Written by: Beck

From Mr. Snitch, a new (to me) New Jersey blog:

Question: You a bunch of people in your town are murdered in unrelated incidents. What do the Powers-That-Be do about it?

Answer: Well, if it's in New Jersey, you respond by putting a curfew... on businesses. That's right.

People are getting killed when they're out at night, so the government of Jersey City is forcing businesses to remove any possible reason to be out at night. Why am I reminded, strangely, of satellite pictures I've seen of the night sky over North Korea (hint: no lights)? Mr. Snitch's scenario can't be too far in the future methinks:

The cops are on the right track, they just haven't gone far enough. What they should do is limit Jersey City businesses to operating one hour a day. The beauty part is, even if the police force can't keep the peace for that hour, it won't matter. Businesses will be forced to close their doors forever, residents bereft of services will abandon the area, and soon crime will drop to zero.

Next up, Riehl World View has a lovely, uplifting post in which he discovers the solution to curing corruption in one's state: commission some academics to to a study on corruption, and then have them leave out "corruption, last 3 years -- SEE ALSO: New Jersey" from their "research." Dan's not exaggerating either--this study of corruption, specifically commissioned by the state of New Jersey's Special Council for Ethics Reform (hint: you know your state has descended into a corrupt bureaucratic nightmare-world when it has something known as the "Special Council for Ethics Reform)--neglected to count the indictment of over 70 public officials, of whom 58 have been convicted, in the past 3 years.

Let me go ahead and repeat that just in case the full implications haven't sunk in yet. In New Jersey, since 2002, more than 70 public officials have been indicted for corruption, of whom 58 thus far have been convicted. Someone needs to call up the producers of the Sopranos and tell them their show isn't realistic. Their version of New Jersey is nowhere near as corrupt as the real thing.