By Jesse O. Kurtz

I – Traffic Flow: synchronize lights using existing technology, phase-in more sensors to override algorithms adapting to the actual traffic at a given time, and make the case for the purchase of a new state-of-the art traffic flow system

II – Smart Crime Technology: upgrade police technology and draw more on best practices from police forces in New York City, East Orange, and elsewhere

III – Bold Budget Targets: pick an aggressive budget target and do what it takes to get there.   Taxpayers are long overdue for tax reduction

IIII – Re-Pave Streets: the deplorable condition of our major streets is outrageous.   Start with Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Baltic, and Fairmount this year and then move to the cross-streets next year

V – Treasure our History: Bader Field is the first “Airport” in the world.   We should be proud of our history and designate a permanent museum, exhibit, and/or marker to acknowledge this first in aviation and Atlantic City history

VI – Neighborhood Pride: establish neighborhood specific clean-ups, block parties, an adopt-a-storm-drain program, and place tables with built-in chess boards

VII – Clean-Up the City: stronger enforcement of existing laws (the code) would give a “face-life” to both our residential and tourist sections of town

VIII – Improve Rehabilitation Efforts: there are too many rehabilitation centers within too small of a geographic area.   Many rehabilitation centers are located in rural settings to remove the “near occasion of sin” for people genuinely striving to overcome difficult addictions.   Ministries like the Rescue Mission should begin the transition from permanent locations to intake centers that then move those in treatment to a more appropriate environment

VIIII – Urban Renewal: establish an urban renewal theme for the neighborhoods of Chelsea, Lower Chelsea, and Chelsea Heights, viz. the North Beach effort in Ventnor

X – Re-Build Kingston Avenue Playground: it appears that every playground in the city has recently been re-built except for Kingston Avenue Playground.   Stop forgetting about Kingston and the people who use that park.

XI – Re-Develop the Albany Avenue Entrance Corridor: the empty and vacant properties are increasing and include: the old Ruffu Ford, Home Run Tavern, Gormley Funeral Home, Salvation Army, and gas station adjacent the monument.   What type of message does that send to our visitors?  And, residents for that matter!

XII – Shared Services: explore reducing costs and optimizing public services by sharing them with the county and other municipalities, e.g. Weights and Measures and Tax Assessment

XIII – Privatize Services: – explore reducing costs and optimizing public services by privatizing them where appropriate, e.g. tax collection

(This post was originally written for the January 2013 Chelsea Neighborhood Association newsletter.)

(Image source – http://constructionlawva.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/New-Year-2013.jpg)

From the Orion Festival web-site -

All you have to do is 1) Follow Orion Music + More on Twitter. 2) Tweet, in 140 characters or less, which band — other than @metallica — that you’re most excited to see at the festival and why.

Tweet away.

(Image source – http://www.orionmusicandmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Oemail_img2_twitter.jpg)

The messages appear to refer to Atlantic City’s resilience.   Is this an opening salvo from the AC Alliance?   Who is the anonymous patron?   Do you know who is behind this?   Leave your comments below.

Susan Thompson has a great demeanor and exercises much patience during CRDA’s public forums.   She has a talent for fielding input from the community.

日本のために　For Japan

In this far,
far East
the mourning comes quietly.
The Land
trembles with our flooded
hearts.
The Rising Sun
splits
the blackest hours.

We are in morning now.
おはようございます。Ohayou gozaimasu*
to another day.

The waking from dreams
furthers the nightmare.
We long for a lullaby
as the sirens stir us from sleep.

The ocean has no bounds.
Trespassing into homes,
into families,
into bodies.
Its water spills down my cheeks.
しょっぱい。Shoppai.**

The earth breaks.
More fragile than our hearts.
Hope is not uprooted
as the tender trees.
Love is not buried alive.
絶対諦めない。Zettai akiramenai.***

Translation Notes

* ohayo gozaimasu – good morning

** Shoppai – salty

*** Zettai akiramenai – Never give up

Conservative New Jersey’s Russ Bongiovanni blogs on this topic, featuring the thoughts of one of the local advocates of this pilot project: April Christine Kauffman.

Joe Nickels and I had a discussion on one of my radio shows.   He made the point that veterans should have some type of card, which allows them to get health care from anywhere that they want, rather than be forced to use a VA medical facility.   This solution would allow the free market – individual veterans – to make the decision of where they go for care, rather than have government administrators in the VA force veterans to go to only a select number of health care facilities.   I like Joe’s idea.

Regardless of where you live, contact your congressman and senators and tell them that the VA needs to be reformed.   Veterans should be able to receive care at the location of their choice.

(Image Source & Further Reading – http://wanderingvets.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/reform.gif )

JEFFREY ANDERSON’S VENDETTA
The following is the text of our ad that appears today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
 
Anyone who thinks Jeffrey Anderson is in it just for the money is nuts. Sure, he’s made a fortune suing the Catholic Church over old cases of alleged priestly abuse, but money alone cannot account for his latest vendetta. Now he’s engaged in a media ad campaign to find anyone who claims he was abused by a priest, regardless of how flimsy the evidence or when the alleged act occurred. It matters not a whit whether the priest is long dead and cannot defend himself.
 
In one sense, Anderson is doing us a favor: the cat’s out of the bag. His integrity is shot. Any lawyer who would conduct a public relations hunt for one class of people to sue is not interested in justice. Quite frankly, if Anderson were concerned about all victims of abuse, he would not exclusively target alleged Catholic ones.
 
Imagine for one moment if a lawyer launched an advertising campaign pledging to find every last person who was ever abused by a public school teacher. Or imagine a campaign that sought to locate only those persons who were victimized by an Orthodox rabbi? The mind boggles just thinking about it. Anyone familiar with the data on sexual abuse knows that a) the Catholic Church never had a monopoly on this problem to begin with and b) it has less of a problem today than any other institution, secular or religious (the average number of credible accusations made against over 40,000 priests in the last five years is 8.6).
 
Anderson’s mad quest for new Catholic victims is of a piece with his pathological fixation on the Catholic Church. We’ve been on to his game for many years; his latest gambit should convince everyone of his real motive. It is not justice that drives him and his army of lawyers—it is a debased appetite to get the Catholic Church.
 
It’s time for a Catholic revolt. While all sexual abuse must be condemned unequivocally, all attempts to shake down one segment of the population must also be condemned. Bigotry has no legitimate role to play in the pursuit of justice.

(Source – http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/loadimg.cgi?p=/uploads/19809_a_crucible.jpg)

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are 3 gigantic areas of financial obligation in the Federal budget.   Each year these programs become a larger and larger percentage of the budget.   Social Security is running out of money.   It does not have the money to pay out what it has promised to pay out to people.   Social Security is one big broken promise.

It is a disgrace that the Democrats and Republicans both lack the courage to reform Social Security.  

Howard Rich makes good points in a recent article: Social Security: Why America Can and Should Allow Private Accounts:

[T]here are three simple questions that can be asked of any government program – including Social Security – which if answered honestly will point us in the direction of sensible, sustainable reforms.

First, is the outcome the program seeks to achieve consistent with the founding ideals of this country (i.e. advancing liberty and prosperity for all people)?

Second, is government’s involvement absolutely necessary in order to achieve this outcome?

And finally (assuming the answer to the first two questions is ‘yes’), should government’s role in achieving the outcome consist of directly funding or managing a particular task? Or should the private sector bear that responsibility – with government assuming a more limited oversight or regulatory role?

In addition to this three question analysis, I add the additional injustice for young professionals.   Young adults will pay Social Security taxes their entire working careers and most likely see little – if any – of what they paid into the system, when it is their time to collect.   The time has come to begin transitioning into another system that puts our future on a stronger footing and a better path.

The solution to the immanent disaster of Social Security will live up to the current obligations of the program, but wean people off of the current level of government benefits and allow those who want to do so to begin investing their retirement savings into an investment vehicle of their choosing.   Let individuals prosper and fail through their own investment decisions, rather than have us all fail due to the central planning of the sinking ship of state of America.

Mr. Rich concludes his article by writing:

Permitting private accounts for Social Security would not break a contract with the American people – it would efficiently fulfill one of the founding ideals of our Republic. It would also help pull our nation back from the brink of economic ruin.

(Image source – http://vinylnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/sinking-ship.jpg)

There are two seats that are up for grabs in November 2011′s election.   Those 2 seats are held by Democrats Alisa Cooper and Jim Schroeder. 

Mr. Marino’s announcement comes on the same day that EHT Committeeman John Carmen also announced his candidacy for Freeholder At-Large.

(Image Credit – http://www.linwoodcity.org/mainpages/council_members.asp)