[greymule]

which is why New Jersey has the laws it does.

Because many of its voters are like the middle-aged lady I saw in the local park a few years ago. The sun had been shining directly on the slide, and it had become hot enough that it would have been uncomfortable to, let's say, in kid in shorts. Now you could hardly get third-degree burns from this slide, but it was hot, though after a few kids in long pants went down it, it would have been OK.

So before the kid she was watching went down the slide, I warned her that we better cover it with something for a few minutes, or pour some water from the fountain down it. She was horrified at this lurking danger, and said, "The borough ought to do something about that. I'm going to write a letter." (This, incidentally, was not the slide you played on as a kid. You know, the 7-foot slide that had the long line of kids waiting to get on. This slide was half that height, with rubber steps and padded rails. And no line.)

Maybe it has since been replaced with the model that doesn't get hot in the sun.

And speaking of NJ laws, recently a thug with drugs and guns in his car was chased by Trenton police to the NJ Turnpike and then by NJ State Police all the way 40-something miles to Newark. When the thug exited the turnpike, the police gave up the chase although the guy was in sight. Further pursuit, you see, would pose a threat on surface streets. So he got away.

In NJ, criminals know there will be no spike strips, no roadblocks, and no tasers. And because NJ severely limits chases and forbids police to use their cruisers to nudge fleeing cars off the road, guess what miscreants do when the lights go on behind their stolen cars. When they do get caught, it's usually because they get stuck in traffic.

In this state, criminals have less to fear from police than from hot slides in the park.

Surprise, surprise. A recent poll shows that 49% of NJ residents want to get out, and half of those say they are definitely getting out within two years. I'm one of them.