Iowahawk answers a vexing local question which I'm reporting entirely out of context:

Why is New Jersey the butt of so many cruel jokes? I recommend traveling there by car. You’ll see many charming, well-kept towns, filled with attractive, friendly, intelligent people. Then, when you finally arrive at the New Jersey border, you will understand why it is the butt of so many cruel jokes.

(Via Roger L. Simon.)

One of these days.

The thing is, I love too much of the state to dwell on its ugliness. The Pine Barrens, the shore, Cape May, and various historic suburbs scattered throughout New Jersey are lovely. When it's beautiful, it's truly beautiful. But when it's ugly....

I'll say this for the ugliness of New Jersey: it is so uniquely ugly that maybe it ought to be preserved for future research.

Attempts to beautify certain things have a way of making them worse.