GRATITUDE – OK

Today I woke up in a more positive mood. I am determined to be HAPPY and not worry. After all who knows what tomorrow will bring so no use worrying right? We have nothing planned for today. I wish I had brought my egg decorating stuff but I was too lazy to pack it. Also I brought some art supplies to paint and I wanted to start my new quilt. I am planning to make a baby quilt but not that excited about the fabric I have. It’s very bright but I think I rather use some real baby fabric. There is a quilt store in town so maybe I will drive over and see what they have.
Yesterday hubby spray painted the six eggs I received so I have plenty to do. I wish I had somewhere to sell them.
Not much else to write about. I was so disgusted about the corruption in New Jersey. Isn’t there anyone left with high standards and morals? 

On Thursday, police arrested three state mayors as part of a wide-ranging investigation into money-laundering and corruption. In total, 44 people–including five rabbis–were charged with an assortment of crimes, from accepting bribes to harvesting organs.

Even by the sordid standards of New Jersey, where sleazy dealings have become so commonplace that even the governor publicly jokes about them, this week’s FBI crackdown left people slack-jawed.

“New Jersey’s corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation,” Ed Kahrer, who is in charge of the FBI’s white collar investigative unit, said following the arrests. “Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state.”

Popular culture, from television series like The Sopranos to films like On The Waterfront , has long fetishized New Jersey as a playground for furtive kickbacks, shady politicians, and mobsters of all stripes.

The question is: Why here? Why does New Jersey, more than any other state, seem to have cornered the market on corrupt officials?

“I think there is a culture in the state which, if it does not promote corruption, certainly tolerates it,” said Bob Ingle, a veteran reporter and co-author of The Sopranos State , a book that chronicles New Jersey’s seamy political past. “In Indiana, if you hold two public jobs it’s a felony. In New Jersey if you hold two public jobs, you’re a slacker.”

Tolerance is an understatement. Billy Musto, a former mayor of Union City, was re-elected in 1982, just one day after he was jailed for racketeering.

Over the past eight years alone, more than 130 New Jersey officials have been charged with crimes.

In the summer of 2007, Sharpe James, the former mayor of Newark, was indicted after an investigation into the sale of municipal land. Two months later, 11 officials, including the mayors of two small towns, were charged with taking bribes.

Brendan Byrne, a former governor, once joked he’d like to be buried in Hudson County, the district at the heart of this week’s scandal, “so that I can remain active in politics,” the implication being that in New Jersey, even dead people make the list of eligible voters.

The structure of politics in New Jersey makes it unusually susceptible to these kinds of problems. There is a tradition here of incredibly powerful municipal governments–there are 566 self-governing communities in the state–and incredibly weak state governments. And despite the corruption, many citizens are reluctant to change the system and consolidate political power at the regional or state level.

Also in Ontario  some family members killed other family members – not exactly sure why but they were Muslims who were not happy about the way their daughters etc. were acting, dressing.
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Expert explains recent honour killings in Ontario

2009-07-24 14:58
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Expert explains recent honour killings in Ontario
Sharia Law says women could be stoned

Lyle Fisher KINGSTON, ONTARIO | Friday, July 24th, 2009 2:58 pm

KINGSTON, ONTARIO – The brutal killings of three teenaged girls and a 50-year-old woman in Kingston, Ontario have once again brought the controversial issue of "honour killings" into the headlines.

Tarek Fatah with the Muslim Canadian Congress says nowhere in the Koran does it permit the killing of an unfaithful wife, but when it comes to Sharia Law it’s a different story.  "Sharia Law, which is a man-made law, has provisions that say that if the woman is involved in consensual sex outside her marriage, she could be stoned to death."

The victims’ bodies were found in a submerged car in Kingston.  The teens’ parents and their son face four counts each of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.  Police say the 50-year-old victim was married to the man charge
I just can’t believe that there are people in the world with such NARROW views. I am glad I won’t be around in years when the FANATICAL MUSLIMS take over the world. The poor women!!!!

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