Do us all a favor and SLOW DOWN!

I live near 2nd & Jersey. My 1990 Honda Accord got broken into 3 times in the past 3 weeks - not one thing was stolen. Just the window broken on the driver side. I think someone broke in to sleep in the car. Gross.

jediweapon wrote:
Hate to rain on your faux parade, but muskets WERE the 18th Century equivalent of uzi sub-machine guns.

And while we're on the topic of parsing prose, it's been well documented (by "liberal" as well as "conservative" Constitutional scholars) that the Founders did, in fact, specifically refer to an INDIVIDUAL right to bear arms when they wrote the Second Amendment.[/quote]

A few thoughts from our Founding Fathers on the Second Amendment:

"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Co-author of the Second Amendment
during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution, 1788

"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ?"
Richard Henry Lee
writing in Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republic, Letter XVIII, May, 1788.

"The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full posession of them."
Zachariah Johnson
Elliot's Debates, vol. 3 "The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution."

"? the people are confirmed by the next article in their right to keep and bear their private arms"
Philadelphia Federal Gazette
June 18, 1789, Pg. 2, Col. 2
Article on the Bill of Rights

"And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the Press, or the rights of Conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms; ?"
Samuel Adams
quoted in the Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer, August 20, 1789, "Propositions submitted to the Convention of this State"
The Founding Fathers on Arms

"Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence ? from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable ? the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference ? they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
George Washington
First President of the United States

"The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside ? Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."
Thomas Paine

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
Richard Henry Lee
American Statesman, 1788

"The great object is that every man be armed." and "Everyone who is able may have a gun."
Patrick Henry
American Patriot

"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in possession and under our direction and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?"
Patrick Henry
American Patriot

"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
Thomas Jefferson
Third President of the United States

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that ? it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; ? "
Thomas Jefferson
letter to Justice John Cartwright, June 5, 1824. ME 16:45.

"The best we can help for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
Alexander Hamilton
The Federalist Papers at 184-8[quote]

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I'd give that to Sidney Poitier.

dontstealmyrocks - not all insurance companies charge premium for points (up to a point).

Remember, if you do decide to take the points, I believe , your insurance will go up as well.

Did you know that if your credit score is low it affects you annual ins. premium too?

The Republicans had their chance for the past 8 years. They did not do well, to put it mildly.

As much as I hate the sleazeball Krugman playing the race card, I think that the Democrats more than deserve a shot at it.

BTW - the credit to the first post-racial public figure must go to Tiger Woods.

I had a similar experience as Boken2JC, even though my offense was a 2-point offense.

I chose to take 2 points for $90 as opposed to zero points for $350.

From what I remember a 4-point offense cannot be reduced to zero points, though, no matter how much you want to pay.

Do check with your friendly prosecutor for details.

No, it doesn't go without saying in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey.

It looks like they have a speed trap set up on Marin Blvd. There is a sign up around 9th & Marin warning of the speed limit, and I saw a cop car positioned at the fire station. This has been going on for about a week now.

is it just me, or is this one of those laws where you say "well duh, doesn't that go without saying?"

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/ ... 13072640175250.xml&coll=1



Reckless manslaughter conviction tossed out

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
BY TOM HESTER

Star-Ledger Staff

The state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a defendant who has a valid claim of self-defense cannot be convicted of reckless manslaughter for killing an attacker.

Ruling in the case of a Jersey City man sentenced to 15 years for a fatal stabbing, the court said the judge in the case wrongly told the jury that self-defense did not apply to the reckless manslaughter charge.

The 6-0 decision granting a new trial said state law makes clear that "a person who kills in the honest and reasonable belief that the protection of his own life requires the use of deadly force does not kill recklessly."

The case stems from an incident in Jersey City' Greenville neighborhood in 2003 when Wilberto Rodriguez, 41, fatally stabbed Anthony Hobbs, 23, of Jersey City with a small pocket knife after he was threatened and physically assaulted by Hobbs.

According to the court, Rodriguez was in the W.L. Mini-Market attempting to sell car radios to people in the store, when Hobbs, a store customer, asked about the price. Words were exchanged, and Hobbs threatened Rodriguez and said he would be waiting for him outside. Minutes later, Hobbs re-entered the store and attacked Rodriguez. Rodriguez responded by stabbing Hobbs in the heart. He died shortly after.

Rodriguez said he acted in self-defense. At Rodriguez's 2004 trial in Jersey City, Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan's instructions to the jury about the self-defense claim "were, at best, confusing," the high court said yesterday.

The judge told the jurors to weigh Rodriguez's self-defense claim when deliberating whether to convict him of murder, aggravated manslaughter or manslaughter -- but not when considering the charge of reckless manslaughter.

The jury acquitted him of the more serious charges but found him guilty of the reckless manslaughter count, and he was sentenced as a repeat offender to 15 years in prison.
Yesterday's decision, written by Justice Barry T. Albin, cited an earlier case in which the Supreme Court found that the Legislature's intent "was that self-defense based on a reasonable belief in the need for deadly force would constitute justification -- a complete defense -- to the charge of reckless manslaughter."

The court sent the case back to Superior Court for a new trial on the reckless manslaughter and related weapons charges.

Assistant Deputy Public Defender Michael B. Jones, who represented Rodriguez in the appeal, said his office believes there are other cases in which defendants were convicted of reckless manslaughter because a jury was not permitted to consider a self-defense argument. Jones said the Public Defender's office will look for those cases and review them.

Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa M. DeMartini argued the appeal for the prosecution.

Tom Hester may be reached at thester@starledger.com or at (609) 292-0557.

Oh man o'man, do I miss Jules on Westside.

Boken had about the same experience I did-- wait for the DA, get an offer to plea out, cut a check for approx 3x more than the price of a speeding violation in exchange for no points. If you don't want to plea out, I think they schedule you to come in again, so they can arrange to have the officer who ticketed you show up.

I got a speeding ticket in JC last year and went to court to fight it (was not going to have 4 points put on my license without a fight!) and they put all the people with traffic offenses in the courtroom with the prosecutor - I did not bring a lawyer. For first-time offenders the prosecutor offered a plea deal where you pay $350 for pleading guilty to a no-point offense (forgot what it was)... much more expensive than the $105 ticket but I did not want the points. I was there for about an hour and a half because we had to wait for the prosecutor. Just be prepared to cut the check right there because if you don't have it I think you have to come back to court at another time - or wait longer to talk to the judge. Hope this helped!

This is a little off topic, but I would also agree with not parking on Coles Street. It's a busy main thru street that gets a lot of traffic at all hours of the day and night. We used to live on 6th and Coles and our car was parked directly out front of our apartment and it was pummelled by a drunk driver at 2am who also hit 5 other cars in the process. They guy finally ran off on foot and left his smoking banged up car. He hasn't showed up for any of his multiple rescheduled court dates.

Also, on a side note...people don't always break into your car...they'll steal things on the outside of your car. Like the spare tire on our rental SUV in the middle of the FREAKIN DAY! Quote:

Sounds like an unfortunate case of friendly fire. as far as the cops kicking thugs asses , more power too em.

I used to pick up the PATH from Hoboken in the 80s for a daily commute. At that time, that station was the worst. Packed like crazy, I would watch 3 trains go by before I could inch my way closer and closer along with the throng to get near the door.

Hoboken lightened up when NJ Transit started running suburban commuter trains direct into Penn Station NY. Before, all the suburban NJ commuters would have to train into Hoboken, and then get on the Path. Now, many of them can go direct into NYC.

I moved to JC, and started taking the PATH from Grove daily. Back then, I could get on the platform (I couldn't at Hoboken - so that was a big improvement) but trains during peak commuting time would still certainly be at capacity - even back then. Outside of peak commuting time though, it was fine.

Watching all the condos go up for the last 20 years in Jersey City, I often wondered who exactly it was who thought there would be no problem with PATH handling all these new people?

I can imagine the realtors telling these buyers that all they had to do was hop on the PATH and have an easy and quick commute into the city .... little did they know my PATH car was always full at Grove during peak commuting time long before these buildings went up ...

I have a court date tomorrow for a JC speeding ticket and I am wonering what other people's experiences have been at municipal court. I know that each case is different but wondering how the process works and if anyone has ever done a plea bargain. I don't think that I have ever been in a court house before so it is more what to expect than legal advice that I am looking for.

Quote:

I'm talking about my own car. If I'm parked in front of my house I'll be able to hear if the alarm goes off and run to the window to see what's going on. If it's somebody else's alarm I'll ignore it.

I used Showcase Wood Floors two years ago and was very pleased with the result & price: David - (201) 522-9797.

June 9, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
It?s a Different Country
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Fervent supporters of Barack Obama like to say that putting him in the White House would transform America. With all due respect to the candidate, that gets it backward. Mr. Obama is an impressive speaker who has run a brilliant campaign ? but if he wins in November, it will be because our country has already been transformed.

Mr. Obama?s nomination wouldn?t have been possible 20 years ago. It?s possible today only because racial division, which has driven U.S. politics rightward for more than four decades, has lost much of its sting.

And the de-racialization of U.S. politics has implications that go far beyond the possibility that we?re about to elect an African-American president. Without racial division, the conservative message ? which has long dominated the political scene ? loses most of its effectiveness.

Take, for example, that old standby of conservatives: denouncing Big Government. Last week John McCain?s economic spokesman claimed that Barack Obama is President Bush?s true fiscal heir, because he?s ?dedicated to the recent Bush tradition of spending money on everything.?

Now, the truth is that the Bush administration?s big-spending impulses have been largely limited to defense contractors. But more to the point, the McCain campaign is deluding itself if it thinks this issue will resonate with the public.

For Americans have never disliked Big Government in general. In fact, they love Social Security and Medicare, and strongly approve of Medicaid ? which means that the three big programs that dominate domestic spending have overwhelming public support.

If Ronald Reagan and other politicians succeeded, for a time, in convincing voters that government spending was bad, it was by suggesting that bureaucrats were taking away workers? hard-earned money and giving it to you-know-who: the ?strapping young buck? using food stamps to buy T-bone steaks, the welfare queen driving her Cadillac. Take away the racial element, and Americans like government spending just fine.

But why has racial division become so much less important in American politics?

Part of the credit surely goes to Bill Clinton, who ended welfare as we knew it. I?m not saying that the end of Aid to Families With Dependent Children was an unalloyed good thing; it created a great deal of hardship. But the ?bums on welfare? played a role in political discourse vastly disproportionate to the actual expense of A.F.D.C., and welfare reform took that issue off the table.

Another large factor has been the decline in urban violence.

As the historian Rick Perlstein documents in his terrific new book ?Nixonland,? America?s hard right turn really began in 1966, when the Democrats suffered a severe setback in Congress ? and Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California.

The cause of that right turn, as Mr. Perlstein shows, was white fear of urban disorder ? and the associated fear that fair housing laws would let dangerous blacks move into white neighborhoods. ?Law and order? became the rallying cry of right-wing politicians, above all Richard Nixon, who rode that fear right into the White House.

But during the Clinton years, for reasons nobody fully understands, the wave of urban violence receded, and with it the ability of politicians to exploit Americans? fear.

It?s true that 9/11 gave the fear factor a second wind: Karl Rove accusing liberals of being soft on terrorism sounded just like Spiro Agnew accusing liberals of being soft on crime. But the G.O.P.?s credibility as America?s defender has leaked away into the sands of Iraq.

Let me add one more hypothesis: although everyone makes fun of political correctness, I?d argue that decades of pressure on public figures and the media have helped drive both overt and strongly implied racism out of our national discourse. For example, I don?t think a politician today could get away with running the infamous 1988 Willie Horton ad.

Unfortunately, the campaign against misogyny hasn?t been equally successful.

By the way, it was during the heyday of the baby boom generation that crude racism became unacceptable. Mr. Obama, who has been dismissive of the boomers? ?psychodrama,? might want to give the generation that brought about this change, fought for civil rights and protested the Vietnam War a bit more credit.

Anyway, none of this guarantees an Obama victory in November. Racial division has lost much of its sting, but not all: you can be sure that we?ll be hearing a lot more about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and all that. Moreover, despite Hillary Clinton?s gracious, eloquent concession speech, some of her supporters may yet refuse to support the Democratic nominee.

But if Mr. Obama does win, it will symbolize the great change that has taken place in America. Racial polarization used to be a dominating force in our politics ? but we?re now a different, and better, country.

I used Alpine Custom Floors (Office: 201-533-0100) a few years ago and thought they did a great job and the price was good.

How will the PATH even come close to being able to handle all the new Grove St. commuters over the next few years?



Jrnl. Sq.-33rd is the loser line....
Leaving Manhattan on the 33rd St. line at night, each Jrnl. Sq. car is already at *least* twice as crowded as the Hoboken cars I see go by. And going the other direction there are often two near-empty World Trade Center trains for every one 33rd St. train.



dependability?
I was on two cars stuck in the tunnel and then put out of service at Pavonia the last 2 weeks, and it just gets worse and worse... from their website, a sampling from the last few hours:
6/10/2008 10:35:29 AM
Due to a signal problem, train service on the Hoboken to World Trade Center line is suspended.

6/10/2008 10:06:36 AM
Due to a smoke condition, train service on the Hoboken to 33 Street line is suspended.

6/10/2008 9:56:11 AM
Due to a smoke conditions, train service on the Journal Square to 33rd Street line is suspended.

6/10/2008 1:42:41 AM
Concerning the earlier car equipment problem, train service on the Journal Square to 33rd Street (via Hoboken) line is resuming normal schedule.

6/10/2008 12:47:18 AM
Due to a car equipment problem, train service on the Journal Square to 33rd Street (via Hoboken) line is operating with a 30 minute delay.

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My first job out of college was repossessing cars for banks. I served the papers and two other guys took the car. I never saw a single instance where anyone came out to check on a car being repossessed whose alarm was going off. One guy stuck his arm out of his apartment window with his key fob and shut it off and never looked to see that we were towing his car. People walk past cars with their alarms going off.

Car alarms are worthless noise nuisances and don't stop anybody from stealing a car.

Looking for recommendations for someone to sand and varnish 650sq feet of hardwood floor.

Thanks a lot - JoC

Quote:

Ok, so let me try this without personal attacks and being totally 100% serious in my line of questioning.

Fingerprints from my perspective are similar to other "personal information" that I want to protect at all costs such as my SSN. Besides the fact that I just find it an invasion of privacy, dont you have any concern at all that either government or private industry will misuse or mishandle the data that they have collected? I mean, how frequently do you read about lost, stolen, or illegally accessed files of personal info...I'd prefer not to add my fingerprints to that scenario.

Also, I find it hard to buy that fingerprints are the way to stop financial crimes. Arent most of these crimes able to be tracked or uncovered through means like phone records, email chains, account numbers and transfers, and IP addresses? I cant see fingerprinting doing much at all to protect anyone.

Quote:

That is absolutely true, and HAS been absolutely true for as long as anyone can remember. Few cities take so very much in and yet return so very little to its citizens.

Funny that the slideshow on this "2 bedroom" condo didn't show either of the bedrooms???

Quote:

An alarm is still better than nothing. Anything that draws attention to the vehicle can help.

Quote:
I used to have a Volkswagen my car was the only car who's alarm did not go off during a 4th of July fireworks show. When there is ball playing outside my car wasn't affected by the ball bouncing off the car triggering the alarm. You have to illegaly enter the vehicle by manipulating with the car's electrical system to triger the alarm. If you live near the car when it is parked then yes get an alarm but if it's parked around the corner you're not close enough to hear it and not many people pay attention to it. I'm not sure if VW still has this type of alarm or any other manufacturers have it but it should be common on all vehicles this way the cars won't be crying wolf all the time.