Banned by CBS

CBS refused to run this ad for the upcoming Three Stooges movie during the NCAA college basketball tournament.

Hat tip to Bob Ingle.

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Romney Sweeps

Mitt Romney is the winner of the Maryland, DC and Wisconsin GOP presidential primaries, according to FoxNews.

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Caption Contest

Monmouth County Democratic Freeholder candidate Bill Shea, former Governor Jim Florio and Red Bank Councilman Michael DuPont:

Write your own caption in the comments, please.

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The Christies Meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

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You can fool some of the people some of the time…..

Monmouth County GOP nominee for Congress Ernesto Cullari’s campaign manager, Charles Measley, just called from Trenton where he and Cullari were filing petitions with 319 signatures for the 6th District GOP primary election.

Measley said that a reporter from The Star Ledger asked Cullari what he thought of Anna Little quitting politics to become a singer.

Cullari told the reporter he didn’t know what to think and that Little seems to keep changing her mind about what office she wants to seek, according to Measley.

In case you missed it, yesterday was April 1.

Measley said that by the time he left the Secretary of State’s office at about 1PM, neither Little or anyone from her team had arrived to file petitions. No fooling.  The deadline is 4PM.

Update

Little arrived at the Secretary of State’s office to file her petitions at about 2:30.

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The New Justice

By James Fitzmaurice

I am hoping that the tragedy of the Trayvon Martin incident and all of the ensuing drama will become a teachable moment for all of us and also a call to reflect on our own reactions to the story.

On social media, thousands of people were posting the message, “Justice for Trayvon”, with an account of what allegedly happen on that night. The thing that struck me most about the ubiquitous postings was that in order to repost “Justice for Trayvon”, one must accept the premise that justice will NOT be served.

In my schools and at home we learned not to pre- judge anyone because of skin color, race or creed. The lesson was simple enough; but that was before a new language was introduced to deal with our differences and with it a philosophy that has undermined race relations and pitted all types of “groups” against others, despite the indisputable fact that the intention was to overcome our differences and to learn to get along. If you are under 40 years old you have never known any different.

My questions are: Why did so many people automatically jump to the conclusion that justice cannot be served? Why did the media use old pictures instead of more recent and accurate pictures? Why did the New York Times refer to Mr. Zimmerman as a “white” Hispanic? Why is it that the Attorney General has no interest in the New Black Panther party placing a bounty on the head of a private citizen? Why did the president think that his comments regarding the matter were appropriate? Why did Trayvon’s mom use the plural (they) instead of the singular (he) when speaking of her son’s shooting? Why did Spike Lee tweet the (wrong) address of the Zimmerman family? Please notice that I have not included the more incendiary comments and charges. Where does one learn this behavior? Could it be the same place they learn that Black children learn differently than White children, and that all “cultures”, instead of all “Individuals” are equal? Is it the same place where they learn about victimhood, institutional racism and group identity politics?

Multiculturalism is a philosophy that pretends to be a uniting system of tolerance and diversity. In actual practice it is exactly the opposite. The insidious genius of Multiculturalism is in placing some “groups” in a position where they are forced to accept the original sin of past deeds and prejudices’ of unrelated ancestors and similar “colored” people, while forgiving others from being personally responsible for their own actions due to injustices of the past. It also asks decent and fair minded people to defend themselves against unwarranted charges of racism by proving that they are not racist.

The philosophy of multiculturalism actually is a very divisive form of tribalism and collectivism. Multiculturalism separates us into opposing camps and it threatens to Balkanize our country. True diversity and tolerance comes from equal opportunity, economic freedom, and the rule of law.

We must wake up and realize that we are a country of “Individuals” (not groups) from many backgrounds, with certain inalienable rights that are protected by our laws and the Constitution.

It may be that the desire for instant retribution is responsible for the unseemly reactions by some to the slow process of obtaining the facts in the case, processing them and presenting them to a Grand Jury, but the behavior exhibited by far too many, looks a lot more like prejudice than “Justice”.

James Fitzmaurice is an artist living in Rumson, NJ

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Little Quits Politics, Launches Musical Career

Falling short of the required 200 signatures to be a candidate for Congress, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little announced this morning that she is quitting politics and launching a career as a singer.

In an email blast to supporters the former freeholder and 2010 GOP nominee for Congress from New Jersey’s 6th district said,

“I have come to the conclusion that I can do more to serve we the people, born and unborn, with my God given musical talent than I can in the rough and tumble world of politics.   We have made a difference together, you and I, over the last two years that has given rise to certain opportunities that you made possible.

Governor Chris Christie has offered me the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.  Texas Governor Rick Perry said he would have me sing the Anthem at the Cowboys-Giants game in Arlington this November.  Christie and Perry have promised to put a good word in for me with the 2013 Inaugural Committee to sing at President Romney’s swearing in ceremony or at the very least at one of the balls.

Ernesto Cullari has introduced me to his contacts at Disney.  Their talent scout thinks I can be the next Angela Lansbury, who according to Disney’s site is everyone’s cup of tea.  I could be next in line to play Mrs. Potts in the sequel and reprises of Beauty and the Beast on film and on Broadway.

In the meantime, I will be replacing the Kate Smith recording of God Bless America during the daily sunset ceremony at the Sea Gulls Nest at Sandy Hook.  Proprietor  Ed Segall is a big Pallone supporter.  Given the opportunity to serve we the people, born and unborn, with my musical talent, it is just not right to put my new employer in such an uncomfortable position.  I can see Sandy Hook from my house.”

Little, who lost the Monmouth GOP endorsement for Congress in the 6th district to Cullari, had counted on the Middlesex GOP to deliver the 200 required signatures during the convention that nominated her last Saturday, March 24.  However, at the end of the day, there was only 75 signatures.  Little collected another 135 signatures last week.  Upon learning that Cullari had filed 500 signatures with the NJ Secretary of State on Friday, including those of 120 Middlesex County GOP convention delegates, Little realized that her petition would probably not survive a challenge given the duplicate signatures.

Little’s email continued:

This is not the end of Anna’s Army, but a new beginning.  With my voice, we the people, born and unborn, can transform the culture of our country that you have been working so hard to save. 

My backup chorus will be known as Anna’s Army.  You can participate by volunteering to sing in the chorus, buying our CD’s and downloading songs from our soon to be launched website, or by making Little contributions. 

All the Little contributions you make will go to the same work they have always gone to, just in a different form.

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Bishops Feeling Blue Over Green

The Asbury Park Board of Education does not have enough green to get a blue football field, according to a report in the Asbury Park Sun.

700 members of the community presented the deadlocked Board of Education with a petition asking that the new field of the Blue Bishops be covered with blue astro turf.  Opposition wasn’t about the color, it was about money.  Blue turf will cost $45,000 more than green turf, according to business administrator Geoffrey Hastings.

The board has $825,000 of their $66 million Abbott funded budget allocated for the new football field….$700,000 for the turf and and $107,000 to cover change orders or unforeseen expenses.  Nobody said the BoE or the Asbury Park Sun…whoever came up with those numbers…is good at math.

The board was deadlocked 4-4 over the color of the field until one of the supporters of blue left the meeting.  Then the mean greenies passed the budget without the $45,000 for the blue turf.

State monitor Lester Richens said the board couldn’t afford the extra money that is coming from Trenton by way of New Jersey income taxes.

MMM is happy to offer the following suggestions to the Asbury Park Board of Eduction:

1) Go through the budget looking for additional math errors.  Maybe you already have the money.

2) Regardless of the math, put the turf out to bid again.  $45,000 is not much in a $700,000 order.  Competition is a wonderful thing.  That’s why we have bids.

3) Hire this blogger to find waste in your budget. I’ll find the $45,000 and a lot more.  Pay me 20% of every dollar over $45,000 I find in unnecessary and wasteful spending. 30% if anyone is indicted as a result of my findings. Pay me nothing if I don’t find anything.  Give me 30 days and complete access.

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Not Front Page News

Christie Administration continuing McGreevey/Corzine practice of keeping utilities monies intended for municipalities.

Lost in the hysteria of Democrats fighting with each other was news buried on page 3 of yesterday’s Asbury Park Press that actually affects your property taxes.

The Editorial Board of the Monmouth and Ocean Counties paper of record actually met with local mayors!  Call that progress.  MMM criticised the APP editorial board last month for sitting down with Newark Mayor Cory Booker for no reason other than to boost Booker’s statewide name ID when they, until yesterday, hardly, if ever, meet with local mayors.

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore and Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider met with the Neptune Nudniks on Wednesday, at the behest of the League of Municipalities.  The mayors’ purpose was to bring attention to the State’s decades old practice of keeping the energy receipts tax that public utilities pay.

In energy receipts tax has been in existence for decades.  It was originally set up in lieu of property taxes to compensate municipalities for the utility infrastructure rights of way.  The tax used to be broken out on your utility bill.  It was paid by the utilities directly to the municipalities.

In 2002, during the McGreevey administration, the State started collecting to tax.  We all know what happens to money when to goes to the black whole of Trenton for redistribution.  Much of it disappears and the intended recipients get shafted.  Think Unemployment Insurance Fund and Transportation Trust Fund. 

Fiore told MMM that the League sued McGreevey to get the money but the State just turned around a reduced State Aid by a commensurate amount.

Fiore, Schneider and the League now want that money back.  It’s not coming, according to what State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told the APP, “At this time we do not have the financial flexibility to make discretionary adjustment” to provide more from energy taxes.

Fiore told MMM that the energy receipts tax would have provided $4 million dollars to Middletown Township in 2011.  That would have saved the Library surplus the Township relied on, prevented layoffs and cleaned up a few snow storms.

What burns Fiore is not just the $4 million that Middletown didn’t collect from the utilities.  It’s the $1.5 million hit the Township continues to take in reduced State Aid from 2009 levels.  “We wouldn’t be increasing property taxes 1.97% this year if our Aid was restored,” said Fiore, “give us our $1.5 million back and I can reduce taxes by 2%.  The Board of Education got all of their Aid restored, yet they are still raising taxes.”

Schneider told the APP that not receiving the energy receipts tax is costing Long Branch “several million dollars.”

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Mega Millions Up To $640 million

What would you do if you won?

By Art Gallagher

After calling my lawyer and accountant, I’d pay off the mortgages of those who stepped up for me when I needed them too.   Then I’d hire a therapist and spiritual advisor to heal me of the desire to use the rest of it for retribution.   After that, there will be plenty of time to figure it out.

What would you do?

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