Category: News

I’m amazed and happy, actually, that NJ is moving to abolish the death penalty. I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of state-sanctioned capital punishment. The deterrence effect has been debated and in my mind remains inconclusive, although the punishment is so rarely applied I doubt it is significant. The idea of state-supported revenge strikes me as a gross misuse of the criminal justice system, whose purposes should not be to merely satisfy the need for “old world justice”. And finally the idea of those who are innocent being deprived of their lives leaves is purely unacceptable.

I ask those who from time to time come to read this blog. Is it corrupt for the family of firefighters and their friends to spend an evening shooting off fireworks without fear of punishment, given it is illegal in NJ to do so? Are they, as active and visible citizens in their roles as firefighters (volunteers, but still), entitled to leniency when it comes to the rules, or should they be held to a higher standard as they may be considered role models?

My basement is drying as many of my nieghbors begin their cleanup efforts in earnest. Manville remains under a 9 pm curfew, and the police checkpoint at the entrance to my neighborhood will remain for at least a few days.

Nonetheless, I’m off for a long weekend, pre-planned even before the floods, to Arizona. The sunny weather and relaxing pace should provide a welcome boost.

Residents throughout Manville who had to leave their homes began returning to the remains today as flood waters receded. As I walked around this morning I saw debris scattered wherever the water had left it, including upturned dumpsters and port-a-potties, among many other items scattered about. Still, the roads were slowly being cleared and the streets were reopening bit by bit throughout the town.

My father and I spent about six hours working on the basement, taking on the two to four inches that had accumulated across the entire floor. We were able to pump out the water and toss out the huge pile of rubbish that resulted from the water exposure.

It will be intertested, in the coming days, to find out more about the full extent of the damages to many of the hours in th neighborhood. Even as I write this the Fire Department is going house to house, pumping out water wherever necessary. And the piles of debris that once were people’s possessions are now piling up on curbs throughout the town.

And, of course, it is always somewhat strange and disconcerting to have to clear a police checkpoint every time you want to return to your house. Better than the alternatives, I suppose, but the feeling is still unusual, to say the least.

The situation may be improving, but plenty of closures can still be found in Central NJ. Both the Manville Public Schools as well as Rutgers – New Brunswick will both be closed tomorrow. I imagine Bound Brook, Piscataway, and several other of the “Brunswickses” may also be closed.

I just heard a car drive by, which leads me to believe that I may finally be connected by road to the rest of the world again. While I can’t be sure, this would be an exciting development.