Why Jersey Rocks

New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first
solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in 1940.

New Jersey is a peninsula.

Highlands,New Jersey has the highest elevation along
the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.

New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties
are classified as metropolitan areas.

New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.

New Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq mi.)
than Havana, Cuba.

New Jersey has the densest system of highways and
railroads in the US.

New Jersey has the highest cost of living

New Jersey has the highest cost of auto insurance.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the
nation.

New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is
sometimes referred to as the "Diner Capital of the
World."

New Jersey is home to Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.

Home to the best Italian hot dogs and Italian
sausage w/peppers and onions.

North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area
in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25
square mile radius.

New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island.

The Passaic River was the site of the first submarine
ride by inventor John P. Holland

New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the
nation's most famous:

Asbury Park, Wildwood (Crest), Atlantic City, Seaside
Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.

New Jersey has the most stringent testing along its
coastline for water quality control than any other
seaboard state in the entire country.

New Jersey is a leading technology & industrial state
and is the largest chemical producing state in the
nation when you include pharmaceuticals.


Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the
best you can buy.

New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and
cranberry production

Here's to New Jersey - the toast of the country! In
1642, the first brewery in America, opened in Hoboken.

New Jersey is a major seaport state with a large
seaport in the US, located in Elizabeth.

New Jersey is home to one of the nation's busiest
airports (in Newark), Liberty International.

George Washington slept there.

Several important Revolutionary War battles were
fought on New Jersey soil, led by General George
Washington (when he wasn't sleeping).

The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion
picture projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in
his Menlo Park, NJ, laboratory. He also owned a home
and the first film studio in the nation in West
Orange. The first moving picture film was done there.

New Jersey also boasts the first town ever lit by
incandescent bulbs.

The first seaplane was built in Keyport , NJ.
The first airmail (to Chicago) was started from
Keyport, NJ.

The first phonograph records were made in Camden, NJ

New Jersey was home to the Miss America Pageant held
in Atlantic City.

The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named
the streets on its playing board after the actual
streets in Atlantic City. And, Atlantic City has the
longest boardwalk in the world, not to mention salt
water taffy.

New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area
outside of the Middle East countries. (Linden). One explosion there blew doors off and shattered windows in Elizabeth homes.

The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey, in the
Watchung Mountains. The NY skylines is visible.

New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world.
(Union, NJ!!!)

New Jersey had the first medical center, in Jersey
City

The Pulaski SkyWay, from Jersey City to Newark, was
the first skyway highway.

New Jersey built the first tunnel under a river, the
Hudson (Holland Tunnel).

The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ,
which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.

The first intercollegiate football game was played in
New Brunswick in 1889 (Rutgers College played
Princeton).

The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden,
NJ, (but they're all gone now!). I saw the Godfather
in a drive in in Wayne NJ near the Willowbrook Mall.
The Passaic used to flood the area near the carwash
near the drive in. Gone now.

New Jersey is home to both of "NEW YORK'S" pro
football teams!

The first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson,
NJ.

The first FM radio broadcast was made from Alpine, NJ,
by Maj. Thomas Armstrong.

All New Jersey natives:

Sal Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen,
Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifah, Susan
Sarandon, Connie Francis Shaq, Judy Blume, Aaron
Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, Dionne Warwick, Sarah
Vaughn, Budd Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Ginsberg,
Norman Mailer, Marilynn McCoo, Flip Wilson,
Alexander Hamilton, Zack Braff Whitney Houston, Eddie
Money, Linda McElroy, Eileen Donnelly, Grover
Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, Jerry
Lewis, Tom Cruise, Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar
Romero, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Kevin Fahey,
Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, Danny DeVito, Richard Conti,
Joe Pesci, Joe Piscopo, Joe DePasquale, Robert Blake,
John Forsythe, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman
Lloyd, Paul Simon, Jerry Herman, Gorden
McCrae, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Phyllis Newman,
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva Marie Saint, Elisabeth
Shue, Zebulon Pike, James Fennimore Cooper, Admiral
Wm.Halsey,Jr., Norman Schwarzkopf (his mother was a
famous opera singer and his father investigated the
Lindenberg kidnapping also in NJ), the outlaw Sundance
Kid, Dave Thomas (Wendy's), William Carlos Williams,
Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl, Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson,
Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia, Kelly Ripa, and, of
course, Francis Albert Sinatra and "Uncle Floyd"
Vivino.

The Great Falls in Paterson, on the Passaic River, is
the 2nd highest waterfall on the East Coast of the US.
William Carlos Williams wrote a book length set of
poems called Paterson.

You know you're from Jersey when . .

You don't think of fruit when people mention "The
Oranges."

You know that it's called Great Adventure, not Six
Flags.

A good, quick breakfast is a hard roll with butter.

You've known the way to Seaside Heights since you were
seven.

You've eaten at a diner, when you were stoned or
drunk, at 3 A.M

At least three people in your family still love Bruce
Springsteen, and you know the town Jon Bon Jovi is
from.

You know what a "jug handle" is.

You know that WaWa is a convenience store. Don't
forget Cumberland Farms.

You know that there are no "beaches" in New
Jersey--there's the shore--and you don't
go "to the shore," you go "down the shore." And when
you are there, you're not "at the shore"; you are
"down the shore."

You know how to properly negotiate a circle.
You knew that the last sentence had to do with
driving.

You know that this is the only "New" state that
doesn't require "New" to identify it (try . . Mexico. . .
York..! . . Hampshire--doesn't work, does it?).

You know that a "White Castle" is the name of BOTH a
fast food chain AND a fast food sandwich.

You consider putting mayo on a corned beef sandwich a
sacrilege.

You don't think "What exit?" is very funny. (you will
get your ass kicked by most New Jerseyans)

You know that people from the 609 area code are "a
little different." Yes they are!

You know that no respectable New Jerseyan goes to
Princeton--that's for out-of-staters.

The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school
or local bar.
True.

You live within 20 minutes of at least three different
malls.

You refer to all highways and interstates by their
numbers.

Every year you have at least one kid in your class
named Tony.

You know the location of every clip shown in the
Sopranos opening credits.

You've gotten on the wrong highway
trying to get out of the mall.

You know that people from North Jersey go to Seaside
Heights, and people from Central Jersey go to Belmar,
and people from South Jersey go to Wildwood.

It can be no other way.
You weren't raised in New Jersey--you were raised in
either North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey

You don't consider Newark or Camden to actually
be part of the state.

You remember the stores Korvette's, Two Guys,
Rickel's, Channel, Bamberger's and Orbach's.

You also remember Palisades Amusement Park.
(And the weeds in the distance was not a place you
wanted to visit...more happened there than Alexander
Hamilton being shot by Aaron Burr and it is a one way
destination for many and not because it is a shortcut
into the City)

You've had a boardwalk cheese steak and vinegar fries.

You start planning for Memorial Day weekend in
February.

And finally. .You NEVER, NEVER NEVER, EVER pump your
own gas.

...with thanks to Monica from Doreen's office

How Do You Feel Rich?

Brace yourself: 2009 may be even more financially challenging than 2008.

Given that our collective American values got us into this mess perhaps we should identify which ones are responsible and replace them with values to help us get through it and avoid the same mistakes in the future.

Here are some values that drove our profligate behavior in recent decades and new ones with which to replace them:

- Greed or excess vs. moderation
- Instant gratification/spend now! vs. patience/save more!
- Materialism vs. generosity

If you're an over-spender, does this create tension with your significant other? If so, controlling your spending would benefit both your bank account and your relationship.

When tempted to buy something unnecessary, ask what do you value more, the item or your relationship, the item or your bank account.

Consciously comparing how much you prefer one thing over another prioritizes your values.

We forget that our grandparents accumulated their possessions after a lifetime of saving for them.

Contrast that with the financial stress many feel today, those who were tempted by the soaring real estate values that made them feel rich.

Those who refinanced their homes took out and spent cash on stuff now have lots of stuff and a home that's worth less than their mortgage.

We need to get back to the novel idea of buying only that for which we have cash. But you can stay on a disciplined budget and still enjoy the convenience of credit cards.

Finally, imagine a world where generosity is valued more than materialism. People literally giving the money they'd otherwise spend to someone who needs it. Or being more generous in spirit.

Thanks to Stephanie, excerpts from News-Press, 12.30.08

Noah's Ark of Stolen Computer Gear

Victor Papagno had two loves, federal prosecutor say: computers and stealing.

For the Navy, it was a devastating combination.

Over 10 years, authorities said, the computer technician with obsessive-compulsive disorder ran one of the biggest computer theft scams in local history. He stole more than 19,000 pieces of computer equipment from the offices of the Naval Research Laboratory in Southwest Washington.

The loot took up so much space that Papagno built a 2,775-square-foot garage to store it all. It cost the Navy more than $150,000 to inventory the stash of keyboards, monitors, floppy disks, hard drives, cables, batteries and a device to make security badges. When investigators came to haul the equipment away from Papagno's Charles County home, they needed an 18-wheeler.

He got away with stealing computer components from a secure Navy facility by walking out the front door with the booty in boxes -- an average of five items a day over a decade. The Navy never caught on. The tip that brought him down last year came from his estranged wife, authorities said.

The 40-year-old computer specialist, who pleaded guilty in October to theft of government property, was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman. The judge said he was disturbed by the "quantity, the value and the sensitivity" of the stolen items and ordered Papagno to repay the $159,000 it cost the Navy to retrieve and inventory the goods.

Papagno and his attorney blamed his stealing on mental illness, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was compelled to hoard things, particularly computer components, they said; Papagno did not sell most of the stuff, much of it old and destined for recycling bins or the trash heap. "I couldn't throw things away," Papagno told Friedman.

"One way to look at this crime is that it was about collecting," said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Mitzelfeld. "It's like the art buff stealing artwork because he wants to have his own collection."

Investigators were concerned that Papagno had pilfered sensitive data from the Navy lab. More than 7,700 stolen items held data. One floppy disk, for example, contained personal information on 300 employees at the laboratory. Investigators also found a device that creates security badges for laboratory workers. In his bedroom dresser, they found badges belonging to 10 of Papagno's co-workers, authorities said.

Scores of computer components in Papagno's house in Hughesville were new, some still in the packaging. Among them: 20 Macintosh G4 computers with a list price of $4,000 each, 10 Apple flat-screen monitors worth $1,500 each, external hard drives worth $350 and four Apple Thinkpad laptops that retail for $3,500 each. Both sides put the value of the stolen goods at more than $120,000. The items were worth at least $1.6 million new.

He also targeted retailers with bogus manufacturer coupons and rebate certificates. Investigators said he bought legitimate ones on eBay, then created copies on his computer. He bought goods with them and returned the items for gift cards. Investigators said they found "bags of gift cards and receipts" in Papagno's home.

Papagno began stealing in 1997 while he was working as a computer specialist at the Navy lab. He told investigators it was easy; the Navy had lax inventory controls and bought computers with "reckless abandon." The Navy did not track items worth less than $2,500, investigators said.

Papagno told authorities he was building a "Noah's Ark of Computer land," special agent Timothy Hall of the Navy Criminal Investigative Service wrote in court papers. The computer specialist said he "loved to steal," Hall wrote, and he told a friend that he planned to auction the equipment on eBay.

Over the years, Papagno sold some of the equipment to friends and gave away other items. He used some parts in his "freelance" business, installing and upgrading computer networks and software, prosecutors said.

When he began to run out of space at home, he persuaded one friend to store items in the basement of her 90-year-old father's house, investigators said, and another to rent a storage locker for him so his wife would not find out. But those were temporary solutions.

In 2000, investigators said, Papagno built the garage. It cost him $50,000.

Source: Washington Post, December 23, 2008

Secret Santa gives out more than a million dollars.

Just imagine you go to a thrift store - when a stranger comes over sounding like he’s trying to pick up … you.

“Shop in this place very often?” a man says. He lures you behind said door … “Come over here,” he says. And then he whispers: “I’m Secret Santa.”

“This is for you,” he says, handing his victim some money. “Merry Christmas.”

Secret Santa, who wishes to remain secret, will only say that he is a businessman from Kansas City. He crossed the country - going into dozens of thrift stores, laundromats and bus stations, and going up to hundreds of strangers who seem like they could use a Franklin or two. “I’d like to give you this: $200,” Santa says.

By Christmas he gave out $75,000 worth of hundred-dollar bills. “Is this for real?” one man, named Robert Young, asked. “It's for real, buddy,” Santa said. “And I can keep it?” Young asked. “It's yours and you can keep it,” Santa said. “God bless you,” Young said. Young is homeless. He was down to his last 20 cents.

Susan Dahl is homeless, too. She was down to her last straw. “You have use for it?” Santa asked. “Oh yes, I'm going to go find myself a motel room and get a shower. I've been in the same clothes, people, for 5 days!” Dahl said. “I'm the happiest person in the world right now.”

Secret Santa says that joy, that tremendous return on investment - is part of the reason he’s doing this. But here’s the bigger reason: Larry Stewart. Stewart was the original Secret Santa. He kept his identity hidden for 25 years, while giving out more than a million dollars. Stewart said of his Secret Santa gig: "It warms my heart." Stewart died last year of esophageal cancer.

And on his death bed, a dear friend promised to not let Secret Santa die with him. “He just squeezed my hand,” Secret Santa said. “He didn't say anything.” So, Secret Santa carries on, making perfect smiles on perfect strangers. And like Stewart before, all he ever asks in return is that people do a random act of kindness for someone else someday. “Can you do that?” he asked one woman. “You betcha,” she said. “Secret Santa lives in each and everyone of us,” Santa said. “It's just a matter of letting him out."

Source: CBS News Correspondent Steve Hartman

Mark Felt: "We did get the whole truth out".

Mark Felt, who was the source known as “Deep Throat” in the 1972 Watergate scandal, has died. He was 95.

Mark Felt died in his home in Santa Rosa, California. Felt was “Deep Throat,” the infamous source for Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein regarding the burglary of the Democratic Party National Committee headquarters in 1972. The scandal that resulted from the break-in brought down former President Richard Nixon. Woodward and Bernstein’s articles in the Washington Post resulted in a special prosecutor investigation that led to President Nixon’s resignation

The true identity of “Deep Throat” remained a secret until May 2005, when Felt’s identity was revealed in an article for Vanity Fair magazine.

For decades, he was known only as “Deep Throat,” a double entendre: Felt was providing information on the condition of complete anonymity, known as "deep background," and his actions coincided with a popular 1972 porn movie of the same name.

Woodward claimed that when he wanted to meet Deep Throat, he would move a flowerpot with a red flag on the balcony of his apartment, number 617, at the Webster House at 1718 P Street, Northwest, and when Deep Throat wanted a meeting, he would circle the page number on page twenty of Woodward's copy of The New York Times and draw clock hands to signal the hour.

"People will debate for a long time whether I did the right thing by helping Woodward," Felt wrote in his 2006 memoir, "A G-Man's Life: The FBI, `Deep Throat' and the Struggle for Honor in Washington." "The bottom line is that we did get the whole truth out, and isn't that what the FBI is supposed to do?

What Have They Been Doing Department?

Does anybody out remember why the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY was established during the
Carter Administration?

Anybody? Anything? No?

Didn't think so.

Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.

Ready? It was very simple, and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.

The Department of Energy was instituted 8/4/77 "to lessen our dependence on foreign oil". Pretty efficient government, huh?

And now it's 2008, 31 years later, and the budget for this organization is now $24 billion a year, with 16,000 federal employees, and 100,000 contract workers.

And now we are going to turn the banking system and Detroit's big 3 over to them.

Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy.

...with thanks to Ernie

Kids' Science Exam Answers

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour? (brilliant, love this!)
A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? ( e.g., abdomen)
A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does 'varicose' mean? (I do love this one...)
A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarian Section.'
A: The Caesarian Section is a district in Rome

Q: What does the word 'benign' mean?'
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight

...with thanks to Carolyn

Kids Say The Darnest Things...

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? CLASS: Maria.

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water? DONALD: H I J K L M N O. TEACHER: What are you talking about? DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.


TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I'.
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher.

...with thanks to Carolyn !

Drowning Nation

The Pacific island-nation of Tuvalu is the first country to have evacuated some of its citizens because of the sea-level rise driven by global warming. The highest point on the island sits only 15 feet above sea level. A quarter of the nation’s population has already been evacuated. Will this be the first island nation to disappear as a result of climate change?

Lego King

Who doesn't remember growing up playing with Legos? Most kids ultimately pack up their Legos and move on. But Nathan Sawaya never did.

The 35-year-old New Yorker makes a six-figure living as a Lego artist, creating large-scale works of art using tens of thousands of the plastic pieces.

The New Orleans Public Library commissioned this work from Sawaya to celebrate the city's rebirth. It contains over 120,000 bricks and took over six weeks to build.

Legos were the furthest thing from his mind when he set out in the working world. After graduating New York University Law School, Sawaya became a Wall Street attorney, earning six-figures—and working in a high-stress environment. To relax after long hours at the office, he would work on art projects at night, One of Sawaya's first hobbyist projects with Legos was an eight-foot-tall pencil. Friends would come over to gawk at it, Visitors to the site sent in requests, such as Lego renderings of portraits of their children.

The hobby became the real thing in 2004 after he won a competition sponsored by Lego to find the best builder in the U.S. He quit his job and became one of Lego's "master model builders," creating sculptures for its theme park in San Diego. They paid him just $13 an hour, but it gave him good training for when he returned to New York to create his own Lego works full-time.

Sawaya now keeps 1.5 million Lego bricks, meticulously organized by shape and color into clear bins. Sawaya says he now works more hours per week than ever but gets artistic gratification from his Lego creations, particularly when he hears from children who are inspired by his projects.

You can buy a life-size Lego vanity-sculpture of yourself from this year’s Nieman Marcus catalog for a mere $60,000


Source: Conde Nast Portfolio.com

And We Want To Make This A State Run Enterprise?

Click to enlarge these pix !

Tradition Trivia: The Custom of Sending Christmas Cards

The custom of sending Christmas cards started in Britain in 1840 when the first 'Penny Post' public postal deliveries began. Helped by the new railway system, the public postal service was the 19th century's communication revolution, just as email is for us today.

As printing methods improved, Christmas cards were produced in large numbers from about 1860. They became even more popular in Britain when a card could be posted in an unsealed envelope for one half-penny - half the price of an ordinary letter.

My Next Life by Woody Allen

In my next life I want to live my life backwards.
You start out dead and get that out of the way.
Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day.
You get kicked out for being too healthy, so you go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day.
You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement.
You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous; then you are ready for high school.
You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play.
You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born.
And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then,
Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!
I rest my case.

...thanks Big Boy for this one.

Why Do Dogs Love Riding in Cars?

Sally loves to ride in the car, go anywhere. So today's question is why do dogs love to ride in cars. So far, the best answer is simply that they can stick their head out the window and sniff all the scents in the air, the other dogs, cats, flowers, people, etc. Their sense of smell is incredible. Plus they love to see new stuff and think you are taking them somewhere fun. Best of all, they just know they get to be with their owner and not stuck at home all by themselves.