New Jersey recently offered Goya Foods a $81.9 million tax incentive to move its operations to to Jersey City from Secaucus. According to Economic Development Authority Executive Director Caren Franzini, “This is about retaining jobs. Yes, we would like to add new jobs, but we also must keep jobs here.”

How many jobs are at stake here? According to the Star-Ledger, the lucrative incentive awarded by the EDA would bring 66 jobs into the state and convert another 100 existing contract jobs already in the state into permanent positions.

166 jobs for $81.9 million? That means the state is paying $493,373.494 for each job? Is this really the most cost effective way to save those jobs? Well, what the EDA does not mention is that Goya is a family-owned business whose owners have supported the Republican party in NJ generously, contributing at least $40,000 to Republican campaigns, including $2,500 to Chris Christie’s campaign for governor.

That was not a bad gamble: Spend $2,500 to win $81.9 million. And people wonder why the protestors are still out on Wall Street.

I am usually very healthy. I don’t remember the last time I even had a cold, or missed a day of school due to illness. Probably six years ago when my back went out and I missed an entire week. But since then I have done ab exercises faithfully, and my back has been better than it was for twenty-five years. And the past two years I’ve been taking a nutrition drink twice a day and have been incredibly healthy. Perhaps scarily so.

Until this past month. About five weeks ago I start coughing and have not stopped except for one week in the middle of the month. My doctor tells me that I have bronchitis, but he also says it should not have lasted this long. So he has given me one week to stop coughing before he sends me for a chest x-ray.

I do not like medical tests. All they do is look for trouble, and often they find it. So I’m taking an antibiotic (in case it’s bacterial), drinking red wine (in case it’s viral), increasing my nutrition drinks to three times per day, drinking lots of water, and meditating. If all these things don’t cure my cough, then perhaps I need a chest x-ray.

The thought of what a chest x-ray might find makes me very nervous. Sana told me that I cannot panic since that’s her job. All right, Sana, I’ll let you know when it’s time to start panicking, lol.

I got back from vacation just in time to see two consecutive issues of the local newspaper the Newark Star-Ledger devoted two articles to their anti-education bashing. October 23's article praised a billionaire hedge fund manager who, the paper claims, is going to take on the big bad NJEA and reform public education. However, Richard Codey, one of the most respected members of the state legislature, states that “I don’t think he has any idea what’s going on in the classroom. Other people should be making these decisions, not hedge fund managers. We’ve seen too much of this. It’s like buying public policy. Enough is enough.”

But the Star-Ledger is not concerned that the hedge fund manager is apparently even less knowledgeable about education than the paper is. It has been supporting Governor Christie’s attempts to take away tenure, and institute merit pay from the beginning. Interestingly, the paper has never discussed or compared both sides of the two issues, resorting to knee-jerk articles and editorials bashing tenure and teachers over and over and over.

The Star-Ledger has also been a staunch supporter of the governor’s attempts to punish teachers for the fact that the state has stolen much of their pension money in the past decade, thus endangering their pension funds. Since the stolen money was given to the entire state’s populace as property rebates, you would think that a supposedly independent newspaper would encourage the entire state to pay the brunt of that larceny. Nope. The governor and the Star-Ledger are united in punishing the teachers for the crimes of the state legislature.

Why would a supposedly independent newspaper be so rabidly anti-teacher? One possibility is that the Star-Ledger is owned by a huge conglomerate which fears unions since unions go on strike, often against newspapers. Since the NJEA is a union, it is automatically bad, and must be broken, under any circumstances and no matter what effect that would have on teaching. I realize that many people, who are as lacking in knowledge about education as the Star-Ledger and the hedge fund manager it supports, believe there cannot be anything bad about removing tenure and instituting merit pay. But briefly think about the following:

• Merit pay would be determined by administrators, who currently have no checks and balances, and whose power would increase if merit pay and tenure were removed;
• The majority of administrators were given their positions for success in extracurricular activities, such as coaching, rather than for success in the classroom. Once they are appointed, have you ever heard of an incompetent administrator being removed;
• In the days before tenure, board of education members routinely fired teachers to create a position for a family member or friend. If you don’t think that practice would resume, ask yourself how many districts have relatives of board of education members currently working in it. You would be amazed at how widespread that is.

And if you still believe the Star-Ledger is concerned with improving the quality of education, consider their front page story Saturday, 10/22, having the headline “Springfield students told to keep Halloween home.” It is a diatribe against a district which banned Halloween costumers in school, claiming they interfere with education. Having taught for 32 years in a public high school, I can attest that Halloween costumes are indeed a major detriment to education. Yet the Star-Ledger spends much of the front page decrying the decision, stating how many parents and students complained about the decision at the Board of Ed meeting. The paper next devotes five paragraphs to quotes from one disgruntled parent whose major complaint seems to be that the decision was preventing kids from “just being kids.”

I wonder how many of the countries whose students far outpace American students waste a day celebrating Halloween? Or how many of their parents complain that the schools are spending too much time concerned with learning rather than playing and “being kids?”

Somehow the Star-Ledger does not see any contradiction about its claiming to support improved education and praising these anti-education parents. Because the biggest detriment to education in this country is not teacher tenure, or merit pay, or even teachers’ unions. It is the fact that most people in this country, as well as newspapers, do not support education at all. In other countries parents help their children with homework each night, which is their primary activity after the school day ends. In this country people care about extracurricular sports and giving students freedom to be themselves. There are movements complaining that teachers give too much homework, which is interfering with students’ lives. I am not sure how students are supposed to progress without homework, but apparently that is not a major concern.

Here’s one last thing to consider: Open up any daily newspaper, including the Star-Ledger, and read the sports page. You will find a steady number of student athletes being praised for their athletic success. And periodically you will see somebody honored as a “student-athlete.”

But how often do you ever see newspapers praise students just for being successful students? There are usually a few token such articles at the end of the school year when the Star-Ledger honors a few valedictorians in one issue of their paper. But other than that, if you’re not an athlete, you might not as well have even attended high school, since nobody cares about you no matter how successful you are.

This is our last day at Myrtle Beach, and it has been a very pleasant week. Ocean and outdoor pools everyday until the temperature lowered today, but we still have the indoor poll. Lots of good food, perhaps the best place being Joey Doggs, a very small place with a limited menu, but truly outstanding food, and a vivacious owner who is an Italian from New Jersey (what could be better than that, haha?).

I have not done one bit of work this week though, which is the only negative. I think if I had a condo down here my writing would be virtually nonexistent. For that reason, it will be good to get home.

Last year we spent a week camping in Myrtle Beach in mid-October, and the weather was so delightful we decided to return this year. Except this year we decided to stay in a condo where my sons have stayed previously and enjoyed.

We took two days to drive to Myrtle Beach, stopping overnight about halfway. The weather here is phenomenal so far, about 80 degrees during the day. We’ve been spending time each day at the ocean, at the pool, and on the lazy river. We go shopping at places we like, such as a huge flea market which has 2 large used bookstores (but I resisted the urge to buy more books, although Jean bought a few).

We go out to eat once each day. A Golden Corral buffet Saturday, a Mongolian Barbecue later tonght. And we do lots of reading. Isn’t life great?

A rock and roll primer.

I don’t know if any of my readers are interested in classic rock, but here is a primer not of great albums (since who downloads albums anyway?), but of great artists through their greatest hits packages and some career retrospectives. My hope is that if you like the songs on these, then you might download some of their albums as well.

Mainstream rock and roll:
• The Kinks had a long career, with many different phases and greatest hits packages covering all of them. But my choice for their best era was the late 60s, and The Kink Kronikles covers that period very well, and is one of my very favorite greatest hits packages;
• To fully appreciate The Beatles, you really need to listen to all their albums individually. There are not really that many of them; they only recorded 13 British format albums,the recommended versions. But it you know have heard more about the Beatles than by the Beatles, you can start with their 2 collections of all their singles and “B” sides, Past Masters, Volume 1 and Past Masters, Volume 2, the first covering their early, more pop music, and the second their later, more sophisticated music;
• Few artists are more consistently good than Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and you will undoubtedly find numerous songs that you’ve heard previously in their Greatest Hits;
• One of the finest straightforward rock and rollers was Bob Seger, whose Greatest Hits contains music that you wish could be hearing live;
• Although he has been a rock legend for nearly four decades, most of the songs which made Bruce Springsteen’s reputation were recorded in his first ten years of his career, which is why Live 1975/1985 is essential rock and roll;
• Alice in Chains have influences from all over the rock spectrum, but anybody who likes mainstream rock should enjoy their Live;
• The Band started out as a backup band first for Ronnie Hawkins, then for Bob Dylan. But their solo stuff equaled their mentors, the best of which can be found in the live Rock of Ages;
• The Very Best of Jackson Browne, my favorite singer-songwriter;
• One of the most popular singles band was Creedence Clearwater Revival, whose Chronicles shows they were much more than that;
• Chris de Burgh is a superstar in Germany, but sadly underappreciated in this country. There are few greatest hits packages better than his Spark to a Flame;
• Bob Dylan likely needs no introduction, except to state that Biograph is just a sampler of his immense talent;
• Foo Fighters are a classic rock band who combine rhythm with hard rock. Their Greatest Hits is one of the finest recent such packages available;
• Offspring was a punk rock band with great senses of both humor and rhythm, as shown in their Greatest Hits;
• U2 can be uneven at times, but at their finest they compare well with the great rock and roll bands. Try The Best of 1980-1990;
• The Waterboys are another underappreciated band, but I strongly recommend The Best of ‘81-‘90.

Folk Rock: It is a legend that all rock and roll descended from the blues. While it originated in the blues, there have been numerous other influences as well, including both American folk music and Celtic folk music.
• Richard Thompson has probably had more retrospective collections than any other artists, but my favorite covers the first half of his solo career (including recordings with then-wife Linda), Watching the Dark;
• The Strawbs is another band which may not be as well-known as other artists on this list, but they are just as talented, as shown by their sublime Halcyon Days;
• Ian Anderson is a giant of folk-rock, and an excellent cross-section of his music can be found in 20 Years of Jethro Tull;
• The Best of Steve Forbert displays the best of an underrated singer-songwriter who combines traditional folk music with modern rock and roll;
• The Lovin’ Spoonful were another popular singles band, but the songwriting and singing of John Sebastian makes their music stand out over many of their peers. Their Anthology is highly recommended.

Progressive Rock: This music which is more intricate than your typical pop music or mainstream rock music, ranging from introspective to jazz-rock to full-blown symphonic.
• Pink Floyd is a rare rock band who appeal to nearly all taste, and Echoes contains much of their finest music;
• Renaissance is a symphonic band with one of the greatest voice in rock music. Live at Carnegie Hall is a strong sampler;
• Yes rocks more than Renaissance, but otherwise has many similarities. Yessongs was recorded live at their peak years;
• Frank Zappa combines jazz-rock with outrageousness, usually succeeding. Have I Offended Someone? covers all aspects of his multi-varied career;
• The Very Best of Rick Wakeman displays a keyboard virtuoso who played with both the Strawbs and Yes at various times in his career.

Career-spanning boxed sets:
• Elton John is one of the most talented songwriters and performers, whose albums often show an inability to weed out weaker material. There is no such problem on his box set To Be Continued... ;
• Lennon contains much of John Lennon’s solo material, and thus is must listening;
• Wingspan celebrates Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles group Wings, a group which at their peak compared favorably with his former band;
• The Moody Blues verge between progressive rock and soft-rock, and Time Traveler contains much of their finest excellent music;
• Van Morrison is a very talented songwriter and an excellent performer. Still On Top describes its contents well;
• In some ways, Simon & Garfunkel were the spokespersons of the 1960s, and Old Friends is the sound of that decade.

The typical Republican voter and the typical resident of New Jersey do not usually have a lot in common, since New Jerseyans tend to be independent voters, perhaps slightly leaning toward the Democratic party. But recently the members of those two groups have been sharing the same concern: is Chris Christie going to run for president in 2012?

A brief look at two recent pivotal elections will show that Christie, should he choose to run, indeed has a strong chance of being elected.

The 2000 election pitted two men with considerably different backgrounds. Al Gore was a career politician who had spent 23 years in the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and as vice-president. He was considered a very bright person who understood most of the issues facing the country. George W. Bush, on the other hand, had spent 5 years as governor of Texas, but during the presidential campaign revealed a total lack of knowledge about foreign affairs, even to the point of not knowing who the prime minister of Canada was. Yet the voters, in perhaps the closest presidential vote since 1876, selected ignorance over years of experience.

Fast-forward to 2008. Another career politician with considerable experience was John McCain, who had spent 26 years in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and had a reputation of being an independent thinker who worked well with both sides of the political spectrum. Running against him was total novice Barakh Obama whose sole experience was 4 years in the US Senate. But again the voters chose inexperience and a rock star personna over experience and an outstanding reputation forged over many years in Congress.

Which brings us to 2012 and Chris Christie, who has less than 2 years’ experience as governor, during which his greatest achievement seems to be posting videos on YouTube which make him look domineering. His accomplishments, quite frankly, have been minimal, and while he claims an ability to work cooperatively with the opposition party, the Democratic president of the state senate has attacked Christie as “a bully and a punk. I wanted to punch him in his head,” while the Democratic speaker of the state house said she was “beginning to wonder if Gov. Christie is mentally deranged.”

So, all things considered, and based on the outcomes in 2000 and 2008, if Chris Christie chooses to run for president, I think it is safe to say that he will likely be the leading candidate in a country which in recent presidential elections seems to prefer lack of preparation over expertise.