A surprising day (running on the treadmill) — I felt kind of flat going in, but pushed myself pretty hard, chugging through a slow first mile (about 9:25), hit 18 minutes at the second mile and 26:45 for three. I ended up doing four today in 35:40. That gives me 16 miles for the week, beating my goal of 15.
I tried something a bit different, some interval training — increasing my speed and then slowing several times — to help build my kick.
iPod today: Elvis Costello’s The Delivery Man
The state Supreme Court has invalidated the most recent housing plan crafted by the state Council on Affordable Housing, saying the new “rules frustrate rather than further, a realistic opportunity for the production of affordable housing.”
Responding to an appeal brought by the Fair Share Housing Center and three other organizations, the court found the state Council on Affordable Housing in 2004 had watered down the towns’ housing obligations through bogus calculations, arbitrary rules and unconstitutional changes. Overall, the court found COAH eliminated 100,000 affordable housing units without adequate reasoning.
This should not have been a surprise to anyone. The state’s approach to the third round — letting towns come up with their own numbers — was rife with conflicts, giving suburban municipalities too much leeway to underestimate their need.
The court’s ruling opens the way for the state Legislature to come up with a more sensible approach, including the elimination of so-called regional contribution agreements that allow towns to pawn off their own obligations on needy urban centers.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Sometimes I get too busy to post. But I do get to it eventually.
Today — a surprising five miles in just over 45 minutes. I had done the first four mile at a better than nine-minute pace, but slowed for the final mile. I had started with the notion of doing three or four, so that last one was gravy.
Today’s iPod selection: The Beatles, Revolver and Rubber Soul.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Senate Democrats — along with Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska — took the first step toward disentangling the nation from one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in our history. It was a baby step, to be sure, a purely symbolic move with no teeth, but it stands as the most strenuous objection raised by the legislative branch since 2002.
According to The Washington Post,
The measure declares that increasing U.S. troop strength is not in America’s national interest. It calls an open-ended commitment in Iraq “unsustainable” and says Iraqi leaders and the United States should use political and diplomatic channels to end sectarian conflict and reduce regional interference in Iraqi affairs.
Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana who voted against the resolution, called it the equivalent of a soundbite and warned his colleagues that it
would be “the legislative equivalent of a sound bite,” would allow Congress to wash its hands of responsibility for the war and would weaken America’s standing in the eyes of foreign observers.
“We don’t need a resolution to confirm that there is broad discomfort” with the war, Lugar said. “If Congress is going to provide constructive oversight, they must get involved in the weeds” of the policy.
He’s partially right. Symbolic actions provide an important avenue by which we can frame the debate. But they must be accompanied by real action — in this case, a willingness to use the purse strings to force a phased withdrawal.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Here’s a preview of the story:
Fire damages historic site
Blaze destroys barn on Titus Farm propertyBy Joseph Harvie
Staff WriterA suspicious fire destroyed a nearly 100-year-old barn on the Titus Farm in Kendall Park on Jan. 18, South Brunswick Police Department spokesman Detective James Ryan said Wednesday.
The fire was reported at 8:32 p.m. when a nearby resident saw the barn ablaze from his kitchen window, Detective Ryan said. The farm is adjacent to Woodlot Park, behind the wooded area in the northwestern section of the park, and it abuts some homes on Stockton Road.
Detective Ryan said building’s charred frame is too dangerous to enter, but that the fire is suspicious because the barn has no electricity and it was unoccupied.
Township Public Affairs coordinator Ron Schmalz said the only items in the building were tiles left by an artist who worked in the building about 30 years ago and a kiln, which he said had also not been used for 30 years.
According to the township Public Library Web site, a headstone for Thomas Titus, who died July 21, 1819, when he was 65, was found on the site and is now in storage in the township Public Works shed. In December, the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders donated a grave marker to be used in place of the headstone.
Mr. Schmalz said that the township is planning to use the farm as an agricultural museum, and will move items, such as wagons and old-fashioned mowers, from other barns on the site to a more secure location. He said that there were plans to demolish some of the buildings on the site and to erect new buildings to be used as an agricultural museum. Mr. Schmalz said the township would work with its Historic Preservation Commission before any buildings are destroyed.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 