A nice place in New Jersey

In my time living in New Jersey (my whole life) I have slowly come to notice that the outsider's conception of the state is somewhat different from reality. For whatever reason, the rest of the country seems to look at the state with some level of disdain. My only hypothesis for why this is so is that maybe the perception seems to be that all of New Jersey is essentially what you can see from the other side of the Hudson in New York City. They assume that its polluted, crime-filled, urban and boring. This is simply untrue, as most Jersey residents will attest and my hometown, a little upper middle class haven called Long Valley, is an example of this. Long Valley breaks just about every stereotype that is normally associated with New Jersey. Firstly, it is a very rural area, filled with woods, farms, and relatively few buildings. In fact, there may not be a single three story building in the whole town. That's not to say that it is underpopulated, New Jersey is indeed the most densely populated state in the country and Long Valley's streets usually have substantial amounts of traffic considering how rural and residential most of the area is. Still, Long Valley tends to be more spaced out than most parts of New Jersey. There is no pollution or crime to speak of in Long Valley, either. Now, the question of what there is to do there is a slightly different thing. You must drive to a neighboring town to go see a movie. However the location in New Jersey basically puts the world at your fingertips if you are willing to drive an hour in any direction. New York City and all ts attractions are a little more than an hour away from Long Valley. An hour directly east will bring you to the Jersey shore. Six Flags, Great Adventure, in Jackson is just a little over an hour from Long Valley, as well. Combine these advantages whit the temperate climate and relatively low potential for earthquakes, tornadoes, or other natural disasters and I can only come to the conclusion that the rest of the country (including NYC, which is where most of the anti-Jersey sentiment seems to come from) only makes fun of New Jersey because they are jealous.

How Obama deals with racism

Election day is almost here and with most polls (depending on who you ask) showing Barak Obama having a lead, it seems that the issue of race might not have been a problem for him. Why is this? Is it true that the country is not as racist as it used to be? Probably, but if we examine the Obama campaign's actions we see that while Obama appears and identifies himself as black, he has gone out of his way to act "white" and non-threatening during this campaign. For example, in a Time magazine article a few months ago where readers send in questions, one question asked weather he liked a certain type of music. Obama skirted the question and said that he was "not hip" anymore but that he used to be, but can't be while running for president. Basically this means he is saying "yeah, I may like R&B, rap, or any other kind of traditionally "black" music, but you won't hear about it while I'm running for president." Also, much has been said about Obama's eloquence. This, too, is racially motivated. He needs to appeal to the white mainstream by not "sounding black". That doesn't just mean no "Ebonics" but it also means he will not talk like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson with their occasionally blustery speeches. Speaking of those two, Obama has not associated with these men at all during the campaign. This is because the mainstream media knows these men as "black activists" and people generally do not like them for that. Obama has stayed away from the issue of racism as well, for that very reason. While he constantly talks about the middle class, you will not find him saying anything about the ghetto or any other racially charged term. The campaign wants to make Obama seem like he will not put black concerns first before white concerns. Of course, the stories of his white mother are another method of this strategy, as well. We have heard her story countless times, but not much at all about his black father. The only thing the campaign would allow to convey that could be construed as being "black" is the fact that Obama plays basketball. Still, basketball is a hugely popular sport and as Michael Jordan has shown in the past, it is a way that the white mainstream can embrace and love a black individual.