Proof Positive, New Jersey is run by idiots

[wadeintothem]

Originally Posted by greymule

I have lived in the once-great Garden State for more than 50 years, and it is indeed run by idiots, particularly of the nanny-state variety. We had a governor known unaffectionately as "Flim-Flam," for example, who saw to it that restaurants were forbidden to serve eggs that were the least bit runny. (Public outrage put an end to that one.) Our legislature has decreed that as soon as the attorney general of the state deems the technology "available," every firearm sold in the state will have to contain a sensor that prevents it from being fired except by the "hand" programmed into it. (Don't think—vote!) In case you hadn't looked, our attorney general was recently fired for, among other things, being a scofflaw who didn't take care of her mountain of traffic tickets. (The fact that she was utterly incompetent was immaterial.) And one former governor has apparently returned to trolling highway rest stops.

(Of course it has long been common knowledge that New Jersey is run by crooks, too. Frankly, I'd take crooks over nanny-state idiots any day.)

So it's no surprise that our legislature is considering banning metal bats. Don't look into the matter. Don't ask anyone who knows anything about sports equipment. TheTrenton Times simply ran an editorial glibly claiming "advantage batter" from non-wood bats, and demanded a ban.

Not all that long ago, New Jersey was a low-tax, business-friendly state. But it is now fast becoming very much like New York City: OK if you're rich or poor, but not if you're somewhere in the middle. In fact, if it were not for immigration, mainly from the Far East but also from Mexico and Guatemala, New Jersey would be losing population rapidly—the old residents are leaving in great numbers. And the people of New Jersey complain but keep returning the high-tax nanny-staters to office.

I am very partisan in my politics, and I used to write to my legislators. But in NJ today, believe me, there is no bigger waste of time. They do not care what a constituent thinks, because it's all fixed. New Jersey sends 13 representatives to the U.S. House (7 Democrats, 6 Republicans). In 2004, all 13 won by 17 points or more.

So we will ban metal bats. Meanwhile, the guy who murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka (in 1994) watches TV and plays cards. I predict, incidentally, that before our present governor leaves office, he will commute the sentences of all the killers on death row. In a great example of cost-effectiveness, that governor bought a seat in the U.S. Senate 6 years ago. He served 5 years and botched every job his party gave him to do, then quit to run for governor. It cost him, out of his own pocket, $29,000 per day for the time he was a U.S. Senator.

Not to mention, yall are radioactive.

[LMan]

Originally Posted by Skahtboi

But they sure are difficult to pitch or throw with any effectiveness.

A minor point - if it saves even one child's life....

[wadeintothem]

Originally Posted by LMan

A minor point - if it saves even one child's life....

It would save at least one childs life to cease the use of all automobiles; however, we dont do that. It would surely save a childs live to make every kid wear bright orange and walk around in helmets, after having their parents screened for a minimum level of aptitude and requiring parental licensing to allow them to breed. "If it saves one child's life" can be used to make just about any argument you can fathom, as such has no real meaning, and is rhetoric, certainly not a point.

[tzme415]

I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm

[greymule]

A few years ago, on my way out of the park after my FP game, I stopped to watch a LL baseball game. Every batter, before he entered the box, was wrapped with a pad—looked like a thin mattress, maybe an inch thick—that extended from the underarms to a little below the waist. I can't imagine how anybody swung the bat while wearing this guard.

I asked the coach how he liked the pad, and he just shook his head and said, "They make us do it."

I'm certainly not a nanny-stater, but to me it's ironic that if I drive across the river to Pennsylvania, I can be ticketed for not wearing a seat belt. But if I take my motorcycle across, I can remove my helmet and ride around all day.

The deer population in central NJ has grown so much that I once had 19 such critters in my yard at one time. Interesting that the same people who were arguing that hunters should have to store their rifles at the police station on the basis of "if it saves just one child" were absolutely opposed to a hunt to reduce the deer population, even though several people, including kids, were killed in local car-deer collisions over the past few years.

[SRW]

Just poked around on this yesterday ...

Apparantly on 12-11-06 the bill passed the Assembly floor with an amendment that removed "softball" from the list of organized sports that this bat ban would apply to. See the amendment here and refer to section 2.

So we're somewhat in the clear. The bill still needs to go to the full general assembly for a final vote... and changes could still happen there.