Louis Mascolo: Pub Notes--Who Blogs You, Baby!

From the October 1st edition of the Gazette of Atlantic & Cumberland Counties

     One thing that is always great about a newspaper is its consistency. It arrives regularly and on schedule. We know you like that. Well, we’re bad boys and girls. We are changing the publishing date of the Gazette again. Our publication is back to arriving on the first of the month or quickly thereon. Publishing in the middle of the month was too confusing to us and you. Readers didn’t know when we were out or even if we were out. There were even rumors that we stopped publishing.

     As much work as this is, and as much as I’d like to retire, how would I get my opinion heard? I doubt the Daily Journal, which seems to be hooked on decidedly right wing, conservative opinions and columnists, would publish me. They seem to have bought into the Fox News crowd. Our approach is a little different. We think you can man (woman) up and take some offbeat and alternative viewpoints as well as the mainstream pap.

     It’s true, we have been selfish. We haven’t allowed you to freely comment on our content, but now you can react to our editorials and paper right here on our new blog. That’s right! Blast me if you have the mind to, or praise my twisted mind if you like—or comment on anyone else here. No profanity, indecency, racist or totally stupid comments will be published. It would be nice if you know to read and write and provide some reasoning behind your comments and opinions. Also, I put my name on my stuff. Have some courage and do the same and the town you live in. But have a good time. Your comments will be able to be Googled; you’ll have a presence on the internet, and it is nice to be heard and to see your words and thoughts in print.

             Have fun with the kids on Halloween

Louis Mascolo: "Do you know who I am? My husband works for the government!"

You know who I am? My husband works for the Government!

By Louis Mascolo

     Sometimes I think I live in the dumbest country in the world. Of course, there’s Pakistan, Iran and Somalia to contradict that. The healthcare industry is out of control and have been ripping us a new one since they came up with private health insurance and nobody calls them on it. Obama is getting called a Nazi and a socialist and a tyrant for suggesting that America does what the rest of the civilized world does. Give everyone medical coverage. Of course, he doesn’t have the courage to suggest a public option.

       I see all these gray haired protesters (I’m gray haired but not one of them) screaming, cursing and making a scene about public money being spent, and meantime, they’re collecting social security, they’re on Medicare and Medicaid and probably during their lifetime collected unemployment insurance. Who do they think is paying for that? Not Corporate America. Especially not the health care industry whose executives walk away with tens of millions of dollars in yearly bonuses and laughing all the way to the bank.

      I’d gladly pay an additional four or five thousand dollars a year in taxes to get rid of the $11,000 a year policy that the insurance industry is clipping me for. That’s about the profit margin these guys are working on. An extra seven or eight thousand a year out of everyone who isn’t on the public payroll or covered by an employer. And if you’re on the public payroll, we’re already paying taxes to cover you and your family. What about us suckers who don’t have a government job? It’s okay for you, but not for us?

It reminds me of an episode that happened to me many years ago. I was pulling into a parking spot at a shopping center and this woman saw me turning and hurried to get in before I did. Of course, being young and tough there was no way I was going to let her. I zipped in. She went to the next aisle and found a spot directly in front of me and pretty much banged into my car, got out and started screaming at me. Of course, a shouting match ensued and then she, in a thick Italian accent, delivered a comment I’ve never forgotten. “Do you know who I am? My husband works for the government.”

        There you go. Her husband works for the government. In Europe, Italy, France, et. al. if you have a government job, you’re set for life. Until recently, you couldn’t get fired. You got medical coverage, generous vacation, benefits and a regular paycheck until you died. So people who had government jobs were pretty much envied and given special privilege.

That’s what’s going on here in America now. Probably half the population has a government job. If you’ve got a government job, the government just keeps raising taxes on us private citizens to cover you. I don’t see any massive layoffs of government employees. Even now when there is 13% unemployment in Cumberland County, homes are being foreclosed on and the private sector is struggling just to keep up, government workers yearly pay still goes up, benefits keep accumulating, very few get fired or laid off.

       I see Vineland is raising its municipal tax rate 7 cents this year. Who knows the school tax rate will go up. Why? Mayor Romano doesn’t want to inconvenience public employees by using short worker furloughs to keep the rate from rising. How nice of him. Wouldn’t want to upset the public employees while the rest of us get hammered.

       It’s time for everybody to get a fair deal, not just those who already are receiving government benefits or happened to be a public employee. Stop buying into the healthcare industry propaganda and the politicians who promote their interests. It’s nice that Congressman LoBiondo pays for his own health insurance. From what I understand he’s a millionaire, maybe several times over. He can afford it. We can’t.  Times are tough and the sacrifices and BENEFITS should be shared. Those of you who are receiving the public benefits that are provided at the expense of taxpayers and are against healthcare reform--especially the public option--need to get down off your selfish horses. We contribute to you. How about returning the favor and contribute to us. There should no one shouting, “You know who I am. I work for the government.”

Emily Mascolo: Sites to Waste Time On

Now that I have quit the teaching business and gotten a considerably more boring but much more lucrative desk job, I find myself with an abundance of downtime throughout the course of my day.  And what do I do with that downtime, you might ask?  Well, allow me to tell you.  I spend time looking for ridiculous things on the internet.  And now, dear readers, I will share a few of my favorites with you, so that you too may waste your time in ever more entertaining ways. 

1. www.thereifixedit.com.  This site is a photo blog all about the ingenious ways that people have to fix their broken stuff.  People fix their stuff and then post pictures of the things they did.  My personal favorite is the bed that’s been propped up with a car jack to make it higher off the floor.  As crazy as some of these ideas are, you can’t argue that people can get creative in a pinch.
2. www.textsfromlastnight.com.  On this site people post bits of text conversations they have with each other.  All that you get is an area code and a sentence or two.  The point is that the statements are out of context, which makes them extra hilarious.  This is not all that safe for work, but it really is a can’t miss.
3. www.peopleofwalmart.com.  Human beings have no idea how they appear to others.  And apparently, the people who shop at Wal-Mart are more clueless than most.  This is a photo blog of exactly what you’d think.  The people who shop at Wal-Mart, and occasionally their cars/bikes/various other transportation.  It’s disturbing in the way only rednecks can be.
4.  www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com.  Another photo blog, this time of family portraits gone horribly awry.  Big hair, bad sweaters, and unfortunate poses abound.  It makes me grateful I was never forced to be involved in a family portrait, awkward or otherwise.
5. www.happiestpeopleever.tumblr.com. Pictures of people looking miserable during occasions that are supposed to be wondrous and magical.  The faces on some of these people are beyond funny.
6. www.laserportraits.net.  This site is an homage to that staple of 80’s and early 90’s school portraits…the laser background.  The background itself isn’t really that important, it’s the pictures themselves.  It’s a catalog of all the bad hair and clothes that go with that particular time period.
7. www.cuteoverload.com.  For those days where you just can’t get enough of the warm and fuzzies, this site is full of tiny baby animals and other adorable things to make your heart smile.

I have many, many other sites I love and waste time one, but to list them all would take pages and pages.  I have a lot of time to waste these days.  So go check these out and enjoy the laughs they bring you.  I know I always do.  

Jimmie Hollis: Race, Police, Courtesy and Respect

    Not too long ago racial profiling made headlines again recently when police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. A neighbor reported seeing two men forcing their way into the Gates home.  Gates, arriving back from a trip abroad, had his driver help try to force open a broken door.  Gates' arrest came not from this, but for angrily yelling at the responding officers and suggesting racial bias.

       All this reminded me of my only three brushes with the law.

Early one July evening in 1964, in Little Rock, Arkansas, I was on my way to visit a friend when I was pulled over by the sheriff.  He was white, middle-aged, beer-bellied and very southern. I gave him all the documents he asked for including my military ID Card. If ever there was a time to worry, it was then. I was respectful and courteous to the officer. The sheriff said he stopped me for going the wrong way on a one-way street.  I explained I was a visitor and apologized for my mistake.  With that, he gave me a big grin and asked where I was going. I told him, and he pointed me in the right direction.  He told me to take it easy and watch the street signs. I didn't get a ticket.  

Years later, on a rainy October night in 1976, I was driving out of New York after returning from Germany when I was pulled over by a state trooper.  The trooper noticed my green USAF license plates, and I explained they were issued to military personnel serving in Germany. Again, I was respectful and courteous as I provided the necessary documents including my military ID. The trooper asked me to step out of the car and waved me back to his cruiser.  Once inside, he asked what unit I was in and how long I was abroad.  It turned out he had a son stationed in Germany with the Army not far from where I served. He said he stopped me for speeding, and said the speed limit became 55MPH while I was away. He welcomed me back and told me to slow down. Again, I received no ticket.

Space constraints prevent me from sharing my third stop that did not result in a ticket.

Why did I never get a ticket in any of these three stops?  Was it my military status or my civility?  After all, I was in the wrong each time. As an American of African ancestry, I would like to think it was the latter.  Despite being in the military, I could have gotten belligerent and cried racism.  Military credentials or not, I would have been in trouble - especially in Little Rock in 1964.

Periodically, as with Professor Gates, charges are made about police targeting minorities simply because they are minorities.  That's never happened to me. Saying that, I'm not so naïve to think abuses don't happen to others, I know they do. There are racist and bigoted cops out there, but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. When stopped, citizens rightfully expect police officers to treat them with respect and courtesy but citizens should also be civil, courteous and respectful to police officers.  It surely couldn’t hurt.

David Petrovich: ForeclosureFocusNJ - The Unvarnished Truth

Q&A from the E-mailbag,  by David M. Petrovich Executive Director SPOCH

Q. How many payments can I miss before the lender forecloses?

A.  Re-read the section in your loan documents which describe "default" and you may be surprised that missing a single, monthly payment may trigger default, and foreclosure.  In practice, however, since loan servicers make a lot of money by charging late fees... they do not initiate foreclosure until/unless three or more consecutive payments are missed…. and in some cases 12 or more payments are missed before the lender authorizes its lawyers to foreclose.

Irrespective of what we hear or read about how anxious lenders are to modify delinquent mortgage loans …  they aren’t.  Default servicing is a cash cow bonanza for mortgage loan servicers.

You might think many mortgage loans which are not being paid mean huge losses to the investors who own the debt.  Not so.  Huge numbers of sub-prime mortgages which have been grouped together and pooled into securities carry private, derivative insurance (like bond performance insurance) provided by publicly bailed out companies like AIG. If the mortgage security isn’t performing as expected, the insurance kicks in and pays the investors….  who are made whole whether or not homeowners make their payments, or not.  So, there is no financial incentive for the Investors to work with homeowners to restructure toxic loan terms.

Even though loan servicers, whose job it is to modify loans, are paid by the government to modify at-risk loans…. the loan servicers would lose money. The government incentives are actually less than what servicers earn in late fees and pre-foreclosure costs by keeping the loan in default.

Talk about a conflict of interest!

If mortgage holders and their servicers refuse to grant meaningful loan relief, let's replace them with efficient, nonprofit organizations whose corporate objective is to preserve continued homeownership and work for the best interests of the owners.

How?  Pay 'em off and buy 'em out.  Instead of spending taxpayer dollars to fund executive bonuses, or the purchase of corporate jets or luxurious retreats (never to be repaid) let's put the dollars to work serving the needs of our economy and ensuring that taxpayers continue to believe in the great American dream of homeownership. 

Email your questions to:  info@spoch.org    www.spoch.org

David M. Petrovich is Executive Director of Society for Preservation of  Continued Homeownership, a NJ non-profit organization which provides pre-foreclosure counseling to financially distressed homeowners. His most recent book, An Ethical Approach (to preforeclosure short sales) will be followed by, The Foreclosure.

Gail Benson: Buena Historical Society

BUENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY…….

USING THE ONLINE ATLANTIC COUNTY LIBRARY FOR HISTORY

By Gail Benson

I have used the Special Collections portion of the Atlantic County Library website for ideas for this column.  As I was doing that this morning, I thought I should probably just tell you about this fine online source.

The website is www.atlanticlibrary.org   In the left margin, you can choose Special Collections, which will take you to the digitized collections of the library. On the main page, each topic gives you an overview of the collection. They include: Egg Harbor City German Project.  Funding was used to digitize photos and documents dealing with the history of Egg Harbor City.  Also, from that page, you can click through to the New Jersey Digital Highway. 

Newspapers.  Eleven newspapers are included and they date from the 1860’s to 1923.  By choosing a newspaper, you can see what issues are available to view.

This collection can be searched, although I have had some problems locating the search result in the actual newspaper on occasion.

Immigration Records.  This collection may be searched, but you may also choose a letter to look at all records that begin with that letter.  Collection covers 1850-1930, and you might get some interesting information.  For example, the 1909 Declaration of Intention for William Henry Chamberlain of Newtonville, Buena Vista Township, indicates, by town, where he was born in Worcestershire, England and where he last lived.  Also, his arrival into the Port of Philadelphia in 1904 is documented.

Civil War Era Records links to Civil War era newspapers as well as muster out records for soldiers who served in the Civil War.  The soldier’s name and residence is listed, and, from there, you can look at the information in the log book.  Buena Vista Township didn’t exist in 1865, but that area was known as Buena Vista.  The only soldier for which Buena Vista is listed as a residence is Watson Turpin, although others who lived in this area may have listed Hamilton Township as home.

Wills, Orphans Court, Letters of Administration.  We are told the collection dates from 1837 (when Atlantic County was formed) to 1921.  Again, you can search the collection for a particular name.

Another choice along the left side is Online Rsources.  This takes you to an extensive list of databases that you may access.  Heritage Quest Online is one that is history-oriented.  You will need to enter the number on the back of your Atlantic County Library Card when asked.  Heritage Quest allows searches for people, places, and census records, although 1930 is not complete. 

Enjoy yourself as you browse this collection, and remember, if you have any information for us, you can email buenahistorical@gmail.com or contact us by regular mail at P. O. Box 114, Buena, NJ 08310

Buena Historical Society meets on the third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Buena Vista Township Municipal Building, Route 40, Buena.  Meetings for the remainder of this year are September 16, October 21, and November 18.  Please join us.

Dennis Hyer Publishes New Book

Our cartoonist, Dennis Hyer, who appeared monthly in the Gazette has just published his first book.  The first "Inhuman Relations" comic strip collection, featuring the adventures of an easygoing farmer named Fred, his Slavic sweetheart Maureen, and a host of other creatures. 

In this volume, Wilhelmina the WASP gets fed up with her miserable love life and becomes a nun ... for a day; Attorney Solomon K. Rosenberg chases an ambulance (literally); and Fred and Maureen's nuptials entangle them in a nonexistent kidnapping plot involving the Ku Klux Klan. Preview it at: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/inhuman-relation

s/7