From the EXAMINER:

My name is Jill Conner and I am a Realtor at Smires and Associates, Robbinsville. Since the articles and blog posts regarding the Upper Freehold Township Veterans Council have surfaced, I have noticed an extraordinary irony within the story that I wanted to share with you.

Days before I read the blog, I attended a meeting at my office during which Ed Smires addressed his intention to take part in more community outreach, specifically regarding local veterans and their ongoing needs. He mentioned that he intended to go far beyond just writing checks, favoring actual efforts such as picking up prescriptions for veterans, doing yard work, etc., in addition to raising money and awareness for veterans needs. When I say he rallied us, I mean this was the kind of passion that would bring a tear to your eye.

Smires is one of the most committed people I have ever known where the community, and more specifically, veterans affairs are concerned, and I just cannot fathom such a person being kept away from such important work for the reasons mentioned in that blog.

With the type of success Smires has seen in the last 30 months, certainly he is bound to make enemies, we all realize that, but for Dr. Frascella to pull this at the expense of the veterans is really despicable.

Jill Conner
Hamilton Square

First off, there are NO plans to leave any patriot behind – there ARE plans to step up efforts to reenforce efforts to expand A Veteran (and Active Duty) Committee in the A/UFT area with surrounding communities involved. I am thrilled and honored to have been asked to co-head the efforts and this will be up and running by July 4 of this year – PERIOD. No little votes. No vendettas. No Bullshit. It’s politics, I get it and this will fade like everything else… and then a cycle of an election period will come about – trust me, this will resurrect itself and will need for this website to assist (it will, but there won’t be a need).

With that in mind, this is an email (and attachment) that I received yesterday.

Mr. Novozinsky,
Attached is an editorial I just sent to The Examiner regarding the UFTVC.
As a courtesy, since you are mentioned, I would like you to have a copy. Of course, I am not sure if it will be published.
Would you please forward a copy to Mr. Smires? I do not know him but I was disgusted to read how he was treated.
For what it is worth, I support your decision to resign from the UFTVC. The behavior of Mr. Frascella, Faber & Moslowski was reprehensible.
Thanks for your service to our community.
Steve Cacamese

Guest Editorial - Steve Cacamese

What country do we live in?

This is still the United States of America, correct? I just wanted to be sure. In the May 24th edition of The Examiner, I was disgusted to read about the fiasco that the Upper Freehold Township committee made of the appointments of three volunteers for the Upper Freehold Township Veterans Council (UFTVC). In case you did not read the article, During the May 17th council meeting, Upper Freehold Township Councilman Robert Frascella refused to vote for one of three candidates for the UFTVC, Township resident Ed Smires. Mr. Frascella’s reason for refusing to vote for Mr. Smires was that he had “a problem with an individual placed on a prestigious committee such as this who cost the town money over frivolous lawsuit.”

Later in the article, the township attorney stated that Mr. Smires was not actually named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Not that that should matter at all. The article further stated that Mr. Smires was only a supporter of the Citizens Advocating Road Safety (CARS) which was a group looking for the township to improve safety on Sharon Station Road between Route 539 and Route 526. Mr. Frascella stated that he had no problem with the other two candidates, Mayor Hornsall-Mount and another resident, Sheila Bogner. The township attorney informed the council that that the motion had to be voted on as written, meaning all three are voted in or all three are not. So now, because of Mr. Frascella’s vote, as well as the “no” votes from councilmen Robert Faber and Stan Moslowski Jr., (I will refer to these three from here on in as “The Judge & Jury”), there are no new volunteers for the committee. What a Great job!

The chairman of the UFTVC, Bruce Novozinski, was so appalled by all of this that he resigned his position as Chairman of the UFTVC as well as participation on the committee itself. So the actions of “The Judge & Jury” have now left the committee leaderless and short yet another volunteer, all because of what I can only see is a personal vendetta against Mr. Smires. Has the time now come that we residents of Upper Freehold Township must fear that speaking out against our elected officials will lead to some sort of retribution? It certainly seems that way from the actions of some members of our Township committee last May 17th. I wonder what else Mr. Smires has to fear, will he have trouble obtaining a building permit in the future? Or trouble getting a variance from the planning board one day? Or will he not be allowed to coach Little League? I have no idea, but I certainly don’t like the precedent that has been set by “The Judge & Jury” I would also ask the question, have “The Jury & Jury” opened Upper Freehold Township up to a civil rights lawsuit?

I’m not an attorney, but it certainly seems to me that a civil rights argument could be made. I am urging our town council to revisit this issue. I believe it was reckless and possibly illegal. Mayor Lorisue Hornsall-Mount and Deputy Mayor Steve Alexander both voted for the appointments. As one of the volunteers, I can see why Ms. Hornsall-Mount voted yes. (Cynical I know, but work with me for sake of argument) Mr. Alexander, according to the article, is the only veteran currently serving on the Township committee. If he can support these appointments, I see no reason why anyone else on the committee should have an issue with them. Except someone who had a personal vendetta or some other personal reason against a nominee. Regardless of whether Mr. Smires had his civil rights violated, this “no” vote and the reason given for it is flat out wrong.

The last time I checked, Freedom of Speech was still a fundamental right in this country, and I’m not talking about people that want to pervert freedom of speech to being permitted to yell “fire” in a crowded movie theater. Mr. Smires felt strongly about an issue and spoke out in support of it, right or wrong, good or bad, he’s entitled to that opinion. Apparently, some members of our town council believe that if you take a position on an issue in Upper Freehold that is opposite of the Township’s position and decide to take legal action or support somebody else’s legal action against the township, you are subject to retribution by the Township Council. Boy, am I glad I already finished my basement, with permits from the township of course. By the way, perhaps “The Judge & Jury” should check the May 24th issue of The Examiner. If they do, they will see that on page 24, there is an article stating that the Monmouth County Public Works Department is going to be undergoing a major road improvement on Sharon Station Road between Route 539 and Route 526. The reason for this is, to quote from the article, “…the road is narrow, functionally obsolete and has no functional shoulders and has roadway flooding and drainage problems. The three bridges on this section are in poor condition. Traffic, including trucks, often travels at high speed despite the limited sight distance visibility of certain portions”. “There is a high need to improve traffic operation and safety along the entire corridor.” So apparently Mrs. Smires, and his support of this group that was concerned that Sharon Station Road had traffic safety issues had some sort of argument.

Steve Cacamese Upper Freehold Township Resident

Cardinal Wilfred Napier of South Africa has directly responded via Twitter on my challenge to each “Prince” of the Church for 1) prayer for the sexual abuse victims and 2) a call for true transparently with his brethren Hierarchy in regards to the Church.  

Cardinal Napier IS a progressive Catholic leader. He has called for the Vatican to relax its policies on divorced and remarried Catholics, BUT in South Africa, he loses all Tribe-cred when he calls for abstinence programs over medical protection to thwart HIV and AIDS. This is simply not realistic but as one that was made a cardinal by John Paul II and is a dark horse (save the “you’re a racist emails, please) for Pope, the Cardinal will not do or say anything that will contradict what is already being laid out from the Vatican Boardroom.  On the topic of the Abuse Crisis, Wilfred Cardinal Napier is the corporate man; here is his tweet to me (sent privately)

“Easiest thing to do is to accuse Bishops of cover up. Makes Great media headlines but is it true? Is it the full story? Experience says NOT always.”

 I agree with the cardinal when he says “NOT always” but is MY experience that the cover up goes on.

His Eminence and I exchanged another tweet and he was kind enough to be sending my family a prayer card from South Africa and I offered him a copy of my book and he said he would accept. However,   His Eminence and I will agree to disagree.

http://exa.gmnews.com/news/2012-05-24/Front_Page/UF_veterans_aid_group_thwarted_by_committee_confli.html

Sheila Bogner was an employee of the UFRSD. She lives in New Egypt and could serve on the Millstone Vets Committee or the Jackson AmVets. Her son is a proud serving Marine and her stepson was a Marine. Because they both went to AHS (due to her employment in the district) she approached me as asked to serve on the UFTVC. Her name came up for nomination this past Thursday night and because of the vendetta against Mr. Ed Smires, Committee member Robert Frascella saw to it that she will not serve this time around.

The UFTVC saw to it that those in the UFT/ Allentown and UFRSD that entered the armed services in the Global War on Terrorism were honored with a name on the Plaque of Remembrance. This means a lot to Mrs. Bogner because both her son’s names are on it. It was Bogner that each and every year, while employed at the UFRSD would make it a point to get the list of names of each an every graduate that decided to forgo further formal education and take the time to serve their country, knowing full well the danger that this involves in these uncertain times. In all fairness to the three Board members that voted against the Resolution, Bogner would have been approved, and these Board members SHOULD have known that if you vote with the Resolution you are voting for each letter and punctuation mark. Apparently they didn’t. They attempted to amend the Resolution at the Dais and exclude Ed Smires in direct retaliation against Ed Smires being involved in a law suit that he was involved in to protect kids from trucks barreling down Sharon Station Rd in direct line with a proposed bus stop. Ed is a horrible human being (snark).

When Mrs. Bogner and I last exchanged email (Twitter feeds) I made it know that since my book was keeping me busy, the Plaque was not updated. I DID have it professionally cleaned and restored (NOT at the expense of the UFT taxpayers, but as part of a private donation) but names are missing. I told Mrs. Bogner that we needed a campaign to have it completely updated and this was to be before Memorial Day – of course, since Committee member Robert Frascella rallied against the wishes of the (then) sitting committee of the UFTVC, this will not happen.

I’m certain that Mrs. Bogner will be approved eventually. I’m sure that when the Plaque is turned over to whoever will be the next Chairperson will be, they will do an honorable job of seeing to the Plaque’s updating. It’s a shame that it will not be for Memorial Day.

No, this is not about patriotism; this about how vindictive, petty and shallow local politics can be.

 This is no longer a question of “why was local resident and businessman Ed Smires not appointed to a volunteer position on the Upper Freehold Township Veterans Committee” – it’s a question of ” why was (and will) local resident and businessman Ed Smires not (be) appointed to a volunteer position on ANY Upper Freehold Committee, (now or in the future)” as long as Committee member Robert Frascella has anything to say about it.

Doctor Frascella spearheaded the vote to block Mr. Smires from being active in the Upper Freehold Township Veterans Committee.  Simply put, the committee member centered his argument around the suit that Smires was part of in ensuring that the bus stop for The Woods not be moved to Sharon Station Rd where the morning traffic included commercial trucks came down at a high rate of speed.

The suit (filed by a citizens action group CARS) called for a “call to action” meaning “do something about this” and had absolutely no monitory gain for Smires or anyone else associated with CARS. Not one person involved put one dime in their pocket. Lawyers do not work for free, those that issued the suit lost money. Frascella’s claim is that the township lost money because of the suit (legal frees) and as a result of exercising their legal and constitutional right to file a suit for what is perceived as a wrong doing, Smires should be punished and not allowed to serve in any capacity what-so-ever in our community that has a Township Committee approval attached it.

At the time, Mr. Smires took his campaign for the safer Sharon Station Rd to an animated level and had tee-shirts made with a personal attack on Bill Miscoski in regards to the issue and I publicly (at a Township Committee meeting and in the Examiner) ripped him for it. He and I were still able to discuss it sometime later at the little league field.  

So why is this relevant?

Ed Smires was part of the group CARS that sued the township for improvements on Sharon Station Rd. He can even be called (and was called) the “ringleader”. Eventually and tragically a person was killed on Sharon Station Rd and this is what ensued at a meeting following that event – FROM THE EXAMINER: In 2006, a group called Citizens Advocating Road Safety sued Miscoski and the Township Committee to prevent a county takeover of the road. Miscoski said he was sued individually because he was a partner with a trucker. The lawsuit was dropped in 2008. “These people thought they would stop trucks on the road,” Miscoski said. “They weren’t going to — it’s a connector road. I blame these people for this [death].” Miscoski said he specifically blamed a resident of the Woods at Cream Ridge housing development off Sharon Station Road, and said he hoped that person would meet a similar fate on Sharon Station Road. Committeeman Dr. Robert Frascella, a Woods at Cream Ridge resident, said Sharon Station Road is a bad road. He agreed with Miscoski about the specific resident and called that person the “ringleader” of the residents who sued Upper Freehold Township. Frascella said the 2006 lawsuit was filed “by a bunch of cowards who couldn’t even put their names on it.” 

 In 2008 when Committee member Frascella was running for Township Committee, he played in a golf outing. I ran the outing and offered Bill Miscoski a few words at the podium at the post round banquet. I said to Bill that this was an event for AHS golf and asked he not make a political statement what-so-ever. Miscoski’s opening remarks were, “Bruce will be mad at me, but if you vote, vote for Bob Frascella. This Township needs him.” In full disclosure, I voted for the Doctor.

_________________________

In 2006 a lawsuit was filed by a local resident and developer. His name is not important because he, like CARS (and Smires) felt he was being wronged and exercised his legal and constitutional right to file a suit to validate that perception. Since the time that suit came to resolution, that individual was appointed without opposition to not one, not two but three township committees. Why then, using the current logic of three members of the sitting Township Committee, was this individual not excluded from any Upper Freehold Township committee? The same committee core that approved him on at least two of those committees are the same that denied Mr. Smires his volunteer position this past week.

 Now the “he’s picking on me” starts. Both sides are pointing fingers in and around town and on social media. Quite honestly I could give a ratsazz about the political spectrum in all of this. What I do care about are the four calls we get a year to the Veteran’s hotline. That’s it – four on average. Does not sound like a lot and it’s not. Well it’s not to you and me maybe, but it is everything to the person at the other end.

• It’s a lot to the guy that does not have a PC to get the proper VA forms and we print it out and call him back and spend 90 minutes on the phone helping him fill out the forms. It – oh and by the way, this guy was from Arkansas
• It’s a lot to the guy in Brick that didn’t have the money for heating his trailer (or feeding his 2 pets) to get an Oil company to donate the fuel and Wegman’s to give him a gift card
• It’s a lot to the guy that was confused by what the prescription bottle meant by “twice daily” to have a pharmacist call him and tell him exactly what it mean and then send over a “pill box” with times and days outlined on it
• It’s a lot to the guy that got an Allentown afghan with the scenes from home embroidered on it
• It’s a lot to the woman abandoned by her serviceman husband to have his commanding officer track him down and stand in front of him to explain himself and to have food on her table and diapers on her baby within eight hours

Do you think anyone of the twenty-two people who have called the hotline since 2008 cares that Ed Smires filed a lawsuit in UFT eons ago? Do you think that maybe, just maybe Mr. Smires could be an asset to the UFTVC? Ed Smires didn’t come looking for this; I went looking for him. He posted on Facebook that he was looking to help a veteran’s committee. It was a broadcast post and I answered it and he jumped. He was all-in and ready to write the checks. I don’t care if the checks came from Mr. and Mrs. Smires or if the checks came from Smires Associates or if they came from the Committee to Re-Elect Bensivango, no one makes a dime – no one! Up to now we have relied on bits and pieces of donation for a total of $3,800 and each dollar went to the support a Veteran. Cost to the taxpayer: $0.00.

I appreciate the reach out from our Mayor this past weekend. We exchanged emails and still pretty fricking hot about all of this, I decided that this was not the best time to discuss it. However, I did give her a suggestion on how this can be resolved. We’ll see.

It should never have gotten to this, but it has – welcome to Upper Freehold Township politics pre-circa 1999 (revisited).

This evening, the Upper Freehold Township Committee came to its darkest hour in the sitting term over the past four years. Tonight, I’m ashamed of them and that is saying a lot because usually I’m one of their biggest advocates.

The Upper Freehold Township Veterans Committee was established in 2008, I was the co-chairman of that committee. We had meetings for the first 6 months and then the attendance dwindled. Those that stayed active did so with anonymity. The committee didn’t participate in parades or build statues or hand out flags to wave as other towns do. We simply went by the mantra that we “never leave our buddies behind” (save the snickers, I’ve heard them all for 30 years).  The committee functioned with a personal cell phone number (not a township number). The committee laid out over $3,800 in personal funds – never  a dime asked for or taken by the tax payers of Upper Freehold Township. The plaque honoring those in service in the Global War on Terrorism cost $600 and that was donated by Ed and Heather Beucker (and) family of UFT.

There have been a total of twenty-two calls that have come into the UFTVC hot line – only 4 have been from UFT/ Allentown veterans. The rest came from Manchester, Manalapan, Toms River, New York, Tennessee, Florida, Minnesota, Alabama, Pennsylvania – you get the picture. True to form, those that remained active on the committee refused to leave our buddies behind. We researched individual veterans services from 7 difference states, put a woman abandoned by her serviceman husband in front of that deadbeat’s commanding officer and had food on her table and diapers on her baby within eight hours. Never once asking UFT’s Board for a dime, nickel or penny.

In 2012, I was reappointed chairman. I approached the Township Committee and asked that we mend the criteria for the UFTVC because no one but Mr. Doug Walsh stepped up to express any interest in being reappointed. Two other people did via email and they were both non-vets. Shelia Bogner whose son, Kyle Abbott is an AHS graduate and service in the Marine Corps, LoriSue Mount and Ed Smires, a generous and local businessman that is a constant volunteer in our community. All three stood up when others would not. The resolution was read that included all three names. When it came to a vote, members of the Township Committee tried to pick a cafeteria tray on who they deemed worthy of assisting the veterans. The concern that Committee member Robert Frascella had was that Mr. Smires was involved in a lawsuit against the township – true/ not true (and idiotic). Smires was involved as a suit for a call-to-action because of heavy commercial trucks barrel-assing down Sharon Station Rd, NOT money.   At this point, Township attorney Granville McGee stepped in and said that unless the resolution is amended, it had to be voted on “as is” including wording and all candidates.  This is how it went down:

LORISUE H. MOUNT: In favor

STEPHEN J. ALEXANDER: In favor

ROBERT FABER: NOT in favor

STANLEY MOSLOWSKI JR: NOT in favor

DR. ROBERT FRASCELLA: NOT in favor

Apparently in UFT, if you file a suit against the township, you are excluded from serving in a volunteer position.

Mr. Smires with an open check book to support those that came home and those that are fighting to this day. He called me, text me, emailed me asking “when are we getting started” and “what do you need?” These names went up for nomination and based on the new criteria for serving on this township sponsored committee should have been a rubber stamp because with only two exceptions on the sitting township committee (Mayor Mount and Deputy Mayor Alexander) not one of the remaining three committee member have once asked about the UFTVC activities to the one person that would be intimate with the details listed above – me.

Whatever the reasoning that at least three of the sitting board members had this evening for voting against the VOLUNTEER NOMINATION of Ed Smires is personal and reprehensible. Mr. Smires is a hugely successful local businessman that pours time, money and resources into this community. He came to us and short of a criminal record, him not being welcomed to this committee is absolutely deplorable and each and every committee member should come out of the “closed session” bullshit room and explain their vote. What right do these people have to judge? NO ONE from the UFTVC ever asked for their assistance for one single thing. This should be up to those that are involved – three of the five are not involved. This committee could have expanded and done more, three members tonight stood in the way of that.

This evening I contacted the Dana Tyler, UFT Municipal Clerk and resigned as a member and Chairperson of the Veterans Committee.

This summer,  I am going to go to the Township building and get a list of each and every member of each and every committee and cross reference it with each and every suit filed that “cost the township money” and then see how each and every sitting member of the township committee voted when those names came up for approval.  This should prove interesting.

I strongly encourage those that voted against Mr. Smires (because this WAS a vote against Mr. Smires) to take a self-examination as to their reasoning and maybe ask a veteran how much petty, local Bum-fuck, New Jersey 08501 political grudges mean to them when a person that never served is willing to say “thank you” and reach out to those that do and have.

Disgusting.

Once again, the bigot and racist Jay-Z gets a pass. I’m disappointed that it’s Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter that gave it to him.

Nutter stood next to Mr. Z as if he were the second coming of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia this week as the rapper announced his plans to bring 30 acts of diverse music to the a two-day event in the city over Labor day weekend.

Call me “half-empty” but aside from the fact that this will be a money-maker for Philadelphia and the charities that will benefit, one has to believe that the mayor Nutter has the chief of police on speed-dial with a direct line to the National Guard for the weekend festivities.  Why? Because he already told the city, ”it’s okay to call women bitches and hoe’s and call the guy next to you nigger, because that’s what this great humanitarian and blessed soul sings about” think I’m lying?

Now once upon a time not too long ago
A nigga like myself had to strong arm a hoe
This is not a hoe in the sense of having a pussy
But a pussy having no God Damn sense, try and push me

What really hit me between the eyes was the rapid applause Jay-Z got when he said at the press conference,  that before he takes on a project, he asks himself “’Will it push the culture forward?’

Rap mags try and use my black ass
So advertisers can give em more cash for ads…fuckers
I don’t know what you take me as
or understand the intelligence that Jay-Z has
I’m from rags to riches nigga I ain’t dumb
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one
Hit me

I think that this answers his question – it’s a resounding “NO” – is that “moving the culture forward”?

A not so long time ago, a baseball player named John Rocker said this in Sports Illustrated about the possibility of playing in New York city, “ I would retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the [Number] 7 train to the ballpark, looking like you’re [riding through] Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing.”  Rocker is an idiot, a redneck racist and was shut out of baseball long before his time was up and this could be squarely traced back to this quote in December 1999.  He’s a dumbass.

Rocker paid a price for his mouth. Rappers don’t. They get celebrated on steps of cities by mayors and invited to perform at presidential inaugurations. Mayor Nutter recently went on a rant telling young people to hike up the pants and stop being baby making machines. Mr. mayor, you are inviting trouble in Philadelphia in the early summer – I hope your police force cane handle it. Please keep it on that side of the bridges.

Nuns are the best thing about the Catholic Church. Period.

I would easily say that the Sisters of Mercy of Saint Mary Academy, Lakewood and Georgian Court College (University) were the single most influential group of people who ever crossed my path. The Sisters LOVED my dad and he, them. When he died, it was the Sisters that came to our home and sat with my sister and me when my mom was forced to tell a 7 and 10-year-old that their daddy was with God. They stayed at our house throughout the night, slept on our couch and watched us while the arrangement were being made.

In 1972 my mother remarried. She was in an abusive marriage and the Sisters of Saint Mary saw that. Most weekends I had the gym of Georgian Court College (University) as my playground because they would come up with excuses to have me out of the house. It was there that they introduced me on a spring day to Archbishop Fulton Sheen and he blessed me with a playful “thump” on my head.

The vocation of sisterhood is dying. The church has largely abandoned the servants of the home because they will not remain silent any longer.  

If you thought the war on women was only aimed at secular feminists think again. The nuns are under attack and in late April, the Vatican announced it will reform the Leadership Conference of Women

The LCWR is the largest group of U.S. Catholic nuns. Some 80% of active nuns in the United States are members – it’s a union (of sorts). The Vatican charges that the LCWR helps the poor, but has no agenda to actively oppose abortion or euthanasia. The LCWR is cited for not promoting Rome’s vision for family life and sexuality. The Vatican also complains that LCWR’S public statements have disagreed with “the bishops, (as) the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.” “Morals – do I need to go in that direction here?

If bishops are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals, who are the 47,000 American women represented by the LCWR? Americans have certainly called many nuns “teacher.” Women religious have always held a “pain in the ass, little sister (if you will) place in the church. They were teaches and basically cheap labor.  Nuns are not clergy but not laity either. Many of us called them “teacher” and many of us give into the stereotyped nun of looking over her glasses with ruler in the cocked position.

American nuns are radical, compared to the Bishops in charge of todays church. Nuns have always been at the forefront of promoting women’s progress. While the sheer volume of catholic middle schools do not allow a nun in each classroom, they are using this opportunity to branch out and become doctors, attorneys and heads of hospitals. Nuns have always identified with the underdogs; the Bishops, well, not so much.  This leads to the hierarchy scrambling to silence them and they need to stop; actually they just need to shut up. The sisters of today have a voice. They are speaking their minds and those minds are sharp.  Christ entered and left this world with His Mother at His side. Great reverence is bestowed on Mary and it sickens me that a Jon Stewart is allowed to take gratuitous shot (twice) at the Blessed Virgin  and remain on-air. It sickens me no less to see the spirit of sacrifice in the people who guided me, be called into question by men in white, red and purple who have zero credibility pontificating on social justice and morals.

It started off as a joke – really, a joke. Maybe a little close to home for the Mayor of Newark, Cory Booker and he came back at me along with 50 (plus) of his closest friends.

On friday night, Mayor Booker came out with a Tweet that said Newark was in the middle of a construction BOOM. The mayor have 1.1 MILLION follows and every time he sniffs a Tweet, he gets thousands of replies. If you look to the right >>> you’ll see that the mayor took offense and took the time to not only reply but to follow-up later in the weekend with a personal Twitter direct message to me stating the NPD crime stats for the year (not all that flattering for his city by the way). Mr. Booker now follows me on Twitter now by the way.

I want to start off by saying the Mayor took a voluntary pay cut and he broke off his security detail and save a neighbor from her burning home. He came into office eligible for $142,089 a year and went down to $125,213 in 2011. He’s a good man and a great leader.

I was in Newark for the better part of 2 years recently working for the largest employer there outside the city itself. I was on the corner of Market and Broad. I watched that toilet of a McDonald’s get robbed, patrons get mugged, drug deals and open drug consumption occur on the same corner I was going to work at. Proponents of the city point to NJPAC and a few restaurants. There is not much else. To start, 25% of the city lives in poverty.

The school system is in shambles. The city’s public schools are the lowest-performing in the state, even after the state government decided to take over management of the city’s schools in 1995, which was done under the presumption that improvement would follow. It has not – it’s gotten worse.  Seven of Newark’s high schools are ranked in the bottom 10% of the states schools. Not only is it an Abbott district, it’s an Abbott CITY. It’s a drain on the taxpayers and they just don’t care. Case in point, $24,000,000 for a football stadium at one of those Abbott high schools that rank in the bottom 10% of the state. “This stadium is hope,” the coach insists. “That’s what it is. Hope.” Sorry coach, it’s a stadium for about 50 kids and their families and what else could have been done with $24,000,000 in that district? This school district worst SAT and HSPA in the state (and that’s saying something for a state that has Camden)

Five of the last seven Mayors of Newark have been indicted on criminal charges, including the last three. The city kept electing and re-electing Sharpe James over and over again and will take 40 year to crawl out of his web of criminal behavior alone.  In 2011 Newark recorded 90 homicides and still laid off 160 police officers (though 27 have been or will be rehirted by the end of 2012). All the while, as the cops were getting laid off and the homicide rate was increasing, the current city council spent $3.45 million on salaries, six times what similarly populated Jersey City spends and $1.4 million more than what the state’s next seven largest cities spend … combined, according to the Star Ledger.

Newark takes it’s jabs. The Mayor did an outstanding job with Conan O’Brien and I do wish him well. But this city is littered with more crime than pride and I’m sorry, Mr. Mayor, from the outside looking in, Newark is still a scary place with mixed priorities on the school and city council leaderships.

Terrence McGowan is running in the primary on June 5 versus incumbant Christopher Smith.

Last week I asked for more substance versus his resume and the McGowan camp complied by agreeing to answer 10 straight-forward, high and tight fastballs. Bottomline is this, McGowan took the questions and didn’t try to reply with “talking points.” He embraced them and gave candid replies. McGowan asked for me to check his military background and I was already a step ahead of him; I checked his UDT/SEAL credentials and they came flying through. Outlined are the questions and copied nad pasted answers with zero editing.

I like what I read here and in the side-emails the candidate and I have exchanged. I think that Upper Freehold and the west part of the district needs to get to know him better and make up their own minds.  Do you have a question for McGowan? Contact him at mcgowan2012@live.com - I think you’ll find him refreshingly candid and open. Stopping short of an endorsement (because NO ONE should care what I think, say or do) I believe that we need to take a careful moment to consider his candidacy, this is the real deal.

This is a guy that realizes that “the only easy day is yesterday.”

Ladies, gentlemen and votes of the New Jersey fourth,   ’10 Q w …’ Terrence McGowan, republican candidate for Congress.

1)  You are running against a 30 year incumbent, who has a pretty decent track record on where he stands on practical issues and human rights; what differentiates you from Chris Smith?

A: I think we should expect more from our representatives in Congress.  A 30 year incumbent should have more than a “pretty good” track record.  The representative from this heavily Republican district can afford to take chances and put himself out there on tough issues without fear of losing his seat.  Congressman Smith has more often than not taken the safe road. 

2)  I live in Upper Freehold. Just over a year ago, a seven-year old girl was sexually assaulted by an illegal immigrant. Where do you stand on illegal immigration? 

A:  Illegal immigration is just that, illegal.  We can’t even begin to fix the problem until we stop sending the message that there aren’t any consequences for not following the process.

3)  The Asbury Park Press recently ran a four-part series on the failure of the Lakewood school systems. This is not isolated to that district though. Abbott districts are a drain on our tax dollars for a system that is not getting better – where are you on education reform? Tenure? Teacher unions?

A:  The education issue in this state is a tough one to say the least.  The short answer is I am running for a federal office and I have no say on the issue.  I won’t do that here.  I think both sides would agree there needs to be some reform.  I think the NJEA needs to look at some of the teachers unions and make more realistic requests.  I think the Governor could also tone down the political rhetoric in an effort to come to a reasonable accord.  Perhaps the two groups should meet and have a public debate.  This would remove a lot of the political posturing and allow for a real discussion.

4) Recently the Obama administration came out with a an edict that all religious organizations will be required to provide insurance benefits that are in direct contrast to the belief of the Catholic faith and an infringement on Religious Liberties. Comment please.

A:  All American’s should be concerned by this particular move by the Obama Administration.  Imagine the outrage if Muslims were required to eat pork by the federal government.  There is no mention in the Constitution of a right to health insurance coverage.  There is however, a very specific and unambiguous guarantee of the right to Freedom of Religion.  It’s another example of the misguided position this administration has taken on the role of government in our lives.

5) The fourth district is being inundated with federally unlawful medical marijuana farming requests. Fighting these cases are financially draining on the municipalities. 1) is there a place here in NJ (and your district) for these farms and 2) should the State reimburse the townships for money used in taking on these oppositions?

A:  Since Congressman Smith allowed the closing of Ft Monmouth, I have thought that this might be an ideal location.  It can be easily secured, and would not put an undue strain on local law enforcement.

6) Republican Mayor John Bensivengo of Hamilton has recently been brought up on federal charges for taking bribes. Many in his own local party have called for him to take a leave of absence and some have called for his resignation. Based on the severity of the charges, should he heed that advice?

A:  Our legal system is predicated on the assumption of innocence.  That said, I think a leave of absence is appropriate in cases such as this where the maintenance of the public trust is critical to the effective performance of one’s duties and responsibilities  If he were a Police Officer, similar action would be taken by the department until the matter was resolved.

7) Faith has become an issue at the national level. Like it or not, it’s an issue. Should it be? What is your faith?

A:  This nation was born from men and women fleeing religious oppression.  The Founders strongly believed that the free practice of religious beliefs should be respected and individual citizens should be free from discrimination or persecution because of their religious beliefs.  I believe that perspective should be applied whether you’re applying for a job, buying a house, or running for political office.  Those types of activities should not have any form of religious test applied. I am a practicing Catholic.

8) Abortion. Pro-life or Pro-abortion?

A:  Pro- Life.

9) If elected, what will you do day one? What are your top three legislative priorities?

A: Actually, the first thing I’d like to do is to UN-DO Obamacare.  I would also start working on a REAL fair tax reform plan.  I would work on easing some of the restrictions and regulatory burdens that Washington has put on small business, so Americans can start working again.

10) Why you? Why now?

A:  Washington is broken.  It’s bloated, intrusive and a huge impediment to the American entrepreneurial spirit.  We need fresh ideas and new perspectives that reflect the issues that are most important to all Americans, particularly those of us here in the 4th District.  Why me?  I think the voters are ready to send someone to Washington who has already demonstrated a strong commitment to the welfare of his country and community.  I don’t think there is any doubt about my commitment and dedication to this nation.  Why now?  Because I couldn’t stand the thought of pulling the lever for either a career politician or a liberal Democrat anymore.  I decided I would take a stand and give the voters of this district a better choice.

The “rapper-artist” Jay-Z is a Race-tard whose lyrics are littered with phrases such as “Nigger” (Nigga), and refers to women as Bitches and Ho’s. A real sweetheart. He is also a part owner of the former New Jersey and now Brooklyn Nets of the NBA. It’s not one or 2 little ditties, but rather this talentless wad, makes a living 1) off of inner city kids thrist for anything that rhymes with “hey-yo” and 2) his wife Beyoncé who is seemingly a beautiful and warm person.

In today’s New York Post, writer Phil Mushnick wrote the following, and he is NOT wrong, but Twitter blew up and trended #mushnick and #nypost within an hour with the same people who Jay-Z targets as his preferred consumer blasting Mushnick as the racist.

“As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their  marketing shots — what a shock that he chose black and white as the new team  colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new “urban” home — why not have  him apply the full Jay-Z treatment?

Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N——s? The  cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B—-hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with  hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way…”

Now, the only problem I have with this is that Mushnick used the ” – - – ” and didn’t spell out the words as they are not dash-dash-dashed in the accompanying lyric page in the CD’s and that no one in the black leadership is using this as a springboard to call on Jay-Z, that thugtard, Chris Brown (stains) and Kanye West to stop using these words in their (ahem) art.

Once again, I REFUSE to suppress these terms as long as the music industry condones its use.

Frank Giberson live on Arena Drive in Hamilton and I’m told that I should not give out exact addresses. I was told this as I was purchasing a beverage at my local 711 (seven-eleven).

Frankie is recently charged on April 19 with sexual assault with an under 13 year old family member for “several years). Once again, this cupcake is innocent until proven guilty but I’m just satin’ that I’m more inclined to believe the police and prosecutors. Of course, WARNING! Any person who uses the information contained herein to threaten, intimidate or harass another, or who otherwise misuses that information may be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability.

This is Joe Miller. He is a special education teacher’s aide and he has been indicted by a Mercer County grand jury on charges connected to alleged sexual assaults on a 12-year-old AUTISTIC boy. The charges are two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child

The case might not have come to light if it weren’t for the child’s mother, who talked to her son about what was right and wrong following the much-publicized case against former Penn State University coach Jerry Sandusky, prosecutors said.

During the talk last November, the autistic pre-teen from the Lawrence Middle School told his mother that he had showered with a man and had performed sex acts with him. The mother contacted authorities.

I have to say this now according to smart people with law degrees: Innocent until proven guilty (but I believe the police, the boy, the mom, the prosecutor – just sayin’).

Jennifer Tyrrell takes first grade boys on campouts.  Jennifer Tyrrell  makes shoe size box cars from wood for the annual Pinewood Derby and Jennifer Tyrrell has taken time off of her work in order to support the causes for the Boy Scouts of America.

Tyrrell lives with her family in Bridgeport, Ohio. She has four adopted children and she was drafted by the parents of her Cub den to be the Den parent. At her first den meeting with parents, Tyrrell told them all she was gay. Some already knew her because she had coached youth baseball and volunteered at school, organizing class parties and reading to children. That’s not good enough for the Boy Scouts of America – this past week, Jennifer Tyrrell was told to step down or be removed as Pack Leader because of her sexual orientation

The Boy Scouts of America, whose oath calls for members to be “morally straight,” maintains that as a private organization it has the right to exclude gays from its ranks. They have every legal right to maintain a desired leadership and participation criteria. They are good people (for the most part) that do great things in their communities and that because the kids are the focal point. Excluding gays and atheists are as well within their rights as Augusta National barring women from membership or a religious organization calling Religious Liberties in their hiring practices.

There is one problem though, this is wrong. This is despicable.

Jennifer Tyrrell is not a predator, not a felon. She is not an activist that disrupts den meetings or hands out leaflets that challenge the code of (ahem) ethics of the Scouts. She’s a mom and by all accounts a good mom. Tyrrell is a Little League coach and a library volunteer – a real menace, huh?

The BSA issued the following statement that has seemingly backfired and caught them on the short side of the “Be Prepared” pledge:  ”Her removal from the program was solely for being in violation of national policy and unrelated to any other issue. This policy was understood by her and her fellow volunteers, but not followed, upon her registering in the program. Scouting, and the majority of parents it serves, does not believe it is the right forum for children to become aware of the issue of sexual orientation, or engage in discussions about being gay,” the statement read.

Here’s the rub, One parent said: “My son asked me last night, ‘Why did Jen leave? Why is she in trouble?’ He doesn’t understand. The only people who were hurt were the kids, they’re asking questions they shouldn’t have to ask at this point.”

Parents of the Tiger Scouts, a program for first-grade boys before they become Cub Scouts, said they never heard Tyrrell mention her sexuality to the children. Club rules require a parent or other adult to accompany each child to every meeting.

“I had no clue she was a lesbian. It doesn’t really make a difference to me,” said Don Thomas, whose grandson is in the pack. “She did a fantastic job, and the kids loved her. You couldn’t ask for a better den leader.”

(Snark alert) – NOW the BSA needs to address the horrid, painful, evil, topic of homosexuality they had hoped they could avoid (based on their own statement). Being legal does not translate into being right.

I have an address.

I have an email address.

I have a social organization.

Once verified, I will be posting all of it. I’m done playing around with this vile human being.

This weekend I had a very well received (on both ends) conversation with a SNAP officer. SNAP, if you don’t know is the Survivor Network for those Abused by Priests. However, don’t let the name fool you, SNAP encompasses all religious abusers and not just priests. 

In the past I’ve been critical of SNAP. Any large organization will have its pitfalls and critics. I’ve posted them and voice them and would not back off of them. I believe that SNAP employs an almost “drive-by” method of activism and this is fueled by its limited resources.

That said …

With the assistance of SNAP, I have located Frank Bruno. I believe that the address I have now is the correct one and that once verified, I will be taking the proper steps to make his neighbors aware of the history he had as priest within the Diocese of Trenton and the circumstances surrounding his leaving the priesthood.

Make no mistake about this, Frank Bruno is a predator. He lives in Hamilton, NJ, he has four credible accusations against him and at least one settlement paid off by the Diocese of Trenton on his behalf. He is a former priest and youth counselor of for the State of New Jersey Department of Corrections. His position as a  youth counselor is with the full knowledge of the Diocese and they never did anything to inform the State of the circumstances surrounding his removal from the priesthood – basically, he is hiding in plain sight – until now. 

The history (from www.bishopaccountability.org) A 26-year-old man has sued a former Roman Catholic priest, 11 other clerics and their parishes, a retreat house and the Trenton Diocese, charging he was sexually assaulted when he served as an altar boy between 1978 and 1981. The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court, New Brunswick on behalf of John Crowe by Fred Ira Eckhaus, an attorney with the firm of Cohan & Eckhaus in Parlin. It named Francis D. Bruno of Hamilton Square in Mercer County as a defendant, charging he assaulted Crowe when the plaintiff was between the ages of 12 and 14. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, claims the assaults caused lasting emotional and physical damage, pain and humiliation to Crowe.

Other defendants named in the lawsuit include Trenton Bishop John Reiss, Msgr. Joseph LaForge, the Rev. Harry Flynn, the Rev. Thomas Rittenhouse, the Rev. John J. Scully, the Rev. Vincent Treglio and the Rev. William McKeon. Also named are Bishop Edward Kmiec, Msgr. Francis Krine, the Rev. Richard Lyons and Bruno’s seminary schools, churches he was affiliated with and the Trenton Diocese. Since the alleged assaults, the churches cited in the civil complaint realigned with the Diocese of Metuchen, formed in the mid-1980s. The Metuchen Diocese was not named in the suit. The suit charges the other defendants with covering up the assaults by failing to report or stop them. Bruno, who left the priesthood several years ago and currently works for the state Department of Corrections, could not be reached for comment, but an attorney representing the diocese denied the allegations. “We obviously, from the standpoint of the defense, believe that no representative, priest or any of the supervising priests were in any way liable for any of the problems this young man might have encountered,” the attorney, Michael Herbert, said. “It’s just sad that the Catholic Church is now a target for lawsuits,” he said, asserting the civil complaint is “similar to an epidemic of complaints being filed seeking untold millions of dollars … The favorite target is the Roman Catholic Church.” Crowe said he had suppressed his memory of the assaults and was having nightmares and started suffering from epileptic-like seizures that became daily, horrific events. The man said his problems persisted until he began seeking counseling after he recalled the repeated sexual assaults. Crowe claimed the former priest had routinely invited him and other boys to play poker and offered them beer and cigarettes. Crowe said he was lured into Bruno’s bedroom and sitting room at the rectory at St. James R.C. Church in Woodbridge, where he was assaulted. Crowe said he served at the church as an altar boy. He also claims he was assaulted while on visits with the priest to Sacred Heart R.C. Church in South Amboy and at the Stella Maris Retreat in Long Beach Island. He further claims other priests were aware of the assaults and joked about them, referring to Bruno as a “chicken hawk,” who kept young boys for sexual purposes. As an adult, he began suffering from nightmares and “non-epileptic seizures” and is undergoing counseling. Church officials said they offered counseling, but Crowe rejected them. Crowe said he never told anyone, including his parents, about the alleged episodes, asserting he was ashamed and was persuaded by Bruno to keep silent. Crowe said in college, he developed a friendship with Bruno as an adult after the priest contacted him. The friendship ended when Crowe’s recollections of the alleged incidents returned, he said. In August or September 1992, three or four months after the nightmares began, “I called Frank to confront him on whether or not it all happened, and he verified it for me,” Crowe said. By that time, Bruno had left the priesthood, Crowe said.

The NAACP is no longer a champion for the “advancement of Colored People.” RIP,  February 2011. As far as finances are concerned the organization is treading water and influence-wise, its relevance is as outdated as, well… the term “Colored People.”  Looking to rebrand itself, the organization is looking to be a more leftist group with an almost all-out agenda to discredit (or worse, ignore) blacks that have advanced the cause of people of color. The NAACP has been trying to escape the label as a one-way racist group so it was only logical that they carry the liberal flag, because obviously liberals can never be guilty of racism – just ask them.

So in the process, the NAACP has (figuratively) lynched two men that have basically done more to advance the pride of black people everywhere.

In 2011, conservative writer, Bill Teacher wrote, “The NAACP refused directly address the racism displayed by progressive protesters outside a summit hosted by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch at the end of January in Palm Springs, Calif., but the organization did call for an end to all “vitriolic language.”

In response to The Daily Caller’s request for comment on a video showing progressive protesters calling for somebody to “string up” African American Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, or “send him back into the fields” or “cut off all his toes and feed them to him one-by-one,” NAACP spokesman Hilary Shelton pointed to the organization’s recent resolution calling for a “civil political discourse.”

“Last summer, the NAACP passed a resolution calling for a civil political discourse,” Shelton said in an e-mail to TheDC. “We continue to call on all Americans to abandon vitriolic language. It serves as a distraction from the real issues our society need to address and distorts the challenges we as Americans have to confront to make our nation greater still.

Pretty harsh stuff. Beyond racist, beyond rational human thinking.

This past week, Congressman Allen West was uninvited as the keynote speaker at the NAACP chapter in his home South Florida district because he said this last month, in response to a question at a town hall meeting, “there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.” He doubled down on the accusation last week, saying he does not regret the statement, saying,  “I’m not going to back down,” West said at a press conference last Tuesday. “I’m not going to be afraid about the fact that I called a spade a spade.”

The congressman is a conservative. He’s a black man from South Florida, outspoken and a dark horse (save the emails, please) for the Vice Presidential position with Mitt Romney. He is being isolated from the NAACP not because of his skin color but because of his ideology. Period.

The NCCAP is desperate to stay relevant. Their failing and need to center efforts to be influential in the upcoming election and in a day-in-age where the New Black Panther thug-group gets media attention for death threats that are ignored by the Department of Justice. The NAACP is missing the mark by not countering, or at least addressing these street-punk-ass efforts.

There is a shell-game being played out in our state legislature with the sexual abuse of our children and women in New Jersey – it’s being orchestrated by  NJ Budget Committee Chair Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) and it’s something called the “Child Protection Act” – this act clearly and without question keeps the predators protected while re-abusing the victim. Try as he may to sugar coat the garbage within the bill, chocolate on shit, is still shit. The insult trying to passed by Greenwald has really irked the advocates of victim rights and rightfully so.

Here are the bullet points: Despite its name, it’s a decoy — designed to distract attention from a stronger bill that actually would protect those who suffered childhood sexual abuse at the hands of authority figures The bill, will limit the liability of institutions — namely, the Catholic Church and its bishops — when lawsuits are filed against the church by those who were sexually abused by clergy

For some unthinkable reason, the Greenwald bill was introduced shortly after a legitimate child protection bill, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), was reintroduced after failing (unthinkable #2) to pass in the previous legislative session.

VITALE BILL Eliminates the statute of limitations for sex abuse victims to sue their abusers. It guarantees that, no matter when victims come forward; they find the courthouse doors open to them

GREENWALD BILL eliminates the statute of limitations, too — but only for future cases; thousands of past victims would be locked out; eliminates legal responsibility for all but the actual abuser, protecting churches’ leaders and treasuries

Greenwald is not backing off and his arrogance is the only thing that overshadows his stupidity.  Child victims need time — to remember the crime, to connect it to destructive adult behaviors, to build courage to act. Vitale’s bill provides that time. Allowing victims to bring suits also helps identify abusers — men who, decades later, might still be abusing children.

McDonald’s has been under attack by the food police for the past six years now – maybe longer but in the media glare for the past six years. First off, look at me, one can tell by looking at my waist line that I’ve saddled up to a Happy Meal or 2 in my day. Mask it anyway you want, a Big Mac, large fries, hot apple pie and a tall coke is not on the Food Pyramid when lumped all together on the insides of a sesame seed bun.

Fair enough.

I’m going to ask a general question so I can I can put it in my GPS. Can anyone point me to the Salad Works home for Kids with Cancer? Olive Garden’s? Can anyone tell me what other restaurant has donated $13,000,000 of food and goods (and cash) to the troops overseas to give them a small taste (literally) from home? Can anyone tell me what other organization in the food industry has donated to $44,000,000 in scholarships to deserving kids (regardless of class)? Who has donated $5,000,000 to reconstructive surgeries to children born with cleft lips and chins and skin decreases?

I can tell you who – The Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. (http://rmhc.org/)

Ronald McDonald Houses offer families of children being treated in nearby hospitals with a “comfortable and supportive environment with quick access to the hospital” and allows them to “concentrate on the well-being of their child.” The cost for lodging and food is zero. Does this fit the corporate mold of a company that feeds on laziness of parents or the addictive behavior of children jonesing for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese? McDonald’s offers jobs and not just behind the counter. There are dairy, meat and vegetable farmers and corporate oversight to consider as well.

Parents need to be parents. They need to moderate the food intake of their children. They need to say “no” and they need to offer McDonald’s or Dairy Queen or Maggie Moo as something special and not the norm. Fat kids are fat because their parents allow them to get fat – period.  Offering a toy is not an enticement for a child any more than offering apple slices over fries is a deterrent. Stop blaming the fast food industry for the lack of parenting or guardianship.

Open session and letter from Stephen Alexander (Dep Mayor of UFT) to Allentown mayor, Stewie Feirstein… Sit back, get some popcorn and a beer, turn off the Big Bang Theory and get ready for some ear-poppin’ fun…  I want to thank my fellow Committee members for advancing the ball on the developing of Reed Park tonight, despite the ungrateful elected officials of our bordering neighbor, Allentown, more specifically Mr. Feirstein.  I was on vacation at our last meeting so I did not get the opportunity to respond publicly to Mr. Fierstein’s recent comments in the paper about the development of Reed Park and fire services.

Mr. Feirstein, I will not allow you, a Allentown Councilman or Councilwoman to interfere with Upper Freehold business.  If Allentown thinks this is a divided Township Committee on the development of Reed Park, and you are trying to take advantage of this – try us!! See how quickly you find out just how UNITED we are on this issue. 

 In 2008 Allentown elected official bitterly complained about the Non-Resident fees for recreation programs implemented by Upper Freehold. So much so, Allentown Council passed a resolution condemning Upper Freehold’s Township Committee claiming the Township Committee  was “unsportsmanlike, unreasonable, unjust and unfair to Allentown citizens.” These are actual words used in Allentown’s Resolution.  Allentown must have been playing Scrabble that night and had a bunch of “U’s” to use for double word score.  

Now, Upper Freehold is trying to reinvest money, and let’s be frank, Upper Freehold taxpayers’ money,  into the recreation programs, a worthwhile endeavor for ALL children involved, and Allentown’s governing body is still unhappy, better yet, ungrateful.

This park borders your town that your residents can walk to and use, and you want to challenge us. News flash Mr. Feirstein, the proposed ingress and egrees of Reed Park are ALL within Upper Freehold and on County roads. You have no say. Challenge us, cost us more money, unnecessarily, and I promise you we will use every avenue available to us to collect that money back.  The traffic you mention in your pontification that concerns you – you’re businesses in the borough will likely call that traffic potential customers.  These are tough times for businesses, it is obvious the businesses in Allentown can use all the traffic they can get, especially with three major buildings recently empty due to businesses going under or leaving.  We in Upper Freehold are not opposed to supporting the businesses in Allentown, but apparently you don’t get it.  A nicely developed park within walking distance isn’t a bad idea for businesses in the Borough – do you get that?  Of course you don’t, otherwise, you and your Council would see that a FREE (operative word) nicely developed first class recreation park would be a welcomed project, rather than something you and your council are trying  to submarine.  To use Upper Freehold parlance – don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. 

You wasted taxpayer money preserving Breza Road Phase II.   When Upper Freehold Township found out that there were two landfills on the site, we wanted no part of spending taxpayer money on that project or any project for Phase II and walked away.  But two landfills, two unimproved bridges, an unimproved road, and only few acres of developable land didn’t stop you and Allentown from throwing taxpayer money at it despite commercial development being next to impossible and fiscally prohibitive.  Further, Allentown does not pay its share for fire services and recreation. Now you want to challenge us for developing Reed Park that borders Allentown. How dare you?!  How dare you – with your arrogant attitude that somehow we owe you a Greenbelt.  Look around Mr. Feirstein, this is a recreation park, be grateful. Show a little humility and less hypocrisy. 

To address Mr. Feierstein’s recent comments in the Examiner when he said: Certainly, since it borders directly on the borough… I think it would have been easier to assume that we would have gotten a heads-up and had a chance to look at the application,” he said. “Not only would it have been easier, but we were probably entitled to more notice than what was offered to the homeowners.” You Assume, Mr. Feirstein?! Any courtesy from Upper Freehold that Mr. Fierstein thinks he deserves, went away when Allentown started refusing to sign the Fire Service Inter-local agreement since 2006. The same time that Allentown refused to increase its share for the cost of full-time fire fighters that serve your town as well.  And, if not then it clearly went away in 2008, when Allentown council passed and served upon Upper Freehold Township’s Committee the resolution (unanimously, I might add) condemning Upper Freehold’s non-resident recreation fee.  That fee was designed to help generate revenue and off-set the increasing recreation costs.  Recreation costs is shouldered completely by the Upper Freehold Taxpayers. The $40 Non-resident fee for recreation programs does not compare with what the taxpayer of Upper Freehold pays.  Yet, Mr. Feirstein’s assumes he is entitled to some deference.  Until you start acting like you deserve deference, you will get none, at least from me.

I am willing to debate Mr. Feirstein on these issues anytime, anywhere and publicly on the record.    

I can go on for another four paragraphs on the mayor-for-Life, but Alexander sums it all up. How this guy gets elected and re-re-re-re-re-elected in beyond comprehension. The committee members over there (old and new) are walking lock-step with him as well. “Communication” with bordering towns as promised in the election season past? Bullshit. They don’t talk; they listen – and only to the mayor.

To me, the advent of radical Islam hit home when on October 12, 2000, eleven months before the September 11, 2001 attacks, the USS Cole docked in the port of Aden in Yemen for a routine fueling stop.  At 1118, on a hot, sunny morning, the 8,400-ton destroyer was rocked by an enormous explosion. The ship’s commander, Kirk Lippold, felt the ship violently thrust up and to the right, as everything not bolted down seemed to float in midair. Tiles tumbled from the ceiling, and the ship was plunged into darkness, beginning to sink. In a matter of moments Lippold knew that the Cole had been attacked. What he didn’t know was how much the world was changing around him.

The bombing of the Cole was al Qaeda’s first direct assault against the United States and expanded their brazen and deadly string of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East. In this gripping first-person narrative, Lippold reveals the details of this harrowing experience leading his crew of valiant sailors through the attack and its aftermath. Seventeen sailors died in the explosion and thirty-seven were wounded—but thanks to the valor of the crew in the perilous days that followed, the ship was saved.

Yet even with al Qaeda’s intentions made clear in an unmistakable act of war, the United States government delayed retaliating. Bureaucrats and politicians sought to shift and pin blame as they ignored the danger signaled by the attack, shirking responsibility until the event was ultimately overshadowed by 9/11.

Front Burner captures a critical moment in America’s battle against al Qaeda, telling a vital story that has—until now—been lost in the fog of the war on terror.

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua broke the law. Did Bishop John M. Smith do the same? Did Monsignor Walter Nolan? Is Bishop David M. O’Connell doing so now? Is Joseph Bianchi? I don’t ask these questions lightly – they are serious and I take them that way.

Right now under the tab of State of Pennsylvania vs Msgr. William Lynn, I release the notes of my meeting with Monsignor Joseph Rosie the day he admitted that a “list” exists of known active, retired and defrocked predator clergy that the Diocese of Trenton is fully aware of and what they are (and more importantly are not) doing about it.

I’m not waiting until June 16 to release this brief excerpt because you need to read it now – I wrote it and I stand firmly behind it.

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen caused a poop-storm this week when she said that Mitt Romney’s wife “never worked a day in her life.”  Ya know what, worse has been said. She blabbed it, it sent shock waves through the media and she now tweets, I deeply apologize again to work-in-home moms, Mrs Romney & the POTUS. Not going on #MTP (Meet the Press)  this weekend, I’m going to be a mom who stays home.” Okay, said and done – move on.  Strategists on both sides of the spectrum say things, take the heat, retract and go onto the next news cycle. Honestly, I don’t really find all that much fault in what Rosen said, quite honestly, if this was not an election year, this would not have made a 15 second segment on the 6 o’clock news, never mind a twitter-war.  What bothers me is the hypocrisy of the Liberal media, Liberal apologists and, well, Liberals as a whole (or is that Hole?) that make all of this so unbelievable; for example:

• In 2008, Sarah Palin was flogged for being a working mom by Liberals and in 2011 Ann Romney is not supposed to comment on the economy because she never held a job
• Initially Rosen defended her comments, she apologized for her “poorly chosen” words on Thursday, but continued to blame Republicans for stoking the controversy – huh? YOU say something that was intended to get a reaction from people and persuade a vote or 200,000 in the process and when you get called out on it, it’s the OTHER GUYS fault. You got a reaction, just not the one you had hoped for
• The president (or White House) hosted Rosen four times (me, zero times) and when asked about it the WH Press Flack, Jay Carney said “which Hilary Rosen? I know three Hilary Rosen’s.” Come on, Jay, really?  If BHO loses the election and the stay-at-home mom vote in November, you’ll remember THIS Hilary Rosen while on the unemployment line – BIG time
• How panicked is POTUS? Well consider that asked about the person’s remarks that was in HISS White House four times, he stammered, “”There is no tougher job than being a mom. I think this was an ill-advised statement by someone on television.” “By someone on television.” Save to say the AA (All Access) badge MS. Rosen enjoyed is now changed to “Group Tour Only” if she gets in at all.

Did read about, or see on the news that … Delric Miller IV died in a hail of bullets when someone fired 37 AK-47 rounds into his Detroit home at 4:30 a.m., he was mortally wounded while dozing on the couch. He was 9 months old.

Did read about, or see on the news that … Last year, Charinez Jefferson, 17, was shot and killed on a Chicago street. She begged the shooter not to shoot her because she was pregnant.  The murderer, Timothy Jones, 18, shot her in the head, chest and back after seeing her walking with a rival gang member.

Did read about, or see on the news that … Last June, a stray bullet from a confrontation on a Brighton Beach, N.Y., boardwalk killed 16-year-old Tysha Jones as she sat on a bench. A 19-year-old man, out for revenge after an earlier scuffle on the boardwalk, was charged in the shooting. Tysha’s heartbroken mother was not featured on all the national TV shows.

Did read about, or see on the news that … In January, 12-year-old Kade’jah Davis was shot and killed when, allegedly, 19-year-old Joshua Brown showed up at her Detroit house to demand the return of a cellphone from Davis’ mother. When Brown didn’t get the phone, he fired shots through the front door. No one held high-profile street protests to denounce gunplay over such trifles.

Did read about, or see on the news that … wait … of course you didn’t … you didn’t hear about any of the above or the three more I have to offer because there was not  a Rev. Jesse Jackson, or a  Rev. Al Sharpton or a Spike Lee or a Russell Simmons to get any sort of political or commercial gain from black-on-black killings. Each and every one of the cases cited above are inter-racial killings and no one seems to give a damn.

Trayvon Martin should be alive today; he’s not. He was killed and he had nothing to defend himself with except a can of iced tea and skittles. He ran but the bullet was faster. What really happened that night? One man that walks this earth knows and he’s in hiding because nasty, jobless, violent, hate-whores called the New Black Panthers put a bounty on him. When George Zimmermann surfaces, someone will make himself out to be a 3-day ghetto hero and kill him.  

The Kings of hatemongering are the Sharpton’s and the Jackson’s who rely on class warfare and race baiting to survive, to gain income, to remain relevant. Their fire is fueled by the liberal news media and liberal bloggers and liberal idiots that aid and abet these bigots by editing tape (re: NBC, who had to issue yet another apology in the Martin case) and by flooding social media with their ramblings of social injustice. These people give as much care and concern for Trayvon Martin as they do Dean Martin – they are in it for themselves.  

I’d love to ask Jessie or Al, are the lives of Delric,  Charinez,  Tysha or Kade’jah not as newsworthy as Trayvon or is a black-on-black killing just ‘all-in-a-days-work’? Does Spike Lee or Russell Simmons even know the name Aliyah Shell? She was a 6-year-old Chicago girl that was sitting between her mother’s legs on the front porch as her mom untangled her hair. Suddenly, shots rang out from a pickup truck. Her mom said she knocked her 2-year-old daughter on her back and hugged her tightly. But Aliyah was shot six times in her little body – she tried to hang on, but mercifully died that afternoon at a hospital.

I feel for Trayvon. He was no cub scout, but certainly did not deserve to die the way he did. I felt anger for his family when they trademarked his name and image but then I looked around them and saw the hangers-on and shell-game masters;  that family doesn’t know better and they do deserve better. They are being victimized by all ends, who use them for their own ambitions and personal gain – Simmons, Jackson, Lee and Sharpton. Racist. Pathetic. Disgraceful.

Andrea Peyser of the New York Post  writes … After severely depressing moviegoers in New York and LA for a week, the new documentary “Bully’’ opens around the country. While lunging for the Kleenex (or a boxcutter), you may want to take a close look at the child who lives with you. The kid may be, as we speak, slicing his arms in your bathroom.

The film sets out to capture the savage American school landscape. A place where adults are as impotent as boiled cabbage, kids are uniformly vicious or victims, and the chalkboard jungle is ruled by teen-age self-loathing, self-mutilation and the pubescent quest for survival. Sort of a cross between “Lord of the Flies’’ and “Mean Girls’’ — with a dash of “The Walking Dead.’’

You will be shocked! and horrified! to learn that every school has one or 100 kids who’d sooner stick a pencil in a classmate’s eye than say, “Hello.’’ But as surely as Carrie turned the tables on a tormentor played by John Travolta in the eponymous 1976 flick, bullying is something else.

It’s nothing new.

While you were buying popcorn, this country, and this city, have experienced a full-scale societal breakdown. Bullying today is not just a kid problem. It’s an adult sickness.

Not long ago, teachers, administrators — even parents — armed with a sense of right and wrong cracked down on bullies like rotten eggs. But now, adults are too busy or too lazy, or they’re stuck in a quagmire of political correctness that says bullies are victims, too!

The result is that no one enforces discipline. And it emboldens dangerous kids in the school building, on the bus. Or at home.

In New York, the depth of the scourge is only now coming to light. It was revealed this year that on an average school day last fall, five — five! — students were arrested for infractions including weapons possession. Is this new?

Well, a Department of Ed. spokeswoman insists violent crime is actually down 45 percent since 2000.

So why weren’t parents told that school is hell?

“Personally, I think that what used to be handled by calling in the parents is now being handled by calling the police in,’’ said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who helped pass the school-safety law that blew the lid off school-crime statistics.

Assuming that every kid who holds a knife has a kid as a target, The Post went to Murry Bergtraum HS, where a 100-kid, fist-punching, head-slapping riot, captured on YouTube, broke out in late 2010.

Were kids expelled? Hit with high-pressure hoses?

I’m going to come out and say this first; the Miscoski and Horner family had a hand in building this community. Socially and politically active, they brought jobs and recreation to the forefront of the Upper Freehold Township area and I’m for one very appreciative of what they have done and continue to do. I’m not going to kick them as they walk off the course. That’s low rent and unwarranted. They brought in Bill Marine and under the family and Mr. Marine each and every round of golf at “the Ridge” was awesome. Whatever issues we had were addressed and that included with the Green’s restaurant, which is a separate business entity.

I didn’t play much last year. When I did it was at Lakewood County Club. I stayed abreast of the situation at Cream Ridge GC knowing that the NJ State DEP was looking for a new management company to take over from Horner and Miscoski family. I exchanged a few email with the golf professional for Meticulous Golf Management, Art Ribidoux and was getting updates on the bidding process from a few areas. I heard from him the plans being made for improvements and took the “wait and see” attitude. Well today, I saw and I LIKE what I see!

CREAM RIDGE GOLF COURSE IS BACK AND BACK WITH A BANG! I cannot wait until 8:21AM this Saturday morning to get my friends out there and play that course!

It’s all new – from the logo, to the pro shop to the scorecards to the website to the tee boxes to the freaking phone number, the management group under Bob Kraft is out to make the 571 facility THE premier golf spot for the area and I for one could not be more happier and juiced. Bob Kraft and I grew up in the same hood in Jackson, he is from a family of not only golfers but hard working, blue collar, committed and community minded people. When we shook hands this morning, his were dirty from the work he was personally putting into the facility.

But that’s not all… and THIS is what drew me back into the course. The Cream Ridge Golf Course is committed to the Wounded Warrior Project and displays the logo in the pro shop and on their trucks. They are planning a summer event for the organization and have tabbed them as the go-to benefactor for charity events. BUT first they want to get to know the community and it’s this reason that they are putting on a Grand Opening Event that I’m signed up for…

Saturday, April 28, 2012 * GRAND OPENING Shotgun event * $45.00 per player * 1:00PM * FREE BBQ served on the Course * Closest to Pin, Straight Drive and Long Putt Contest ALL INCLUDED!

This is going to be a fun and great event.

Listen, it’s going to be IMPOSSIBLE to replace what we had in Bill Marine. Billy was and is a gentleman’s gentleman. It was Bill that kept many of us going back for as long as we did. I don’t think Bobby Kraft for Mr. Ribidoux are looking to “replace” anyone – what they’re looking for is to breath new life into the old track, offer us a place to come home to again at reasonable rates and a community minded atmosphere. I wish them well as I do the  Miscoski and Horner family.

http://www.creamridgegolfcourse.com/

In the pages of my book, Purple Reign, Sexual Abuse and Abuse of Power in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey (scheduled for a June 2012 release) very serious accusations are made against former Trenton Diocese priest, Francis (Frank) Bruno by a number of former altar boys.  The statements and accounts of the abuse are brutal. The crimes are horrid and graphic. Some tell the tale of manipulations, alcohol, drugs and rape against boys as young as 15 years old. Most tell the story of the complete and total awareness of Bruno’s peers and the blind eye they turned to the abuse occurring under their own rectory roof.

There are conflicting stories that come from the diocese  as to the fate of Frank Bruno. No one has been able or willing perhaps, to confirm if Bruno was defrocked from the priesthood or if he left on his own accord stemming from the charges laid against him from the victims and brought to the diocese and not the principle authorities in the counties of where the allegations were made. All we know is, according to bishopaccountibility.org is that Frank Bruno (are you ready for this) went onto be a youth counselor for the State of New Jersey in his post-priesthood days! This is after he went for clinical treatments as directed by the bishops of at least one of the diocese (Trenton) and most likely both.

The more I read and heard about Frank Bruno, the more the absolute existence of this man disgusted me. What happened to him? Where did he go after retiring from the State of New Jersey department of corrections? Did he retire or just leave? The picture became clearer as emails started to come my way and threats were made against me from his supporters. I confronted some and they never come forward. I began calling Bruno out on my website and posting some of the stories told to me by his victims.

Then two weeks ago, I received an email from a woman that was concerned because Frank Bruno was seen at Mass at Saint Gregory the Great.

Frank Bruno has never been charged for his alleged crimes. Being at Saint Gregory the Great is not a crime. Being in church is not a crime. Being around the grounds of Saint Gregory the Great school is not a crime. However, Saint Gregory the Great is my parish and since I had absolutely no cause to call the police to say “there is a guy that has been alleged to have molested children in the 1970’s at my church” (given the statutes of limitations being expired) I did the next and only thing I could morally do; I contacted the Pastor of Saint Gregory the Great via email and the email ended with the following:   

“…IF I see him at Mass or on the grounds of SGG I will walk up to him and ask him to leave. I’d he refuses, I will forcefully and physically remove him; consequences be damned.”  Bruce

Now, one has to keep in mind that since I sent that email to the Pastor, we exchanged email about two other topics (which he replied to)  and I stopped at the rectory twice to have my ring blessed by him (Tuesday and Wednesday of last week – and he was in the rectory but was unable to see me).  Not once did the pastor mention my email posted above. Not once.

I didn’t choose to make this public, the pastor did.

On Saturday, the Hamilton police knocked on my door at about 12:30PM and they wanted to speak with me regarding the email above. I was told to call Detective Sgt. James Leigh at the HPD headquarters. When I did reach the Detective I was asked about the email which I was told sounded “slanderous” and he was concerned. Now, the police do not get involved in slander claims and Detective Leigh was professional and candid with me. He advised me that the pastor and his Business manager were “concerned with the tone” of the email. He asked if I had proof of the claims made against Frank Bruno, I explained the objective of my book and how Bruno fit into it. He asked if any of the alleged crimes occurred in Hamilton and I told him that I could not pin-point the exact area of alleged acts, but I was convinced that they happened (some of them) in the Mercer County area. He asked me if I was serious about the email I sent to the pastor and I replied “yes.”

The pastor and his business manager have all of my phone numbers and no one hesitates to call me when they are being called out on my website (as has happened in the past). So I’m left to ask, what was the motivation behind calling the police and not me directly? From the time the email above went out to the time the police came and knocked at my front door (alarming my family – and believe me, I heard about it when I got home) I had been in contact with the pastor (and under his roof) four times and not a word mentioned.

I then made an offer to the Detective. I told him that I would give him a copy of the chapter of the book that detailed the claims against Frank Bruno. I told him I would provide emails (with the okay of the senders) of the claims against Frank Bruno. I told him that I’m willing to sit with anyone to discuss the claims against Frank Bruno. Anyone, INCLUDING Frank Bruno.

I’m honoring that offer. At 4:30PM today I delivered, in its entirety, the complete chapter of the book detailing the allegations against Frank Bruno and others. The promise made to me from the detective is that this is to be filed away and not shared with anyone until the books release.

Why am I doing this?

Bishop David M. O’Connell, Bishop John M. Smith, Bishop John C. Reiss and Bishop George W. Ahr are doing and have done nothing outside of an 800-number and an emails address-to-nowhere to “assist” in victims recovery. No one will listen. When I contacted the Bishop via email four weeks ago to tell him that he “really should call me” about a concern – he ignored the email. Did I say what he “really should call me” about? No, he knows my line of work, he should have had someone call. So I’m left to look into the allegations towards one of his priests alone and this could take time.  IF the Hamilton Police department and Detective Leigh see fit to “open a file’ on these claims, at the very least, it’s one step further than the Diocese of Trenton has done collectively. I welcome it – have at my files.

The Catholic Church, the Diocese of Trenton, the Bishops from Ahr to O’Connell have all refused to acknowledge that the mistakes of the past are still lingering with the victims.

In over eight years and 14,000 pages of research, phone calls, meetings and interviews I came to the a realization, a hunch if you will, of just why we don’t feel as much outrage as we should. It’s a simple thing that really dawned on my last year; we don’t see the victims in the news as children. We at times see them as adults, alcoholics, drug users and emotional wrecks in front of cameras, speaking in low tones, crying. This is what we see. We see adults. We cannot see the child that was raped anally and orally. We don’t see a 12, 13 or 14 year old infused with alcohol. We see the end result and whereas it’s a sad sight, the impact is lost over the years.

I’m the one that gets the visit from the police (and rightfully so, based on a call) – one has to wonder who is being protected against whom? Am I the bad guy in this?  I have not drawn any conclusion, I’m just left to wonder.

Background: The Catholic diocese in Trenton, N. J., wanted to find out why some parishioners stopped attending Mass, so it hired Villanova University researchers to conduct “exit interviews” with 298 lapsed parishioners.

Let me bullet point the top four responses:

• personal (“the pastor who crowned himself king and looks down on all”)
• political (“eliminate the extreme conservative haranguing”)
• doctrinal (“don’t spend so much time on issues like homosexuality and birth control”)
• obvious (church’s handling of the clergy sex abuse scandal and were upset that divorced and remarried Catholics are unwelcome at Mass

Okay, let’s get to what the the respondents had no idea what they were talking about first; and this is important in order to lay credence to the other points. To say that divorced and remarried Catholics are unwelcome at Mass is just flat out not factual. Look around your local parish. How many divorced and remarried people are refused Holy Communion? You see, according to the Vatican, divorce? Well, we frown on it – Divorce and remarried, you can’t receive. I’ve never seen a person refused and that includes my own mother.

This is what I find ironic about the Villanova study (again, my favorite bullet points):

• The findings are included in a report commissioned by the Diocese
• The presentation was at the “Lapsed Catholics” conference at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
• Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. is the last stomping ground of the Diocese of Trenton, NJ Vicar, David M. O’Connell

O’Connell’s current comment on HIS survey, funded by HIS Diocese and presented at HIS former stomping ground – “no comment.”

O’Connell declined to be interviewed about the survey’s results, saying through Diocese Spokes-dame, Rayeanne Bennett that he “needed to spend time with the findings and develop his own analysis of them.” Fair enough, if it didn’t fall into the MO of DMO. No way does the Bishop release this study on his playing field with out a game plan.

What I’m about to post needs to be taken with a grain of a kidney stone. Full disclosure is that unless you’re Hope Solo or Notre Dame HIGH SCHOOL Lax, Basketball or Field Hockey, I’m not watching. The athletes are tremendous, the skill level phenomenal – the product from a marketing aspect (and watchability-level, however is sub-par  and that’s at its best.

ESPN is on our den 55-incher just about around the clock acquiescing  to Dance Mom’s and TMZ and this past week I came across the show, Outside the Lines (OTL) and the story of one Elena Delle Donne of the University of Delaware Blue hens. Elena won her first AAU championship when she was 12. North Carolina offered her a scholarship when she was 13. She went to Nike All-American camp when she was a sophomore — and kept getting better. During high school, recruiters from the best schools in the NCAA tried to woo her. The biggest names in women’s basketball — Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma included. She spent 2 days at UCONN and left. The maniacal Auriemma proved too much and left her no time for her family. As the story on OTL unfolded and the grip on my remote loosened, the story of Elena and her sister Lizzy made me call the kids in and rewind it. I’ve now watched it twice. Both times I felt the tears welling up.

I’m simple and somewhat cave-man-ish (re: first lead in paragraph) and I cannot do the story of this young lady any sort of deserving justice. Twenty-four hours ago I didn’t know if her first name was Elena Delle or if her last name was Delle Donne so, don’t go by my judgement.  I’m just going to ask that you look at the OTL link attached. I will close by saying that Elena is something hard (and refreshing) to find especially in the mindset of  “entitlement” today; strength of character and love of family.  Elena Delle Donne has both. She and her family should hold their heads high and the Geno Auriemma’s of the world should take note.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7638611

Today’s 24-hour hit count topped 5000 for the fourth time! I thank you for wanting to make yourselves that much more smarter-er.

He just could not leave well enough alone. He’s out, he’s happy, the parish and schools are happy – no one was gloating and everyone seemed content in waiting for July 1, 2012 when John Bambrick departure to Rome International Airport.

Then Father “Soundbite” had to open his mouth and ruin it. In  an interview with the Toms River Patch (online), Father had this to say in a direct slap at his predecessors: Of his stay at St. Joe’s, which began in June 2008, Bambrick said, “When I became the pastor four years ago, it was with the knowledge and express agreement the term would be for no more than five years. The bishop gave me a specific charge to fulfill,” that being to get the parish’s finances, which Bambrick described as “grave,” in order… Still, some in the parish will not regret the end of Bambrick’s pastorate which, at times, has been contentious, a term Bambrick “categorically” denied.

Was this necessary?

You know what, he’s gone and we, as promised will not celebrate. John Bambrick is wished well by me (sincerely) – his ministry to those abused by clergy is important and his advocacy for change I truly pray for each and every Tuesday at Saint Gregory the Great. You are an important part of the healing process of so many people.

Full disclosure: my daughter was selected to be in the NDHS production of Laramie. She has been in at a previous (to remain unnamed) “theater” company. The production was chilling and thought provoking. The reason she was not in it is because I pulled her because she needed to get her History grade back up in order for her to be able to make the school trip to Florida – period. I can say that this bothered me to a degree that I cannot express here.

To those that are a stranger to this site, I am a right wing conservative that fought against the production of RENT at any school level production and am in staunch opposition of Gay Straight Alliances in High Schools NOT because of the “message” but its tie-in with Kevin Jennings and GLSEN who promote man-on-boy “love” and gave out a “how-to” pamphlet on “Fisting” as an alternative to anal sex in Massachusetts High Schools – (google it, I’m not explaining it here).

That said, and I need to make this abundantly clear: The Laramie Project is not a “gay thing”, there is no agenda, it does not glorify or promote homosexuality.  It will not make your child gay anymore than endless 24 hour watching of NBA games will turn my youngest son, black. For those that believed this would have a negative impact on the image of the school, well, pick up today’s Trenton Times, page one, above the fold. In what could have been a play and some eyebrow raising has now turned into two weeks of Letters to the Editor.

Because of my criticism in 2009 of Allentown High School’s production of RENT, when my daughter appeared in Laramie, I was bombarded with emails of being hypocritical because Laramie is “just as bad” as RENT. I beg to differ. RENT does promote a Left agenda, it does glorify homosexuality and promiscuous same-sex relationships and the total disregard of law and authority – call me what you want (and you will) but I took the time to see RENT (twice).

____________________

For those that believed this would have a negative impact on the image of the school, well, pick up today’s Trenton Times, page one, above the fold. In what could have been a play and some eyebrow raising has now turned into two weeks of Letters to the Editor

____________________

Notre Dame High School decided to close the curtain on Laramie. My respect for Barry Breen and MaryLiz Ivins is unwavering, devout and without condition. If the school were burning to the ground, these are the two individuals that would be the last to leave the inferno until each and every student was safe and accounted for. If Barry Breen and MaryLiz Ivins tell me that soda and twinkies are going on the primary lunch menu because they feel it’s best for the kids, I’d say pump the artificial flavoring into their little veins – THIS is the level of respect I have for those people.

I’m not going to say that I know for all certainty that this was a decision made by and EXCLUSIVELY by Breen and Ivins because I received conflicting accounts from inside the Diocese office on Monday (the day prior to the announcement) that some complaint came in to the office of Father Douglas Freer and discussions were held. To be fair and  clear,  don’t know who these discussions involved and no one inside the Pastoral Center made one syllable of mention that any “decisions” were made at the Diocese level. I reached out to the Bishop personally and his media mouth-piece, Rayanne Bennett and neither replied.

I will point you in this direction, however. David M. O’Connell is a Bishop. On the official United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website, this is the approved position of the Laramie Project that is disguised in the form of a movie review. The tenth Bishop of Trenton is not going to buck the Boys at the USCCB. This would be tantamount to Alfalfa bringing Darla into the “He-man Woman Hater’s Club” tree fort; it’s just not done. I’m NOT implying he pulled the curtain down on this, I’m just asking you look at this objectivly and from all sides.

From USCCB.org: The Laramie Project — “Smug film version of writer-director Moises Kaufman’s theatrical play about the reactions of townsfolk in Laramie, Wyoming to the murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shephard, (IF you’re going to review it, spell the leads name right) a young gay man, who was repeatedly beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on a rural road. Although thought-provoking in part and with an impressively large ensemble cast, the documentary-style film is pretentious in its delivery and simplistic in its outlook, only thinly veiling its agenda to promote hate-crime legislation. May be fine for older adolescents who view it with parents. Intense homosexual subject matter.“

Does anyone think for one minute, second or nano-moment that Barry Breen, Mary Liz Ivins or Diane Wargo would allow an inkling of homosexual subject matter much less an “intense” level to take away from the message of Laramie? Do these appear to be the sort of people that shock for the sake of shocking?

I’m going to shamelessly cut an excerpt of my book into this because it will bring you back to 1972 when homosexuality was THE taboo subject in the Catholic Church, maybe it will help put “tolerance” and understanding back into the mix here:

“…George Everitt was a progressive by today’s standards. His was a congregation that welcomed divorced individuals who remarried back into the church and into the sacraments. He counseled those that had a deep faith to maintain their relationship with their God and not depend so much on what was said in Rome – “let that be my problem” he was fond of saying.

Once in the summer of 1972, a man walked up to Father as he stood in the parking lot after Mass.  The United States Olympic Basketball Team just “lost” in the gold medal game to the Soviet Union and men were lingering outside church to talk about the game. A man stood by patiently and when he saw his opportunity, approached the Pastor and said, “Father, I’d like to join Saint Mary” he then quickly blurted, “I’m gay,”  his chin was lowered to his chest. Taking his forefinger and lifting the man’s chin so their eyes met, Father Everitt offered, “I’m Father Everitt, do you want to come inside?”  That was George Everitt.“

That man became THE FIRST Eucharistic minister at Saint Mary of the Lake Church in later years. When he died in 1992 of AIDS he received burial honors of the Knights of Columbus.

Facebook and Twitter are all aglow. My “hit” count is up and I’m receiving post-requests from students. I will not post them because I don’t passion mistaken for disrespect. My message to the kids: be respectful of those in authority. Disagree, yes. Question, yes – but respect the answers and differences. Don’t blame your peers for what a parent said (or that you THINK they said) about this situation. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and their right to express those opinions.

MONDAY: John Cardinal O’Connor and the gay community

On October 6th of 1998 Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. He died six days later. His torture and murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted many of the fault lines in our culture. A month after the murder, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which they later made into a film for HBO. The piece has been seen by more than 30 million people around the country. In 2009, my daughter performed in a summer-stock version of the play… I was never more proud.

The decision to cancel the production at Notre Dame High School was one made by the administration who refuse to tarnish the good works of the High School. This is not to say that Laramie Project is in any way or means is a blemish, it’s just has to do with the perception that “it’s a gay thing” and with that, ignorance rears its head and emails get fired off before a sensible thought can be formed. Kids are resilient, they’ll bounce back. They’re disappointed and they’re confused (and angry) but had a strong administration to deliver the news. In the direct aftermath of the decision being made, each cast member received a letter from the NDHS principal that gave the reasoning and accepted the decision-making as her own with zero spin.

The problem is, if these Sunday Catholics think they are just conforming to the Catholic norm, they are sadly wrong:
·         Catholic Xavier High School in Manhattan, has produced Laramie twice in eight years (once under Cardinal Egan and once under Cardinal Dolan)
·         Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Calif. has produced Laramie twice in four years
·         Jesuit High School in Oregon was one of only a handful of high schools to be invited by the Tectonic Theater Project to perform the staged reading
·         Marist High School, Eugene, High School… well, you get the picture… etc, etc

I just want to leave this with the people who do not read scripts or accurate accounts and use Wikipedia as a be-all-end-all and think they are think-tank authorities.

Laramie deals with bullying, hatred, murder, ignorance and healing. THIS AIN’T RENT. There is no Left agenda. There is no promotion of homosexuality. It’s a kid, Matt Shepard (no angel, admittedly) that was beat, dragged, bound, hung and killed because of who is was. Save the emails on those that think they’re smart enough to determine that I’m comparing Matt Shepard to our Christ – I’M NOT that smart. However,  I will leave you with this from the Diocese of Trenton website under its Mission Statement “Responding to our call to discipleship, we reach out in love and service to all, ever striving to advance the cause of peace and justice in the Name of our Lord Jesus.”  Is what happened in Laramie just? Is keeping the memory alive of those tragic events; the beating, the dragging, the binding, the hanging and the killing not advancing the cause of peace and justice? Will Laramie “turn” a kid gay? I’m gonna stay on the side of ‘no’ on this one – will it possibly call a kid to the discipleship of peace against hate? I’d tend more to agree.

Chris Naples, of Bass River, Patrick Newcombe a former Point Pleasant resident and Bob Markulic of White Township were all raped by Terence McAlinden – take the “alleged” bullshit line off of this vile criminal. He did it, he know it. The sitting Bishop of Trenton, David M. O’Connell knows it and was quoted (and recorded) saying that he’s like to take a bat to McAlinden.

McAlinden was taken out of service by the Diocese of Trenton in 2007 – five years ago. The Diocese of Trenton turned his case file over to the Vatican to have this man defrocked. The Diocese of Trenton allowed this man to live across the street from the parish of St. Theresa in Tuckerton, NJ. The Diocese of Trenton, from 2007 to 2011 allowed this man to retain the title of “pastor” of this parish. The Diocese of Trenton LIED and said prior to 2007 the Diocese was not aware of any “other abuse allegation on record involvingMcAlinden.” As my book Purple Reign – Sexual Abuse and Abuse of Power in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey will show, this was a smoke screen and an elaborate cover-up perpetrated by the ninth Bishop of Trenton, John M. Smith and carried out by his administration, led by Monsignor Walter Nolan. To his credit, Bishop O’Connell finally named a permanent pastor.

Where is McAlinden today?

Terence McAlinden is a priest. He has yet to have his official fate handed by Rome. He is also a Real Estate agent in Atlantic County. This is his ad page that up to March 19 (today) he was still employed. No arrests. Still getting a check and insurance paid by the Diocese of Trenton and still exposed to children.

McAlinden is listed as a sales agent for Century 21 (O’Donnell) however, his name is removed from the phone directory at the business – he still has active listings. If he’s still there, the decision was made to remove him from the phone listing and you have to go through the switchboard.

FULL DISCLAIMER: I have Coca Cola stock and also my aunt was a PepsiCo executive in the 1960’s; I also support the research of stem cells of those that die of natural causes and donate to science (and aborted baby, no – a fetus that dies as a result of a car accident, yes). That said,  there has been internet fodder concerning PepsiCo’s use of stem cells (aborted baby fetus’) being used for the flavoring of the soon to be released product Pepsi NEXT which will be the head on rival for Cokes ZERO product. Let’s bullet-point this.

A few things need to be made abundantly clear; first the “nots”

• You will not consume an aborted fetus while drinking Pepsi NEXT
• There is not a truck of dead babies being hauled into PepsiCo, Honduras and ground up as a flavor enhancer

Now the “what we Know”

• PepsiCo has a contract with a company called Senomyx and Senomyx is a biotech company that tests its food additive products using a process that includes fetal cells from aborted babies
• In 2011 the online magazine The New American ran an exposé  that centered on companies that used this deplorable practice and then a tree of companies that sub-contracted with them – PepsiCo was on that list
• In October 2011 PepsiCo shareholders had filed a resolution with the SEC after Pepsi ignored tens of thousands of concerned pro-life individuals who had expressed their disgust and opposition to its contracting with Senomyx based on unethical food processing research
• PepsiCo lead attorney George A. Schieren had argued that the shareholder resolution should be disregarded because it “deals with matters related to the company’s ordinary business operations.” He added that “certain tasks are so fundamental to run a company on a day-to-day basis that they could not be subject to stockholder oversight.”
• In a decision delivered by letter February 28, 2012 the the Obama administration’s SEC said that Pepsi’s research and development agreement with Senomyx, which includes the use of aborted fetal remains in flavor enhancement research, falls under “ordinary business operations” for the soft drink company. Once again, the administration takes a swipe at pro-life America
• The SEC decision came in response to a 36-page document submitted by Pepsi through its attorneys in January 2012. “In that filing, PepsiCo pleaded with the SEC to reject the shareholders’ resolution filed in October 2011 that the company ‘adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and development agreements.”

So, where does this leave us? Regarding its relationship with Senomyx and the use of fetal cells in flavor research, PepsiCo public relations department says that the company utilizes “techniques that have been the gold standard for several decades by top universities, hospitals, U.S. government agencies, and essentially every pharmaceutical and biotech company in the world.”

STOP!

Top universities, hospitals, U.S. government agencies, and essentially every pharmaceutical and biotech company in the world are not putting the finishing touches on my July 4 picnic table. THEY are saving lives through research and development and science – not to get a zestier flavor out of Doritos or a better eye glow for women. The ethical question needs to be raised: make-up, fragrance and artificial cheese-like products versus a cure for ALS, Alzheimer’s and paralysis?

That “gold standard” relies on the results of abortion and PepsiCo has had it chance. There is an element of the shareholders that object to this practice and its association with  Senomyx, each and every Catholic school should call their local vending supplier and get every Pepsi machine OUT.

Pepsi Brands include Frito Lay, Tropicana Juice Products, Quaker Brands, and Gatorade.

Frito Lay Products include Tostitos, Doritos, Lays Chips, and Flat Earth snacks

Quaker Brands include Aunt Jemima, Rice-A-Roni, Near East side dishes, Spudz snacks, and Crisp’ums baked crisps.

Quaker cereals Brands include, Life, Puffed Wheat, Harvest Crunch, King Vitamin, Quaker Oh’s!, Mother’s Cereal, and Cap’n Crunch.

Gatorade Brands include G2, and Propel Fit Water.

Pepsi’s SoftDrink Brands include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Voltage, Sierra Mist, and Diet Sierra Mist.

Executives at The New York Times have rejected a full-page anti-Islam advertisement that mimicked a controversial anti-Catholic advertisement they published on March 9. According to a Mar. 13 letter sent by the Times to the ad’s sponsor, anti-Sharia activist Pamela Geller, the $39,000 anti-radical Islam ad was rejected because “the fallout from running this ad now could put U.S. troops and/or civilians in the [Afghan] region in danger.”

Executives at The New York Times have a very legitimate point, if they were being honest. Of course they’re not.

The ad was submitted by Geller, who is coined on the Left as an anti-Islam activist. Geller is not anti-Islam, she is anti-Sharia; BIG difference. She was quoted in 2010 as saying, “I believe that Muslims are more victimized by Islamic supremacists than even non-Muslims.” In an interview, Geller said “I have no problem with Islam. I have a problem with political Islam.

Not so much the New York Times.

The Times has a long standing history of anti-Catholic , blue journalism and are scared to death of running afoul of the growing Islamic population in the 5 boroughs of New York City. The Time’s decision to run the March 9 ad, imploring Catholics to leave the Catholic Church, was based on anti-Catholic bias and the growing feud between the sitting Cardinal and the editorial board of the Times. This,  coupled with fear of radical Islamic violence directed not at our troops but at the Times home office, which is in range of a single RPG-launch from the Ray’s Famous Pizza across the street – it’s that simple.

Side-by-side; you decide.

Kadeem Covington has been attending since the second half of his eighth-grade year, the Mercer county specialized school district. The specialized school district serves students with behavioral issues. He’s 16. He got into an altercation with an off duty Hamilton police officer who was serving a security officer at the school in the cafeteria when a “student” told the officer to get him a fork. The “student” alleges the police officer cursed at him, and Kadeem, ever the peace-loving sort, didn’t want to get involved in any altercation, and left the table and the police officer cursed and hit him – out of the blue.

Hmm, not feeling the whole story that Kadeem, mom and dad told the Trenton Times from their living room in East Windsor. Here’s why, during the interview where the Covington’s had lottery machine dreams dancing in their eyes in the form of some sort of agreement, I’M SURE, this little nugget came out,  “both youths, though they admit striking the officer, allege the officer went beyond restraining them, choking them and continuing to hit them after they stopped resisting.” Oops, “after they stopped resisting.”

Let’s just cut though the snark-and-shade, if Mr. Covington (the dad) was told by young Mr. Covington, the son, to get him a fork and then taunted him, what would he do? The Covington’s apparently saw what the East Windsor District saw and agreed, in some degree to remanding Kadeem to the Mercer School for what (if the math adds up) seems to be two and a half years. Kadeem could be a model student there – the best of the class, but it’s not like he’s on the wait list for Peddie. He’s there for a reason. The school employs off duty police officers with officer training during lunch and between classes – for a reason. That reason is to extinguish any and all flames before they ignite into an inferno.

Hamilton Internal Affairs will make the call. I just find it as another ‘day-in-the-life’ of unaccountable parents in this unaccountable world looking for the “the system” to pick up the pieces for their failures until junior gets the black eye and bloody lip that opens up the out-of-court bank vault.arernts

I really thought that the local interest in this website had been waning in these past few months. In UFT, if we have no money, we have no spending to yammer about, the UFRSD seems to be running fine without me and until Bill Miscoski gets back into politics, I thought we’d just coast on bye with my look at the more national views of the world  the book reviews and shamelessly plugging away at my upcoming book, Purple Reign – Sexual Abuse and Abuse of Power in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. It’s as though I had completely, totally and mindlessly forgot about the grand-poo-bah of the Gang that Can’t Shoot Straight over in Allentown, my-man-with-no-plan, the very reactive and reclusive, Mayor-for-Life, Stewie Fierstein.

Mayor Stewie, he of endless, random (and creepy) drive-throughs of resident UFT neighborhoods, north-of-the-border belt lines and seemingly endless supply of Revlon hair dye, just wakens from his long (post-election) long winter’s nap when WHAM! He comes out and says something so meaningless and senseless, that my morning ritual of internet porn-scan has to take a back seat to opening up my website for editing.

It seems that the Mayor who made a blithering fool of himself in the entire process leading up to, during and in the aftermath of Freedom Fest at the Reed property, has yet to leave the grounds of the proposed land for a community park site that will not only service our kids and seniors, but will honor the veterans of our region – this in itself is deplorable; what’s worse is that he has no idea what he is talking about and he’s lying. He spouts line-after-line of high level talking points as a faster rate of the polyester follicles that seem to spring from the top of his head.

Now he’s going to get called out on it.

The Mayor (and you people keep re-re-re-re-re-re-electing him) is now on the stump of blocking the proposed Reed Park on 526 and claiming he was not informed of the details that are talked about endlessly at Planning meetings, Athletic meetings and Township Committee meetings. Now he wants to take the time (and money) all “in the best interest of the Borough” to  authorize Borough Engineer Hatch Mott MacDonald (could there be a better name in Allentown?) to (according to the Examiner) “review information related to the project submitted by Upper Freehold to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).” This is the same mayor who spent THOUSANDS in “No Parking” signs during Freedom Fest for cars that were nowhere near his Borough.  The engineer is then directed to provide information to the DEP regarding potential negative impacts on borough residents surrounding “certain environmental concerns at Reed Park, including wetland issues, septic issues, use of lighting on the premises in question, as well as traffic concerns, including ingress and egress to county roads,” the resolution states.

While he’s at it, he should also be directed to take down the 15 MPG speed limit signs that adorn the Allentown Bridge; but I digress.

With his ass-hat in hand, the Mayor is shedding a flicker light where a spotlight has been shining for over four years. The UFT Committees are well-rounded professionally as well as  thorough, concise and with that said, dot each I and cross each T before anything that deals directly with the “next step” of any project, moves forward. With that said, here are the steps taken so far:

• Upper Freehold Township received a $250,000 matching grant from the county for the park after completing the detailed forms
• Upper Freehold officials are still deciding the BEST approach plan for construction (phases vs. BIG BANG utilizing Bonds) – again ALL discussed at Township Committee and sub-committee meetings
• Because the park borders directly on Allentown, Upper Freehold delivered notices to adjacent residents in the borough to inform them of having submitted an application for permits to the DEP for the project – as they are, by law, mandated to do because the Park will fall in the 200-foot radius of some Allentown residents

Fierstein claims that there was not “enough information presented to the residents that received the notices.”  Okay, so now we have to make this yellow-crayon clear to the Township Committee of Mayberry -  Upper Freehold officials are STILL deciding the BEST approach plan for construction (phases vs. BIG BANG utilizing Bonds) ALL OF WHICH is discussed at Township Committee and sub-committee meetings, UFT does not know, what it does not know. As they do, they will share it with the residents. It’s not their job to inform the Borough (or I could be wrong) but it IS their job to inform the surrounding residents, and they did, with the information that is known at this point.  Quoted in the Examiner, Fierstein claims “Certainly, since it borders directly on the borough,  I think it would have been easier to assume that we would have gotten a heads-up and had a chance to look at the application,” he said. “Not only would it have been easier, but we were probably entitled to more notice than what was offered to the homeowners.” – Guess what Stewie, you’re entitled to nothing – nothing! Get yourself or your committee of Floyd the Barber, Goober or Barney to an UFT committee meeting and YOU inform YOURSELF! Does this man really think that the UFT Township Committee will jeopardize $250-large and a cornerstone of community gathering for kids, seniors, (pets?) and Vets because they hid something from Allentown.   The Mayor takes any and all given opportunity to stick it up the azz of UFT. He refuses to pay his fair share of Fire safety support for his Borough. He is completely and totally out of touch with the schools off of his Main Street. He was absent and then reclusive during Irene and yet Allentown, yup, you guessed it, keeps re-re-re-re-re-re-electing him.

This past election period the Mayor was on the ropes. He was challenged and I believe that given a better times and run campaign, he would have lost. He pledged more information flow and better relationships with surrounding communities – still waiting Stewie. This comes on the heels of a letter posted to the Examiner by Bill Borkowski that read in part:   The incumbent mayor of Allentown is not doing what he promised. His election platform promised his downtown parking area would be started within months. He also told us he received a state grant to improve the downtown streetscape. The secretive parking lot he promised is plagued with so many issues that he refuses to show the public any drawings to support the number of parking spaces or his claim that the lot, which runs along an active stream, has no wetland issues. The letter goes on, but the last line of what I copied and pasted is telling – Wetlands.

In the resolution adopted by the Allentown committee, it states as a concern for the development of the Reed Park that “certain environmental concerns at Reed Park, including wetland issues, septic issues, use of lighting on the premises in question, as well as traffic concerns, including ingress and egress to county roads” – He cannot control his own land when it comes to a parking lot and wetlands, refuses to discuss to his own contingency his freaking parking lot plans, and he goes on the attack of not being informed enough about what a surrounding Township is doing. He deceives the proverbial “hands that feed him.”  Borkowski continues, “With regard to the mayor’s second election promise, the mayor received a state-funded streetscape grant over two years ago, of which some of the funds were pulled back last year because the mayor had not obligated the funds. Since the grant was reduced, the mayor still has not told us whether there is a committee or a consultant working on the grant’s plan.”  Do I even have to go on? Stewie Fierstein is not open and candid and honest with his own electorate but he wants those he continuously irritates and berates to offer more information that he is not entitled to?

And yet…  Allentown keeps re-re-re-re-re-re-electing him. Nice work if you can get it, and he got it.

This past week I took a mild swat of criticism from two local priests that normally I categorized under the “friend” column.  I don’t think this has changed but the root of the issue was the seemingly coincidental timing of the post that I put up on Saturday, March 3 in reference to the one year mark of Bishop David M O’Connell’s meeting with SNAP at the lining property around the Pastoral Center.

I wrote, “According to SNAP, bishops in 24 other diocese across the country, including Philadelphia, have posted information about accused priests online. That information often includes names of the accused, as well as their priestly status and current whereabouts. So why won’t O’Connell follow suit? It’s all in the timing.  O’Connell says, “As horrible as all this is, and I feel terrible about, I can’t do anything to change the past.” As my mother would say to me, “can’t, or won’t?” – O’Connell won’t as long as Bishops John M Smith and John Reiss are alive. To do so would break the code of never, ever, never, never, ever tarnishing the reputation or the legacy of a fellow Bishop. Releasing these names, while Smith and Reiss are still amounts us, is tantamount to apostolic treason. It’s just not done.”

The very next day, Bishop John Reiss died. The emails began.

Neither priest gave any indication that the notes to me were to be confidential. If I receive an email that requests it not be posted, 99.9% of the time, I honor that. I decided not to post the emails, because the priests that emailed me did so out of compassion and loyalty to their friend, the former Bishop. I refused (which were the requests of both priests) to remove the post because it showed poor judgment and timing. The fact of the matter remained that the post went up prior to the Bishop’s passing. Period. I will not take it down.

• Additionally, John C Reiss, eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, in November 1981, was at the helm of the Diocese when it divided and the Diocese of Metuchen was established; with it, each and every priest with credible accusations of sexual abuse claims were transferred to the counties of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren, NJ and Metuchen’s newly installed bishop, Theodore McCarrick, a known homosexual who through my research for my book, had two settlements made on his behalf after using his position to seduce his own priests while in New Jersey; McCarrick is now a retired Cardinal.
• John C Reiss, eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, was the responsible for the transferring of five of THE MOST notorious pedophiles throughout his tenure; these names will be noted in my book.
• John C Reiss, eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, was sued in 1994 by John Crowe. The suit named Francis D. Bruno of Hamilton Square in Mercer County as a defendant, charging he assaulted Crowe when the plaintiff was between the ages of 12 and 14. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, claims the assaults caused lasting emotional and physical damage, pain and humiliation to Crowe.

I do not regret my post, nor the timing of it.

On March 5th I received the emails from the two priests; that day my website received 3066 “hits” –17 commented posts and I personally received 9 emails about the content. I’ll take the complaints of two “company men” and respectfully disagree with their position.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday there’s no need for a super PAC supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election to return $1 million from comedian Bill Maher in light of sexist remarks he’s made about 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and other women. In case you don’t remember, Maher called Palin a “C-dash-dash-dash” but according to Schumer, it was okay because it was past little Johnny’s bed time. “Rush Limbaugh’s comments were just nasty and directed at a particular young woman who had a particular point of view and was expressing herself. Bill Maher’s a comedian who’s on at 11 o’clock at night, but has very little influence on what’s happening here.”

Some Republicans have called for Maher’s gift of $1 million to an Obama Super-PAC to be refunded after conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh ended up in hot water and eventually apologized for calling a Georgetown law student a “slut” and a “prostitute” over her position on insurance coverage for contraception.

I admire our Governor, Chris Christie. He’s brash, candid, a bit of a bully but in my opinion, the Governor has been hitting on all cylinders (sans the Whitney Houston flag-flap)  after the furious pounding of issues that have come to him that were instigated by the past two terms of State Chief Executives.

This past week, the famous Christie temper came off against a former Navy SEAL in a two to three minute back-and-forth debate over Christie’s plan to merge Rutgers and Rowan Universities. William Brown is a law student at Rutgers-Camden who opposes the merger. In the end, of course, the governor got the last word by calling Brown an “idiot” and having him removed from the hall.

Of course, the press built it up as Christie coming down hard on a former Navy SEAL, patriot, service member and struggling student. This is all true, but it’s not half the story.

First off, Brown had 90 seconds to make a statement or ask a question – this was part of the ground rules established at the beginning of the Town Hall meeting.  Mr. Brown went on for two full minutes, the governor answered the question and Mr. brown then identified himself as a  former Democratic candidate for state Assembly and thereby made the exchange “political.”  He refused to sit down (or yield) and constantly interrupted the governor. The governor tossed him and called him an idiot.

Today Christie defended his action, saying: “He acted like an idiot. He’s an idiot. I don’t have any regret about it at all.” Christie says he honors the Mount Laurel man’s military service, but that “doesn’t give him the right to be a jerk.”

The Governor’s right. The man had his 90-seconds stretched into 2 minutes and would not yield. He was looking for his 15 minutes (condensed) and was led away by State Troopers. He made his point, never asked a question and then began to take time away from others. It’s a ploy; I’ve done it. But it was poorly played by the individual that has extended public service in mind.

Bad move, Mr. Brown.

Dear Friends,
I am writing to you today to tell you some news. Bishop O’Connell approached me a little while ago and asked that I leave my Pastorates of Saint Aloysius and Saint Monica to take up the similar position at Saint Joseph Church in Toms River.  After a period of some serious prayer (and anguish) I have responded in obedience to Bishop’s request. After 12 years of service to you and these great parish communities, I will be leaving with gratitude in my heart to begin a new experience, a new chapter in my life. The transfer will take place the weekend of June 30-July 1, 2012.

I will be returning to the Church where I “cut my teeth” as a newly ordained priests some 22+ years ago. Saint Joseph, like Saint Aloysius is a large parish with over 5,000 registered households. There are two large schools-St. Joseph Grade School and Monsignor Donovan High School. Unlike Saint Aloysius where we are still a young parish (under 50 years old), St. Joseph’s is nearly 130 years old, having been established in 1883.
This new assignment will come with many challenges I am sure. Please pray for me and ask our Lord to send His Holy Spirit so that I will be the priest He has called me to be.

Rev. G. Scott Shaffer,VF, Pastor
Church of St. Aloysius