I'll speak to my peeps at Dickinson this afternoon and see how many I can get.

In the meantime, let's see how much support we can build here to turn our backs on the hate. 50 of us would send a powerful message. 100 would be a great victory for Jersey City, in my opinion.

Who's in?

Wow -- amazing.

The arguers here agree with 99% of each others' positions but have spent their time hurling invective at each other over the 1% that they do happen to disagree upon. Might I suggest a truce so we can get down to figuring out what to do about the Westboro Baptist Church?

There is no disagreement that Jersey City citizens have a right to counter-protest. Let's decide how we're going to do that.

While the funny signs are good -- for these insidious people, I think a straight-up turn-your-back protest is the best. This is where we, the residents, simply turn around and face away from the hatemongers. It robs them of what they want most of all: our attention and our anger. We are giving them nothing but the signal that they do not even warrant a response other than to be ignored. Images of this sort of protest have proved powerful over the years. It was employed beautifully by a bunch of folks at George W. Bush's first inauguration parade.

I know at least a few Dickinson students that would join in, too. What do y'all think?

It would be difficult to ascertain who commissioned the poll unless someone comes clean and admits it. I see good reason for all of the mentioned potential candidates --except Healy, perhaps-- to commission such a poll.

The order in which the candidates are listed is probably randomly chosen per call to smooth out order-bias.

From the script as relayed in this thread, it seems unlikely the poll is a "push poll" meant to sway opinion. It just seems like one of the candidates is trying to assess his or her chances.

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I might agree if the $2 million saved would have otherwise been directly injected by those workers into the local Jersey City economy. But in my understanding, that's not how the economics work in this case.

My wife and I attended the opening of PASSION last night. It's playing in the basement of St. Michael's Church right across from Hamilton Park on 9th St.

The play is a sexy drama written in 1981 by Peter Nichols. In its current incarnation directed by Sandy Cockrell for JCity Theater, it provided a fascinating window into the moral tug-of-war familiar to me and probably anyone who's ever been in a long-term relationship.

The story is simple -- a young, beautiful woman comes on to a married man and complications arise. What was most interesting to me was the honesty with which the characters confronted each other and themselves while engaging in actions that were often completely dishonest.

The effectiveness of this well-written play is enhanced by very good acting and fantastic direction and production. The play moves quickly and the music (sax -- played live) adds an enormous amount to the atmosphere in the room. It gives the drama an almost smokey quality, like a scene out of a Humphrey Bogart film.

The acting is very, very good. Good enough --in fact-- that my ears quickly became accustomed to the inconsistent dialect skills among the cast. I believed the actors. Each one gave a soulful, truthful performance. And the cast is small enough that had even one of them been faking, the entire play would've been compromised.

J City Theater has been working in downtown JC for a few years now. The producers live downtown and they believe in having high-quality theater right here in downtown, which is why they take so much time and care with their performances. But you can truly forget about that in attending PASSION. The support you offer to this fledgling theater company by going to see this play will be more than paid back by the experience you take away from seeing it.

I've worked on one of J City Theater's productions personally and seen many of them; and to be honest, I haven't liked them all. But PASSION is a fine piece of live theater that I forcefully recommend.

Looking forward to the opening tonight. Love this theater company.

Great show. Looking forward to the rest.

If I were currently advising any member of the city council (which I'm not) -- I would generally advocate taking a risky, outside-the-government-status quo position on this issue. They are four years from any election where the dollars earned from developers would make a difference. In the meantime -- it's quite likely that political dynamics in JC will change enough to create the cover they will eventually need in the form of actual grass roots support. I don't know what that "risky" position is, exactly. I'm just noting that if you're a council member playing political long-ball, the smart move might be to go outside the box right now.

Councilman Fulop sent an email on Friday afternoon reporting that the police have a suspect in custody.

1 down.

They have a warrant out for the responsible party in this week's shooting and there's a bunch of police activity on Wayne right now. Hopefully, they've found the guy.

Without commenting on the veracity of the charges, specifically what about this situation makes Council President Vega unable to do his job?

Many on this forum were unhappy with his governance before these arrests. What difference does it make to his actual 'nuts and bolts' governance now?

Seems like the longtime critics may feel somewhat vindicated by this situation -- but again, what difference does it make? What evidence is there that he will govern any 'worse' -- now that he is the subject of a federal complaint -- than he did before?

Specifics would be appreciated. Thank you.

Let me get this straight:

There is a toxic, proven cancer-causing waste site on Garfield Ave and virtually everyone who's posted thus far wants it to remain so? If you or members of your family lived near to the site, wouldn't you want it cleaned up?

Remember,
1. With the passage of the settlement, work begins immediately to clean up the site. Not shovels and face masks, but the crucial step of preparing for the shovels and face masks. This work starts today.
2. There is a federal lawsuit filed against PPG that is not materially affected by this settlement. This means that while PPG is cleaning the site and giving Jersey City cash for further environmental protection, they can still be held liable by a federal court for millions more.
3. The great majority of civic leaders in that Ward support the cleanup settlement. They know that their relatives and friends have been sickened by chromium and they would prefer that the cleaning begins now, not 10 years from after a lengthy litigation which the plaintiffs could potentially lose.
4. "The biggest health risk is to do nothing and wait while standards are debated and litigation goes on that may take a decade." That is a quote from Max Costa, Phd., from his oped the Jersey Journal yesterday. He is one of the foremost experts on heavy metal carcinogenesis in the world and was the chief expert witness in the Erin Brockavitch trial among countless others.

Some criticism of the Council might be valid on some of the issues, but on this issue they made a politically difficult but correct choice.

Liberty Park is good; they do not hassle you at all. Most paths are pretty smooth though the boardwalk will shake the fillings out of your teeth due to the horizontal fashion in which the planks are laid.

If you're a little more daring, there are some fantastic hills to bomb or carve in JC:

My favorite is the almost-too curvy road leading down from Ogden Ave in the Heights. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL and only attempt this at night when there aren't many cars on the road. Those curves will kill you -- seriously -- if you are not sufficiently experienced.

A little easier is the fairly straight though very downhill road that leads down behind Christ Hospital to the Hoboken Motorcycle Club. You pick it up on CR139 just east of Palisades Ave.

Wear a helmet. Be careful. Have fun.

Should this pass, does anyone know who would be in charge of appointing the members of the commission?

Does 07302 care who the Councilpersons are in other Wards? If so, who do people want to win in these races? Answers that go beyond 'Healy and his people are terrible, therefore I want the other guy' would be greatly appreciated.

I know virtually nothing about the challengers is why I'm asking.

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Brilliant analysis, truly. Are you free for the next election?

Actually, LoraJ -- I speak for you. Jk.


Anyway just wanted to draw some attention to two videos I just found on the youtube.


The first is one that was posted today and made with footage taken last night at Grove St when Cory Booker was there in support of the Healy Team: youtube.com

The second is one I just discovered of a pretty hilarious interview C. Fulop did at some point with Melissa Surach, who IMO is the Stephen Colbert of downtown Jersey City: youtube.com

Doubt either of these will change anybody's vote, but they are entertaining.

During an election, it is a regular tactic for one candidate to claim with disappointment or outrage that they have been unfairly attacked by their opponent. I remember last summer when the McCain campaign accused then-Senator Obama of ?playing the race card from the bottom of the deck? after Obama made a truly harmless comment to a crowd one day.

Political strategists do this to elicit sympathy for their candidate from voters -- sometimes when the facts are not on their side. And they often alter the words of their opponent or opponent?s supporters to make the ?attack? seem as bad as possible.

The Fulop campaign is now engaging in this very effective tactic by claiming that people associated with the Catrillo campaign have been sending emails and such with ?misinformation? about Mr. Fulop. They have also set up a webpage to refute the ?misinformation.?

I definitely don?t begrudge the Fulop campaign the right to advocate for their candidate in any way they think appropriate. This can certainly be a dirty business but the Fulop campaign is coloring inside the lines as far as I see it.

Anyway, the Catrillo camp is up on their MySpace blog with a pretty detailed dossier which includes the Fulop campaign?s statement in its entirety and a point-by-point refutation of its assertions: blogs.myspace.com/guycatrillo

A bunch of people were talking about these issues on the ?Steven Fulop & Guy Catrillo two man race? thread.

Full disclosure: I volunteer for the Catrillo campaign.



PS. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the house. My wife is going to be a mother in a couple of months gdwilling and we're celebrating Soon-To-Be Mother's Day. I wonder if the candidates support putting that on the calendar. Thoughts?

Just returned from HEAVY CRAFT/SOFT LANDING's final performance. It is an extraordinary relief to me that this play will never be seen again.

Does anyone have a problem with the rather broad definition of the term "sex offender" as it pertains to Megan's Law? As someone on the verge of being a new father, I'd certainly like to be informed if a convicted child molester lived next door. But aren't the "sex offenders" on those public lists sometimes not those who we should fear, e.g. 18 yr old girlfriend convicted of statutory rape upon her 15 yr old boyfriend?

I'm honestly asking because I'm ignorant of how the NJ reporting law works in this regard.

"You understand that the first amendment is about protecting citizens from being punished by the government for expressing their views, right? No one suggested that the person spreading rumors should be prosecuted. The first amendment does not say that expressing oneself (especially in a poor or incorrect manner) should not have consequences to ones standing in the community. The first amendment is irrelevant."

You misunderstand.

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) is a non-profit organization. They can not inflict "consequences" as you say, on an individual member for his or her beliefs or the expression of those beliefs.

After the former-HPNA Board member in question sent this email expressing her concerns about Councilman Fulop, she was verbally accosted by the President of the HPNA and he demanded that she apologize to the HPNA for her expression of opinion. He would have had a right to do so if the Board member had violated any of the HPNA bylaws. But she did not.

Further, she was trashed over email by members of the HPNA Board who called her "stupid", among other niceties.

Nobody is suggesting that members of the HPNA committed a crime or even that action should be taken in civil court. Just that they actively attempted to stifle the opinion of one of their own due to the opposing political views that many of them hold.

I think it's striking under the circumstances that Councilman Fulop, who is well aware of the situation, has not asked the HPNA to apologize to their former member. He is not responsible for their actions, but his silence is noted. The former Board member is one of his constituents. As Councilman, shouldn't he be standing up for her rights?

The truth is that the Catrillo campaign was looking out for the rights of an HPNA Board member (since resigned) who was personally attacked for expressing her political views in an email. She has 1st Amendment rights and violated none of the HPNA bylaws in doing so.

Those who attacked her are vocal supporters of Councilman Fulop who have sent the same sorts of political emails in support of Mr. Fulop. The Catrillo campaign was correct to make an issue of this. Both because it is a winning issue; and because as a result, many who attacked the former Board member have now come forward and apologized.

Fulop should also apologize.

Full disclosure: I volunteer for the Catrillo campaign.

I think it would be awesome. Great location. Anyone know how to contact the owners?