Your home is your castle

It makes me cringe to read about the abuses of eminent domain, many of which can found right here in Monmouth County. In the Press' three-part print and online series ''The Battle Over Eminent Domain,'' which begins today, the arguments for and against the seizure of private property are spelled out in great detail, along with the stories of people who are fighting government attempts to take their property.
For the most part, the general public opposes the use of eminent domain for private redevelopment purposes. Most municipal officials and planners say it's impossible to rebuild blighted communities without it. We'd like to know what you think. Are there any circumstances in which homeowners or business owners should be forced to give up their properties for the benefit of private developers or for the greater good of the community?
To get the conversation started, I'll offer my personal view: I don't think anyone who owns and occupies a home and keeps it well-maintained, or anyone who operates a business on property they own should be forced out unless it is truly for a public purpose - construction of roads, schools, etc. Even then, strict safeguards must be in place to prevent abuse or overreach.
As the series progresses, I will continue to offer my thoughts and solicit yours. After the series concludes, the Press will publish a two-part editorial spelling out the newspaper's formal position and offering recommendations for changes to the state's eminent domain law.

Four-point immigration reform plan

It's hard to believe the organizers of Monday's ''Day Without an Immigrant,'' a nationwide boycott of work and shopping, think that having illegal immigrants withhold their services for a day will actually help them win the public relations battle. They'd be far better off lobbying quietly and telling their followers to lie in the weeds while Congress slugs it out.
The House has passed an absurdly harsh immigration reform bill that calls for building a 700-mile-long wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and treating illegal entry into this country as a felony. In the Senate, several bills are being debated that would essentially grant amnesty to about half of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, and encourage more to cross the border.
It's hard to imagine the House and Senate will be able to reconcile their differences on how to address the immigration problem. But if a compromise is in the cards, here's what I would like to see:
National identification cards that would allow law enforcement officials, employers and others to readily determine whether people are in this country legally.
Harsh penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Authorization for local, county and state law enforcement officials to enforce immigration laws.
Changes to immigration law that would deny automatic citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.
These steps would go a long way toward solving the problem. But I'm not holding my breath for it to happen - or for any substantive immigration reform.

Put brakes on Corzine plan to ease gas prices

In response to soaring gasoline prices, Gov. Corzine announced Thursday he wants to institute self-service gasoline stations on a trial basis and is considering reducing the maximum speed limit from 65 mph to 55 mph. Both are bad ideas.

If there were any guarantee that allowing self-service stations in New Jersey would actually lower the price at the pump, it would be worth considering. But there isn't. And there is scant evidence from other states that the cost savings derived from self-serve stations are passed along to the consumer. Also, the inconvenience of having to pump your own gas, particularly for the elderly and disabled, cannot be overstated.

As for reducing the speed limit, a better alternative would be to enforce the one now in effect. If people are ignoring the 65 mph limit now, what makes the governor think they will begin complying if the speed limit is reduced to 55 mph?

Thursday on the Parkway: Time to fill up the tank

Looking for a bargain at the gas pump? In truth, there aren't any these days, not with gasoline selling for an average of $2.86 a gallon today - up 55 cents from a month ago. But if you are shopping around for the lowest prices, your best bet - at least toward the end of the work week - is a Lukoil service area on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike.

The list of the lowest gasoline prices in the state reported on the newjerseygasprices.com Web site today was dominated by the Lukoil stations. That's because the prices there change just once a week - on Fridays. With gasoline prices rising by nearly 2 cents a day, the Lukoil prices remain artificially lower than the market price until Friday rolls around.
Today, the price for all Lukoil service areas on the Parkway and Turnpike is $2.76 - a dime a gallon cheaper than the state average. Take advantage of it while you can.

What's with the side-view mirror?

I bought a new car recently, and quickly discovered that the side-view mirror on the passenger's side operates the same way the mirror on my old car did - it totally distorts the distance between you and the car you have just passed or the car that is about to pass you illegally on the right.

Can someone tell me why they make the mirrors like that? Instead of putting a label on it that warns you the object in the mirror may be closer than it appears, why not just install a mirror that doesn't play tricks on you? If regular mirrors are good enough for the rear-view mirror and the driver's side mirror, why aren't they good enough for the passenger's side?

I'm guessing it is done to enlarge the overall field of vision, but the disadvantage seems to far outweigh the advantage - not being able to trust your eyes when you check the mirror. Because I don't trust it, I always look over my shoulder to make sure there are no blind spots and to satisfy myself that the car I have spotted in the mirror that appears to be a mile behind me isn't fast closing in.

What gives here?

IRS is my tax accountant

I had considered paying someone to do my taxes this year, but thought better of it. I usually do them myself, but there were some fresh circumstances that promised to complicate matters on my 2005 returns. However, after reading a few weeks ago about how a government study found that commercial tax preparers made errors in each of the 19 returns that were analyzed, I decided to give it another whack. Why pay someone to foul up my returns when I can do it myself for nothing.

With the filing deadline just three days away, I'm still not finished. But I finally have all the information I need to complete the job. When I hit snags, I turned to the IRS. I called its 800 number twice. In both cases, I got through to someone quickly and in both cases they answered my questions courteously and promptly.

For people faced with complicated business and capital gains tax issues, a tax accountant is a must. For peons like myself, I'd rather get free advice from the IRS when I have a question than pay a commercial preparer - many of whom apparently don't trouble themselves to do the same when they are faced with uncertainty.

Would my taxes be done by now if I had paid someone else to do it for me? Probably. But I'd rather save a few bucks - and get it done right.

See you in line at the post office Monday.

Picking our pockets at the pump

Two weeks ago, I bemoaned the rising gasoline prices and said there was no reason to believe they would stop rising anytime soon. Unfortunately, I was right. And there is every reason to believe they will continue rising.

Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall said in Wednesday's business section of the Press that gasoline prices will probably peak between Easter Sunday and Memorial Day, then remain at that level until late summer, when they will drop off by 75 cents to $1 a gallon. He says after this year's peak has been reached, prices will plateau at a level 20 to 25 cents per gallon more than last year. Considering how high they were last year, that's not very comforting

Since I last blogged on the topic, gas prices have risen an average of 2 cents a day, reaching $2.56.9 today, according to the newjerseygasprices.com Web site. A year ago, the average was 2.04.9. The cheapest gas listed on the site http://www.newjerseygasprices.com/ this morning was $2.41, at a station in Salem County. A station in Summit is closing in on the $3 mark.

The difference between the price runup this year and last year is that last year there seemed to be a reason for it - a hurricane taking out refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico. This year, all we're getting in the way of explanation is rumors about Bush & Co. planning to nuke Iran.

Working longer hours for the taxman

Tax Freedom Day - the first day of the year in which the average American has generated enough income to pay off his or her taxes for the year - will fall April 26 this year, according to the Tax Foundation. That's three days later than last year and 10 days later than in 2004.

In New Jersey, Tax Freedom Day won't arrive until May 6. That's later than in all but two other states - Connecticut (May 12) and New York (May 9).

The average American will work 116 days this year to meet their tax obligations - 42 days for income taxes and 31 days for social insurance taxes. That 116 days is more than the number of days the average person must work to pay for housing and food.

The good news: Taxes as a percentage of income today is 31.6 percent - down from its peak of 33.1 percent in 2000. The bad news: It was only 17.6 percent in 1940 and 5.0 percent in 1910.

Tourism heats up at Shore

The state's annual tourism report was released last week, with officials raving about the double-digit increases in tourist spending in 2005. The report, whose chief purpose seems to be to justify the tourism commission's existence, showed that tourism revenue increased 12.5 percent statewide, 15.6 percent in Monmouth County and 9.6 percent in Ocean County.

Asked to offer an explanation for the dramatic increases, Kenneth J. McGill, executive vice president of Global Insight, whose company prepared the report and is paid good money each year to come up with the answers, said he didn't have one. He would have to examine the data further.

Marilou Halvorsen, marketing director for Jenkinson's Beach, Boardwalk and Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach and the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, could spare him the trouble.

''Two reasons,'' she said. "Weather and weather. The weather is the biggest thing." Last summer was the hottest in 111 years.

Global Insight's power point presentation next year should include the number of clear sunny days at the Shore - probably the most important variable for tourist revenue in this region.

Bring back the pony express

I had the misfortunate of having to go to the Post Office during my lunch hour today. In Neptune, that invariably means a wait. Today, they were stacked up about a dozen deep - again - and only two of the three counters were staffed. My gripe is not with the postal workers who wait on customers. They are pleasant and polite and do their jobs as best they can. The problem is the way the facility - and far too many other Post Office locations - is (mis)managed.
Many of the people waiting in line today, as in the past, had simple business to transact. Some just wanted stamps - the automated machine was out of order. Others could have been disposed of quickly. But one customer tied up one of the two counter workers for a full 10 minutes. Another slowed down the second employee for at least five minutes. One customer had to wait in line for 10 minutes to inform a postal worker that he wanted to pick up his held mail. The worker picked up the phone, read an employee in the back the address over the intercom, and the mail came out a minute later.
At another Post Office recently, I waited in line for more than 15 minutes, along with a dozen other people, as one of two employees working the counter was tied up processing passports for a family of five.
The Postal Service needs to learn something about triage. If two or more windows are open, there should be an express lane. During high-volume periods, such as lunch hour weekdays, there should be full staffing, even if that means having the postmaster do counter duty.
Barring the most extraordinary circumstances, there is no excuse for making customers wait in line for 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Too many people have gotten used to it, and say nothing. More of us need to speak up.

Poor grade for New Jersey hospitals

It was only a few weeks ago that a new analysis of Medicare care data showed New Jersey ranked No. 1 nationally in following best-practices protocols for four medical conditions. This past week, a new study by HealthGrades, a Colorado-based for-profit company that sells hospital data to hospitals and consumers, ranked New Jersey dead last in preventing 13 types of avoidable complications, such as post-surgical blood infections, blood clots, bed sores and problems resulting from surgical clamps and sponges mistakenly left in a patient's body during surgery.

While the state commissioner of health questioned the validity of the findings, others in the field did not. Much of the data, broken down by hospital, is available for free online at http://www.healthgrades.com/.

Not all the news was bad. Among other things, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Community Medical Center in Toms River and Ocean Medical Center in Brick were included in the list of the nation's best-performing hospitals for overall patient safety - a designation reserved for the top 15 percent of hospitals.

Miss America getting real

Back in September 2004, after the ratings for the Miss America Pageant hit a new all-time low, we wrote an editorial in the Press saying we wouldn't be surprised to see the Pageant take the low road and opt for a serialized reality TV format to help improve viewership.

Well, that's exactly what happened. Pageant officials announced Saturday that the Pageant, which will be televised on a country music network and held at a locale yet to be disclosed, will air a seven-segment reality/documentary series in the days leading up to the contest. Audience members will be asked to help choose the finalists.

Will it help build back interest in the pageant? It depends what audience they are targeting and how they approach it. Will they take viewers into the dressing room? Will they leave everything but the cat fights, the back-stabbing and the tears on the cutting-room floor. Will it be typical reality TV? Unfortunately, probably yes.

Maybe it's a blessing the pageant pulled out of Atlantic City after all.

Modern technology at its best/worst

An AP-AOL-Pew Research Center poll on cell phone use reported in today's Press business section found that almost nine in 10 users of cell phones said they encountered others using cell phones in an annoying way. But only 8 percent of cell phone users acknowledged their own use of cell phones was sometimes rude. If that 8 percent had been asked a follow-up question, ''Do you care if your use of the cell phone bothers others,'' we would guess 98 percent of them would have said no.

As with any new technology, cell phones are a mixed blessing. As a device that allows people to stay in constant touch with others, regardless of where they are, it's a godsend. But in the hands of people who have no regard for others - a seemingly growing segment of the population - at least in New Jersey - there seems to be no limit to its downside: The threat posed to public safety by people who use them while driving. The annoyance of ringers going off in inappropriate places - including the workplace. The cheesy computer-generated music that tells the user - and all those around him or her - that someone is calling. The loud conversations you have no interest in hearing, on crowded buses, trains, theater lobbies and public restrooms. The unwanted intrusions on golf courses, beaches and other places where people try to find refuge from the onslaught of technology.

You don't think your use of the cell phone is irritating others? Chances are, you're wrong.

Awaiting the return of the Glory Days

I'm anxious to learn the details of the new oceanfront redevelopment agreement between Asbury Park and Asbury Partners, due to be announced Wednesday after several delays. We've been keeping a close eye on this one. The future of the project could well hang in the balance.
I feel personally invested in the outcome. Growing up in New Jersey, I spent a lot of time in Asbury Park, as a child, as a teen and a college student, and well into my adult years, mostly to take advantage of the empty beaches and the concerts at various city venues.
In the 1930s, my Dad's parents took him to Asbury Park, commuting by train from East Orange. My aunt and her friend used to vacation at the Berkeley Carteret every year, long after most people stopped coming to Asbury.
For me, Asbury's draw, other than the music and the beach, was its book-end boardwalk buildings - the Casino, Paramount Theater and the Convention Hall, where I spent wonderful summer evenings watching the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and other terrific acts.
Those bookends - and the entertainment they provided - are vital to recapturing Asbury Park's spirit. If they are restored/redeveloped in a manner befitting their former glory, everything else will fall into place. That must be the priority.