>Classic Super Bowl promises grand ending to NFL season By Julian Linden INDIANAPOLIS | Fri Feb 3, 2012 6:32pm EST (Reuters) – One of the most tumultuous National Football League (NFL) seasons ever will climax on Sunday when the New York Giants and New England Patriots lock horns in the 46th Super Bowl.
A season that almost did not happen because of the bitter labor dispute between team owners and the players’ union has not only survived but produced a classic encounter between two of the NFL’s most popular franchises.
The United States has been whipped into a frenzy of excitement with more than 70,000 people expected to cram into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to watch the game live while an estimated record worldwide audience of more than 160 million are expected to watch the extravaganza unfold on television.
“It’s been an extraordinary year for the NFL on many different levels,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Friday.”
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 BY DARIUS AMOS STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
It’s a red, white and blue weekend, but residents in these parts are hoping no one celebrates the Patriots. Sunday marks the unofficial holiday when gorging on Buffalo wings, guacamole and every imaginable salty, sweet and sour snack is the norm, and praying to the gridiron gods is highly suggested.
Super Bowl fever has struck the village, and based on the various forms of football paraphernalia spotted throughout town during the past week, there’s no questioning which team has Ridgewood’s support.
Taylor Armstrong, Tuesday, February 7, 2012 @ 7pm The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star, Taylor Armstrong, will be signing her new book: Hiding from Reality; My story of Love, Loss, and Finding the Courage from Within
Book available Feb. 7th
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings. Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
>TSA Trains Super Bowl Hot Dog Sellers To Spot Terrorists VIPR search teams to be out in force before Sunday’s big game Paul Joseph Watson Infowars.com Friday, February 3, 2012
Despite acknowledging there are “no credible or specific threats” to the safety of the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Sunday, the TSA is training thousands of fast food sellers and other vendors to spot terrorists under the “First Observer” program.
“TSA said over 8,000 stadium vendors, parking lot attendants, shuttle bus drivers, and other transportation professionals received the agency’s First Observer training for detecting and assessing indicators and planning tactics of potential terrorist activities,” reports Government Security News.
>Obamacare’s Latest Victim Is Religious Freedom Mike Brownfield February 2, 2012 at 9:35 am
It has not even been two years since Obamacare was enacted, and already the President’s health care law has taken another victim — the religious freedoms Americans hold dear, as reflected by the First Amendment.
The Obama Administration recently reaffirmed a rule under Obamacare that requires many religious employers to provide health care coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and related education and counseling. On the grounds that certain FDA-approved contraceptive methods can sometimes “cause the demise of embryos both after and before uterine implantation,” many groups also believe that the rule forces them to cover abortion.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling the contraception mandate an “unprecedented” attack on religious freedom. And in statement after statement issued in diocese after diocese, many bishops are publicly declaring that they “cannot” and “will not” comply with “this unjust law.” As Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon explained, “Unless this rule is overturned, Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences or to drop health care coverage for our employees.”
It’s not just Catholics affected by the rule, however. Leaders from other faith traditions have expressed their concern, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has already filed a lawsuit on behalf of an interdenominational Christian college that objects to providing abortion and related education and counseling in its health care insurance. “The mandate is un-American, unprecedented, and flagrantly unconstitutional,” says an attorney for the college.
The Fat Man” Cometh POETRY SINGS THE BLUES Celebrating FATS DOMINO’s Birthday in Poetry and Song
February 25th @ 1 pm – 4 pm
RIDGEWOOD – Poets, musicians, a Southern-style chef, fans, and anyone else who’s interested or curious, will gather Saturday, February 25, at 1 p.m. at Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church (271 Lincoln Avenue at West End Avenue) for “Poetry Sings the Blues.” The festival will celebrate the life and music of Fats Domino, the legendary rhythm and blues performer who shaped early rock and roll, upon his 84th birthday.
All poets are invited to attend and read their works on the blues and R&B themes, and drop-in musical performers are welcome. A free-will offering will aid ongoing post-Katrina relief in New Orleans, where Domino has been a lifelong resident of the devastated Ninth Ward. The event follows New Jersey poets’ successful tribute to Elvis Presley at the same church a year ago.
The featured poets are James Gwyn of Clifton, first prize winner in the 2008 Allen Ginsberg poetry contest and recipient of five Pushcart prize nominations, and Francesca Maximé of New York City, a TV host and journalist and author of “Rooted,” a forthcoming book of poetry.
Musical tributes will be performed by the Victoria Warne Band and special guest, pianist Joe Sabina. Warne, a songwriter and the lead singer and guitarist with her band, has performed at the JVC Festival, many other New York area venues, and internationally.
Chef Jesse Jones, winner of Bergen County’s Ultimate Chef competition for 2010 and known for his Southern cooking with a French twist, will honor Domino with a demonstration of Voodoo Shrimp.
Antoine (“Fats”) Domino Jr., born February 26, 1928, was the major bridge between Southern black rhythm and blues and early 1950s rock and roll. Unlike many rockers, he co-authored almost all his pieces, sung with a distinct Creole inflection, while accompanying himself on piano with a much-imitated rolling style.
Domino’s first nationwide hit, “The Fat Man” (1949), is generally regarded the first rock record to sell more than a million copies. He posted a remarkable 37 singles on the Top 40 charts, including such huge sellers as “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill,” “I’m Walkin’,” “I’m in Love Again,” and “Blue Monday.”
>Gov. Chris Christie hails new corporate headquarters
Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno joined Madison Mayor Bob Conley and other local officials Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony for Realogy’s new corporate headquarters.
The 270,000 square foot LEED Silver Certified office building at 175 Park Ave. will house real estate franchise brands Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty.
“The noise you hear around us — the greatest noise I can hear as governor of New Jersey — is the noise of construction,” Christie said. “The state of New Jersey comeback has begun.” (Townsend, Gannett)
>Ridgewood Chamber Spotlight: Village Green restaurant Thursday, February 2, 2012 BY AIMEE LA FOUNTAIN CORRESPONDENT The Ridgewood News
Kevin Portscher, owner and chef of Village Green, said he “always had a dream” of opening his own restaurant. That dream was instilled in him early on.
“Growing up, someone in my family was always in the kitchen cooking,” he said. “I developed a passion for food and wanted to please the palates of others.”
Portscher began his career as a chef when he was 16. He graduated from The Culinary Institute of America and is a member of the Societe Culinaire Philanthropique, one of the nation’s oldest chef associations. Portscher also competes in food shows. He was awarded gold and silver medals at the Salon of Culinary Art and Exhibition in New York.
Superbowl Sunday is tomorrow! Pick up your cigars @ Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450 Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: info@tobaccoshop.com Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM
Christie in Denville: plans for leading New Jersey to economic prosperity
From an auditorium packed with roughly 600 people at the Morris County School of Technology, Gov. Chris Christie discussed Thursday his plans for leading New Jersey to economic prosperity.
The governor knocked his Democratic predecessors for a “decade of stagnation.”
“We lost 117,000 jobs in 2010 alone. Seventy billion dollars in wealth left New Jersey between 2004 and 2010,” he said. “We had the largest budget deficit by percentage in the country. Taxes were raised 115 times by Gov. McGreevey, Gov. Codey and Gov. Corzine.” (Townsend, Gannett)
> For biotech CEO, N.J. location is a must to lead turnaround BioNJ honoring exec who says home state is welcoming to industry By Jared Kaltwasser
A few months after leaving his home state of New Jersey to become CEO of a small Texas biotech firm, Paul Thomas sat down with LifeCell Inc.’s board of directors to have a frank talk.
The company’s regenerative medicine technology was everything Thomas had hoped for, but to reach the technology’s commercial potential, he would need to reinvent the company and realign its staff.
“I said, ‘Look, I can do all that in Texas, or we can put this business in a location where we have the ability to attract the types of folks who can really help us drive that transformation,'” he said.
LifeCell became the first of two companies Thomas would bring to New Jersey, an effort that will be recognized Feb. 2, when BioNJ presents Thomas — now CEO of Warren-based Roka Bioscience Inc. — with the trade group’s top honor, the Sol J. Barer Award, at its annual meeting.
BioNJ President Debbie Hart said Thomas isn’t alone in seeking out New Jersey for its talent pool.
“It’s frankly the reason that we even get a look,” she said. “It’s the reason that we end up on anyone’s list that’s looking to relocate, and a lot of times it’s one of the top three reasons that the decision is made to come here.”
Thomas, who grew up in Ridgewood, had planned to become a research chemist. He studied chemistry in undergraduate and graduate school before changing course and enrolling in an MBA program at Columbia University.
>Exploring America’s Entrepreneurial Edge by Free Enterprise https://www.freeenterprise.com/entrepreneur/exploring-america%E2%80%99s-entrepreneurial-edge
BBC News has launched a new series talking to entrepreneurs around the world. In its first installment, the news outlet spoke to three American entrepreneurs about their successes and challenges, asking the question, “What are the reasons behind America’s continuing entrepreneurial success—and can they be copied?”
Interviews with Smashburger founder Tom Ryan, Lean Startup author Eric Ries, and London-based entrepreneur Julie Meyer, reveal three reasons the U.S. has an entrepreneurial edge over many European nations.
Cultural acceptance of risk: Ries observes that failure is “almost seen as a useful experience” and that one of the key cultural factors in America’s favor is “a willingness to tolerate failure. Add to that European countries’ high personal liability levels for entrepreneurs and it starts to become clear why the U.S. has an advantage.
Financing and tax policy: Access to capital and uncertainty over tax policy are two of the repeated challenges U.S. entrepreneurs cite. Those issues aren’t unique to American soil; in fact, Meyer suggests U.K. policies lag even further behind. She says, “The U.K. government needs to cut taxes for small firms to help spur growth and act as an incentive.”
Smaller government: According to Meyer, European countries have discouraged entrepreneurship by providing too much government assistance, but that may be all about to change. “Governments need to be much smaller, with more focus on individuals,” Meyer says. “And we are now heading in that direction, because European governments suddenly realize they cannot afford to be so large.”
>Record 1.2 Million People Fall Out Of Labor Force In One Month, Labor Force Participation Rate Tumbles To Fresh 30 Year Low
A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55%. Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that’s not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation. As for the quality of jobs, as withholding taxes roll over Year over year, it can only mean that the US is replacing high paying FIRE jobs with low paying construction and manufacturing. So much for the improvement.
You know what i said at 308 eastern? we want a million jobs an hour. that’s what we want. what we got looked like a good report. i said let’s get the calculator out and i did. so did my sources and big blogs many people read like zero hedge. the labor force participation rate if you look at nonseasonally adjusted, a fresh low going back to april of ’83. if you look at seasonally adjusted a fresh low participation rate going back to december of ’81. what does that mean in english? shrinkage. shrinkage. 1.2 million people are now not considered unemployed anymore. they just have left the system. we need to concentrate on the internals and eventually we want to watch the fixed income market to see if some of this sets in as people do their ciphering. back to you.
