AP Newswire Trenton February 4, 2011: New census data: Hispanics the dominant minority group; number 2: Facebook-Americans.

AP Newswire Trenton February 4, 2011: New census data: Hispanics the dominant minority group; number 2: Facebook-Americans. New Jersey's population grew more racially and online-virtually diverse over the past decade and continued its shift to southern counties, according to new data released today by the Census Bureau. The numbers from the 2010 Census provide a detailed portrait of the state's ongoing demographic changes, including population counts for all 21 counties, 566 municipalities. Among the findings: • Hispanics are now the dominant minority group in New Jersey after decades of sustained growth. • However, the number of New Jerseyans who identified themselves as "FaceBook-Americans" rose 39 percent to roughly 1.5 million. • Twitter-Americans were counted for the first time in 2010, and showed to be a growing virtual population at just under 3%. • MySpace-Americans, once a dominant group in 2000, have dwindled down to .02% of the virtual population. The Census information will be used almost immediately to redraw legislative districts in time for the November elections. A man who identified as "BobinPJs" tweeted that the "rdstrictng plns in NJ n stp trtng us like r dnt exst." The white population continued to decline in New Jersey, falling 1 percent to about 6.03 million. This is the second consecutive decade the proportion of white residents has fallen in New Jersey, which New Jersey State Tea Party chair Donald Bardus Swartz, of Teaneck immediately "blamed on the Jews." In other news, Congressman Jon Ryan expressed concern that the new census data may cause New Jersey to lose several state legislative seats: "...now we have 40 state senators. This decrease in population due to having less people may cause that number to be 38 or even 35 by the time we're all done."

This is 2G2BT.

OMFG! Maybe the next ‘George Carlin’ will help us figure out the "Seven Text Messages that Cannot Appear on License Plates."

Seems like the letters ‘WTF’ may be one of them.

For those of you, like me, who are still using full words from the Webster’s dictionary to text with, the above title says, “To Good to Be True”. And the letters WTF mean "What the F%#k!", but only to regular text-ters. To my 82-year-old mother in Florida, it might mean "We Treasure Florida".

This tale might motivate the folks at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission in Trenton to sit up take notice of the license plates they’re handing out willy-nilly.

In NC [that’s North Carolina] a 60 year-old driver was clued in by her grandchildren as to just what the three letter combonition WTF means in ‘text-talk’. Now 10,000 drivers need to get their license plates replaced. Now, the car owners are yelling “WTF”.

Whoopie! The Most Famous April Fool is From New Jersey

Jerry Lewis. Bud Abbott & Lou Costello. Ernie Kovacs.
Joe Piscopo. Jon Stewart.

Famous Jersey jokesters all.

But the best, the original, the most famous Jersey Jokester is none other than ----Samuel Sorenson Adams. Huh? Who’s that? ---- you may ask.

He is the inventor of the famous practical jokes of all time. And the founder of the S.S. Adams Company ----right here in Neptune, New Jersey. Their catalogue has an astounding array of practical jokes for all occasions: Fake ants. Blood capsules. Fake fly in an ice cube. Chattering teeth. Fake rubber chocolate candy. All these and more would get big laughs in Trenton these days.

Adams invented the most widely known April Fools jokes: The Exploding Cigarette Box. The Snake Nut Can. Itching Powder. The Stink bomb, The Dribble Glass. The Whoopie Cushion. And even, yes, The Joy Buzzer.

Adams’ first big invention was Sneeze Powder, which he produced from his company the Cachoo Sneeze Powder Company. Making people sneeze uncontrollably was Adams first money maker and it became a national fad. The powder was spread in halls, churches, schools, and even houses of state legislature.

His gag empire eventually included fake vomit, onion-flavored chewing gum, and even fake dog poop.

So, April Fools fans----next time you decide to play that practical joke by making your best friend sneeze uncontrollably, or dribble water on to your spouse, or make your mayor step in fake dog poop, keep in mind the man who started it all: The prince of practical jokes, The madman of weapons of mirth destruction, The sultan of sneeze ----- Samuel Sorenson Adams.

Happy April Fools Day, New Jersey.

Step in some dog poop, and be proud. It all started right here.

I see England, I see France…

Trenton seeks to tuck underwear back under TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Trenton, N.J., city officials want the city's children to keep their underpants undercover. An ordinance was suggested banning baggy pants styles embraced by teenagers, the Trenton Times reported. "I'm asking the support of council to send a message to our young people that they must cover up their undergarments," Councilwoman Annette Lartigue said during Thursday's meeting. Council Vice President Cordelia Staton said peek-a-boo underpants aren't only unseemly on the streets but in a school setting as well. She urged school officials to consider a ban similar to the one raised in the city council forum.

The war in Iraq rages on; the state is 30 billion in debt; locally, towns have issues with illegal immigrants. I am gratified, though, to see that none of these topics are problems any longer in the state capital. Their number one issue now: the display of underpants in public.

Whether you wear boxers or briefs, I am sure that you are as concerned as the folks in Trenton with the weight of this issue. It must be the waning days of the summer news cycle. I guess some politicos will do anything to get press in a slow news month.

I would imagine that Trenton already has on the books an ordinance against indecent exposure, so perhaps an anti-baggy pants ordinance is not really necessary. But where will it end? I just got back from Florida where the style of ‘pants wearing’ seems to include loud plaid pants pulled up almost to your chest. If you’re a man in your eighties you're always in style with the other folks at your condo complex if you're wearing your plaid pants ‘high and tight’.

However, is the exposure of white socks, pale ankles and brown sandals as upsetting to the town council of Miami Beach as baggy pants/underwear exposure is to Trenton Council-members Staton and Lartigue? I thought I would try and find out.

I called the office of Mayor of Miami Beach on this issue, and for some reason, his office referred to me to his 2005 "State of The City” address. I thought for sure that either the ‘high and tight’ pants issue or the ‘baggy pants’ crisis would be the center-piece of his speech. The closest policy statement I found was the following:

“We all recognize that there is no greater responsibility we have as a government than ensuring our public’s safety, and our highest safety priority must be the protection of our children.”

Hmmm, I guess the hidden meaning: He is concerned about baggy pants.

Furthermore, he expressed his, “concern for our residents, especially our children and senior citizens. [We have] worked hard for our children and families so that our parks and recreational programs are affordable for all of our residents.”

Obviously, they have it all handled in Florida, with good family values when it comes to pants issues.

So, the world takes what Trenton makes, and I guess the next thing they’ll make is good policy to deal with the age-old problem of baggy pants.

We will be sure to contact Jon Shure of NJPP, and keep him posted on the progress.

Politics aside, The Arts are good business for towns in NJ

As an actor and stand-up comedian, I have traveled in the world of entertainment for about twenty-five years. And as an elected official in my town of Flemington, I've been concerned about how to bring more business to Main Street . There is considerable debate in every community on just how to bring people in to town in order to help the downtown retail businesses come to life.

There is retail shopping, many a restaurant, and a good mix of historic sights to see in most towns in New Jersey. The Arts are a great way to bring business to any town ---whether it be the largest town in NJ of Newark or any small town like Flemington. It's just common sense.

This week in Trenton, there was a conference of towns, cultural organizations and businesses. Here is what was reported in the Star-Ledger:

“Theaters, museums and historic sites are valued as places of entertainment and education, but they also must be seen as employers, tax generators and magnets for shopping and dining, state officials said yesterday. In other words, culture means business in towns across the state. In towns like Red Bank, Madison, Newark, Trenton, Orange, Montclair and Lambertville, the catalyst for economic revitalization has been the arts," Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells told about 200 representatives of New Jersey's municipalities, cultural organizations and businesses at a conference in Trenton.”

The organization “Americans for the Arts” is the nation's leading nonprofit advocacy group for advancing the arts in the country. I have found their website an invaluable in helping to generate ideas for arts in local communities.

So, there you go. A good idea for any community in New Jersey. Republican or Democratic.

New Jersey and Stem Cell Research: Perfect Together.

New Jersey and Stem Cell Research are Perfect Together. But no thanks to Assemblyman Mike Doherty.

According to the Star-Ledger today, "New Jersey's drive to become a center for stem cell research advanced on two fronts yesterday: The state authorized $9.1 million to launch construction of a stem cell research lab and lawmakers agreed to ask voters to approve $450 million to bankroll research grants.”

However, Republican Assemblyman Mike Doherty voted to oppose the plan.

This is a man who questions the existence of global warming. He says that it “does not matter” if we believe in the science of evolution or creationism. It is disturbing that we have a representative in Trenton who does not believe in science.

In the past, folks such as Doherty would have been considered harmless crackpots who sometimes wrote letters to local newspapers or stood on street corners shouting at passersby that the world was ending next Thursday. But today, the Republicans nominate him to run for Assembly, and the folks in Warren and Hunterdon Counties actually elect him to represent our interests in Trenton. Yes, I am proud to say this is one of the people representing me in the state legislature.

NJ can be and should be a leader in the effort to make the benefits of stem cell research a reality. The economic benefits for New Jersey are many, too many to list here. The possible medical benefits of stem cell research are also too many to list here, but can be found on the website of Dr. Fred Ferrari, a local Republican and a stem cell research activist. Yes, folks, there are some thinking Republicans out there.

However, Mike Doherty is not one of them.

I, Robo-call

"Hello, this is Bill Clinton. I am supporting Democrat Melvin Smendrovich for Borough Council in Jerseytown because Melvin shares my values on the 'kitchen table' issues that...."

"Hey folks this is Joe Piscopo. We both know that New Jersey needs Republican Petey McPeters to be the next governor. He'll work hard everyday to...."

We've all received the dreaded robo-calls come election time. Automated phone canvassing calls that come day and night. They come with increasing frequency as we get closer and closer to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

They block our phone service. They are annoying, coming at the most inconvenient time. Dinner. In the shower. During love making. However, they serve a purpose of re-minding voters over and over again to support Melvin in his race for Jerseytown Borough Council. That Melvin is the best person for the job. If Bill Clinton can take the time out of his busy day to call you [albeit automatically], then Melvin is the person you should support.

Unfortunately for the hapless Jerseytown resident, robo-calls are a part of campaigns because they’re cheap and they work to election advantage. So, what if robo-calls tick off a voter or two? If they get your candidate elected, they will be part of the campaign strategy.

Legislative Effort in Trenton

There is an effort in Trenton to curtail robo-calls or ban them altogether. While such legislation may run afoul of the First Amendment, several states have enacted laws impacting the practice.

For guidance in dealing with this issue, perhaps Trenton should turn to science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. In his novels Asimov developed the following Three Laws of Robotics ----[most likely not written by a lawyer from NJ]:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These seem to be clear rules regarding what criteria the state legislature should use in adopting an anti-robo calls bill.

“No harm to a human being?”
Sounds good to me.

“Robots must obey orders”?
This will work just fine.

“A robot must protect its own existence”?
Well, maybe that one will get fixed in committee.

If you and your robot support such a bill, call your legislator's office over and over again----but wait until he or she is eating lunch or in the shower.

One to a customer, please!

Trenton Democrats have finally put an end to a practice that has plagued NJ for years: Dual office holding. And sometimes, triple and qradruple office holding. Both parties have been guilty of this practice. Tom O'Neill wrote about this back in June of 2006 for New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Here is a blurb from an article from the Star-Ledger about the issue:

"After a year of political wrangling and false starts, legislation to make it illegal for public officials to land more than one elected post after next February easily cleared the Assembly yesterday. Assembly members argued for about an hour before passing the measure 69-3 with eight abstentions. The bill (A4326) is scheduled for a final vote in the Senate later this month."

In our own County of Hunterdon, Repubs will squawk that this bill does not "do enough". It is a compromise for sure, but it does address the issue just the same. Now that dual office holding will be illegal in NJ, those who do hold more than one office will be pressured come election time to make a choice. Indeed, their feet will be held to the political fire by their opponents in both the primary and the general election.

Of course, many in the Repubs Party have held dual offices themselves:

George Melick was on the Tewksbury Twp Committee very early when he was freeholder.

Marcia Karrow was a Raritan Township Committee woman, and freeholder at the same time. And then she was freeholder and Assemblywoman at the same time.

Melick and Karrow gave up their offices, and now hold just one elective office.

Ron Sworen is the mayor of Frenchtown and a freeholder --- and he is running again for Mayor. Dual office holding should most definately be an issue in his race in November.

Now it will be phased in as the law. It is a good start to handle an old problem.

Next: Those seeking office should have to pinpoint where they take money from developers on their ELEC filings, regardless of the amount.