Study finds car computers vulnerable to viruses, hijacking
By Keith Laing – 08/21/12 03:29 PM ET
As cars are becoming more computerized, they are also becoming more susceptible to viruses, a study released this month found.
The report, from the University of California San Diego and the University of Washington’s Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security (CAESS), argued that “[M]odern automobiles are pervasively computerized, and hence potentially vulnerable to attack.”
The group found that cars are becoming more vulnerable to attacks from external remote-controlled devices, such as Bluetooth headsets and GPS tracking.
Governor Christie to sign bill today expanding Rutgers University
Governor Christie is expected to sign a bill later today that will give Rutgers University coveted medical and dental schools, substantially increasing the size and stature of the state university.
The bill, which passed the Legislature earlier this summer, will merge most of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey into Rutgers. The medical university’s campuses in Newark and New Brunswick/Piscataway will be taken over by Rutgers by July 2013.
The governor and other proponents of the move say it will shore up the struggling medical university and elevate Rutgers – enabling the state to attract more medical research dollars. (Alex, The Record)
Americans Having Fewer Babies Crimping Consumer Spending
By Steve Matthews – Aug 21, 2012 4:11 PM ET
Debra Mollen, 41, a psychology professor in Denton, Texas, said she and her husband don’t plan to have children as they strive to pay down their mortgage and save for retirement.
“Children are really expensive,” Mollen said, and the 2008 financial crisis shows the importance of building a nest egg. “Retirement is not an option for a lot of folks.”
Mollen isn’t alone, as Americans have had fewer babies each year since the 2008 financial meltdown, with births falling to a 12-year low in 2011, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The low birth rate and reduced immigration resulted in the smallest gain in population since World War II, which may hurt spending on everything from Huggies diapers to pregnancy kits, child care and education.
“Consumption bumps up when families have children,” said Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Plc in New York, who worked at the Federal Reserve from 1995 to 2000, and researched household finances. “The fact we are seeing fewer births is something of a drag on consumer spending. To the extent this turns out to be a persistent trend, it is something to be worried about.”
The population increased by 0.92 percent, or 2.8 million people, to 311.6 million from the end of the decennial population count on April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, the slowest rate over a similar period since the mid-1940s, the Census Bureau said.
Attorney says Ridgewood is required to make Graydon Park accessible
TUESDAY AUGUST 21, 2012, 10:07 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The village is legally responsible to ensure that the entire facility at Graydon Park conforms to all regulations set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when Ridgewood’s governing body proceeds with plans to improve accessibility into the pool, legal officials confirmed last week.
Members of the Village Council last month discussed the possibility of modifying preliminary plans for a new ADA ramp leading into the water, but the topic was left open for future dialogue following a debate over the municipality’s legal accessibility obligations.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn picked up the conversation last week and verified that accessibility compliance regulations differ for public and private entities.
“Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, private businesses and private homes only have a legal obligation to make accessibility changes if they’re undertaking a major renovation. The question is: We’re not making major renovations with Graydon, do we still have a legal obligation?” Aronsohn said during last week’s work session.
Village Attorney Matt Rogers detailed the ADA and explained how it will impact Ridgewood’s plans to improve accessibility at the pool.
Ridgewood NJ, On the way to the train station I noticed the Stable had a $9.99 Prix-Fixe lunch special so I thought it was worth a try. The food was excellent though the service could have been a bit more enthusiastic . The Empanada appetizer was near perfect ,with a crisp pis crust filled with moist meaty filling. For the main coarse I had the chorizo,chicken and shrimp combo served over a bed of yellow rice which was cooked to perfection and just enough to fill the bill but not enough to put me in a food coma . https://thestablerestaurant.com/menus.html
If you do not already know the Stable Restaurant located in Ridgewood, NJ, offers an exciting new way to dine the popular Rodizio style of restaurant service where unlimited slow cooking servings of a wide variety of skewered meats. Featuring: Beef, Lamb, Pork, Turkey, Chicken, Sausages, and more are server right of the cooking skewer, then sliced or platter at the table for you to enjoy it.
Open 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Rodizio begins at 5 p.m. weekdays, 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
I am a big fan of ” rodizio” style cooking so i am going to come back and give it a try as soon as I work up an appetite.
Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, among the top donors to the Republican machine this election, is also now the top giver — along with his wife — to the New Jersey congressional race of the reality-TV rabbi, Shmuley Boteach.
Mr. Adelson, who runs the Las Vegas Sands international gaming empire, and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, who runs the Adelson drug clinic, have each given $250,000, or $500,000 total, to a new independent super PAC called the Patriot Prosperity PAC, according to people close to the Adelsons and the PAC.
Patriot Prosperity is supporting Mr. Boteach, who is running as a Republican, against eight-term Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. in a newly redrawn district in northern New Jersey. (Mundy, The Wall Street Journal)
N.J. Senate OKs bill that would protect people who call 911 to report drug overdoses from arrest
Under a bill passed by the Senate on Monday, people who call 911 to report a drug overdose would be protected against arrest or prosecution.
The bill, called the “Good Samaritan Emergency Response Act,” already passed the Assembly 67 to 8. The Senate approved it, without debate, by a vote of 21 to 10. It now heads to Governor Christie to sign into law or veto.
The law would protect “a person who, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for someone experiencing a drug overdose” from arrest or prosecution related to the drug abuse by treating the person’s actions as a “mitigating factor in a prosecution for other drug-related offenses.” It gives the same protection to the drug users themselves. (Linhorst, The Record)
Moody’s: Hospitals face heavy risk without Medicaid expansion
In a recent industry report, Moody’s Investor Services confirmed what many nonprofit hospital executives feared after the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act — more financial risk is on the table, as states are able to opt out of the Medicaid expansion.
Bark Park: My children never once used the playground at the Duck Pond, but I don’t begrudge other parents bringing their children
Actually, socializing my dog with others IS caring for it properly. Not to mention, well-exercised and socialized dogs make better-behaved, less aggressive and more quiet (less likely to bark) neighbors alongside non-dog-owning residents.
These are just a few of the benefits dog parks offer to the entire community. And the tired “not my tax dollars” argument makes no sense in our structure of County or Village taxes and services. I don’t play tennis, but my Village has tennis courts. I don’t drive on Street A or B but my tax money helps pave them.
My children never once used the playground at the Duck Pond, but I don’t begrudge other parents bringing their children to the swings and I suspect childless residents don’t tell parents they should have planned better to purchase their own playground equipment. Village- or County-provided services and facilities are not offered via a menu where we get to pick and choose exactly which ones our tax dollars should support, and nor should they be.
Nearly half of US doctors struggle with burnout: study
Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:12am EDT
(Reuters) – Job burnout strikes doctors more often than it does other employed people in the United States, according to a national survey that included more than 7,000 doctors.
More than four in 10 U.S. physicians said they were emotionally exhausted or felt a high degree of cynicism, or “depersonalization,” toward their patients, said researchers whose findings appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“The high rate of burnout has consequences not only for the individual physicians, but also for the patients they are caring for,” said Tait Shanafelt of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who led the research.
Previous studies have shown that burned-out doctors are more prone to thinking about suicide and to making medical errors than their peers, Shanafelt added.
The survey included nearly 7,300 doctors who filled in questionnaires about their work-life balance in 2011.
An extremely important movie out currently and is in a few states right now – – It is called simply “2016”. Author is Dinesh D’Souza, college president in New York and author of many New York Times best sellers. The movie is from Gerald R. Molen, producer of Academy Award winning Schindler’s List, Jurrasic Park , Brave Heart.
It explains in plain language who Barack Obama really is, what he stands for, and the dangers of him being reelected for another four years.
Movie – “2016 Obama’s America” – will be shown at AMC Theater in Paramus. September 6 – We believe the show time will be 7:00 pm, but you will have to call the theatre to confirm and try to get your tickets ahead of schedule – Mark your calendars, especially those of you who are not on the internet. This is a joint effort with various Tp groups in the area. Teaming up with local TP’s in this effort Tickets will be $12.50 per person – try brining a friend to spread the word .
Private Tea Party Showing , 2016 Obama’s America, AMC Garden State Plaza , 7 pm Thursday, September 6, Tickets $12.50 each .Tickets not available from the box office .Consult your local Tea Party or contact conservative_caucus@verizon.net.
or Phone 201 891-5918.
Back to School: A High-Tech Fix for Broken Schools Digital learning gives young minds a shot at educational excellence.
BY JUAN WILLIAMS
Mooresville, N.C., is best known as “Race City, U.S.A.,” home of Nascar. But these days Mooresville is leading the nation in a different way—by using digital technology to improve public education.
“Fixing Our Schools,” a documentary I am hosting for the Fox News Channel this Sunday, looks at how digital learning is being used by schools like those in Mooresville to help fix our broken education system.
Our schools are undoubtedly in crisis. Prize-winning documentaries such as “Waiting for ‘Superman'” have revealed the terrible cost of losing young minds to failing schools. Dropout rates are particularly high among minority children .
https://tinyurl.com/9d4eaad
Back to School: Race to the Top for School Districts: More Federal Education Intervention
Lindsey Burke
August 17, 2012 at 4:04 pm
The Obama Administration’s new Race to the Top District (RTT-D) competition, a competitive grant program on top of the more than 100 programs the Department of Education (DOE) already operates, entices cash-strapped school districts with another $400 million to implement the Obama education agenda.
For the past half-century, federal education funding and control have been growing at the expense of state educational autonomy. The last thing our struggling education system needs is for local school districts to become dependent on Washington for education funding, further centralizing school-level policies in the hands of federal bureaucrats.
RTT-D is an offshoot of the original Race to the Top (RTT), the Obama Administration’s $4.35 billion competitive grant program to states carved out of the “stimulus.” The DOE says the new district-level program will “help schools become engines of innovation”:
Race to the Top, launched in 2009, has inspired dramatic education reform nationwide, leading 45 states and the District of Columbia to pursue higher college- and career-ready standards, data-driven decision making, greater support for teachers and leaders, and turnaround interventions in low performing schools. The next phase proposes to build on those principles at the classroom level to support bold, locally directed improvements in learning and teaching that will directly improve student achievement and educator effectiveness.
Concern about the Administration’s push to nationalize the content taught in schools across America through the Common Core State Standards led some states to pass on the original RTT competition. States like Alaska, Texas, and North Dakota have never applied for RTT grants. Under the new district-level competition, the feds will appeal directly to school districts, offering up millions in exchange for adoption of the White House’s preferred policies.
Customized learning has led the education news cycle over the past few weeks as back to school season gets in full swing. And for good reason. Every day there is growing evidence that a seismic shift in the delivery of instruction is underway, bringing with it a tidal wave of educational options for families.
Earlier this month, the news site Education Week published an inside look at one family’s hybrid schooling experience.
Emmy Elkin’s school day starts with a cooking show.
The 10-year-old and her mom, Jill Elkin of Peachtree City,Ga., are up at8 a.m., making breakfast along with “Iron Chef America” and chatting about algebra. Last week, Emmy left home after breakfast to meet a new Japanese tutor, around the time her sister Kayla, 14, dragged herself awake to get her independent mathematics study done before a friend came over for a joint British literature course. The sisters spent the afternoon working through a chemistry course online, with Jill Elkin giving more individual coaching to her younger daughter.
Kayla and Emmy are part of the modern generation of home-schooled students, piecing together their education from their mother, a former Fayette County math teacher, other district and university teachers, parent co-ops, and online providers.
Education Week goes on to profileBaywood Learning Center in California, which provides courses à la carte to homeschooling families:
Parents usually design a patchwork quilt of different classes and activities for their children,” [school director Grace Neufeld] said. “What I see is they sign up for various classes being held in various locations like science centers or museums or different places. They also add things like music lessons, art lessons, sports, or martial arts.
Less religious states give less to charity: study
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last Updated: 9:09 AM, August 20, 2012
Posted: 9:08 AM, August 20, 2012
BOSTON — A new study on the generosity of Americans suggests that states with the least religious residents are also the stingiest about giving money to charity.
The study released Monday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that residents in states where religious participation is higher than the rest of the nation, particularly in the South, gave the greatest percentage of their discretionary income to charity.
The Northeast, with lower religious participation, was the least generous to charities, with the six New England states filling the last six slots among the 50 states.
The study also found that patterns of charitable giving are colored in political reds and blues.
Of the 10 least generous states, nine voted for Democrat Barack Obama for president in the last election. By contrast, of the 10 most generous states, eight voted for Republican John McCain.
But Peter Panepento, the Chronicle’s assistant managing editor, said that political breakdown likely speaks to a state’s religious makeup, not its prevailing political views. He noted the lowest-ranked Democrat states were also among the least religious, while the top-ranked Republican states were among the more religious.
“I don’t know if I could go out and say it’s a complete Republican-Democrat difference as much as it is different religious attitudes and culture in these states,” he said.
The study was based on Internal Revenue Service records of people who itemized deductions in 2008, the most recent year statistics were available.
