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JerseySmarts.com

Governor Bans Dual Office Holding…Sorta

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Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill yesterday that bans people from holding dual elected position in New Jersey. This is great! Except for one little detail…

It’s not a retroactive bill.

In other words, all of the guys and gals who are in office TODAY that are abusing the dual office clause in New Jersey will not be forced to choose one or the other. Alright, so not all of them are corrupt, but let’s think about this logically for a moment.

This ban came into place because of guys like Sharpe James and others currently in the legislature who are not doing right by both of their constituencies. An ethics battle erupts in New Jersey’s legislature (thank God – because the people really wanted this issue figured out). Reforms are suggested, ironically enough, by Sharpe James (a poor attempt to save his political career and legacy). The reforms are passed! The people celebrate…then they realize that this applies to all incoming elected officials and not the ones who are currently in office – the ones who brought about the need for these reforms in the first place!

Here are the particulars of the bill, courtesy of the Asbury Park Press:

Ban anyone from holding more than one elected office at a time. The law allows current dual-office holders to remain in place until they retire or lose an election.

Make it a crime to knowingly misuse public tax dollars or other resources. The offense would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $200,000.

Allow courts to impose fines for corruption cases involving state, county or municipal contracts.

Require legislative voting records to be posted online. The votes will remain online for two legislative sessions (four years).

I like the legislative voting records being posted online. Of course we all know that the biggest consumers of this information will be newspapers and political campaigns (which is a real shame). I also like the fact that misuse of public money is punishable by up to 20 years in jail or a fine of up to $200,000. Good!

So, as always in New Jersey, we’ll settle for a bill that has some good parts and some bad parts. The saving grace here is that the bad parts will eventually expire as either the bad officeholders die out, retire, or lose an election.

While we wait for that, though, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!

Movie Review: The Simpsons Movie

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According to BestSyndication.com, The Simpsons Movie took in $25 million last week. That’s down from the over $70 million it made the previous week. The Simpsons Movie is a summer blockbuster, folks.

And it’s easy to see why.

I enjoyed this movie, though I will admit that it seemed like a longer version of a regular episode. The characters and settings are drawn extraordinarily well and the movie has the look and feel of a “big time” cartoon production.

Just like South Park’s movie, I imagine that this will be a big DVD seller and that some goodies will be on the DVD. The plot to the movie is fun and simple – the lovable Homer goofs up again, breaks his daughter’s heart, and is forced to find a way to make it all better at the end of the movie.

If the movie is still in a theater near you, I suggest going to watch a matinee (or whatever the low-cost time period is for your local theater). As for the DVD – I think it’ll be a great rental for most and a great purchase of hardcore fans of The Simpsons.

Another Reason to Hate the Bennies in Deal

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So, I’m boarding a pug dog for my Mom this week because she’s on vacation. This means, obviously, that I have to walk the little guy which is fine with me. I actually like the dog and I think he likes me, so it’s a win-win relationship here!

Now I have a large, 95% unused CVS parking lot next to my building. As one would imagine, this is where I walk my dog. And, as anyone who lives here year-round knows, this is also on Roosevelt Avenue which seems to turn into the Tourist Speedway in the summer months. In other words, once the end of June comes, these ratty brats from New York come and use our local roads racetracks.

I guess that most of you see where this outrage is going…

I was just outside walking the dog and as we’re crossing over the entrance to this largely unused parking lot, two bastard little bitches come speeding into the entranceway in a little woman-colored gold piece of shit car. They stop short to avoid hitting me and – more importantly – the dog. I really didn’t move and the dog could have cared less, but the high school-aged scumbag driver had to be a tough guy and yell, “Get the fuck out of the way!” As he yells this I see a look of dread in his friend’s eye – turns out that the teenage, idiot 120-pound punk bitch driver forgot that his window was cracked and I could hear him. So I stop, turn and look at the little bitch and say, “What the fuck did you say?”

Bear in mind, folks, that I’m on the plus size of 300 pounds and that most of these little bitches who “summer” in Deal are afraid of us locals who are larger than the front end of their car. I know this for a fact – I’ve lived and/or worked in Deal for almost a decade. There are two things that are certain about these idiot tourists. One, they fear large people with a bit of a whacked out look in their eye. Two, they fear dogs. I don’t get the second one, but I’ve seen young idiot tourist children jump from the side of a building, across the sidewalk, and into the street to get away from a dachshund. Really. And I won’t even get into how the tough-guy teenagers react when they see rottweilers and even bigger dogs – let’s just say that the tough- guy bullshit seems to end when they’re out of their safe zone!

Anyway, after I asked the kid, “What the fuck did you say,” in a calm, yet seemingly maniac tone, he just sort of whimpered, “Uhhh, move…” Poor little bitch was scared. So as I walked away, he honked his horn, I gave him the one-finger salute, and continued to walk away.

As fast as the little pugs’ legs could take him across the street and up to my apartment, I got the pug upstairs and ran back downstairs and back over to the CVS parking lot. Unfortunately, the big tough guy in his beat-up piece of shit car that was too scared to step out of it when he actually looked me in the eye and his boyfriend were gone. Too bad, I wouldn’t have minded putting them through the pavement for a while.

The moral of the story here (other than my rage) is that if you’re a summer-time tourist somewhere, has some fucking respect for the place that you shit on 3 months out of the year. Don’t go bitching about how your summer dollars sustain our local economies because that’s patented bullshit and anyone who knows anything about rental markets can tell you such. And if you see a big dude walking a dog…slow the fuck down! Because that big dude might be me and I might just not be too fucking pleased with two guys who, combined, weigh less than left leg telling me to get the fuck out of the way. Not smart, benny…not smart.

The More Things Change: Nintendo On Top

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Though it may seem like I’ve done a major amount of video game discussion lately, I felt that it was all necessary as leading up to the inevitable…which is this blog entry.

PCWorld reports that Nintendo’s Wii is the number one selling “next generation” console in the world. This is a huge accomplishment! As the linked article explains, the last time that Nintendo was #1 with both their handheld and their home console was in 1994 – a full 13 years ago. I believe that this was an important story to cover for a couple of reasons, but mostly because Nintendo proved a startlingly simple point in their ascension back to the top of the video game mountain: focus on your business and you’ll find success.

Look at the gaming landscape. The big “traditional” video game companies are Nintendo, Sega, and Atari. Both Sega and Atari were forced out of the market due to the rise of superior gaming machines from Sony and eventually Microsoft. When Sega’s Dreamcast fell, many people thought that the end was near for Nintendo’s console. But Nintendo’s leadership did something that was unheard of in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s – they stayed their course. While other gaming systems were hurrying to include DVD playback, higher resolution features, and more in-game high-pixel video scenes, Nintendo stuck to its guns by producing machines that focused on a fun gaming experience.

And now, while Sony’s PlayStation 3 is looking at death’s door due to its unrealistic price tag and poor gaming library, the Nintendo Wii is thriving. Sony was so concerned about making sure their next-generation system was high-definition that they didn’t realize that many of the potential 3rd Party developers wouldn’t have the capacity (or desire) to create such detail-rich games. Of course they were also concerned with Sony’s larger plan to implement the Blu-Ray DVD format in PlayStation homes. What a terrible business plan for a video game system!

The problems that Microsoft are facing revolve mostly around inferior hardware quality (multiple overheating issues – now the controller is overheating) and, for many computer geeks like myself, the lack of desire that many video gamers/computer people have for a Windows experience on their home console. The most prevalent of this experience is the Red Ring of Death which signals that your XBox 360 is shot and needs to be replaced. Those of us who have had issues with Windows are quite familiar with the Blue Screen of Death – which signals that your operating system is more or less shot and needs to be reinstalled. Who the hell wants to deal with that type of bullshit on a video game system?

Nintendo did NOT focus on creating the basis for a home multimedia experience nor were they concerned about rolling out a new high-definition DVD format. They focused on having fun. And, as a Nintendo Wii & DS Lite owner who has played PlayStation 3, PSP, and XBox 360 – Nintendo hit the nail squarely on the head where the other systems missed the mark.

And now it’s paying off – Nintendo is once again back on top of the gaming world. The question, though, is whether or not it will last.

Nintendo DS Lite & Nintendo Wii

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You can add my name to the growing list of both DS Lite and Wii owners. Over the course of the last few days I was able to get my hands on both of these little prizes and the results have been great so far.

The DS Lite is probably the best looking handheld device that I’ve ever played. And that’s no bullshit, folks, the screens on this thing are bright and crystal clear. Very impressive. I purchased Big Brain Academy, a Sonic game, and Children of Mana as well as a Gameboy Advance game (one of the old Mario games for SNES). I also got this nice little carrying case for it which came with a bunch of accessories like headphones, screen protectors, a shammy to clean the screens, extra styluses, etc. A pretty good deal.

I’m happy that I got this little handheld system. My Mom seemed to enjoy playing it when I was up in Roxbury yesterday, too. It’s a fun, addicting little machine…and that Big Brain Academy game is extremely addicting!

I also like the fact that it has Wi-Fi support as well as a system where you can play against other DS owners who are nearby – very cool.

And then I got the Wii. I had to wait outside of Circuit City yesterday morning to get it. I only waited 5 minutes until the store opened and I happened to be 5th in a line of 5 people, so it wasn’t like anything that you’d see on TV. However, we were all talking about how if there was a line of 5 people at the end of August, then the lines come November and December will be outrageous. Also, I found it interesting that a few of us knew about the chip shortage that will ultimately lead to a Wii shortage this Christmas season. I guess it makes sense, though, since we were all there buying the system.

In terms of gameplay, the Wiimote takes some getting used to, but it’s fun. I read about the problems with battery life in this thing so I bought a rechargeable battery and stand for the Wiimote, which worked well. I played the Wii Sports game that comes with the console and it was a lot of fun! I need to work on both my bowling and golfing skills, but I was surprisingly good at tennis. Weird…

I have 2000 Wii points, which will let me purchase old games and store them on my system. That’s pretty cool. They have a decent selection on there now, but it will only get better as time goes on. I also have Resident Evil 4 and Rampage for the Wii, but have not had a chance to play either yet. Resident Evil 4 looks crazy and who doesn’t love Rampage?

There will be more reports about my Wii-ing and DS Lite playing in the future, so stay tuned.