Dumbed Down America

Shotspotter, Plainfield: Another Cargo Cult Rears its Ugly Head.

2011-08-14T12:25:00.007-04:00

Unless Plainfield has become Afghanistan and you can immediately and indiscriminately launch a retaliatory attack into the location where the shots were fired, Shotspotter will not work. The science is not there. Yes, we should have cameras located in high crime areas and provide access to them in real time for all the police and citizens to view.

I don't know who is pelding this Kool Aide but I spent my entire career in technology and can tell you the devil is in the details, see my Sept.29, 2010, blog post. But then again, my advice is free, so it must not be worth anything. It is always interesting to note that those of us who know technology look at it with a jaundice eye and while those who don’t, like ‘Cargo Cultist,’ rush to embrace it as if it were manna from heaven.

The Council and the Administration would do well to read the article in the August edition of Scientific American, ‘How New York Beat Crime.’

Yeah I know a $250,000 grant is a lot to let slip by, but if only Shotspotter qualifies for the grant then you have to ask yourself who is being paid off and maybe for once Plainfield should take the high road and walk?

Is Facebook the Face of 1984?

2011-07-25T00:06:00.011-04:00

Some of us are old enough to remember 1984, a year that I faced with trepidation. Would I, the nation and the planet get through it or would the Orwellian monsters I had read about, led by Big Brother, seize and bind us to a world of dystopian totalitarianism where every move, action, thought and indiscretion was monitored and controlled by the state? …’Put down on your permanent record’ as they use to say. 1984 came and went, uneventfully. We didn’t jump the shark. But then around 1992, Tim Berners-Lee set off a chain reaction with the creation the World Wide Web. And, the world did exactly that. It self-assembled into a web of connections, to the point where anyone with a computer or computer-like device has instant access to the totality of man’s knowledge and where anyone can upload a video, a text, a picture for the world to see. In fact we have the ability to put our entire lives online and that is where the law of unintended consequences starts to kick in.

When Amazon came on line I thought, how cute, a bunch of lesbians decided to open up an on-line book store. Then came the search engines: AltaVista, Yahoo, Infoseek, and, the Leviathan, Google. Followed by: MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Meanwhile the prices of computers and cell-phones plummeted. Today only Luddites don’t have cell-phones and/or computers, both able to access the Internet and both with WI-FI. We still don’t have HAL (thank God!), but we do have the 2001 Newsreader; it’s called the iPad and cleverest of all was the insertion of a camera into a cellphone –can you say, Dick Tracy. Everyone now is a photo-journalist. That drunken teen party you gave while your parents were away, tagged and posted on Facebook. Oh look, there’s your fraternity hazing online in Hi-Def on Facebook. Is that you standing next to someone smoking weed at party? Hmmm, the Facebook tag's got your name on it? You thought it was fun when you join that right-wing, left-wing, anarchist group in college and posted all your demonstrations on YouTube and notified your friends on Facebook. You thought you were smart when you turned on Facebook’s Personal Locator; now you’re in divorce court and your wife’s lawyer has got a record of the date, time, location and duration of every massage parlor and hotel you visited while engaging in your infidelities. In fact, if any of your liaisons had their Facebook Locator turned on, they can tie you directly to that person. Never put anything on the Internet that you don’t want the whole world to see.

Facebook and all these other Internet enablers have immeasurably improved humanity’s ability to communicate but they have a dark side. They are like the Terminator: They never forget and they never stop. Soon we will be able to record and upload every second of our lives. When you go for a job interview, a bank loan, or apply for an apartment, you, your family and your friends will be FaceBooked and Googled and then judged on that information. The question you have to ask is will their on-line voyeurism diminish their humanity? How will you be weighed in the balance? Will they,
will we become our own ‘Big Brothers’?

All Hail Big Brother. He is us!

Judith Beheading Holofernes

2011-07-13T09:08:00.000-04:00

Compare and contrast two paintings on the same subject, 'Judith Beheading Holofernes,' by the great Renaissance artists, Artemisia Gentileschi and Michelangelo Caravaggio. One survived a horrific rape to become a renowned artist; the other was a murderer, brigand, all around bad guy and a renowned artist.
Clicking on there names below will take you to their Bios.

Atremisia Gentilesch 1593-1652:

Michelangelo Caravaggio 1571-1610:

Not Edison but Nikola Tesla

2011-07-11T20:50:00.000-04:00

Contrary to what most people in the United States are taught, it wasn't Edison who made the use of electricity practical. It was Nikola Tesla.

The Name of the True God

2011-07-10T08:56:00.001-04:00

From, A Rood Awakening, Michael Rood:

Misquoting Jesus

2011-07-09T09:29:00.002-04:00

'Best-selling author and New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman picks apart the Gospels that made him a disbeliever and discusses problems with "The Da Vinci Code." Ehrman gave the 2006 Luther H. Harshbarger Lecture in Religious Studies at Penn State.'

The Story of Bottled Water

2011-07-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

'The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand...'
(http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater)

RSA Animate - Crises of Capitalism

2011-07-06T21:56:00.000-04:00

'In this RSA Animate, renowned academic David Harvey asks if it is time to look beyond capitalism towards a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that really could be responsible, just, and humane?'

'This is based on a lecture at the RSA (www.theRSA.org).'

Age of Greed

2011-07-05T17:23:00.000-04:00

Jeff Madrick author of Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to Present, discusses the roots of the current crisis

Michael Moore On What Killed the Newspaper Industry

2011-07-04T08:54:00.000-04:00

At least 40 Million functional illiterates in America:

Lewis Black - The Old Testament

2011-07-02T09:48:00.000-04:00

Lewis Black explains the Old Testament:

Rap,Rape, Listen & Learn, Dummies -Save the Economy: It's All About Spending

2011-06-30T18:47:00.000-04:00

Full Employment, learn how your are economically being raped. Spend the time to look at all seven videos.

Why Teaching Creationism is a Horrible Idea

2011-06-29T21:05:00.000-04:00

This video gets to the heart of the matter:

Should math be Taught in Public Schools?

2011-06-29T20:49:00.000-04:00

Miss USA speak (click image):

Mayor Robinson-Briggs 50% Staff Reduction in Action

2011-06-17T19:21:00.000-04:00

Recently CNN reported that Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs had to reduce the number of public employees by 50%. Here is the only record I could find of that event (here).

In memory of Sara Pessa, April 3, 1990 – June 9, 2011

2011-06-10T14:11:00.000-04:00

From La Boheme, “Si mi chiamano Mimi”(here):

Yes, they call me Mimi,
But my name is Lucy
My history is brief
To cloth or to silk
I embroider at home or outside...
I am peaceful and happy
And it is my pastime
To make lilies and roses
I like these things
That have so sweet smell,
That speak of love, of spring,
That speak of dreams and of chimera
These things that have poetic names
Do you understand me?

They call me Mimi,
And why I don't know.
Alone, I make
Lunch for myself the same.
I do not always go to mass,
But I pray a lot to the Lord.
I live alone, alone.
There is a white little room
I look upon the roofs and heaven.
By when the thaw comes
The first sun is mine
The first kiss of April is mine!
Rose buds in a vase
Leaf and leaf I watch it!
That gentle perfume of a flower!
But the flowers that I make
Ah me! they don't have odor!
About me I would not know how to tell
I am your neighbor who come unexpectedly
to bother you.

Councilor Cory Storch's Primary Victory Speech

2011-06-08T23:41:00.000-04:00

For those of you who missed it or want to hear it again, here is Councilor Cory Storch's Primary Victory Speech (click here). No better words have ever been said in the English language.

Dr. Evil And Minime (Blog Post)

2011-06-08T13:33:00.000-04:00

In case anyone is courious, here are the links, below the picture, to the videos from the blog post I was asked to take down:

Just the Two of Us

Hard Knock Life

Can't We All Just Get A Long

2011-06-07T07:05:00.001-04:00

In this final day of the Primary Election, from 'Mars Attacks' Can't We All Just Get Along (link)?

Get out and vote, Vote Column C, Vote Column C

I'm Mad as Hell

2011-06-06T07:18:00.001-04:00

This scene channels todays situation in Plainfiekd? From the 1976 movie, 'Network.'
I'm Mad as Hell (click here):

On Tuesday vote, Vote Column C, Vote Column C

Post removed at the request of Councilor Storch

2011-06-05T11:59:00.003-04:00

St. Sebastian

Rethinking the Urban Environment, Part II: 'St. Peter's Fish'

2011-04-22T09:25:00.008-04:00

From: Morningstar Fishermen (link)

'Tilapia go by many names. The moniker "St. Peter's fish" comes from the story in the Christian Bible about the apostle Peter catching a fish that carried a coin in its mouth, though the passage does not name the fish.^[3] While the name also applies to Zeus faber, a marine fish not found in the area, a few tilapia species (Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus and others) are found in the Sea of Galilee, where the author of the Gospel of Matthew accounts the event took place. These species have been the target of small-scale artisanal fisheries in the area for thousands of years.^[4]^[5] In some Asian countries including the Philippines, large tilapia go by pla-pla while the smaller types are just tilapia.^[6]

Tilapia go by many names. The moniker "St. Peter's fish" comes from the story in the Christian Bible about the apostle Peter catching a fish that carried a coin in its mouth, though the passage does not name the fish.^[3] While the name also applies to Zeus faber, a marine fish not found in the area, a few tilapia species (Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus and others) are found in the Sea of Galilee, where the author of the Gospel of Matthew accounts the event took place. These species have been the target of small-scale artisanal fisheries in the area for thousands of years.^[4]^[5] In some Asian countries including the Philippines, large tilapia go by pla-pla while the smaller types are just tilapia.^[6]'

From: Blue Ridge Aquaculture (link)

'...MARTINSVILLE, Va. — It doesn’t look like a farm. From the outside it looks like any other manufacturing building in an industrial park. Step inside, however, into the humid office area and it is obvious something different is going on.

Blue Ridge Aquaculture (BRA) in Martinsville, is the world’s largest indoor fisheries. In its 100,000-square-foot facility on less than two and a half acres of land, BRA raises more than 4 million pounds of protein every year in the form of tilapia. In contrast, using the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association statistics, less than 10,000 pounds of beef could be produced on the same acreage and not in an industrial park.

Tilapia is a valuable source of protein, and it is growing in popularity. Demand for the fish quadrupled in the four years leading to 2007 and has continued to grow. The National Marine Fisheries Service ranks tilapia as the fifth most popular seafood in the United States.

BRA uses an indoor recirculating aquaculture system to grow tilapia to 1.5 pounds at harvest, with a stocking density of 1.5 gallons of water per fish. Unlike other large-scale animal production, which may require the prophylactic use of antibiotics and growth hormones to overcome stress caused by high animal densities, the tilapia actually benefit. Being packed together makes the fish less territorial and aggressive and improves health and growth rates.

“The fish grow better that way,” said Jim Franklin III, BRA vice president. “These fish are bred for this facility. We could increase the density. The density of the fish is not an issue; it’s water condition....”

These two organizations say it (there are many more) better than I can. Fish-framing and Indoor Fish-Farming are potentially viable economic activities for urban and rural areas.

For example, this could be done in Plainfield; all that is needed is the will, gumption and ingenuity to put all the pieces together. Plainfield could husband a pilot project run by Union County College in conjunction with Plainfield High School as the beginnings of a new academic program in Aquaculture with funding to come from grants -the hard part. Doing it this way takes some of the pressure off of having to be profitable right away, gives more time to work the kinks out (and there will be kinks) and develops a local talent pool.

Next more on Aquaculture: 'Skyscrapers in the Mist/Midst'

Tony Rucker, Dwayne Wilkins: For want of a Nail

2011-04-16T19:48:00.003-04:00

I happen to be looking at one of the comments in Old Doc’s blog. It was a comment by Dwayne Wilkins, Tony Rucker’s campaign manager (putative?) and it got me thinking.

‘…We spend way too much time fighting over little stuff, when we really need to spend time on the big stuff…’

To my mind it is disingenuous when someone says, .‘We spend way too much time fighting over little stuff, when we really need to spend time on the big stuff…’ Every experienced business person that I know knows, it’s the little stuff that counts, it’s the little stuff that can put you out of business, it’s the little stuff can mean the difference between a profit and loss, it’s the little stuff, a blood clot, that can kill you and it’s the little stuff that can mean the difference between a happy customer and a lawsuit. It's the little stuff that is really hard.

A lot of us are old enough to remember the Challenger disaster. It happen, as the Physicist Richard Feynman showed, because management ignored the little stuff. So don’t ever say ‘We spend way too much time fighting over little stuff, when we really need to spend time on the big stuff…’ because the little stuff can come back and bite you in the ass. The Devil is in the details.

‘For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.’

Let’s not let this be the fate of Plainfield.

Assemblyman Jerry Green: Out for Campaign Blood?

2011-04-15T09:46:00.005-04:00

In a less than tepid defense of his had picked candidate and of his own accomplishments, Assembly Gerald (aka Jerry) Green open the 2011 Primary Season. Here are excerpts from Chairman Green’s blog post of April 12th in quotes with my comments:

‘…so I find it very odd that from the beginning; they have a problem with me supporting Tony Rucker as the candidate for this year’s Primary race…‘

Jerry, So Tony Rucker is your hand-picked candidate?

‘…Now that I am using the same process, in every comment in which she (Council Woman Williams) references the City Committee, she wants to make me sound like a dictator. I guess in her mind, the rules change when they are convenient to her…’

Then you don’t mind the public seeing the video of your behavior at the meeting before last?

‘…So I feel that it is very unfair to be critical of Tony Rucker, because I feel he is the best candidate for the second ward….’

Critical judgment is crucial in deciding if Tony Rucker is qualified to serve as a council person or should we take your word for it?

‘…He made it very clear to me that he will not be a rubber stamper, and that he is running to make life better for ALL of the residents of Plainfield, including the second ward. He made no promises to me, and I made no promises to him…’

So did the 3 council members you claim to have in your pocket.

‘…I knew I was making the right decision by supporting a new face, a person with new ideas, and a person who wants the best for the City of Plainfield….’

What ideas?

‘…Already, some of the negative comments that have been said lead me into the next issue in which I would like to bring clarification. Number one, when I mention the Prosecutor, I have taken to him numerous letters and blog comments that I felt had crossed the line, and some have been investigated, but none of them crossed the line…’

What about your ad hominen attacks on citizens of Plainfield?

‘…Already, I see council members spending more time talking about investigation. Whether it is the $20,000 the Mayor spent, or other issues I feel are minor when compared to this year’s budget…’

You do agree that Plainfield has a right to know if someone broke the law?

‘So I would like the City of Plainfield to wake up today and hold their elected officials accountable to the millions of dollars the City will lose in this year’s budget. ‘

Does that include Jerry Green who bills himself as the 3^rd most powerful man in Trenton?

‘Just recently, we lost millions of dollars in education funding, and are on the brink of losing millions in transportation funding…’

Dude, my man, you Jerry Green cast the deciding vote to end Abbot funding and assured the people of Plainfield that it would have no impact. Aren’t you being just a little hypocritical?

Chairman Green the people of Plainfield are not stupid. Times have changed when will you?

Rethinking the Urban Environment, Part I: 'Sleeping with the Fishes'

2011-04-12T16:24:00.007-04:00

Lack of imagination is the major impediment to the revitalization of the Urban Environment. Politicians continue to ply the same old industrial 20th Century Solutions to 21st Century Problems. Need urban development? Slap up some Condos, build some roads and run some job training programs are typical solutions that go nowhere. It seems that most communities and most people never bother to challenge themselves to come up with a holistic solution capable of creating an affordable, sustainable community which benefits everyone in the community. Which leads me to the first part of this series?

'Sleeping with the Fishes':

New Jersey use to be a truck farming center supplying local produce to the major urban centers in the area, Newark, New York and Philadelphia. All that changed, with the advent of the interstate highway system and cheap oil leading, to urban sprawl replacing the farms. We now get not only our exotic food but our regular every day food from all over the country and all over the world from California, Chile, China, etc. This works well so long as food is cheap and plentiful and there is the rub. As the rest of the world rapidly industrializes and we subsidize the production of biofuels, the era of 'Cheap and Plentiful' food for Americans is coming to an end. The rest of the world wants what we got and are willing to bid the price up to get it. Fresh water is becoming a scarce resource and the oceans are quickly becoming depleted of edible fish stock. This crisis won't be going away any time soon but its solution can benefit our community. How?

Indoor urban fish farming -OK, you can stop laughing. It turns out that if you are going to rethink the urban environment this a good place to start as a proof of concept. 'For example, using a RAS (RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS, click for details) it is

possible to product over 100,000 pounds of fish in a 5,000 square-foot building, whereas

20 acres of outdoor ponds would be necessary to produce an equal amount of fish with

Traditional open pond culture...' Ask yourself, how many 5000 square-foot buildings that are empty or underutilized do we have along the Raritan Valley RR corridor in Plainfield?

Advantages of an Indoor System

The fish stock is protected from predators, weather changes and natural calamities
With high control over temperature, water quality and feeding, it is possible to produce fish faster and at any time during the year
Closed, indoor aquaculture systems are often considered as more friendly to the environment because they require less water and result to less waste. As an alternative to marine aquaculture, it doesn’t result to the pollution of coastal waters with drugs, chemicals and antibiotics
It avoids the usual danger of fish escapes associated with traditional open net pens and cages system of fish farming in coastal waters
It allows higher stocking densities, requiring smaller spaces and lesser management needs. As such, it can save a farm owner labor and time to manage a farm
It allows production facilities to be near the market, saving transportation costs'

So in the future could Plainfield be 'Sleeping with the Fishes?'

To be continued…

Deconstructing: Rucker Supporter Anonymous Comment

2011-04-10T14:44:00.004-04:00

This comment was made in response to my blog post of 4/8/11: ‘Tony Rucker Anointed by His Holiness, Assemblyman Green, to run in Primary.’

‘Nat, you're implying assumptions that have no basis. Yes, let's stick to the issues, so we can do something about them, instead of just talking about them. It's not just the Sharon & Jerry show that must close down, but the Jerry-New Dem Show too. We're choking on the reruns and it's rude of you force us to keep watching. Turn the channel.

April 9, 2011 3:58 PM’

Deconstructing it:

‘Nat, you're implying assumptions…’

What assumptions? He genuflected? He kissed the Pope’s Ring? These are all metaphors; you know, poetic license.

‘…that have no basis…’

Don’t you mean: that have no basis in fact…?

Fact: Jerry announced that Tony Rucker was his candidate. Jerry allowed no nominees from the floor, no discussion and no vote by the City Committee. Tony Rucker by his acceptance of Jerry’s nomination implicitly agrees with the totally undemocratic process of his selection. If he does not he should say so.

‘Yes, let's stick to the issues, so we can do something about them, instead of just talking about them.’

Jerry Green is issue number 1. What planet are you on, Mars? He has presided over the dissolution of Muhlenberg Hospital, provided the key vote that ended Abbot District funding and gave Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, whose biggest accomplishment was to fire a pregnant woman, effective Christmas day, do to give birth on January 2nd. This from the 3^rd most powerful man in the state!

Did you read all of my post? It has a list of other issues that I asked for a response. So far all I’ve heard is silence. I assume that when Tony Rucker gets the time he will respond, clearly stating the issues and how to solve them.

'It's not just the Sharon & Jerry show that must close down, but the Jerry-New Dem Show too.'

Tony Rucker is Sharon and Jerry’s candidate. He is a player in their show; a potential ‘fourth’ vote in Jerry’s pocket. If not, if he is so independent, why didn’t he run on a separate Independent line. He can’t have it both ways.

‘…but the Jerry-New Dem Show too.’

Politics is theater; it is an exercise in free speech. You know, the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution? You want to shut it down?

So far the only Tony Rucker I’ve seen, is one who is Fact-Free and Solution-Free and comes from the ‘Why can’t we all just get along’ school of politics.

'We're choking on the reruns and it's rude of you force us to keep watching. Turn the channel.'

Nobody is forcing you to watch anything. You have hands; a remote control. Turn it off, yourself.

What’s next, you want me to wi…-no I’m not going to say it.

Tony Rucker Anointed by His Holiness, Assemblyman Green, to run in Dem Primary

2011-04-08T13:09:00.005-04:00

Last night Tony Rucker genuflected, kissed the Pope’s ring and was installed as Assemblyman’s Gerald (aka Jerry) Green’s candidate to run for council against Cory Storch, in the Democratic primary –click on the picture to the right to see scenes from the ceremonies. And while Tony has never been to Manchuria, to my knowledge, he must have fit the bill of a candidate pliable enough that if he were to win, he would be the fourth one in the Assemblyman’s pocket (Green’s words not mine.)

Tony before I go any further, when you’re around Jerry, stay away from buses. The town is full of people he has thrown under and if he offers you Kool-Aid, never no not ever drink it, especially if it is grape.

My advice, focus on the issues and provide real solutions. Let me say that again: focus on the issues and provide real solutions. As a start, please let us know the things you think the current administration has done right, wrong and where they can improve; what would you do about the PMUA, fiscal responsibility, the Mayor’s revolving employment practices, Muhlenberg, gang violence, economic development and improving the number of youths served, 600 by their own admission, by the Division of Recreation?

Finally, I can’t stress it enough, stay focused.

What will Assemblyman Green and Manchuria have in common on April 7th?

2011-04-02T16:06:00.016-04:00

A Candidate.
Mark April 7th on your calendar as the Honorable Assemblyman Gerald (aka Jerry) Green will announce to Plainfield and the world, the 2nd Ward Democrat candidate for city council. As the Assemblyman was overheard to say; 'I've got three in my pocket and need a fourth.'

I wonder who will get that fated phone call, Cory Storch, Tony Rucker, Owen Fletcher or some totally Unknown Political Neophyte, who is a big PMUA supporter? Inquiring minds, who want to know, will have to wait until April 7th.

What I do know is this, none of the city committee members that I have spoken to have been asked who they thought would be a good candidate and as far as they know, they will not have an opportunity to vote for more than one candidate for the 2nd ward. I can also say, since he personally told me when dropped by my house unannounced back in November, that he was putting together a new organization that will trounce the New Dems. I said more power to you, let the battle begin.

2011-03-06T18:50:00.037-05:00

Out of the Bottle

Hollywood and The Middle East:

My view of the Middle-east was first informed by 1940s (only this version) movie, ‘The Thief of Bagdad’, starring Sabu, Conrad Veidt, Rex Ingram, et al. The movie is a Technicolor stunner and a ‘Camp’ fun fest, replete with a djinn, giant spider, flying carpet and all sorts of magic. If you have one of those HD TVs and have never seen it or haven’t in a while rent it and watch it with kids. It takes place in Bagdad (obviously) and Basra and in a curious way presages the events currently taking place, in particular the voice-over in the final scenes.

PS: When the djinn is freed from the bottle (click here) see if you agree with me that the voice and tone influenced Martin Luther King.

Assemblyman Jerry Green, closeted Anti-Semite in sheep's clothing

2010-11-24T12:25:00.009-05:00

The following letter is being sent to the Anti-Defamation League. Ironically the one name missing from those referenced within the letter is that of New Jersey Assemblyman, Jerry Green- a closeted anti-Semite in sheep's clothing.

You would have to agree with me that the above paragraph is ridiculous and tries to tarnish the reputation of the Assemblyman through the use of guilt by association. But as you can see below that is just what the Assemblyman Jerry Green did to Councilman and New Democrat, Cory Storch, who worked tirelessly in Plainfield's 2^nd Ward to insure a big enough turnout to elect the local Democratic candidates, including Congressman Pallone, who did not win his own county, to office.

'The following letter is being sent to the 2010 Republican Candidates for Union Countywide Office. Ironically the one name missing from those referenced within the letter is that of Cory Storch - a closeted Republican in Democratic sheep's clothing...'

Click here for Green's full blog post

Assemblyman Green seems to have a personal vendetta against Councilman Storch.

Why, because Storch owes him nothing and is an independent thinker? Further, Green keeps on trying to insinuate race into the political mix. You can see that by looking at his other blog post about Storch (see here). He is trying to appeal to the same mindset he is condemning in his current 'Open Letter' blog post.

Me? I think Assemblyman Green has gone off his medications or is losing it or both. Recently, his behavior has become very strange. For example, right after the Nov 2^nd election my doorbell rings. I go to answer the door and who is standing there, unannounced, hat in hand, but Assemblyman Jerry Green (“what in the hell,” I briefly thought, “the mountain has come Mohammed “).

His stated purpose was to see if I were interested i going back on the PMUA board (I have a witness). I told him was not interested as it is a thankless task. But if everyone agreed and it was for the benefit of Plainfield, I would do it. That was the gist of our conversation, other than some unintelligible muttering on his part about how powerful he is, how powerful his organization is and how he turned out the votes in Plainfield which is untrue since the biggest turnouts in terms of numbers and percentage came from the 2^nd and 3^rd wards that were handled by the New-Dems.

Finally, Assemblyman Green, you and your ilk have served your purpose and it is time that you step down from the Democratic party and go 'gentle into that good night.' It's time for younger people to take over the party before the party destroys itself. I am reminded of Rashid Burney and Rebecca Williams, who unlike, you supported and worked for Obama from the beginning and once he won the primary were shunted aside by the regular Democratic hacks, like yourself. It was insulting that to get tickets to the inauguration, Burney had to beg them from you. You who did nothing.

Frank Rich on 'the Grand Plot Against the Tea Party'

2010-10-31T18:19:00.000-04:00

Today I am not worthy and bow to New Times columnist, Frank Rich. He says what I want say about the Tea Party movement better than any words that I could write. I have excerpted parts of his Sunday New Times Op/ Ed. article. The complete article may be found here.

"OP-ED COLUMNIST

The Grand Old Plot Against the Tea Party

By FRANK RICH

Published: October 30, 2010

ONE dirty little secret of the 2010 election is that it won’t be a political tragedy for Democrats if a Tea Party icon like Sharron Angle or Joe Miller ends up in the United States Senate. Angle, now synonymous with racist ads sliming Hispanics, and Miller, already on record threatening a government shutdown, are fired up and ready to go as symbols of G.O.P. extremism for 2012 and beyond.

What’s not so secret is that some Republicans will be just as happy if some of these characters lose, and for the same reason.

But whatever Tuesday’s results, this much is certain: The Tea Party’s hopes for actually effecting change in Washington will start being dashed the morning after. The ordinary Americans in this movement lack the numbers and financial clout to muscle their way into the back rooms of Republican power no matter how well their candidates perform.

Trent Lott, the former Senate leader and current top-dog lobbyist, gave away the game in July. “We don’t need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples,” he said, referring to the South Carolina senator who is the Tea Party’s Capitol Hill patron saint. “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.” It’s the players who wrote the checks for the G.O.P. surge, not those earnest folk in tri-corner hats, who plan to run the table in the next corporate takeover of Washington. Though Tom DeLay may now be on trial for corruption in Texas, the spirit of his K Street lives on in a Lott client listthat includes Northrop Grumman and Goldman Sachs.

Karl Rove outed the Republican elites’ contempt for Tea Partiers in the campaign’s final stretch. Much as Barack Obama thought he was safe soliloquizing about angry white Middle Americans clinging to “guns or religion” at a San Francisco fund-raiser in 2008, so Rove now parades his disdain for the same constituency when speaking to the European press. This month he told Der Spiegel that Tea Partiers are “not sophisticated,” ...

Mike Huckabee, still steamed about Rove’s previous put-down of Christine O’Donnell, publicly lamented the Republican establishment’s “elitism” and “country club attitude.” This country club elite, he said, is happy for Tea Partiers to put up signs, work the phones and make “those pesky little trips” door-to-door that it finds a frightful inconvenience. But the members won’t let the hoi polloi dine with them in the club’s “main dining room” — any more than David H. Koch, the billionaire sugar daddy of the Republican right, will invite O’Donnell into his box at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center to take in “The Nutcracker.”

The main dining room remains reserved for Koch’s fellow oil barons, Lott’s clients, the corporate contributors (known and anonymous) to groups like Rove’s American Crossroads, and, of course, the large coterie of special interests underwriting John Boehner, the presumptive next speaker of the House. Boehner is the largest House recipient of Wall Street money this year — much of it from financial institutions bailed out by TARP.

His Senate counterpart, Mitch McConnell, will be certain to stop any Tea Party hillbillies from disrupting his chapter of the club (as he tried to stop Rand Paul in his own state’s G.O.P. primary). McConnell’s pets in his chamber’s freshman G.O.P. class will instead be old-school conservatives like Dan Coats (of Indiana), Rob Portman (of Ohio) and, if he squeaks in, Pat Toomey (of Pennsylvania). ...

What the Tea Party ostensibly wants most — less government spending and smaller federal deficits — is not remotely happening on the country club G.O.P.’s watch. The elites have no serious plans to cut anything except taxes and regulation of their favored industries. ... T

... McConnell has explained his only real priority for the new Congress with admirable candor. “The single most important thing we want to achieve,”he said, “is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Any assault on Social Security would defeat that goal, and a serious shake-up of the Pentagon budget would alienate the neoconservative ideologues and military contractors who are far more important to the G.O.P. establishment than the “don’t tread on me” crowd.

... What made the Tea Party most useful was that its loud populist message gave the G.O.P. just the cover it needed both to camouflage its corporate patrons and to rebrand itself as a party miraculously antithetical to the despised G.O.P. that gave us George W. Bush and record deficits only yesterday.

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and Wall Street Journal have been arduous in promoting and inflating Tea Party events and celebrities to this propagandistic end. ... Typical of this smokescreen is a new book titled “Mad as Hell,” published this fall by a Murdoch imprint. In it, the pollsters Scott Rasmussen and Douglas Schoen make the case, as they recently put it in Politico, that the Tea Party is “the most powerful and potent force in America.”

They are expert at producing poll numbers to bear that out. By counting those with friends and family in the movement, Rasmussen has calculated that 29 percent of Americans are “tied to” the Tea Party. (If you factor in six degrees of Kevin Bacon, the number would surely double.) But cooler empirical data reveal the truth known by the G.O.P. establishment: An August CNN poll found that 2 percent of Americans consider themselves active members of the Tea Party.

That result was confirmed last weekend by The Washington Post, which published the fruits of its months-long effort to contact every Tea Party group in the country. To this end, it enlisted the help of Tea Party Patriots, the only Tea Party umbrella group that actually can claim to be a spontaneous, bottom-up, grass roots organization rather than a front for the same old fat cats of the Republican right, from the Koch brothers to Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks. Tea Party Patriots has claimed anywhere from 2,300 to nearly 3,000 local affiliates, but even with its assistance, The Post could verify a total of only 647 Tea Party groups nationwide. Most had fewer than 50 members. The median amount of money each group had raised in 2010 was $800, nowhere near the entry fee for the country club.

But those Americans, like all the others on the short end of the 2008 crash, have reason to be mad as hell. And their numbers will surely grow once the Republican establishment’s panacea of tax cuts proves as ineffectual at creating jobs, saving homes and cutting deficits as the half-measures of the Obama White House and the Democratic Congress. The tempest, however, will not be contained within the tiny Tea Party but will instead overrun the Republican Party itself, where Palin, with Murdoch and Beck at her back, waits in the wings to “take back America” not just from Obama but from the G.O.P. country club elites now mocking her. By then — after another two years of political gridlock and economic sclerosis — the equally disillusioned right and left may have a showdown that makes this election year look as benign as Woodstock."

N-WORD taught in West Orange, NJ, Middle School

2010-10-14T21:21:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me, whether you like me or not, knows that I am seldom at a loss for words but last week I was left speechless, gasping for air, when I was told the following story by a good friend of mine.

It seems that a teacher in a West Orange, NJ, middle school decided to teach the N-WORD to their class of gifted and talented students, five of whom are ‘children of color.’ Apparently the teacher started by exposing them to Agatha Christie’s mystery novel, Ten Little Niggers and then proceeded to have them sing the following song over the objection of one of the 'children of color:'

Ten Little Niggers (see here)

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were Nine.

Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were Eight.

Eight little nigger boys travelling in Devon;

One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.

Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.

Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;

A bumble bee stung one and then there were Five.

Five little nigger boys going in for law;

One got into Chancery and then there were Four.

Four little nigger boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.

Three little nigger boys walking in the Zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.

Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was One.

One little nigger boy left all alone;

He went out and hanged himself and then there were None.

How this came light was that the kid who objected told their parents and their parents contacted the principal and the NAACP. The NAACP has filed a complaint with the school system and they are supposed to work out a resolution on Friday, 10/15/2010.

What I find shocking is that it's 2010, not 1910. What in the teacher's mind could make them think that this was okay? What possible reason could be used to justify them singing that song? And you can imagine walking down the hallway of the school and hearing that song wafting out of the classroom. What's the next lesson for the children 'How to make a Noose, and its Practical Uses?'

My hope is that the NAACP and the West Orange School District come to a satisfactory resolution. My further hope is that I have gotten it all wrong (I don't think so) and someone was playing an elaborate practical joke on me.

Assemblyman Jerry Green: Bride of Frankenstein?

2010-10-01T18:09:00.004-04:00

A rainy Friday afternoon, 4:00 O'clock and the stock market just closed ( yes, trading stocks is my passion). TJ, the dog, is passed out, as usual, on the chair, snoring and I'm nodding off with nothing to do.

Hmm, did anyone get off their tush and post a comment on my blog. As luck would have it, I got one comment, from Old Doc and reading it was as if I ate a Madeleine:

“olddoc said...

Nat, although you are "spot on" about the vendors and "Shot Spotting" I have to thank you for the link to "Baseball". This routine is one of the top 10 of all comic routines and it was great to see it again.”

How the mind works, how it links disparate thoughts and ideas is beyond me -maybe someday a chat with Dr. Oliver Sachs could lead to an answer. But there it was. Complete in my mind: Assemblyman Jerry Green, there at the birth of 'the Bride of Frankenstein.' I couldn't get the scene out of my head; the parallels were amazing. Jerry Green, Frankenstein, Bride...on my. What to do? Of course, let my readers, particularly my Plainfield readers -who know all the characters, in on the fun. So, readers get off your tushes and light your torches. Here is the scene from the movie. Let me know what parallels you see -hint it's not about his wife. For those non-Plainfielders, watch it anyway, the scene is a classic. Plainfielders, don't miss that Jerry-like entrance on the staircase

Note: If you see a word in blue, it's link. Click on it.

ShotSpotter: My Comments, Green fails at verbal Gundown of Storch

2010-09-29T17:27:00.004-04:00

Councilman Storch, I think your analysis of the issues surrounding the Shotspotter (see here) proposal was spot on and I wonder if Assemblyman Green read it before he published his rambling missive (see here) attacking you. If he did read or had someone read it to him, his response showed a total lack of understanding which one can only adduce to enfeeblement (say it ain't so, Jerry) or a serious deficit in reading comprehension or both. Either way it seems that the mere sight/mention of your name reduces him to blathering apoplexy like that seen at the mention of the words Niagara Falls (see here) in the old Abbot and Costello skit. Let us hope he gets help. I suggest Lexapro and a long rest.

Now I have one quibble with the administration and the council and that is that the devil is in the details. I have been in technology for over 40 years and have seen many systems go down the tubes and it happens for several reasons:

The vendor over promises and under-delivers.
The people making the decision don't have the technical expertise.
The vendor provides only anecdotal evidence and no verifiable hard scientific facts to verify the performance claims of their solution.
Positive references provided by the vendor were paid for.
Lack of customer expertise to administer the system after the vendor leaves.
Lack of buy-in from the people using the system, even if they have the expertise.
Lack of buy-in from the stakeholders. In this case the community that is to be the supposed beneficiary of the solution..
Lack of written and monitoring of performance guarantees from the people charted with administering the system. Example, can you guarantee the arrival of a Police car within 3 minutes of the shots being fired?

Now even if you get all of these things done, it just gets you to the point of having a functional system.

The next phase should be a go/no-go pilot to verify that the solution can actually meet the promised deliverables (in this case a reduction in crime the justifies the cost of the project). If it's a go, there should be a phased implementation. If it's a no-go, can adjustments be made to improve the pilot?

If yes, implement the improvements, restart the pilot and go through the cycle again. If no, close the project down and get your money back. Better still hold the monies in an escrow account and if no-go take your money out and close the account. If a go, pay them in stages with the final payment going to them six months after the successful completion of the project.

YouTube - Videos from this email

Assemblyman Jerry Green meet Stanley Kowalski

2010-09-15T00:14:00.000-04:00

As you can see for the picture (hmmm, what do Jerry Green and Stanley Kowalski have in common?) I was going to talk about the domesticity of Assemblyman Jerry Green and his debating tactics (logical fallacies -click here) he typically uses against his enemies and former friends. But why waste words when the picture incorporates a thousand of them.

The problem I'm having is with the Jerry Greens of the world is they are Edsels, bad objects assembled by party committees, put out for public consumption and delivered stillborn at our doorsteps to be tossed away on the garbage pile of 'it could have been done a whole lot better.' And, yet, ours is still here: still ticking, walking among us, anodes on the neck, Edsel gestated through the womb of Mary Shelly. Our village needs to rise up and drive the creature out. The question is. why haven't we?

Well, Pogo! Look in the mirror. The enemy is us.

They may have air dropped the Assemblyman in, given him 30 pieces of silver and put him to work. But we allowed him to push our town down the Via Dolorosa and now he and his cohorts are hammering in the nails. They hope that It just a matter time before they raise the cross in victory.

What is to be done (I hate that phrase)? What is to be done? Beats the hell out of me.

Just how do you get people out to vote? Make it mandatory with fines? Allow people to vote online? Let them vote at work? Anybody got any ideas? I'm always surprised when I hear people complain about the city. And then you ask them if they voted and if they voted in the primary and the answer is NO. Well then. shut up.

This Friday, 09/17/2010, Assemblyman Jerry Green has called a meeting of the Democratic City Committee. The purpose of which I suspect is to ensure that there is a large Democrat voter turnout in Plainfield because Pallone is in trouble and may lose his House seat. Can anyone tell me what Pallone has done for Plainfield? Where was he when the hospital closed? Had he, Jerry and the mayor chained themselves to the Muhlenberg hospital gates, there would be no question that they could get a massive turnout in Plainfield for November. However. at this point Assemblyman Green can't turn out crap. Even if he ate a case of prunes.

Anyhow, anyone who attends that meeting needs to ask the Assemblyman what's in it for the City of Plainfield. If the answers make sense then maybe, just maybe we, should turn out in November. Otherwise to paraphrase Ruth Brown's song 'I m not going to give it away. I'll just sit on it.' (click here for video)

South Park's Eric Cartman advises Governor Christie on the $400,000,000 misunderstanding

2010-09-07T08:36:00.003-04:00

Gov. Chris Christie and South Park's Eric Cartman (click here) have a least a few things in common: they're fat, Republican and out of control. However, Eric Cartman seems to have one talent sadly lacking in the Governor of New Jersey.

When in trouble Cartman knows how to finesse his way out by taking things to the next level. Christie's handling of this $400,000,000 school funding 'Race to the Top' misunderstanding is a perfect example of taking the low road: blame Obama, fire Schundler .

Christie, dude, you went belly-up on almost half billion! What were your advisers doing to salvage the Situation (come to think of it he could have given you better advice from the Jersey Shore, click here.) New Jersey needs all the help it can get. A few advisers should have walked the plank.

But I'm digressing too much. I did what your advisers should have done. I called Cartman in South Park, interrupted his back to school shopping -he's in the fifth grade and begged him for advice. Here is what he said:

“Ha, ha, ha , ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, oh let me stop laughing. This too much. Let me see,...yes,yes. They forgot to include....ha, ha, ha. OK, OK I've got it! Stay with me on this. Here's what I think.

Unlike me the Governor has not made an effort to keep himself informed and has not read the State Ranking of Per Capita Spending, Per-Capita Tax Burden on the Federal Dollar: Fiscal 2005 (click here.) Had he read it he would have been outraged.... and it's only one page long with 3 columns of information with each state being ranked by state in that column. To simplify matters, lets compare 2 states on the document, Alaska and New Jersey -a 'red state' and a 'blue state.'

Column-1: Ranking by Per Capita Total Spending -how much the federal government returns to the state per individual. Alaska is ranked number 1, receiving $13,788. New Jersey is ranked number 35, receiving $6,771.

Column-2: Ranking by Per Capita Tax Burden -how much each state sends to the federal government per individual. Alaska is ranked number number 17, sending $7,215. New Jersey is ranked number 2, sending $9,947.

Now it gets worse.

Column-3: Ranking by Return on Federal Tax Dollar -for every dollar the state gives the federal government, how much is given back. Alaska is ranked number 4, receiving $1.83 for every dollar sent.

New Jersey is ranked number 50, receiving 65 cents for every dollar sent.

Lets put that into numbers we can all understand. Alaska sent $4.8 billion to federal government and received back $9.2 billion. That's $4.4 billion more than it sent. New Jersey sent $86.5 billion and received back $58.9 billion. That's $27.6 billion less than it sent. Does anyone see a problem? I sure do. A billion here, a billion there; soon your talking about a lot of money.

Alaska is being flooded with money while New Jersey is being bled dry. No wonder they can afford bridges to nowhere. The Governor should be apoplectic, 'my state gives you $27 billion dollars more than it receives every year and you're hassling me over $400 million? Well you know what you can do with your $400 million?

OK, OK here's what he really needs to do to salvage the situation and maintain his Presidential ambitions.

Call a meeting to include the Assembly, the Upper house, the Congressional Representatives and the press.
Hold up that state ranking document like it was Senator McCarthy holding up a list of Communist conspirators .
Announce that he going to organize a States Rights Tax Fairness Group to lobby for a more equitable distribution of the tax dollar i.e. New Jersey has more then enough money to solve its state tax problems; it just that the Federal Government refuses to give us our fair share.
As a backup plan. If all else fails and he still wants to be considered as a potential Presidential candidate, he can become a contestant on the Biggest Loser. “

I just want to thank Eric Cartman for his advice and I hope that Governor Christie will Find it useful.

Comments about my August 30 post.

2010-09-01T18:42:00.001-04:00

Keep the comments coming, folks. If you haven't read them here they are from 8/30/2010 post with replies:

14 comments:

Anonymous said...: Good luck crawling through the weeds here in Plainfield.; August 30, 2010 11:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Like Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Dan Damon, it appears you are fueled by hate. Yup, yet another "fair and balanced" blog in Plainfield.; August 30, 2010 11:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Oh so coooool man. Another blog blaming Jerry Green. Just want we need - more mud and more blame.; August 30, 2010 12:47 PM
Jeff said...: Looking forward to your posts.; August 30, 2010 2:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Good luck. We need a blog that won't sugar-coat the state of this once-burgeoning city. I hope you'll focus on more than Jerry Green - there are many people in this city who continue to enable him and keep him in office.; August 30, 2010 2:46 PM
Nat said...: TO Anonymous 11:53 AM: you are a perfect example of a dumbed down American. Give me a factual example of where I'm fueled by hate. Otherwise, get your head out of Jerry's.....Oh I dare not say it but you can figure it out. PS: you might want to take a reading comprehension test.; August 30, 2010 3:11 PM
Nat said...: To Anonymous 12:47 PM: Actually, I don't blame Jerry Green for doing what he is doing and getting away with what he is getting away with, if anything. He is just a proxy for the people who elected him and financed his election. In a democracy it is the electorate who are ultimately responsible for the caliber of the people they put into office. I view my job as getting them to think and by thinking then they can do a lot better then Jerry Green. Note: It was Jerry's unsubstantiated comments that inspired me to start this blog.; August 30, 2010 3:15 PM
Nat Singleton said...: Thanks Jeff; August 30, 2010 3:29 PM
chris said...: Yawn...another whining blog.; August 30, 2010 4:52 PM
Anonymous said...: A vegan, never! I belong to PETA . . . People Eating Tasty Animals. I never argue religion because I am right, and if you don't agree with my assessment, you are wrong! I keep my eye on everyone in the public eye and tend to pay close attention to the ones with whom I disagree, but then I realize that it is the person I trust, love and admire, who can get close enough to me, to do the most damage! Andrew Jackson and the way he treated the People, and others of his ilk, turned me away from the Democrats . . . and Lincoln, Douglas and Rev. King drew me to the Republicans . . . they are , in my eyes, both way of track now! And so I find myself an Independant with Libertarian leanings! I will be keeping an eye on you . . . Good Luck!; August 30, 2010 9:28 PM
Yep I Said It! said...: Your most committed readers will be Jerry Green and his mini-mes . . . Whether they know it or not -that makes them your biggest fans. Congratulations and Welcome!; August 31, 2010 4:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Your style appears to be more like the Fox News with a promise to present the facts. But in fact the only "facts" supporting your those that support your own view. And you appear to have blended in the Glen Beck style also: create worry supported with ambigious, unrelated events. Then again, much of that is a repeat of Dan Damon and he is fueled with anger and bitterness.; September 1, 2010 9:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Well one whole day and nothing got your dander up . . . Things is quiet in Plainfield! Maybe JG is taking a nap. He is affectionately known in my end of town as JerrrrrrrrrGoffff, because of the way he wastes our time and money! There are a few things about him and his buddy buddies that will be coming out in the wash very soon, and they don't even know it . . . because they are so intelligent!; September 1, 2010 2:28 PM
Nat Singleton said...: Anonymous 9:38 AM: Are you slow or just stupid. Aside from totally lacking a sense of humor, you ineptly regurgitate what I said about Fox news and being 'Fair and Balanced.' Sarcasm ain't your strong point. If you have any 'facts' to counter my facts and opinions state them and I will rebut them, that way the reading pubic can judge for themselves. Jerry's got a problem if you are symptomatic of the people supporting him. Here is a tissue to wipe away the brain material drooling out of your nose.; September 1, 2010 6:33 PM

Welcome

2010-08-30T08:51:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my blog, ‘Dumbed Down America,’ my soap box on the American condition; where I hope to provide weekly commentary on items of interest to me and questions or comments that are submitted and pique my interest. Remember no question or comment is too dumb, if it piques my interest. I’d like to thank our local New Jersey Assemblyman, Jerry Green, his thoughtless, self serving and unsubstantiated comments have inspired me to start this blog in self-defense. Like Jerry and Fox News, I promise all my comments will be fair and balanced. Who is Jerry Green? That’s a good question; we’d all like an answer. He thinks he’s the 3^rd most powerful person in the NJ Assembly. Given the results he has achieved for the citizens of my town, Plainfield, NJ, I’d put a 0 after that 3. Jerry has been good at glomming-on and short on results. Again, thanks Jerry; I hope to hear from you soon. I can’t wait.

As to rules, there are none except the following:

1. Keep the profanity down.

2. No ad hominine attacks, of course if they are really good, especially about me, they might see the light of day

3. Try to use a fact once in awhile to justify your comments or criticisms.

4. Try to be logical. –this is a hard one.

5. Anything relating to my pet peeves goes to the front of the line and stands good chance of getting a response.

Be for warned, I plan to model my style after Lewis Black., Richard Pryor – I am not worthy and Mark Twain –I am definitely not worthy.;

Thanks in advance and I hope you will find this blog useful.

Scroll all the way down to the bottom for comments.

You thought this was going to be easy.

Here’s an analysis of a movie done in the Hollywood style. It is one of my favorites and if you haven’t seen it, rent it. If you plan on seeing movie, only read up to the Theme. If you are still interested, read the rest after you have seen the movie.

For Plainfielders this is my nightmare visage of how Assemblyman Green controls our city. Let us hope that we too can someday find Shell Beach.

“Dark City”

Premise: Film Noir at its peak and it’s Science Fiction. Adventure follows as a naked man wakes up in a bathtub filled with water. This ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ is pursued by malevolent human-like creatures possessed of awesome powers as the forces of darkness and light battle for supremacy.

Outer: Find Shell Beach

Inner: Understand why things feel so strange

Theme: What does it mean to have a soul

Act-1: Setup

1. Voiceover, a dark city at midnight, Dr. Daniel Schreber describes the ‘ordinary world.’

2m 37s

2. A startled naked man, John Murdoch, wakes up in a tub in a seedy bathroom, a drop of blood trickles down his forehead; there are clothes on a chair.

4m(1m 23s) Confusion

3. He comes out of the bathroom, knocks over a goldfish bowl; saves the fish by putting it in a (Woops! What was that? A syringe on the floor?) sink filled with water.

4M 17S(17S) Clue, empathy

4. II: He opens the closet door in the room, finds an overcoat, in the coat keys, puts on the coat, finds a suitcase and opens it. There is a postcard of Shell Beach; he gets memory rush of a bright sunny day. The phone rings, Dr. Schreiber, ‘Get out you are in danger. Your memory has been erased’ He knocks a bloody knife to floor, as he moves to see a mutilated female body on the floor. He escapes out of the apartment and down the stairs just as the elevator doors are opening. Phew!

5m 43s(1m 43s) Clues, clues, corpse, ticking clock,

tension builds, refusal of the call to adventure

Mentor/trickster

5. A confused Murdoch: makes his way down the stairs, clock strikes midnight, people seem to be waking up, the desk clerk tells him he left his wallet at the automat, outside he throws the suitcase into the river.

6m 43s(1m) Information, tension ebbs a bit

6. Four human-like creatures, the strangers, are in Murdoch’s apartment. The door opens, it’s the desk clerk. They grab him, ‘Where’s Murdoch? ‘He just left,’ the clerk replies. One of them tells him to sleep.

7m 17s(34s) Enemies

7. A Woman singing in a nightclub. It’s Murdoch’s wife, Anna. She receives a note from Dr. Schreber, she visit’s the doctor, and he tells her Murdoch has had a psychotic break and is dangerous. Contact him, if she sees him. Schreber puts a rat into a maze.

9m 40s(1m 53s) Goddess,

Who’s the rat in the maze?

8. Murdoch wonders down a street, as he wonders who he is, ‘Gotta get a grip on myself.’

10m 23s(42s) He’s definitely not crazy

9. Inspector Frank Bumstead is called into the case; as he goes through the door of Murdoch’s apartment he tells the cop that his shoes are untied.

11m 33s(1m 10s) Bumstead’s a stickler for detail

10. Murdoch goes to the automat, uses his mind to retrieve his wallet and is saved from arrest by a hooker.

12m 56s (1m 23s) Murdoch posses magical powers

11.At Murdoch’s apartment, Bumstead wonders, ‘who would save a fish.’ Six hookers have been murdered, thanks to Walensky. Walensky breaks in, “they’re watching us.” Cop shows Bumstead the rescued goldfish in a glass.

14m(1m 4s) Who is Murdoch, the world is askew

Comic relief

12.As Bumstead is rummaging through Walensky’s office at the police station, Anna shows up looking for her missing husband. Bumstead realizes it’s Murdoch and shows her a list of 6 women, victims of murder.

15m 27s(1m 27s) Maybe Murdoch is a killer

13.Murdoch and the hooker are at her apartment. He looks at his wallet, finds his name, a picture of his wife, tells the hooker that bringing strangers home is dangerous and leaves.

16m 32s(1m 5s) Murdoch is a decent person

14.On the street Murdoch sees a billboard for Shell Beach. He climbs up to the billboard where he is confronted by the Strangers. He can Tune. He escapes.

18m 55s(2m 23s) Enemies know Murdoch has their powers

Crossing the threshold

15.The strangers convene a meeting amongst themselves. They ‘must have this man.’

19m 45s(50s) All the enemies know, Murdoch is a danger to them

16.Murdoch goes to his wife’s apartment. He doesn’t remember her and he learns the reason for their problems is that she had an affair.

21m 06s(21s) Meeting the goddess

17.The Strangers visit Dr. Schreber to make sure they still have his support. Schreber is in a swimming pool. The Strangers don’t like humidity.

22m 34s(1m 18s) Is Schreber still loyal to them?

Is Schreber a trickster?

18.Murdoch talks to his wife and tells her he did not have it in him to commit those crimes. He sees a car outside, it belongs to Bumstead, Murdoch runs out of the apartment door, there is Bumstead with a gun, his wife distracts Bumstead; Murdoch escapes but drops Dr. Schreber’s business card. Bumstead finds the card.

25m 06s(2m 26s) Anna is now on Murdoch’s side

19.Murdoch takes a cab to Schreber’s; the driver doesn’t know how to get to Shell Beach. Bumstead asks Schreber a few questions. Schreber is evasive. Bumstead leaves. Murdoch is watching what transpired.

27m(1m 54s)

20.Bumstead visits Walensky. Walensky tells him there is no case, she’s not my wife, he can’t remember details of his past and it doesn’t mean anything, anyway. Murdoch follows Dr. Schreber to the Strangers’ Headquarters.

29m 37s(2m 25s) Clues

21.TP 1: At their headquarters, the Strangers activate their machines. It’s midnight, all the people are asleep, except Murdoch; they don’t reply to his entreaties to wakeup. The Tuning begins; the city reconfigures itself. Murdoch witnesses the changes.

36m 55s(7m 18s)

Act 2 Complications

22.The Strangers leave their headquarters; Murdoch follows them as they go around the city setting up their experiments.

41m 43s(4m 48s)

23.In assessing the success of their activities, the Strangers learn there is a flaw and they now have a competing entity -Murdoch. To find him they imprint one of their own with his memories.

43m 41s(1m 58s) A fracture in their world

24.Murdoch reads the Shell Beach post card; it’ from Karl Harris. He finds Harris’ address in a phone book. At the newsstand he asks for directions. The news guy says, ‘take the subway.’ Murdoch re cognizes the news stand guy as the hotel Clerk. ‘How long have you been here,’ he asks. ‘24 years,’ is the reply from the news guy. Murdoch enters the subway system. A fracture in Murdoch’s world

44m 47s(1m 6s)

25.The Strangers go to the hooker’s apartment, interrogate her and kill her.

46m 40s(1m 53s)

26.In the subway station, Murdoch sees there is a stop for Shell Beach. He can’t get there. The train to Shell Beach is an express; it doesn’t stop here. He meets Walensky, ‘You can’t get out of the city…they steal people’s memories and swap them…’ Walensky commits suicide by jumping in front of the express to Shell Beach.

48m 07s(1m 27s) Clues

27.The Strangers find and question Murdoch’s wife but she doesn’t know where he is.

49m 33s(1m 26s)

28.Murdoch finds his uncle, Karl. He learns more about his past but realizes it’s all lies.

53m 11s(4m 22s) Clues

29.Meanwhile, Anna goes to the hooker’s apartment, finds the dead hooker, turns to run and is caught by Bumstead. He takes her to the station. He’s not sure ‘what’s happening anymore.’ Note: This scene was inter-cut with 28

54m 31s

30.Murdoch plans to spend the night at Karl’s. He asks Karl, ‘What happen to the day.’ Karl doesn’t know. In the bedroom he finds his old notebook it is blank. He comes out of the room, Karl is calling Anna, Murdoch turns to escape; the Strangers start Tuning.

56m 47s(2m 16s)

31.Murdoch tries escaping through the city as it is being reconfigured, he battles the Strangers and is rescued by Bumstead.

61m 23s(4m 36s) Ally

32.At the station, Bumstead interrogates Murdock. Murdoch turns the tables on Bumstead by Tuning.

63m 29s(2m 6s)

33.Murdoch and Anna meet in the visiting room. Murdoch tunes, shattering the glass between then, they kiss; Murdoch is dragged out of the room.

65m 28s(1m 59s) Empathy

34.In his office, Bumstead looks at the Shell Beach card and is interrupted by the cop was shoes were untied. The thanks him for capturing the killer, lets him know the chief wants to see him and that Bumstead’s shoe lace is untied.

66m 17s(48s) Bumstead is human after all

35.The Strangers invade the police station and force the chief to take them to Murdoch. He does but there is no Murdoch. Bumstead has let him out.

67m 15s(58s) Ally

36.MPS: Murdoch and Bumstead visit Dr. Schreber. Dr. Schreber tries to force Murdoch to inject him with a syringe as it has all the answers. Bumstead stops Dr. Schreber. They make Schreber take him to Shell Beach. They end up at the canal; there is no longer a bridge to cross. Anna is returns to the apartment but everything inside it has changed. She is captured by one of the Strangers. Murdoch, Bumstead and Schreber use a rowboat to cross the canal.

70m 5s(2m 5s)

37.As they row down the canal, Schreber explains who the Strangers are, their motivations, how they, the humans got there, the nature this world and Murdoch’s capabilities.

74m 21s(4m 16s) Clues, answers

38.TPII: They reach the end of the canal Schreber takes them into a warehouse and through a sting of rooms in the warehouse. They reach the end, there is one last door; Murdoch opens it; at the other end is Shell Beach but it’s a giant wall poster. Murdoch starts tearing at the poster as Schreber tries to tell him there is nothing there. The tearing exposes a brick wall. Murdoch and Bumstead try to batter down the wall. Murdoch tunes, destroying a large section of the wall. Behind is nothing but the void of outer space, stars.

76m 17s(1m 56s)

39.The Strangers arrive, Murdoch and Bumstead fight the Strangers, Bumstead is killed when he drags one of the Strangers through the wall into outer-space; Murdoch surrenders when the Strangers threaten to kill Anna.

77m 55s(1m 38s) Low point

Act 3: Resolution

40.The Strangers bring Murdoch to their headquarters, they force Dr. Schreber to imprint Murdoch with a syringe that will incorporate him into their collective, Dr. Schreber switches syringes and injects Murdoch with memories he has created which can destroy the Strangers.

81m 40s(3m 45s)

41.Murdoch wakes up and destroys the Strangers in a furious battle, learns that Emma has been re-imprinted. He controls the machines and recreates the city in his image, a city of light. Supreme ordeal

Apotheosis

88m 33s(6m 53s)

42.Murdoch heads for Shell Beach. The sky is a bright blue and the sun is shining. He walks out on to the end a pier. There is a girl; it’s Anna. They strike up a conversation. ‘Where are you heading,’ the girl asks. ‘Shell Beach’ is Murdoch’s reply. ‘I’m heading there to. My name is Anna. Want to come along?’ They walk off the pier as the sun sets.

93m 58s(5m 25s) Return to ordinary ‘ordinary’ world

Something gained