Love and Hate In New Jersey

I love New Jersey. I lived there for fifteen years and the Shore brought my wife and I together. The state has given the country more than its fair share of noteworthy people. How can you not love and/or admire Frank Sinatra, Franki Valli, Queen Latifah, Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Count Basie, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., Captain Iván Castro (blinded in Iraq but still serving in the Army) and all the brave men and women in our military, William Brennan, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, Bill Parcells, Franco Harris, Shaquille O'Neal, Al Leiter, Dana Bash, Andrew Napolitano, and Chris Christie (whether you're a Republican or Democrat he's a breath of fresh air in a world of idiots and double talkers). The list goes on and on and these are just a few of the names most of you will recognize.

However, there is a news story from the Garden State that makes me sick to my stomach. It's about a pathetic excuse for a human being, quite possibly a New Jerseyan (but let's hope not), who deserves nothing but your scorn and anger. He (I assume it's a man because I can't believe a woman would do something as cruel as this) is the slime ball who a month ago fired a .30 caliber bullet into the jaw of a Short-Finned Pilot Whale in the waters off the Shore. This beautiful, intelligent and sentient being suffered in agony for several weeks, until finally succumbing to infection and starvation, and beaching himself near Allenhurst where he died.

The National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement is looking for this depraved coward, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. If caught, he will be subject to a fine of $100,000 and a one year prison term (should be longer) for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is my fervent wish and prayer that he gets what is coming to him. Perhaps, if we are very lucky, one day he will fall overboard and meet a Great White Shark, up close and personal. We can only hope...