Quote:

Me too. But unfortunately, NASA spending accounts for ~0.5% of the federal gov't's annual budget, so there are other sexier things to talk about.

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I agree. It's clear who some people will vote for: TheHookJC is for McCain/Palin and I'm for Obama/Biden.

It's the still 'undecided' that will decide this election. Who will they vote for once the curtain closes behind them? Will they show up to vote in large numbers? We shall see. The only poll that matters is the one being held on November 4.

6. It is true that BHO's professional experience is limited. But I think we can agree that experience is often overrated. For every Elway, there's a Brady. For every Buffet, there's a Gates. Whitman, Bezos. GM, Hyundai. etc. etc.

Why I support Barack Hussein Obama (BHO): 1. My son needs the federal government to reduce its deficit and debt. BHO understands that earmarks are only a trivially small part of the government spending problem. BHO recognizes that taming the current deficit and future federal debt requires big-picture moves which include investing in education and investing in health. And *gasp* selectively increasing taxes. 2. Our country has an energy problem. Both McCain and BHO essentially agree that it's foolish to spend money to buy oil from the very terrorists and despots which jeopardize our national security and make a mockery of human rights. BHO has the stronger plan - ironically because he is less enthusiastic about producing domestic oil. This is a subtle point, but a vitally important one: The less oil we have in the short term, the better chance we have of successfully developing and deploying the (labor and capital-intensive) next generation of alternative energy sources which include solar, wind, etc. 3. McCain's health insurance initiative is NOT what we need. In principle, deregulating the health insurance industry and letting them play craps with your coverage is NOT the way to go. To be clear, I am generally for free-market competition. But there is a difference when consumers choose between health plans as opposed to choosing between different consumer products/services such as TVs, jeans, doughnuts, restaurants, and cell phone plans: the stakes are low when you choose consumer products/services. If you, as a consumer buy a stale doughnut or get locked into a lousy cell phone contract, you're out a few bucks and you try again. With your health, it's no mere nuisance to find out that your insurance doesn't cover treatment for certain medical conditions or pre existing conditions or if the pricing schemes and benefit packages are so (purposely made by the insurance companies to be) opaque that you're gambling with your health. BHO's health plan isn't perfect and I don't like the government making rules, but in the case of putting the foot down on Health insurance companies, the government is the only entity that CAN lay down the rules. Ask yourself this: have you been happy with your health insurance? 4. Foreign policy. I'm for more diplomacy, for now. This isn't even about ideology, it's about pragmatism. Our fighting men and women are tired and our wallets are empty. [On a note related to point #1, Mr. McCain's promise to "freeze the budget except for defense" is a bit like saying "I'm gonna stop eating except for hamburgers and brownies."] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget 5. I can't fully relate to BHO, but I CAN vote for him. No, I didn't graduate from Harvard and I don't agree with him on many issues. But I appreciate that he gets the big-picture issues and that's important because while our chief executive rarely makes us - because in a generally free country like ours, we do that for ourselves as individuals - a bad chief executive CAN break us by making large-scale flubs (see GWB's response to Katrina, stunned paralysis immediately after 9/11- followed by wild flailing in Iraq, disoriented reaction to credit squeeze).

1. It's necessary to avoid a near-complete collapse of the economy.

2. It won't avert a recession in the short-term, but that's not a bad thing for the economy in the long term.

3. I'm concerned that without wise leadership, the economy may remain weak for a long a time.

http://www.state.nj.us/state/election ... .co.voter-form-071008.pdf


Fill it out. Mail it in. Soon.

#1 is... Hoboken.
#20 is... Newark
#21 is... E. Orange


http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/m ... ngles.moneymag/index.html

No word on if JC is #26 or #1057.

I think you may be over-analyzing the situation.

In Pittsburgh, there are potholes all over the place, but you can tell the city tries to keep up with things because one sees road-construction crews all over the place.

Here, there's minimal attempt at fixing roads. The roads that have been repaved seem fine (e.g., Manila near the tunnel).

Although I don't have inside information, I can infer a few things from a few basic facts:

1. Property taxes are pretty high around here.
2. I don't see road construction crews around the neighborhood.

The conclusion is that the city is spending our money on things other than road upkeep.

I myself am a bottom-up kinda guy. I always like to see gov't money spent on the basics first: infrastructure, schools, police/fire. But things don't always go that way, do they?

I've lived in an A-1 building for ~3 years.

They are excellent in getting stuff done.

- They were able to provide an exterminator within 4 days of our requesting one. It would've been sooner, but the exterminator's schedule didn't allow him to come sooner.

- When I pointed out that the dishwasher racks were broken/rusted, they installed a brand new dishwasher within 3 days.

- This past winter there was no heat in our apt. on a Sunday morning. I called and they fixed the heat within 2 hrs.

I know they are bound by laws to do certain things, but still, they are quite responsive about certain things, and I've been impressed.

On the downside, sometimes the lady that takes calls at A-1's office can be a bit rude.

Measles is on the rise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/health/02measles.html

"Measles outbreaks in at least seven states are expected to produce more cases in 2008 than in any other recent year, federal health officials said Thursday, warning that measles is highly contagious and can cause severe illness and even death.

There were 64 cases from January through April 25, more than in all of 2006 and the highest number during that four-month period since 2001. None have yet proved fatal, but officials said they expected the total to keep rising...."

John's Pizza
87 Sussex Street

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Since Comcast has limited competition, the answer is:

Whenever they feel like it.

http://www.stmatthewsjc.org/

An Evangelical Lutheran Church located on Wayne St between Jersey Ave and Barrow St.
Diverse, warm, and welcoming. Sermons don't stray too far from the bible.

It is not large, though and I'm not sure it will meet your condition of being "lively". We're happy here, though.

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It is definitely worth trying just because it is easy (as long as you have an ethernet cable).

I differ slightly w/ super_furry in that the possibility that the wireless connection IS your bottleneck is quite high for two reasons:

Super_furry is correct in stating that the 802.11b WiFi spec theoretically has plenty of bandwidth, but many factors degrade the signal: distance, objects/obstacles, and interference from other radio signals (including other peoples' routers).

Secondly, it is known that Mac WiFi signals are often less than optimal due to airport card positioning and the type of materials Apple uses in the casing.

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Maybe it's not your MacBook, but maybe it isn't Comcast either.
If you're connecting via WiFi, you may want to try an ethernet connection to your router.

If your WiFi connection is less than optimal, it can explain your slow downloading/streaming...

good luck!

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Agreed. BearStearns was sold to JP for $2 a share. As ludicrous as that sounds, it was even more ludicrous that Bear was trading at >$150 within the past year. The level of risk that the firm undertook was never factored into its valuation.

But then that was the whole problem with mortgage securities, wasn't it?

First visit impressions/comments: Blue eyed soul food. Great value. Vegetarians & cardiac patients need not bother. No comparison w/ frozen pierogies. If you buy Mrs. T's and think they're OK, get the handmade pierogies here and be prepared to be blown away. Stuffed cabbage is awesome. Awesome. I'm not exactly Polish. OK, I'm not remotely polish... but the proprietor still called me "honey", "darling", and (my favorite) "Luvie" indiscriminately. Next time I'll go back without my wife and see if there's something more to this. I hope this place can squeak by for a few months, because they should be OK eventually. As the posts in this thread show, this place is built for repeat business. Cheap + varied daily specials = customers coming back weekly + potential addiction problems. Negatives: No signage or menus at the store front. Instead, there is a very creepy mannequin. I'm goin' back for potato pancakes! Can't wait to try 'em.

Oh, who cares?

I remember a certain spouse saying "I didn't inhale" and "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Everyone says stupid things.

I would say it's about a cup.

Some would argue whether the stuff is really technically "salsa", but I don't care. It goes great with chips.

Their "salsa" is the best for chips.

I go there just to get a side of salsa for $1.50 and it beats any of the jarred stuff you get at the grocery store for dipping Tostitos.

The Toyota Way
by Jeffrey Liker

Quote: Actually, yes. My parents in law just dumped cable for Verizon. They're saving money, have faster internet, their TV picture seems to be subjectively clearer AND Verizon is throwing in a FREE 19" Sharp LCD TV to boot. I would switch to them in a second. Quote: Yeah, a lot of people don't put their money where their mouths are. But I do. I cancelled my comcast cable TV service completely recently. (I'm keeping the cable modem, because I have no realistic alternative. DSL would be OK, but I don't have a landline phone...) Silly as it sounds, I am, in fact, going back to rabbit ears. For most people in downtown Jersey City with an HDTV, all the major broadcast channels' (CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, ABC, etc) HD broadcasts can be obtained crystal clear, for FREE by simply plugging in a $30 indoor antenna ("rabbit ears", though they don't look like rabbit ears anymore). One example of an indoor antenna: http://www.amazon.com/Terk-HDTVa-Ampl ... ics&qid=1195095994&sr=1-1

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That's a good point, B. I'm well aware of that phenomenon. But another variable here in JC in addition to increased desirability is an increase in the number of units for rent. Many of the new constructions (Grove Point included) have increased the number of units for rent because they have realized that units intended for sale ain't gonna sell.

Bottom line is increased desirability coupled with a (corresponding) increased availability of rental units will probably lead to flat rents and flat property values for a few years...

This does suck. If the landlord thinks that there is someone out there willing to pay this rent, then he may be entitled to charge it. From a practical standpoint, it may be worth it to offer the landlord a counter offer less than the proposed rent increase. This could beneift both parties: you get to stay in the apt. that you like and the landlord maintains steady tenancy.

If you're not willing to pay the rent increase, and the landlord won't take the counter offer then you may consider moving... There are many 1 br apts. within 4 blocks renting for less than $1300 and many 2br apts renting for less than $1900.

Moving sucks, but that is what renters have to do sometimes. In today's real estate market, many tenants are being forced out of their homes because the owner has defaulted on a mortgage. That truly sucks because the renters haven't done anything wrong...

As for market conditions in JC...don't worry too much. The bubble is about to deflate and prices/rents should stabilize or decline modestly IMHO. This is simply the market at work. There simply aren't that many wealthy individuals to buy up all the new condo stock around here. Again, IMO.

Just wanted to second your opinion.
OX is good, but a bit pricey for me to go there regularly. Not a bad place to get together with a party of 8-10 for special occassions, though.

I can vouch for the steak and duck.

The space is great.
The service mediocre.

Awesome:
Hush Puppies
Ribs

Mediocre:
Mac and Cheese

My favorite restaurant in all of Jersey City.

Everything on the menu is excellent AND inexpensive.