Runner's diary Tuesday

It is a beautiful morning -- big, open sky, with a warm breeze and bright sun, just a perfect morning for a run.

So, I took advantage, chugging out three miles while listening to the wonderful new album by Son Volt, American Central Dust.

My only regret this morning is that I'm not up to the kind of distance this kind of morning deserves, that seven- or eight-mile run that allows you to fall into an almost trance-like zone, that leaves you feeling one with all around you.

That's something to shoot for, to get back there. Yes, a goal worth pursuing.

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Offering a little help, though a lot is needed

The state Legislature has approved a bill that would create a “Community Food Pantry Fund” that would distribute money to community food pantries through the state’s food purchase program. The money would be generated by a voluntary check off on state tax returns and the money would be used to be food.

It's a decent -- if only partial -- solution, maintaining the current charity structure but simplifying both donation and distribution.

The legislators who sponsored the bill -- Democrats Gordon Johnson, Wayne DeAngelo, Elease Evans, Albert Coutinho and Herb Conaway -- said in a press release that the legislation would address hunger issues by taking advantage of New Jerseyans' generosity.

“The global economic meltdown means hunger isn’t being limited to the poor,” said Johnson (D-Bergen). “New Jersey is a generous state, and we can and should make it easier to spread that generosity and do whatever we can to ensure no one in this state goes to bed hungry.”

“The global economic crisis is hitting our state hard and may get worse,” DeAngelo (D-Mercer) said. “People who never thought they would ever visit a food pantry are now relying on them to put food on the table for their families. These are tough times, and anything we can do to make it easier for people to help those less fortunate is a good thing.”

I'm glad to see the legislation pass -- and I expect the governor to sign it shortly -- but as I said, this is just a half measure. State and federal governments -- which are the people's representatives, an extension of the citizenry -- have a responsibility to take care of those who get battered by our poorly structured economy, which is set up to favor people with money and tosses aside those deemed expendable.

As I wrote last week,

The cyclical nature of our economy in which the booms are inevitably followed by busts leaves each of us vulnerable. It has become a cliché that most of us are one misfortune — a lost job, a health-care crisis, a divorce — away from a visit to the soup kitchen.

This leaves private charitable organizations vulnerable, as well. When the money dries up donors tend not to contribute, leaving the mostly private agencies that act as our de facto safety net with less money and food to distribute at a time when more money and food is being requested.

It is the reason why government programs like Social Security and welfare, unemployment and disability insurance, food stamps and school lunch programs, Medicare and Medicaid and the other New Deal and Great Society programs we have come to rely on were created.

We dismantled much of it over the last 30 years, stigmatizing the poor and others in need and leaving it to the private, underfunded and understaffed agencies to take care of what is a very public problem.

The thing to do, if we hadn't gutted our ability to generate revenue, if we had not made taxes a bad word and turned government into a pejorative, would be to rebuild what we've deconstructed, to fix what we've broken. Government has its uses and one of its most important is to protect its citizens, and not just from crime of a terrorist attack, but from corporate greed and the vicissitudes of the irrational marketplace.

Doggie diaries: The story of Rosie and Sophie Sunning on a lazy summer day

Puppies certainly know how to take in the sun om a summer's day. I think this is what they mean by the dog's life.

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Friday five: Cleaning house at Citifield

This week's five focuses on my beloved Metropolitans and their dismal effort so far this season. I figure there are at least five players on the roster who should dispatched to the scrap heap.

Here are my choices:

1. Fernando Tatis -- the Mets got all they were going toget out of this retread, who has turned into a doubleplay machine.

2. Luis Castillo -- A slap hitter with no power, a former Gold Glover who is terrible in the field, a terrible signing that kept them from going after Orlando Hudson.

3. Brian Schneider -- A veteran with absolutely nothing to offer.

4. Tim Redding -- I was once told that, if I had nothing good to say I should say nothing. I have nothing to say.

5. Livan Hernandez -- It was a nice run that came to its inevitable and disastrous conclusion

Let's go, Mets!

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We're already paying for health care

The debate over healthcare reform is on the wrong track. Rather than working to craft a logical system that provides adequate care to all, we are worried about how we're going to pay for it. That's one reason that Congress (aside from a few members) has taken a single-payer system off the table.

Today's New York Times outlines the problem -- though, it doesn't portray it as a problem, but as an inevitable outcome of the debate. The problem with this, however, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pointed out recently on Air America's "Ring of Fire" radio program, is that it assumes that new money needs to be raised to cover Americans.

The reality, as Sanders said, is that there is plenty of money in the current system. We pay it now in insurance premiums and copays and other out-of-pocket expenses. A single-payer system would just redirect the money from the inefficient for-profit system now in place to a government-sponsored non-profit system.

The money is there already. I think what we're dealing with here again is this mythology that people love, you know, everybody tells me, "Bernie, I just love paying 12, 13 thousand dollars a year to a private health insurance company for my family's health insurance. I just get a great joy writing out that check to Blue Cross Blue Shield or Connecticut General. That just makes me feel great, but I hate to pay taxes."

So what our Republican friends say is that your taxes are going to go up under a single-payer. True. They will. What they are forgetting? They're forgetting that you're not going to pay for private health insurance. They are forgetting that your employer is not going to have to pay a significant amount of money that should be reinvested in their business needs into health care.

They are forgetting that General Motors right now puts more money into health care per car than you do into steel.

So the answer is that health care is going to cost money. Under a single-payer, it is publicly funded, but you're not going to have to pay private health insurance. And at the end of the day, that is a much more cost-effective way of delivery quality, comprehensive care.

That, of course, should be the goal -- not just plugging the holes in the current system and driving down cost, but providing every American with affordable health care.

Too bad the big money flowing from the corporate sector is against it.

One paragraph sums up Mets' season

This has not been the season Mets' fans were hoping for, with six of their most important pieces spending significant time on the DL, plus a host of others joining them for various periods. But injuries are part of the game.

What has been so disturbing has been the lack of baseball IQ exhibited by this team. I can accept physical errors, but the mix of mental mistakes and terrible managerial moves makes this team look like the Washington Nationals or the Pittsburgh Pirates, rather than a legitimate contender for a division title.

Outfielders turn the wrong way on fly balls, turning easy plays into adventures. Luis Castillo drops an easy pop-up against the Yankees costing a game. There have been more missed cut-offs, throws to wrong bases, baserunning blunders and lost at-bats this year than any team that calls itself a contender should be allowed to make.

This paragraph from today's Mets Notes, in The New York Post, is a good example of what has helped drive this season off the rails. It focuses on veteran catcher Brian Schneider:

Manuel said he chided catcher Brian Schneider for not helping Sheffield on Wednesday when Sheffield barely scored while standing up in the third inning.

Schneider was in the on-deck circle, and it's customary for that player to stand near the plate and direct his incoming teammate. Schneider was nowhere to be found, prompting a postgame talk from Manuel.

And there you have it. A 10-year, 32-year-old veteran who allegedly is on the roster for his glove and baseball IQ (it's certainly not his bat) breaks one of those rules you learn in Little League. It may seem small, but it is typical of the way this team has sleepwalked through this season.

Runner's diary Friday

My right ankle was acting up today, evidence perhaps of age and the extra weight I've been carrying lately.

But I got my three miles in, a slow three but it makes three days in a row out there. So, it's all good.

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Where have you gone, Tom Terrific?

On the 40th anniversary of Tom Seaver's near-perfect game against the Cubs -- the most dominant pitching performance in Met history -- Livan Hernandez managed to go just four putrid innings,

Hernandez (5-5) allowed hits to his first three batters and was hammered for four innings while dropping his fourth straight start. Serving up his usual array of soft stuff, the right-hander yielded eight runs and 11 hits -- both season highs -- while walking four.

Three of the 12 outs made by the Dodgers while he was on the mound came when runners were thrown out on the bases, including a pickoff play. Another out came on a sacrifice bunt.

Three other pitchers followed, culminating by a two-inning stint from Tim Redding, who gave up six hits and three runs.

Tom Seaver these guys weren't. Hell, they weren't even Craig Swan.

Green incentives

We are in a down economy, especially on the real estate end, and there is vacant warehouse space available in the region. What to do?

The Middlesex County freeholders have a pretty decent idea: Seek out firms in the environmental field.

A new county committee has been formed to match manufacturers of energy-efficient and sustainable products with vacant warehouses, which could bring business into South Brunswick.

”Our goal is to actively pursue as many economic opportunities as we can by creating green jobs and boosting the economy,” said Freeholder H. James Polos. “Middlesex County is in position right now to take the lead and help our communities attract new business opportunities.”

The Middlesex County Green Economic Development Zone Committee was established to study the economic value in creating “green” zones, with hopes of bringing burgeoning green technology companies into the county, according to Mr. Polos.

A team of local, county and state officials and representatives from the corporate and academic sectors met in late May to lay the groundwork for attracting these companies to the area in order to boost economic growth and create jobs.

This makes sense on a number of levels. First, we need to generate jobs and green jobs are likely to have more staying power than the service-sector stuff we've focused on in the United States for the last couple of decades.

Second, we need property tax revenue. The state is unlikely -- regardless of who wins the Statehouse in November -- to make the kind of drastic changes in the tax system needed in New Jersey. So, we need businesses to occupy empty buildings and there is some demand out there for light-assembly work (solar panels) and distribution of eco-products.

Third, creation of a green zone in Middlesex County could trigger other green zones -- creating the incentives necessary to move away from our carbon-based lifestyle. The more cheaply we can produce environmentally friendly products, the cheaper they will be for consumers. And if we can lower the cost on the consumer end, we are more likely to see consumers make green choices. The Middlesex County green zone could, under this reasoning, serve as a model for other counties in the state and other regions in the country.

As the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board wrote in a draft report (quoted from Thomas Friedman's column in Sunday's Times:

“Sustainable technologies in solar, wind, electric vehicles, nuclear and other innovations will drive the future global economy. We can either invest in policies to build U.S. leadership in these new industries and jobs today, or we can continue with business as usual and buy windmills from Europe, batteries from Japan and solar panels from Asia.”

Using local food to help locals in need

This is such an obvious idea, you have to wonder why it took the state so long to do it:

Low-income families looking to eat healthier may now use their food stamp cards at more than 80 farmers' markets around the state, according to a joint announcement today from Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez and Agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher.

The new program provided the farmers' market operators to the scanning equipment so people on food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, may use their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards to buy fresh produce, officials said.

The benefits of the program are myriad, including:

• Access to better quality fresh fruit and vegetables for food-stamp recipients, helping them stay healthier.
• Tax revenue generated by the farmers' added income.
• Continued farming, which keeps development at bay.

Seven Central Jersey farms are participating:

• Asprocolas Acres in Millstone.
• Farmer Al's in Monroe.
• K&S Farms in Cream Ridge.
• Naturally Grown Gardens in Hopewell.
• R&K Farm in Monroe.
• Stillwell Farms in Robbinsville.
• Von Thun's Country Farm Market in South Brunswick

Runner's diary, Thursday

Another three miles today, though it felt like someone had been beating my legs, front and back, with bicycle chains. The only goal right now is to get on the road and do my three.

iPod: Countdown podcast

Murphy's Gold Glove moment

I'm watching the Mets game -- which can be a dangerous thing, as we all know -- and things have been going well. As an example, take the seventh-inning play by first-baseman Daniel Murphy. The youngster, who the Mets view as a potentially important offensive cog, has proven himself to be a man without a position (anyone remember Gregg Jeffries?). He failed miserably as a left fielder and has looked like a deer in the headlights at first.

But tonight, he turned in one of those rare plays, one destined for the late-night highlight reel.

Mark Loretta of the Dodgers pokes the ball down the first-base line, hitting the bag and popping the ball up and toward the infield. Murphy comes racing in, grabs the ball barehanded and flicks it behind his back to pitcher Bobby Parnell who was covering. Parnell turned in a nice stretch to collect the throw and Loretta was out (the instant replay was inconclusive -- it was close, but the Mets deserve a break).

Ron Darling, I think, compared him to Jason Kidd and the Mets dugout bowed in his direction.

All I can say is "sweet" (to quote my nephews).

Act locally think globally

It is becoming increasingly clear that we must do more than talk about climate change here in the United States. We need tough rules at home and a program that shares new technologies abroad to make it clear that we are not asking the developing world to sacrifice more than we are willing to sacrifice.

Without that, the developing countries will continue to balk at any potential treaty:

In the end, people close to the talks said, the emerging powers refused to agree to the specific emissions limits because they wanted industrial countries to commit to midterm goals in 2020, and to follow through on promises of financial and technological help.

“They’re saying, ‘We just don’t trust you guys,’ ” said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group based in the United States. “It’s the same gridlock we had last year when Bush was president.”

The cap-and-trade plan, approved by Congress, is a good start for the United States, but not nearly strong enough to do what needs to be done.

Runner's diary, Wednesday

Three miles today on the quiet side streets of Plainsboro and South Brunswick. It was gorgeous out there and if I had more kick in my legs or wind in my chest, I would have gone for a lot longer.

As it is, I ran long enough to hear a good chunk of the new Wilco disc, titled (appropriately enough) Wilco (the album).

Dispatches: The economy and the shredded social safety net

Dispatches, on the shredded social safety net and the exponential growth in need in this recession, is on our site.