Category: opinion/the_princeton_packet

   We can only welcome the news that two neighboring governments have interrupted their estrangement to discuss matters of contention. It is always interesting to contemplate what might be accomplished if people with sharply divergent views can at least agree to meet on a more regular basis.    But that’s enough about North and South Korea. Let’s…

   It has been evident for some time now that the craze to establish “drug-free” zones around schools, parks, libraries, museums and public-housing projects has accomplished one thing and one thing only — filled most of the state’s prison cells with drug users and pushers, nearly all of whom are minorities, at enormous cost to the…

The Princeton Packet    Whenever New Jersey finds itself in financial difficulty — which is to say virtually every minute of every day of every year — some task force legislative panel comes up with the brilliant idea of having government at all levels share or consolidate services to reduce expenses.    Last year, it was the…

The Princeton Packet    Back in the day when Benjamin Franklin described New Jersey as “a valley of humility between two mountains of conceit,” he had no inkling of how perfectly that description would one day apply to media coverage of the Garden State.    Not the print media, mind you. Newspapers were already abundant in the…

The Princeton Packet    ‘Tis the season for complaints about the excessive commercialization of Christmas. Well, actually, ‘twas the season for that by the end of October. At that point, you could shop supermarkets and discount department stores for a Halloween costume, get 50 percent off the price of a lawn chair and pick up a…

The Princeton Packet    When Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 — that’s nearly 18 years ago, for those who are counting — it explicitly authorized California to adopt its own automobile emissions standards, recognizing that then, as now, California had by far the worst air in the country.    When President Bush —…

The Princeton Packet    The state Legislature appears ready to do something it should have done a long time ago: abolish capital punishment.    Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts and Assembly Speaker Pro-Tempore Wilfredo Caraballo announced recently at a press conference featuring Sister Helen Prejean, the anti-death penalty activist, that they plan to schedule a vote in December…

The Princeton Packet    On Thursday, families all over the country will gather for Thanksgiving, a holiday whose general theme of sharing (and gorging) serves as the unofficial start to the holiday season, despite the stores who had garland and wreaths on display before they could mark down the leftover Halloween candy.    For many, that gorging…

The Princeton Packet  We begin with a brief guest editorial from  “Joe,”  whose contribution to the torrent of online postings about Congo, the German shepherd facing euthanization for the mauling of landscape laborer Giovanni Rivera in Princeton begins: “Look, if you want to save the dog, that’s fine. But please stop the vile, stupid demonizing of…