southjerseyhappenings

Sympathy for an inept bomber

The leftist press is leaning that way

By Rich Luongo

 

I’ve had it with these liberal pinkos in the press. Have you read some of the crap being published about the failed Times Square bomber? He’s actually getting sympathy by some because he told police he’s “upset” about our government polices “unfairly” targeting Muslims, according to a report by CBS’s Bob Orr. And after becoming a U.S. citizen last year, reported Orr, he never realized the American dream.

Move over, schmuck. People born here and working 8, 10, 11 hours a day never realize the American dream, either, whatever the hell it is. The streets aren’t paved with gold. You work for everything you have. And if you want gold streets, you have to pave them.

And unfairly targeting Muslims?...last time I looked, the Twin Towers were not destroyed by tall, blue-eyed, Lutherans.

John Christoffersen of the AP wrote an article that was highly sympathetic to the accused terrorist. Apparently he’s well-educated, has an MBA, his wife is educated, they have a couple of kids, and a nice house in Connecticut. However, his life started to unravel, said Christoffersen.

He voluntarily left his good-paying job — he wasn’t fired or laid-off — lost his house, his family left him, and he moved into a cheap apartment in Bridgeport. That’s apparently when he decided to blow up Times Square. But from the looks of it he caused his own downfall, not the Iraqi War or George Bush. He did. We didn’t but if his bomb did go off, hundreds of people — who had nothing to do with his problems or with what’s going on in the Middle East — would’ve died because of this loser’s inadequacies. If he really wanted to make an impact why didn’t he plan to go up with the bomb? Why didn’t he become a suicide bomber?

He wanted the left-leaning press to stroke him and feel sorry for him. If he blew up who would know who he was? Who would know his story? There would not have been any sympathetic articles written about him. He couldn’t have that.

Go through the system

Is he POTUS? The colonel wants to know

By Rich Luongo

Whether or not a certain Army officer believes Obama is eligible to sit in the White House, the man is sitting in the Oval Office and he is commander-in-chief of the military, until proven otherwise. So this officer must obey all orders Obama gives, even if the officer, or any other military officer, feels otherwise. Obama is the commander-in-chief and he is the President...unless it's found he isn't.

Army Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin has vowed not to obey military orders until Obama shows he is a constitutionally-eligible president to sit in the Oval Office. As a result of his comments, the Army has threatened to jail Lakin and to dismiss him. 

Lakin has been ordered  to report to Fort Campbell, Ky. on April 12 and, according to a letter he received from the Army, "Failure to follow your reassignment and/or deployment orders may result in adverse action including court-martial."

In the letter, articles 86, 87,  and 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice were quoted. These articles cite being missing, disobeying an order, and contempt, which — if found guilty —  "you could be sentenced to dismissal from the service … forfeiture of all pay and allowances; and confinement for a period of months or years in a military prison."

However, Lakin is allegedly being supported by "hundreds" of people who have donated to his legal defense fund.  Lakin said he decided not to obey orders after he said he unsuccessfully went through channels to get the same verification from the president that he said he has been required to provide during his 18-year military career.

Being a member of the military, he is under orders to obey the commander-in-chief. If he doesn't believe the chief is the current sitting president he can't just disobey orders. He must go through channels to unseat the president. Lakin doesn't have the luxury other citizens of the United States have. We can yell and bitch all we want because we are not members of the military.

That's the way it is, Colonel. You can't change the system your way. You have to change the system within the system. That's the American way.

But what a helluva mess we'll have if it's shown Obama is not legally POTUS.

An Inconvenient Lie

 

Global warming? Continue the investigation in July 

 

By Rich Luongo

The snow we’ve been experiencing is definitely awe-inspiring. Isn’t it beautiful? Doesn’t it show how powerful Nature is and how she doesn’t care who you because she’ll dump on you without prejudice? She also has a sense of humor. Why isn’t Al “I Invented the Internet” Gore laughing? Why isn’t he defending his global warming thesis? “Well, this snow is the exception to the rule…” he could say. But is that a good defense? I don’t think so. Why? Because the man’s a fraud.

He can’t defend his global warming nonsense against the ice-age temperatures and snow the northern hemisphere has been experiencing this winter. So he remains silent. He continues to make millions, however, with his lectures and continues to make money with that absurd “documentary” about this fictitious global warming.

Speaking of that docudrama, Robert L. Simon and Lionel Chetwynd, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — which hands out the Oscars every year — have asked the organization to take back Gore’s 2007 Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, the so-call documentary he won about global warming, because it’s allegedly based on data that was manipulated to support the warming theory.

A whistle-blower had released e-mails stating that scientists at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England were involved in a fraud that falsified information to support global warming.

And why did the international conference on climate change, recently held in Europe, fail to come up with anything conclusive to support the hysteria that the warming of the earth would cause glaciers to melt and coastal cities (New York, Los Angeles, London, to name a few) to be swallowed up by the rising waters? Maybe there was nothing there to support this thesis. Maybe somebody read those e-mails from the University of East Anglia.

I think the cooling of the earth and an advancing ice age should be earnestly investigated. After all, another brutal snow storm is predicted for later this week in the poor, embattled Northeast.

I guess we’ll have to investigate the warming of the earth later this year, maybe in June or July when it gets hot.

By definition an American goes where needed

 

We're hated but we're the first ones there 

By Rich Luongo

A good part of the world hates us (if not the majority of the world), that part that doesn't hate us is jealous of us (including so-called "friends"), and there are those who despise us simply because of what we stand for as Americans (terrorists, perhaps?). Our president bows and curtsies to world leaders and apologizes for all the things we've done "wrong" (which is only in the eye of the beholder).

And there are nations who are trying to undermine the American dollar because of all the "bad" things we have allegedly done. They want to punish us by no longer making the American dollar upon which all other currencies are linked. They want to make the dollar less valuable than, let's say, the Russian ruble? They want our troops to go home and stay out of their business and don't try to tell them what to do.

Until Haiti. All criticism and hatred of America has gone out the window. That poverty-ravaged nation was virtually destroyed by an earthquake and an estimated 100,000 people have been killed. America is there in force with troops (who were cheered by the populous as they walked down the streets that are clogged with debris) and with equipment and medical aid and food and water and a U.S. Navy medical ship. And the hated Yankee dollar in millions is on its way to help the needy. And American medical people have volunteered their time and expertise to save lives.

America, by default, has taken over the recovery process. The Haitian government can't because it is inept and the other nations who are down there are helping out but there is not enough of them.

The Haitian crisis proves that America — however "rotten" and "despicable" and "mean-spirited" we are as a nation and however "self-centered" we are as a people — is the first one to help at the scene of a disaster with money and medical personnel and food and water and medical provisions. And the people welcome us with open arms and with tears of joy and smiles.

But when things are back to relative normality, we'll be hated again. But don't fret. We'll be back if you need us.

We're Americans and that's what we do. 

'Honorable Men'

Who will really benefit?  

By Rich Luongo

The Congress of the United States — Marc Anthony would have called them "honorable men" — must be brought back to reality. The pink slip campaign is in full swing. The House and the Senate have passed their versions of ObamaCare — the sweeping medical "reform package" that has been hanging around Washington, D.C. in various forms since FDR's time, — in direct violation of the people's growing disdain for its provisions. The bills do not reform. They destroy. If both bills become a single entity it could bankrupt the U.S., something many nations would love to see.

The pink slip campaign is simple: if the Congress adopts a final version of the health care bill, those who vote "yes" will be thrown out of office in November's election. In essence they will get their "pink slips." Organizers of this campaign hope to send everyone of those politicians who vote for ObamaCare packing, including our own New Jersey "honorable men" who have elevated talking out of both sides of their mouths into an art. 

It's time to clean house. It's time to "fire" these parasites. Remember, they all work for us including B.O. (Notice how "us" translates very nicely into U.S.?)

I'll go one step further. Even if they don't vote for the final package, throw the bums out anyway for okaying their own version of ObamaCare. Each version is filled with pork and handouts for certain states.  

As an example, Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, admitted making a behind-closed-doors deal to exclude about 800,000 policyholders in Florida from cuts to Medicare Advantage, something Obama told the AARP in July was an example of "wasteful spending." Why? Because it helped seniors? No. Because the cuts to Medicare Advantage were needed to fund ObamaCare.

Similar sweetheart deals were made up and down the line to secure votes. So, some states are going to benefit from ObamaCare. Makes you feel great to be an American, doesn't it? Especially if you live in one of those anointed states.

My Thoughts — Pamper your SUV

Earth is warming?...Not in Antarctica

By Rich Luongo  

Did you know that Antarctica has been growing bigger and colder over the years and, as a result, is no longer part of Al Gore's talks on global warming? When asked about what was going on with that huge southern continent he always refuses to answer any question about it and now ignores the subject of
Antarctica altogether.

Could what's happening down south show that the fraud known as global warming is just that...a fraud and doesn't exist? Wait. The earth has been warming slightly ever since the mini-ice age ended around the time of our American Revolution. That always happens after an ice age. Our industrious civilization has produced some warming but not to the extent that the ice caps will melt because of our pollution and our eco-footprint and New York will be flooded out all because of it. Please....

In a study recently published in New Zealand it was shown that a dog pollutes more than an SUV. The study claims:

"In Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, authors Robert and Brenda Vale argue that resources required to feed a dog — including the amount of land needed to feed the animals that go into its food — give it about twice the eco-footprint of, say, building and fueling a Toyota Land Cruiser. Noting that a cat's pawprint was roughly equivalent to a Volkswagen Golf's, New Scientist (www.newscientist.com) asked an environmentalist at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, U.K., to independently calculate animals' environmental impact, and reported that 'his figures tallied almost exactly.' The study apparently didn't take into account the emissions of either the SUV or the dogs."

So, pamper your Hummer and get rid of the Yorkie.

My Thoughts — A new day is dawning

 

The tide has turned

It's a new day for New Jersey and Oaklyn 

By Rich Luongo

The losers — in this case, the Democrats — don't see Republican Chris Christie's victory over Jon Corzine in New Jersey's gubernatorial race as a rejection of Obama's policies.They see it as a rejection of Corzine.

The Democrats can philosophize any way they want about Corzine's defeat. The voters expressed their distaste, not only for Corzine and the mess he's made of New Jersey (we're about number 50 in just about everything in this country except for property taxes...we're the leader, number one) but also for Obama's controversal agenda and what he's doing to this great nation. The president came to New Jersey and campaigned for his buddy, who spent some $20 million of his own money, about five times what Christie spent, to retain the governor's seat, yet — despite Obama's backing (maybe because of it), Corznie still couldn't pull out a victory.

The people are fed up with the Democrats and the spending that is bankrupting both New Jersey and the U.S. This was manifested in the governor's race. And if the gods smile upon us, it will also result in Republican victories in the off-year elections in 2010.

Statewide, however, the voters did help the Democrats retain many local seats including the boards of freeholder. But in my town of Oaklyn, the two Republicans vying for the two Borough Council seats easily won their races. This was the first time in years that Democratic candidates had any GOP opposition and they were beaten.

Ritchie and MacLean, the two Republican council winners, may be able to breathe some refreshing new life into a mayor/council system that has been stagnant for too many years and under Democratic control for some 25 years and by a mayor who runs unopposed each election and feels that the few votes he does garner represent a mandate of some sort.

But be warned, Mayor LaMaina, the tide is turning. When you're up for re-election you may finally get some healthy Republican opposition that may actually cause you to do some campaigning for the first time in many years.  Could you lose? Possibly but even if you don't, there will be enough votes received by your opponent to make you realize the people are tired of your arrogance and cockiness.

It's a new day for Oaklyn and for New Jersey.

My Thoughts — Make as one

Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate

By Rich Luongo

The Camden County schools superintendent wants the school districts of Collingswood, Woodlynne, and Oaklyn (my town) to come up with a plan for consolidation with a single superintendent of schools for this one new, united  school district by Dec. 1. Wonderful. Fantastic. Couldn't come too soon.

Oaklyn has a single school building with about 900 kids who attend grades K-9. Those ninth-graders make up Oaklyn Junior High School. After that they go to Collingswood HS. Woodlynne has one elementary school and those kids also go to Collingswood, which has several elementary schools, a high school, and a junior high.

Oaklyn has a superintendent who's retiring after this school year. The school also has a principal. The super is in charge of the district (a single school building) and the principal is in charge of the school (again, one single building). The stupidity of this needs no comment.

Woodlynne has a temporary superintendent and, if the gods are smiling down on us, he won't be made permanent.

The logical choice for overall superindent is Scott Oswald, Collingswood's chief administrator.

Taxpayers in Woodlynne and Oaklyn would be saved the cost of the superintendents' salaries — about a $100,000 each — and the salaries of their support staffs. Without the superintendent, they're not needed. That could be the beginning of saving money for the taxpayers. Remember, 70+% of your property tax bill goes to support your school district.

One way or another officials — elected, hired, or appointed — will be and must be forced to go easy with our money or they'll be forced to pay the consequences.

 

My Thoughts — Political Correctness...humbug!

Is this politically correct? Don't care!!!

By Rich Luongo

This may not be politically correct and it may offend some people — atheists and non-believers — but I don’t care. I’m going to say it anyway: Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! and in case you didn’t get it the first two times… Merry Christmas!

Some 90-95 percent of the people in this country call themselves Christians; about 65 million are Catholics with the Southern Baptists at number two with some 14 million and everybody else are members of other Christian denominations.

So why are we, the majority, afraid to say “Merry Christmas” during the season that traditionally extends from Thanksgiving until Dec. 25 when most of the people in this country celebrate Christmas in some way? We can’t have any trappings of Christmas in municipal celebrations because of separation of church and state…show me in the Constitution where that phrase is used... you can’t because it doesn’t exist…it’s a phrase made up by legal minds.

Let me rephrase my previous statement. This year the Christmas season started around Labor Day and has been building up momentum ever since.

Clerks in many stores can’t say “Merry Christmas” or even “Happy Hanukkah” to their customers because of offending someone. So what do they say….? “Happy Holidays!” When a clerk says that to me I often respond, “And what holiday are you referring to?” It can’t be Ramadan because that’s over by the time the Christmas season gets into full swing and it can’t be Kwanzaa which has nothing to do with religion and begins on Dec. 26.

 Here I am in a store surrounded by holly and wreaths and candy canes and pictures of Santa Claus(God forbid there’s a picture of the Christ Child and Mary within 100 yards of the store) and other trappings of Christmas but the clerk cannot say, “Merry Christmas” so I say it instead and to everyone in earshot. On most occasions the greeting is returned by other customers, but almost never by the clerks.

 Have I offended anyone yet? I have? Tough. That’s the way the candy cane breaks. This is the Christmas season. Period. Was Christ born on Dec. 25? We don’t know but it was picked as His birthday. We know it was chosen by the Christian church to counteract a pagan holiday. But 2,000 years later…who really cares? Except maybe the Christian bashers who have the same mentality as gay bashers.

 But what do I know, really? It seems those who are trying to downplay this joyous of all holidays should turn their energies to other things such as trying to discover why they’re all jerks. Point of order: Maybe the thought police should try to eliminate the word “holiday” from our vocabulary in the same way they’re attempting — without much success — to eliminate Christmas because “holiday” is a contraction of the two words “holy” and “day,” and we can’t have any of that religious stuff hanging around. It might influence our kids….

 Fortunately, a couple of major retailers have included the word “Christmas” in their advertising this season. There may be some hope yet for this world.

Let me rephrase my previous statement. This year the Christmas season started around Labor Day and has been building up momentum ever since.

Clerks in many stores can’t say “Merry Christmas” or even “Happy Hanukkah” to their customers because of offending someone. So what do they say….? “Happy Holidays!” When a clerk says that to me I often respond, “And what holiday are you referring to?” It can’t be Ramadan because that’s over by the time the Christmas season gets into full swing and it can’t be Kwanzaa which has nothing to do with religion and begins on Dec. 26.

 Here I am in a store surrounded by holly and wreaths and candy canes and pictures of Santa Claus(God forbid there’s a picture of the Christ Child and Mary within 100 yards of the store) and other trappings of Christmas but the clerk cannot say, “Merry Christmas” so I say it instead and to everyone in earshot. On most occasions the greeting is returned by other customers, but almost never by the clerks.

 Have I offended anyone yet? I have? Tough. That’s the way the candy cane breaks. This is the Christmas season. Period. Was Christ born on Dec. 25? We don’t know but it was picked as His birthday. We know it was chosen by the Christian church to counteract a pagan holiday. But 2,000 years later…who really cares? Except maybe the Christian bashers who have the same mentality as gay bashers.

 But what do I know, really? It seems those who are trying to downplay this joyous of all holidays should turn their energies to other things such as trying to discover why they’re all jerks. Point of order: Maybe the thought police should try to eliminate the word “holiday” from our vocabulary in the same way they’re attempting — without much success — to eliminate Christmas because “holiday” is a contraction of the two words “holy” and “day,” and we can’t have any of that religious stuff hanging around. It might influence our kids….

 Fortunately, a couple of major retailers have included the word “Christmas” in their advertising this season. There may be some hope yet for this world.

My Thoughts — Be proud!

Be proud of your Italian heritage

 

By Rich Luongo

I'm second-generation Italian-American (my mother was born in Jersey City, my father in Italy) and I'm proud of my heritage and all that Italians have done for the world, especially for America. We are also the sixth largest ethnic group in the country but contribute an inordinate amount of culture and music and culinary diversions…among other wonderful things.

So I find it disheartening when I see names of Italian-Americans being mispronounced and bastardized by the people who belong to the names. Some are second-generation like me and others are third or fourth. Everything having to do with the correctness of the Italian language is brutalized.

Why are these people ashamed of their heritage? I say "ashamed" because that's the only word I can use to explain why they destroy their fine Italian names. And when I point out to some that their name is being mispronounced I'll be told everything from "that's the way we pronounce it" to "well, we're Americans" to "mind your own business."

Well, it is my business and I will continue to point out the error of their ways.

When you listen to an Hispanic pronounce his or her name, it is done precisely in correct grammatical terms.  When you hear them mouth a Spanish word, it is done correctly, according to Spanish grammar. They could be speaking the precise King's English but when they switch to a Spanish word or phrase, all of a sudden, they sound like they just landed on a boat from Latin America. Why is this? Apparently they have respect for their heritage. Apparently, many Italian-Americans do not or they want to divorce themselves from negative publicity associated with some Italians. So, they "Americanize" their names. (To really Americanize a name, try using one from the Apache language or Lenape or Seminole...they have true American names.)

I know people who have spelled their Italian names to mock English spelling and pronunciation. For instance, in Italian, the letters "ch" sound like "k." I know of people who changed the spelling of their last names by replacing the "ch" with "k" so people wouldn't be confused on how to pronounce the names. Wonderful. But by so doing you lose the essence of your heritage: your name.

Minor points, you might ask? I don't think so. Keeping your heritage and your language alive are important for everyone, not just Italians. Let's take a lesson from our Hispanic cousins: Keep your language alive, at least in your own heart.

By the way, do you know the original Latini were and are Italians? The Italian peninsula spoke Latin as the official language and was the language of the Roman Empire. How Hispanics were able to usurp the Latin phrase as meaning only those of Hispanic origin is a mystery to me. But I know better. As an Italian I am a Latino, precisely because my ancestors spoke Latin. They didn't come from a country called Latin, which the phrases "Latin community" and "Latin America" imply.

But I'll leave that for another time.

Why are these people ashamed of their heritage? I say "ashamed" because that's the only word I can use to explain why they destroy their fine Italian names. And when I point out to some that their name is being mispronounced I'll be told everything from "that's the way we pronounce it" to "well, we're Americans" to "mind your own business."

Well, it is my business and I will continue to point out the error of their ways.

When you listen to an Hispanic pronounce his or her name, it is done precisely in correct grammatical terms.  When you hear them mouth a Spanish word, it is done correctly, according to Spanish grammar. They could be speaking the precise King's English but when they switch to a Spanish word or phrase, all of a sudden, they sound like they just landed on a boat from Latin America. Why is this? Apparently they have respect for their heritage. Apparently, many Italian-Americans do not or they want to divorce themselves from negative publicity associated with some Italians. So, they "Americanize" their names. (To really Americanize a name, try using one from the Apache language or Lenape or Seminole...they have true American names.)

I know people who have spelled their Italian names to mock English spelling and pronunciation. For instance, in Italian, the letters "ch" sound like "k." I know of people who changed the spelling of their last names by replacing the "ch" with "k" so people wouldn't be confused on how to pronounce the names. Wonderful. But by so doing you lose the essence of your heritage: your name.

Minor points, you might ask? I don't think so. Keeping your heritage and your language alive are important for everyone, not just Italians. Let's take a lesson from our Hispanic cousins: Keep your language alive, at least in your own heart.

By the way, do you know the original Latini were and are Italians? The Italian peninsula spoke Latin as the official language and was the language of the Roman Empire. How Hispanics were able to usurp the Latin phrase as meaning only those of Hispanic origin is a mystery to me. But I know better. As an Italian I am a Latino, precisely because my ancestors spoke Latin. They didn't come from a country called Latin, which the phrases "Latin community" and "Latin America" imply.

But I'll leave that for another time.