flew over Berlin, over 400 B-17 crewmen were lost.
I had a friend, who has since died, who was a pilot of a B-17 over Europe during WWII. I remember his stories about the horror of having to face another mission, knowing that some of the planes in his combat box would not be coming back.
When I heard that flights and a chance to pilot the aircraft would be available I wanted to be on the list. The price wasn't cheap, but itwas really a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.
Six of us signed up for a flight that lasted about an hour and ten minutes. It gave each of us about ten minutes in the left hand pilot's seat to experience what it felt like to maneuver one of the most famous bombers ever to take to the sky.
The plane is a flying museum. The .50 cal. machine guns are still in place, and with the exception of modern radios and instruments, it is maintained as it was in WWII.
Flying the plane was a blast, but I think the most thrilling part was to sit in the bombardier's seat in the glass nose of the plane. The view is exceptional. It's like being in a flying glass bubble.
I don't imagine that the view was quite so thrilling when you saw a blast of flack in front of you and knew there was nothing to protect you from certain death.
The plane was not built for big people. In fact, I could just about squeeze through the bomb bay into the cockpit. I doubt if someone weighing more than 100 pounds could fit into the ball turret or tail gunners position.
The experience was a memorable one, as a visit to a museum should be. I know that my view of our World War II flying forces is different now than it was before the flight. That makes the experience ever more valuable..Don'tcha Think...or Don't Ya ?

**I can remember a professor in college defining a "Renaissance Man" as one who at the time, knew just about everything there was to know about everything.
I was thinking about that the other day, when I realized that I can't even keep up with what's happening in my own profession. I generally receive eight to ten trade magazines a month, and I'm lucky if I have time to open them all.
I can remember, not too many years ago,when people said that the computer would lead to a "paperless office." Now when I look around most computerized offices I see reams of computer reports, often stacked in the corner where they gather dust.
We have 24 hour news on television and can access more than we really want to know about anything on the internet.
In. fact, the "golden days" of the internet lasted about six months. Now I've almost given up using a search engine for anything on the net since I end up with 25,000 "hits" even when I severely limit my searches.
People ask me if I've seen a movie, and when I tell them I haven't been to the movies in over 10 years they look at me kind of strangely. There aren't too many movies that I want to waste an evening on. I'll wait until they come on TV. At least then I can read the papers or a book while I'm watching them.
I suffer from a bad case of information overload. Recently I've limited my subscription renewals to some magazines simply because I don't have time to read them.
Just to keep up with what's happening I usually read a half dozen newspapers aday. I'm glad I've developed the ability to skim whole pages and cull out the important stuff.
I'm finding that I've become much more selective about how I "recreate" and am learning how to say "no" to people and organizations. If I really don't get a lot of enjoyment out of it, I'm crossing it off of my list.
Not long ago, a doctor told me that he'd never been at a dying man's bedside who complained that he hadn't spent enough time at the office. That struck home.
I'm starting to realize that the one thing we can't buy more of is time. And since we don't know how much of it we have, we should make the best use of this minute.
***
I do try to use the latest technical gadgets to make my life easier and give me more time. It wasn't too many years ago when I would spend the best part of a day working in a darkroom to develop and print photographs I'd taken.
Last year I purchased a digital camera, and found that it was really only useful for late breaking pictures that I needed in a hurry. The quality just wasn't that great.
Last week I bought the new Sony Mavica and wonder why it didn't come along sooner. This thing is great. It has a 10 power zoomlens and stores the photos you just pop the floppy into the computer and open Photoshop and you've got newspaper quality photos.
This thing should save me about a hundred hours a year. I think I just might splurge and catch a movie...Don'tcha Think or.....Don't Ya ????

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