Columnists endorse dangerous, unhealthy practices

Saturday's steady rain couldn't dampen the Christmas spirit on Main Street in Hackensack, near the Bergen County Courthouse.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Did you see the Road Warrior column on The Record's Local front today and Saturday, effectively Staff Writer John Cichowski's obituary for the state's red-light camera program?

Cichowski has hated these cameras for years.

In fact, he hates them so much he never mentions they are designed to catch speeders who think nothing of killing or maiming pedestrians and other motorists in their haste to get wherever they are going.

You see this same selfish behavior in drivers who blow through stop signs, because they are late for work or for some other ridiculous excuse. 

You can tell a lot about an irresponsible journalist by the "experts" he quotes.

Although red-light cameras have been proven to cut down on intersection crashes, deaths and injuries in New Jersey and other states, he manages to find mostly critics.

New York City is lowering speed limits and installing more cameras to catch drivers who speed or run red lights. 

Why is New Jersey ending its red-light program, especially in view of a drastic reduction in police enforcement of speeding and aggressive driving?

Of course, those are questions Cichowski should be asking.

Taste v. health

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung examines beef and lamb from many angles in her Sunday column today except health (BL-1).

She could have sought out an expert from Consumer Reports, which is campaigning against the use of harmful animal antibiotics to raise poultry, cattle and sheep.

The magazine notes humans who consume a lot of meat or poultry containing those antibiotics are becoming resistant to drugs prescribed by their doctors.

Instead, Ung sought out Ray Venezia, the former "vice president of meat" at Fairway Market, the New York City-based chain that sells tons of beef raised on harmful additives.

Venezia evaluates beef on how it tastes, and declares the fattiest prime cuts are the tastiest.

Of course, Ung doesn't mention the fattiest beef also clogs arteries, and is a leading cause of heart disease.

Pension disaster

Governor Christie's heavily promoted pension reform is a disaster, according to the lead Page 1 story today (A-1).

The fund covering retirement benefits for most of New Jersey's public employees "is projected to go broke in a decade, not the 30 years [state] officials had estimated just months ago."

Only The Record seems surprised.

Readers know the Christie administration has declared war on the middle class and has lied or fudged the truth on the state economy, environment, roads and mass transit, among others.

Yes, Virginia. The GOP bully is the worst governor we've ever had.