Voted NO on all funding polls. The NJ state deficit is currently at 35 Billion dollars.

This is not the time to be spending more money, we need a fiscally responsible government. Voting for more tax increases sends the wrong message.

I just want pop in and add our theatre's official writeup for the event, including the late addition of live organ music before the show:

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Saturday, November 10, 7:30PM

An 80th Anniversary Screening of "The Jazz Singer" -- The Movie That Changed Hollywood Forever Through The Introduction Of Sound.

Starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland

With Comments by Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project

This is the only anniversary-year screening scheduled for New York City and New Jersey, and the first of only two in the entire Metropolitan Area. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see this historic film on the Big Screen.

Also, working with the Afro-American Historical & Cultural Society of Jersey City the Loew's will offer a contemplation on the OTHER historical aspect of "The Jazz Singer": Blackface and the legacy of racial imagery at the movies.

Entrance music (before the movie) will be provided by Ralph Ringstad playing the Wonder Morton. You can see a video of him playing at a preview performance for members of the Garden State Theatre Organ Society on our web page http://www.loewsjersey.org or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDmjTlwsE6M . Also, visit http://www.gstos.org/wonder.htm for more information about the organ and the dedicated people restoring it.

Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors & children 12 years old and younger.



See below for more background information:



More About "The Jazz Singer" And The Coming Of Sound

The history of the movies can be divided in two: Silent vs. Sound. Today, in the age of Dolby and THX, it's tempting to think of silent movies as antique, if not inferior curios of an almost pre-historic era. But silent film was the dynamic vanguard of a new and wildly popular medium. Silent movies built Hollywood, made millions of dollars, and created the first mega stars of pop culture. Most movie goers and movie stars alike did not think they were living in an inferior era, but rather took the lack of sound for granted -- and probably assumed it would always be that way.

But inventors had been trying for years to find a way to synchronize the playback of recorded sound with the projection of moving images. All these attempts failed -- until Warner Bros. and Western Electric jointly developed something called the Vitaphone. This was a 35mm projector that had a turntable attached to it on which 16 inch disks -- similar in size to an LP record -- were played and "read" by a moving arm with a stylus on its tip -- just like a record player. The turntable was connected to the same gears that moved the film, and so if started at the same time, film and record played in sync.

Originally, Warner Bros. only expected to use its Vitaphone equipment to record music and sound effects, not dialogue. But after experimenting with recorded song in several short subject films, Warner's decided to add singing to the instrumental music it would record for an upcoming feature film, "The Jazz Singer." Accordingly, the studio signed one of the most popular Broadway singing stars of the era, Al Jolson, to star in the movie. Jolson had a dynamic, larger-than-life stage presence that audiences loved, and which was only matched by his outsized, ebullient personality. And so it was perhaps inevitable that while filming his first singing performance in the "The Jazz Singer," the irrepressible Jolson ad-libbed this dialogue: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet!"

There was an electric -- if unexpected -- alchemy between these prophetic words, Jolson's dynamic charisma and wide popularity, and the fact that for the first time ever audiences could hear a major star speaking dialogue in the course of a feature film. The public was enrapt. When "The Jazz Singer" premiered, only 200 theatres in the United States were wired for sound. Still, hundreds of thousands of people managed to see this first "talkie" anyway. The movie was a smash hit, and suddenly the public, which up until then had probably never imagined anything better, was bored with silent films. Without warning, the movie studios found their operations were obsolete, forcing them to rush to license the new Vitaphone technology and build sound studios. Virtually overnight, some stars found that their careers were over because their voices did not match the public's expectations. Cinematographers, who had developed very sophisticated techniques with their silent cameras, suddenly found that they had to essentially re-learn their craft to accommodate the new, much bulkier sound recording equipment. Theatres raced to be equipped for sound, and less than two years after "The Jazz Singer" premiered, 8,000 theatres were wired for sound.

"The Jazz Singer" is a singular moment in history -- an unexpected pivot on which everything turned and changed. Jolson's ad-libbed line was more than prophetic; with it, the Silent Era effectively came to an end, and Hollywood was born again into The Talkies.


On The Use Of Blackface In "The Jazz Singer"

Jolson performed in blackface on stage as well as in "The Jazz Singer." His use of blackface did not usually include the most exaggerated of stereotyped gestures and speech typical of minstrel shows -- Jolson in blackface sang, moved and spoke pretty much like Jolson in white face, which is to say in his own very unique style. But the fact that a major popular star such as Jolson regularly performed in a make up tradition that was rooted in the stereotyping of a whole race of people, and was perfectly accepted (indeed, encouraged) in doing so by the vast majority of audiences says something significant about racial sensibilities and sensitivities of America at the time. While we will ask our audience to remember that any film -- including "The Jazz Singer" -- should be viewed in the context of its time, there will be a display for the Theatre's lobby that addresses part of that context: the long history of stereotyping and negative imagery in the movies and how this has impacted the ways we think about one another and ourselves. We'll also ask viewers to ponder how far -- or not -- we have come.

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My problem is with the trains running through the densely populated areas of Jersey City (Hudson County).

Once the trains get out to new Jersey, they will run through less populated areas.

Sure, they will wind up in Jersey anyway, but when running through densely-populated areas, let them run thru Staten Island.

IIRC the difference in reducing the truck traffic between the Alignments is fairly minor.

N I M B Y !!!!

Ygor wrote:


























Don't you know? We all saw a UFO too at the
Brownstone Diner poised over Dennis Kucinich's head!

the lawyers advice you to say this. Additionally... the fbi follows up on people/buisiness that contribute money to a polititian. We have a standard clause we say. No I was in no way forced to contribute and I did not feel my contract was threatened in anyway if I had not tributed.

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Just a helpful reminder but if you find your car not the police, be sure to follow up with the cops and make sure your car is no longer listed as stolen. A friend of mine was approached by state police with guns drawn when his car was not properly removed from stolen car list.

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Well if we're starting a whole rant here - Not only did the cops not find the car - but we had a Lojack on the car. When we told the East District cops (7th street) they said "We don't have Lojack locators in our new squad cars - you'll have to call the state police". When I asked if they had any OLD cars with the locators they said "yeah over in the parking lot" but they wouldn't send anyone out to just turn the thing on to see if our car was in the area. When I called Lojack the representative almost had a coronary when I told him all this.

Mark again.

Bravo Earl Morgan! I commend Earl for reporting facts that no one is brave enough to report to the general public of Jersey City. If more people got involved and questioned Jersey City administration maybe it would be a better place to live for the working lower middle class.

This site seemed helpful http://www.jcvote.org/questions/index.php

Ballot Questions Summary

Public Question #1 dedicates annual revenue of an amount equal to a tax rate of 1% of the state sales tax (the amount of the state sales tax increase in July 2006) for property tax reform. ? % already is dedicated, this proposal would dedicate and additional ?%.

Citizens vote Yes or No.

Yes: dedication of tax revenue prevents the funds from being used for any other purpose. A constitutional dedication resulting from this vote can only be changed by future votes. The dedication is a step toward providing relief to property taxpayers. Property taxes in New Jersey are high compared to other forms of tax.

No: the July 2006 sales tax increase was proposed to help balance the budget. Redirecting funds will force budget cuts or borrowing to cover general spending. Redirecting funds reduces the state?s flexibility to meet changing priorities.


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Public Question #2 allows the state of New Jersey to borrow $450 million in general obligation bonds to fund stem cell research projects.

Citizens vote Yes or No.

Yes: New Jersey stem cell research is needed to respond to medically devastating diseases and injuries, and the investment helps New Jersey maintain a competitive position in the field. Grant distribution will be based on scientific merit judged by independent review, and the Treasurer must annually certify the availability of funds to cover the interest. Profits will be used to reduce the principal of the bonds.

No: With $33.7 billion in debt costing $3 billion annually in interest, this is not the time to add more debt. Finding ways to pay for individual projects without taking on debt and the accompanying interest would be more fiscally responsible. Public policy in New Jersey allows for embryonic stem cell research, which is opposed on moral grounds by some citizens. Such research should be conducted and funded by private firms if at all, not with taxpayer dollars.


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Public Question #3 allows the state of New Jersey to borrow $200 million to buy Green Acres park space, preserve farmland, buy Blue Acres land for flood management, and fund matching grants for historic preservation projects.

Citizens vote Yes or No.

Yes: the purchases are needed to support quality of life, tourism, and the economy of the state. With the state projected to reach full development in the next 30 years, we must continue to preserve open space.

No: With $33.7 billion in debt costing $3 billion annually in interest, this is not the time to add more debt. Preserving more land will inflate housing costs, disproportionately burdening middle and modest income families.


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Public Question #4 revises the state constitution in the section concerning the denial of voting rights, to change the phrase ?idiot or insane person? to ?person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting?.

Citizens vote Yes or No.

Yes: replaces strong, needlessly stigmatizing language. The amendment allows for challenges to deny suffrage of persons cognitively and emotionally impaired to be resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction.

No: the proposed language is subjective, and will be interpreted differently by different judges. Any new language should give specific criteria to determine ?capacity to understand the act of voting?.

our friends had the same thing happen... the car was stolen from hamilton park, and then found a week later, around the corner from the police station, covered in tickets. and it was not found by the cops... the friends found it.

I really think that mural is gross also .

I didn't see a pec dec, only a chest/rear delt flye mach.

The mural is the only good thing about columbus ave.

Has anyone noticed the rodents of unusual size running in and out/around that tarp next to the pawn/travel agency? They were huge and very brazen.

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I wish I'd read this before I voted.

I think the Jersey Journal does a decent job of covering Hudson County horse race stuff, but it didn't give me even a vague idea of what these ballot measures were about.

Given that I was probably the only voter who voted in Ward 14E today, I probably did a lot of damage. :(

about five years ago...Had my car stolen - reported it- they found it five days later with tickets. Paid the $165 to get it out of the impound lot, paid the report fee and cleared the tickets.

had my car for another three days or so and it got stolen again. this time I cancelled my ins and decided to write the car off in my mind.

A month later they say it's been recovered agian - with tickets. I go to the impound lot and decide I don't want the thing anymore (89 jetta book value was prob $1000) So its a $140 fee to sign it over to the state. If I don't do that then it's considered abondonaning a vehichle and I was told a warrent would be issued for my arrest after a certain perioud of time.

If I wanted to take it, I would have had to get a tow truck... I couldn't drive it away because I didn't have current insurance.

yeah, that was a bad month.
I'm amazed I still live in this town, it's so backwards.

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Are there a bunch of Republicans or Fulop voters in the Roosevelt or Lincoln buildings?

Otherwise, it's sort of hilarious to think the Board of Elections making Newport people vote across from the Salvation Army.

Totally aside from all of the unmentionable third-rail issues of race and class, it seems really mean to make voters in a city like Jersey City cross major highways to vote. People really ought to be able to walk to their polling places without crossing a 24-lane highway.

Well, all of Columbus Ave. is gross, but that medical building is the worst. I walked by yesterday morning and there was a PILE of bloody gauze, wet wee wee pads, and used syringes! Ewww. Like finding a band aid in the pool but way worst.

That whole street is sooo dirty. The mural, the bums with their furniture and toilet, the mural, the unfinished and abandoned construction with blocked off and flooded sidewalk, and a whole lot of garbage. And now that video turned "antique store". It just looks horrible.

Scooter, same thing happened to me, EXCEPT not only did it have five tickets on it, the people who stole it were involved in a hit and run, so I HAD to go to court to show the judge my copy of the theft report. Oh, and did I mention that I recoverd the car MYSELF? The week after it was stolen, I drove in ever-larger circles around my hood in another car, and finally found it.

So, just to keep score:

(1) Car was stolen.
(2) Thieves involved in hit and run a couple days later. Even though witnesses were able to get entire plate number, and even though car was reported stolen days earlier, I still got a summons in the mail ordering me to report to court for hit and run.
(3) Thieves, running low on gas, finally parked the car ten blocks from my house, where it got five parking tickets.

A stolen car that was involved in a hit and run repeatedly getting ticketed by an arm of city government---WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

I guess we live in Jersey City. We can't have nice things, like an information system that doesn't additionally penalize innocent people when life throws a curve. Really, how hard would it be to have some sort of system that informed JC residents that their stolen car is out and about? Or at least informed city agencies about the status of cars?

geeze, it is amazing how common this story has become.

my roommate's car was stolen last year as well, he reported it of course, but didn't hear from anyone for over a month. he was just days away from purchasing a new car when he finally got a phone call from the cops saying, "yeah, we found your car."

it had a pile of tickets on the windshield, and was sitting about a half mile from our apartment.

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How would you suggest we can seek the city's accountability?

Yes, today is a state legislative race. You have the opportunity to go to the polls and not vote for Sandy Cunningham or vote for her.

These are all good points in opposition, but consider there is nothing that can done to stop the trash from coming; that is, it will come either by truck or train and pass through the state on its way to landfills in Pennsylvania and Ohio and Oklahoma. A train can carry the same amount of material as hundreds of trucks.

In either alignment, the train eventually hits New Jersey anyway. If the Jersey City alignment is more likely to divert inbound freight traffic to the rails because of its proximity to the ports, then opposing it just because it runs through Jersey City makes no sense. Meanwhile, the Staten Island alignment puts the new line 20 miles south of the port and still runs through the state.

On PBS tonight Channel 13 at 10pm

Think Like a Terrorist (Pt. 2)

In 2006, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Carl Prine resumed his investigations of chemical safety in the United States, this time focusing on the nation's railroad transportation system. Prine discovered that trains loaded with toxic and explosive chemicals pass through major metropolitan areas with inadequate or no security, and in some areas present a target extremely vulnerable to terrorist attack.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/episode202/index.html

From his original article:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitts ... cialreports/s_487117.html

Terror on the Tracks:

A Jersey state mind

In the crowded New Jersey suburbs rimming New York City, the Trib found tougher chemical plant security than any other place. But track protection was no better than other states, and of 48 facilities and railroads found to have security defects by FRA, the Trib entered 12 of them in July.

At the Black Prince Distillery in Clifton, N.J., explosive tankers share space with passenger trains on New Jersey Transit's bustling Mainline from Manhattan. A Trib reporter eased past video cameras and a patrolling police cruiser three times during trips in and out of the plant and along the tracks, even while commuter cars zipped by.

That concerned Richard Ca?as, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.

"The storage of hazardous material on commuter rail lines is something to be considered and that scenario goes to my biggest fear -- mass transit," he said. "In our state, you've got a high population density. You have rail out the kazoo that moves at a lightning pace. There are things we do, like ramping up vigilance, conducting searches, doing shows of force. But this is expensive and must be sustained for it to be effective."

A Trib reporter followed bums under a bridge and through the woods to a large depot run by Conrail to service refineries stretching from Sewaren to Perth Amboy along "The Chemical Coast" line. On tracks stacked almost a mile deep with highly explosive chemicals, the reporter climbed tankers and waved at nearby trucks.

Nothing funny about that....
Zip car. $55 a day INCLUDES insurance and gas and you don't have to park it - just return it. I gave my car away a year ago and don't miss it at all.

Damn, I would be livid right now.

Bill lets towns tax sale of homes

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
By HEATHER HADDON
HERALD NEWS

As the housing market goes ice cold, local homeowners finding few bites on their "For Sale" signs could face a new obstacle -- hundreds of dollars in additional taxes charged for selling their homes.

A proposal under consideration by the Legislature would allow municipalities to tax property sales by as much as 0.1 percent. That boils down to $462.50 on a property valued at $462,500, the average sale price in North Jersey in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Proponents say the small hit for homeowners would generate thousands of dollars in revenue for cash-strapped local governments. Municipalities raise most of their revenue through property taxes, and this year, the state placed new caps on how much towns can raise their taxes.

"They've straitjacketed local governments," said William Dressel Jr., executive director of the state League of Municipalities.
Closing costs

The state legislature is considering a proposal to add a local tax on property sales. Those buying a home already are subject to many fees, and sellers typically tack on additional costs--such as the proposed tax--to the purchase price. Here's what the client of a Totowa realtor paid this month in closing costs on her $329,900 home in Hackensack:

Application fee for primary mortgage company: $795

Application free for secondary mortgage company: $365

Tax service fee: $81

Flood certification fee: $26

Hazard insurance: $210

Mortgage insurance: $709

Local taxes for three months: $2,785

Escrow for future city taxes: $3,050

Lawyer's fee: $875

Appraiser's fee: $156

Recording fee: $310

Surveyor's fee: $625

Mortgage points: $3,299

Mortgage interest pre-payment: $1,965

Miscellaneous fees (copies, mailing): $75

Total: $15,326

The estimated cost of the proposed local realty transfer fee: $329.90

For real estate agents and sellers, the proposal comes at the worst possible time, just as buyers have vanished. The New Jersey Association of Realtors has waged a high-profile campaign against the measure, running radio ads and collecting 15,000 signatures from residents in opposition, according to a spokesman.

Lawmakers representing Jersey City, one of the state's hottest housing markets, wrote the bill last year. It has yet to move from committee, but critics fear that lawmakers could pass the bill during the lame-duck legislative session beginning this week.

"This is the last thing we need to drag down the real estate market," said Kenneth Lombardi, a mortgage broker working in Wayne.

In Passaic County, the number of existing homes languishing on the market nearly doubled between October 2005 and October 2007, according to the Garden State Multiple Listing Service. Sales dropped by 25 percent during the same period.

Last year, when legislators first proposed the tax, the market hadn't fallen so flat. The proposal is based on a state fee charged whenever owners sell their property. Seeing it as a lucrative revenue generator, the state has raised it by more than 80 percent since 2003, according to the Realtors Association.

As it now stands, sellers of a $462,500 home pay $3,815 in the state realty transfer tax. These fees are often passed on to buyers, real estate agents say.

Under the proposed legislation, local governments could also tax real estate sales. If the state passes the bill, interested municipalities would have to petition to adopt the tax by putting it up for a local vote.

Currently, New Jersey allows local governments the option of taxing patrons of parking lots and hotels. At least three Passaic County municipalities now tax about 3 percent when someone stays at a local hotel. Last month, Clifton raised nearly $22,000 from the three hotels within its borders, according to the state Division of Taxation.

Dressel, of the League of Municipalities, said local taxes are vital in a state that forces municipalities to rely so heavily on property taxes.

But unlike hotel visits, realty transactions are already subject to dozens of fees. Those buying a house typically shell out at least 3 percent of the purchase price to their lender, lawyer, appraiser, broker, title agency and the state. Mary Ann Sgobba, a Totowa real estate agent, said that one of her buyers paid more than $15,000 in closing costs on a $329,900 property in Hackensack this month.

"I'm a little taken back, too," said Sgobba, thumbing through the purchase documents. "Some people aren't aware of how it adds up, especially in the last few years."

Since 2000, the emergence of new kinds of mortgages has allowed people to buy homes with little money down.

Now, after thousands of Americans defaulted on their loans, banks stopped offering those mortgages. This reversal has severely hampered the ability of lower-income people to buy a house and caused a growing panic among mortgage officers and Realtors.

Some state officials said on Monday that they don't expect the tax to pass.

"We don't view (the tax) as a panacea," said Dressel, who lobbied for 25 years to get the hotel tax passed. "But it's money that can be used to offset property taxes."

Click here

injcsince81

I'm not sure where you get that Healy likely won't be Mayor -- I would bet that you are wrong -- but I too would love to hear Fulop's stand on this.

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It is unbelievably smug of Staten Island to want to get rid of trucks on Verrazano by building a trash tunnel to Greenville, while opposing the Staten Island Tunnel Alignment!

I am not worried about Healy - when the Tunnel decision will be made, he'll likely no longer be Mayor.

Fulop may be Mayor.

I'd like to know his stand on the Trashtunnel.

Will he sell Jersey City and let trash trains run every 20 minutes through the city to build political capital in Trenton and DC?