Veterans on Harleys break laws, tie up traffic, diss the flag

In sleepy Mahwah, musicians in the Les Paul Trio were protected from the sun, above and below, but most of the people who attended a celebration of the late, great jazz guitarist on Sunday roasted in the parking lot of a local museum. To add insult to injury, the chintzy museum sent someone out to solicit donations from the overheated guests.

Les Paul lived in Mahwah for about 50 years, and the museum has a collection of the electric guitars and multi-track recording equipment he pioneered. But the museum doesn't have a water fountain that would have provided some relief to the sun-baked crowd on Sunday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Veterans wearing the American flag as a head covering and riding noisy motorcycles that spew pollution are celebrated in The Record today.

Count yourself lucky you weren't one of the hundreds of motorists inconvenienced as nearly 600 Harley-Davidsons roared down Bergen County roads and highways during a 48-mile drive to raise money for fellow veterans (L-1).

Turn to Pages L-1, L-2 and L-3 in Local today for a photo comparison of how to disrespect and respect the Stars and Stripes.

On L-1 and L-2, motorcyclists Steven Espinal and Peter Rossi are shown wearing what look like stylized American flags as head coverings or what are sometimes referred to as do-rags.

On L-3, Westwood Elks Lodge members are shown with a carefully folded American flag that was being retired. 

The Record publishes upbeat photos and stories on motorcycle charity runs several times a year, associating noise and air pollution and the violation of anti-noise ordinances with the doing of good deeds.

But such coverage ignores one of the biggest quality-of-life issues in North Jersey -- motorcycles that are deliberately modified to make as much noise as possible.

Of course, some would say who can blame veterans for trying to draw some attention to themselves after they were mistreated by their own government on their return from war.

Still, I'm sure they can find another way to do good that doesn't disturb the peace and quiet we all desire, especially on a Sunday.

When will editors hit poor quality of life in Bergen County?

A business jet, above, and a noisy Italian-made airplane, below, roaring over South Hackensack as they prepared to land at Teterboro Airport last November.

Many of the jets that use Teterboro are flown over residential neighborhoods in Hackensack, Teaneck and other towns on their way to and from the airport.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Business jets and noisy single-engine planes roaring overhead around the clock. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle blasting past your house just before 7 in the morning.

Roads so antiquated that many lack turn lanes or proper drainage, leading to flash floods that threaten to swallow luxury SUVs (see Page 1 of The Record today).

Even though Bergen County residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, their quality of life often sucks, and The Record could care less.

Today, the Local editors celebrate a charity run by hundreds of lawbreakers riding motorcycles modified to make as much noise as possible (L-1). 

If police can set up checkpoints to catch people who don't buckle up, why can't they do the same to cite motorcyclists for violating anti-noise ordinances?

One reason may be that many Harleys are owned by cops and firemen, both active and retired.

Members of Fourth Watch, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle club exclusively for emergency medical personnel, firefighters, members of the military and police officers, at Englewood's Memorial Day Parade. The roar from their bikes was defeaning, and their fumes filled the air. What a poor example to set for spectators, including children.

Long, involved stories that excite only the editors

A Juneteenth celebration on Saturday in the Ridgefield Park section of the new Overpeck Park, above, included a lot of great food, such as this fried whole red snapper prepared by the Church of God of Prophecy in Englewood, below.

Call them retrospectives or process stories, the three takeouts that start on Page 1 of The Record today excite only the editors and reporters who worked on them, and put the rest of us to sleep.

How can Staff Writer John Brennan go on and on about "equity," "tax abatements," "tax breaks" and "private financing," but never tell readers when that monstrosity called American Dreams Meadowlands is going to be repainted (A-1 and A-7)?

The ugly hulk visible to every driver on the turnpike has turned into a long-running Jersey joke.

One-track mind

Meanwhile, Staff Writer Karen Rouse continues to obsess over a safe haven for NJ Transit railcars and locomotives, ignoring the screams from rush-hour commuters who have to stand in the aisles (A-1 and A-6).

Check out the dated black-and-white photos and stale news in the Jersey mob story, which is linked to the death on Wednesday of actor James Gandolfini, who portrayed the boss in "The Sopranos," a TV fiction that ended 6 long years ago (A-1, A-6, L-1 and BL-1).

Those old photos remind readers of the dated thumbnails that run with columns by aging Staff Writers Mike Kelly and Virginia Rohan, and Travel Editor Jill Schensul.

Refreshing news

The only bright spot on the front page is the upbeat story on retiring Teaneck teacher Rosanne Ponchick, who used tea-bag tags as a teaching tool (A-1 and A-5).

More road error

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to ignore North Jersey's nightmarish traffic jams and related commuting issues to go on and on about driving and cellphones (L-1).

His last column was far from accurate, according to an e-mail to management from a concerned reader:

"The Road Warrior returns in his June 21 column [Friday] to one of his many fiascoes and piles on even more of his confusing mistakes and advice about when to call 911 or #77 while driving. He contradicts state laws, police guidelines and Web sites.

"He advises and reports that drivers should call 911, when they should call #77, and vice versa. He advises and reports that drivers can also call local police, which is impractical since most people do not have police numbers for every town they drive in.

"The Road Warrior continues to repeatedly quote officials, who make false statements, which also contradict state laws or guidelines, without any fact-checking or counterpoints.

 "How does The Record management allow dissemination to its readers of such grossly unsafe, mistaken reporting and confusing advice, which does not comply with state  statutes and guidelines, and then not insist the Road Warrior make needed corrections?"

The full e-mail appears on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Road Warrior is who ya not gonna call

Noisy bikers

Another driving-related issue Cichowski won't dare touch are all of those municipal anti-noise ordinances routinely violated by owners of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Those bikers modify their Harleys to make as much noise as possible, then thumb their noses at all of the people they disturb with their piggish behavior.

These menaces hoodwink The Record and other media with charity runs, such as the one reported today on L-1.

Christie's last big speech is a big flop

Many Harley-Davidson motorcycles are deliberately modified to make as much noise as possible, but many owners get away with it because they are cops and firefighters. See today's Road Warrior column. (Wikipedia)

What's not reported in The Record today is that Governor Christie is certain to lose his bid for a second term now that he has alienated so many middle-class voters during his first three years in office.

In his final State of the State speech on Tuesday, the GOP bully hitched his star to the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, determined not to look back on what many observers see as a series of major policy failures (A-1).

On Nov. 5, voters aren't likely to forget how:

Christie broke his 2009 campaign promise to lower local property taxes, failed to expand an overburdened mass-transit system, told the Big Lie of a "Jersey Comeback," cut numerous programs so he could veto modest tax surcharges on millionaires that would have raised $1 billion in new revenue; and doled out hundreds of millions in business tax breaks with little or no effect on the state's lagging economy.

More diarrhea

Editor Marty Gottlieb gives us yet another column from Staff Writer Charles Stile, who praises Christie's "political ingenuity" (A-1).

You could call Stile prolific, if his columns weren't so boring and so pro-Christie, and didn't smell like diarrhea.

Where are the ear plugs?

On the Local front today, Road Warrior John Cichowski makes an impassioned plea for more training of people who own motorcycles, but doesn't explain what this has to do with the commuting problems he's supposed to be writing about (L-1).

What he doesn't tell you is how many Harley-Davidson owners disturb everyone else by deliberately modifying their bikes to make as much noise as possible, and get away with it because they are cops and firefighters. 

And do Ninja bikers need more training so they can better terrorize motorists on highways by weaving in and out of traffic at insane speeds?

Fat people are sick people

An Opinion piece argues "fat people" are the targets of employment, health care, education and "public spaces" bias --  what author Abigail 
Saguy calls "unequal treatment based on stereotyping fat people as lazy, unmotivated, sloppy and lacking in self-discipline and competence" (A-9).

If that's so, how do two lifers at The Record -- head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Project Editor Tim Nostrand -- hold onto their jobs, despite their appearing "lazy" and "unmotivated" in their mission of providing comprehensive local news coverage? 

The article also ignores that "fat people" have more health problems, are out sick more and see more doctors than other employees, and paying for that raises health-insurance rates for everyone else.