Doreen DiDomenico is the new Hudson County Freeholder chairperson

AND, she was elected unanimously. You'll recall on Sunday the Jersey City Desk told you current (now former) chairman Jeff Dublin said he wanted to remain chairman and had four votes lined up in support. So much for that as Bayonne's DiDomenico was chosen by the nine member Freeholder board. Union City's Tilo Rivas is the new vice-chair.

Late night open thread

Famous last words edition:

"This is no time to make new enemies." (When asked on his deathbed to forswear Satan.)
--Voltaire 1778

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Oh THOSE 340 empty crack vials in the stolen car I was driving, yeah, I don't know anything about those

Two Jersey City real party kittens were arrested in Bayonne Saturday night in a stolen Kia (if you're gonna steal a car, American models are WAY up in quality the latest Consumer Reports) outside the scenic Hudson Plaza Motel. Police arrested the driver of the car, Shimeeker Gilmore and found her friend Quene Boyd "slumped in the front passenger seat". The Bayonne po-po said they discovered a vial with suspected cocaine and another 340 empty vials in a shoebox.

Gilmore was arrested on three outstanding warrants and you can address her Happy New Year cards to the Hudson County jail in Kearny. Boyd was released. Both will be charged with receiving stolen property and possession of cocaine. Gilmore was also tagged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hey, Johnny, where can I find free booze in New York City?

Well, glad you asked citizen. Always trying to keep up on the times, Johnny has read about a website that will tell you the wheres and whens (You supply the whys) of getting free liquor all across Appletown (not to be confused with appletini). Iffen ya clicks HERE, you'll be spirited away (d'oh) to MyOpenBar.com, merchants of free alcoholic beverages and where to locate them.

Late night open thread

Which state has the highest percentage of people who walk to work? Answer HERE

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Hudson County to install 30 warning sirens for a myriad of horrific possibilities--Johnny thinks he should have done more research before moving here

See back in Ypsilanti, where Johnny came from, warning sirens meant one thing, tornadoes. That was pretty much it. They didn't even turn those on for the foggy haze of smoke that was Hash Bash in Ann Arbor. Now, the Jersey Journal tells us, the county of Hudson will be installing 30 new warning sirens that will alert local residents to possible:

*Toxic chlorine gas begins leaking from a Kearny factory
*A hurricane strikes New York Harbor
*A bomb blast at a Bayonne petrochemical plant ignites a fire and a plume smoke wafts over the region

The article says they hope to have the 70 decibel sirens installed by February 1, to meet a Homeland Security grant deadline.

On second thought, the hurricane might be cool....

Late night open thread

Tonight, a real treat. An image from NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn and Saturn's moons. Click on the image and it'll get big, REAL big. From the NASA site:

Explanation: In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn recently drifted in giant planet's shadow for about 12 hours and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. First, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. Next, the rings themselves appear dark when silhouetted against Saturn, but quite bright when viewed away from Saturn and slightly scattering sunlight, in the above exaggerated color image. Saturn's rings light up so much that new rings were discovered, although they are hard to see in the above image. Visible in spectacular detail, however, is Saturn's E ring, the ring created by the newly discovered ice-fountains of the moon Enceladus, and the outermost ring visible above. Far in the distance, visible on the image left just above the bright main rings, is the almost ignorable pale blue dot of Earth.

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Still think you need to go to the MOMA or P.S. 1 for cutting edge, fresh art?

Silly art fan, you can just drop by the Jersey City Desk from time to time. This original piece, from Johnny's own collection, (of stuff he personally did and has polluted the internets with) we give you "Ghosts Eating Marshmallows in a Snowstorm"

Damn straight you're gonna get your kids immunized, don't like it, homeschool them

New Jersey now requires kids looking to go to preschool and child care centers to get flu vaccines. Many parents think you can't require them to immunize their children 'In America', like it's some socialist plot out of the old Soviet Union. To them we say "HARD CHEESE". You CAN be required to immunize your children. Hell, Johnny had to get shots before he went to school back when the world was still in black and white. It only makes sense to protect others from your child's creeping crud. Johnny doesn't want your kids illness. It passes quite easily from your kids to somebody else's kid who then gives it to a parent who works in an office with Mrs. Action Space Punk who then brings it home to good old Johnny. Kids are germ factories. Duh.

Now some group calling itself New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice is hiding behind some reasoning that flu vaccines (and you'll notice their name isn't just about FLU vaccines, it's all inclusive) can cause autism despite the fact that study after study after study does not prove their point. What's next, these people doesn't want their kids immunized (as New Jersey law requires) by sixth grade for things like meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis?

Bottom line: Vaccinations are NOT a choice. They should never be a choice. Hell, we'd like to see the HPV virus vaccine mandated for girls to keep them safe from cervical cancer. So many insipid laws are passed under the guise of "oh think of the children", well, here's one that helps actually physically tangibly protect children, and yet some people are fighting it.

It's making Johnny sick it is...

Hudson County Freeholders approve a budget, swear in new Freeholders

The urge to use terms like 'freeloaders' and 'swear at' new members was great but we have business to talk here. The Hudson County Freeholders have sworn in their most recent members and have approved a $116.2 million temporary budget. The official swearing in ceremony, for those of you scoring at home, will be Tuesday night at the Freeholders chamber, 567 Pavonia Ave., Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Freeholders will also choose a new chairman (sounds so Illuminati, doesn't it?) and oh what a vote this will be. Jeff Dublin is the current Freeholder Chairman. He'd like to keep on keeping on. He says he has four votes in support of him keeping the job. He'll be challenged by Freeholder Doreen DiDomenico who also has four votes. Newest Freeholder Anthony Romano will break the tie and ultimately choose the new chairman.

No pressure Anthony, just make sure you secure lots of road money for Jersey City Heights before you vote, just sayin'...