Dr. Ben Carson On Criticizing Obamacare: “Somebody Has To Stand Up To The Bullies”
DR. BENJAMIN CARSON: There are a group of people who would like to silence everybody and have everybody go along to get along, but that’s not going to be very helpful for us in the long run, in terms of solving our problems. And somebody has to be courageous enough to actually stand up to, you know, the bullies.
###
DR. CARSON: One of the things I also said during the speech is there will be some people who will say, ‘but you’re a doctor and you’re a surgeon, you should be sticking to that.’ And I mentioned the fact that five physicians signed the Declaration of Independence and were involved in the framing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and several other things.
There’s absolutely no reason at all that physicians, scientists, shouldn’t be involved in things that affect all of us. We’re people who’ve learned how to make decisions based on facts, empirical data, rather than on ideology, and one of the geniuses, one of the real things that made us a great nation, is that we brought people from all backgrounds into the legislative process. So that all of us would be able to place our interests there and we’ve gone significantly away from that.
And no one goes up to a lawyer and says why are you getting involved in this, that and the other thing. I don’t see why they would say it to a physician, who has more education than anyone else in society.
The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood Movie Day
Ridgewood NJ, Looking for something fun to do with the kids over the winter break?? Join The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood on Wednesday, February 20 for Movie Day at Clearview Warner Quad at 190 E Ridgewood Avenue in Ridgewood.
The featured movie is Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. The movie starts at 10am. The cost for tickets is $8. Children under 2 are free. The price includes unlimited popcorn and drinks. All the money raised will go to support the Co-op. If you have any questions, please call the school’s office at (201) 447-6232 or email ridgewoodcoop@gmail.com
Most of what they suggest in the report can be implemented relatively quickly. The section that discusses changes to the contracts is pretty dramatic. Most of it can, in fact, be implemented without changes from Trenton when the current contracts expire. The obvious challenge is getting the union negotiators to agree to dramatic overhauls of contracts that have become the “default” starting points during every negotiation. The issue is usually over how much of an increase the village will agree to, not whether another increase is even appropriate, let alone whether a new structure would be more appropriate.
Many of you seem too willing to throw up your hands and say “it is too difficult to make changes” or “we don’t know what we will get with change”. Of course changing decades of entrenched behavior is difficult. If it was easy, it would have been done a long time ago. But, our backs are against the wall now and we can’t afford to allow the existing behavior and policies to continue. We may not know whether change may bring some new challenges. But, we have a very good idea of what we stand to gain and we know very well what the current policies have brought us…and we cannot tolerate them anymore.
I suspect that many of the comments arguing against change to our municipal management are from municipal employees, who are afraid of the change and may not have a thorough understanding of what the report has recommended. It is hard to imagine that any Ridgewood taxpayer would suggest that we shouldn’t investigate the POSSIBILITY of exploring every recommendation in the report to see what we find out. If a recommendation can’t be implemented for some reason, so be it. But, we can’t be so apathetic that we are willing to accept the admonishments of anonymous naysayers on this blog as reasons not to try.
Critics of proposed Ridgewood’s Prejudicial dog ordinance unleash opposition
Monday February 11, 2013, 10:19 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Many pet owners and enthusiasts are asking the Ridgewood Council to reconsider a proposed ordinance that calls for an increase to the fee imposed on residents who license a court-designated “potentially dangerous dog.”
The public hearing and council vote on the ordinance, which if passed would up the licensing fee to $700, is scheduled for Feb. 13.
The village currently does not have an ordinance in place that establishes the fee for dangerous dogs, though state statute already mandates a minimum amount of $150.
In comparison, Ridgewood’s licensing fee for a “regular” spayed or neutered dog is $16.80. An additional $4 is charged for animals that have not been fixed.
According to Village Manager Ken Gabbert, the increased fee proposal comes via mutual request by officials from the Ridgewood health department and Tyco Animal Control, which provides municipal animal control services. In December, Gabbert said last week, health officials and animal control officers were wrapped in a time-consuming, potentially dangerous dog licensing case.
TRENTON – Calling half-day kindergarten “antiquated,” Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D-38) of Fair Lawn, said it’s time for all the state’s school districts to offer full-day kindergarten to keep up with growing expectations and worldwide competitiveness. State Street Wire
Former Ridgewood woman gets 4 years for bilking $2M in investment scheme
Monday February 11, 2013, 8:13 PM
BY JUSTO BAUTISTA
STAFF WRITER
The Record
A former Ridgewood resident was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday for bilking nearly $2 million from friends in New Jersey by getting them to invest in apartment complexes and undeveloped land in Oklahoma, authorities said.
Taya Romano, 36, also known as Taya Waldon, was also sentenced in federal court in Trenton to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution.
Romano was arrested in Oklahoma in January 2010 and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud last July before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan.
In 2008 and 2009, Romano, a masseuse-turned-real-estate-developer, conspired with her then-husband to solicit money from two sets of family friends —just over $1 million from one couple and $890,000 from another — to fund what she described as real estate purchases and improvements in Oklahoma, authorities said.
Tiger Team : Establish a Financial Oversight Board (FOB)
Tiger Team Recommendation of establishing a Financial Oversight Board has been hotly debated by readers
Our work on this Committee has convinced us that there is a need for continued citizen involvement, oversight and leadership in Ridgewood’s financial matters in conjunction with the Village Council and Village management. The first and most important recommendation of our committee is that a permanent Financial Oversight Board (FOB) comprised of citizens be established by March 31, 2013, to facilitate evaluation and/or implementation of recommendation within this report, particularly those related to the 2013 budget process. The committee is aware that the Faulkner Act form of government in Ridgewood gives the Village Manager executive power over each department in the Village. However, we believe that the Village Council cedes too much autonomy to Village management. The Village Manager is the “day to day” CEO. But, the Village Council is the “Board of Directors”, to which the Village Manager is accountable. They are responsible for the funding of all Village operations and are, ultimately, responsible for the budget and Village governance. Unfortunately, the Village Council members do not have the time necessary to develop sufficient expertise in many areas of Village management, particularly with complex financial and budgetary issues. As a result the Village Council often relies on brief summaries and recommendations from the Village Manager to inform their decisions, and may not gain sufficient understanding of the implications of their decisions or what questions to ask. Our sense is that Village management perpetuates this dynamic in some instances. We expect that some Village Council members will learn about some details of the Village’s finances, for the first time, through the information contained in this report. Our opinion is that the Village Council has an obligation to establish clear directives for Village management take a more proactive oversight role.
Thus, the main purpose of the FOB would be to augment the financial expertise of both the Village management and the Village Council. Similar to the Planning Board, the FOB would provide expertise and continuity across election cycles and serve as a valuable resource for the Village Council, particularly for newly elected Council members. FOB members should have significant financial management, budget management,and senior executive commercial or governmental management experience. The important recommendations in this report, as well as , areas identified for further study require that there be a group of citizens to support and audit the work being done by the Village. Because Village taxpayers bear the full burden of the Village and BOE budgets, and the BOE share of property taxes is approximately twice that of the Village share, we hope that the FOB would eventually also provide support and oversight to the BOE. This would also serve to facilitate synergies between the Village and the BOE that do not exist today.
Reader says get our fiscal house in order before we commit to opening the Village to another 500 households
I am struck by the fact we seem to be sticking our heads in the fiscal sand as we begin a big public debate over opening the town to development. Let’s put first things first and get our fiscal house in order before we commit to opening the Village to another 500 households.
I don’t know if I agree with the entirety of the Tiger Testament, but I sure would like to see some of those issues addressed before we talk about welcoming another 500 households to town. I would like to hear a rationale piecemeal response to the major points raised. I would like to see debate on points worth debating. I would like to see action on points worth taking. Or, I would like to see each of the Council members go on record now as to why they have considered the Tiger Testament, and rejected for the ultimate benefit of Ridgewood.
However, I get the sense from things I have read and heard recently that some on the council believe we will build our way out of financial problems with the new massive developments proposed for downtown. Some folks seem lulled by the promise of money from developers for quick fixes in the downtown area, coupled with the illusion that 500 new families will somehow inject needed cash into our town
From what i see and hear in town, we are gearing up for another massively devisive showdown as committees are formed, litigation plans, citizens unite, etc., to fight over the new development. It makes me think of a homeowner debating how to remodel attic space while neglecting the termites eating away at the house’s foundation.
VILLAGE HALL WILL BE CLOSED TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12th
Due to the Lincoln’s Birthday Holiday, all Village of Ridgewood offices will be closed. There will not be any sanitation or recycling collection February 12th.
Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of America’s greatest heroes due to both his incredible impact on the nation and his unique appeal. His is a remarkable story of the rise from humble beginnings to achieve the highest office in the land; then,a sudden and tragic death at a time when his country needed him most to complete the great task remaining before the nation. Lincoln’s distinctively human and humane personality and historical role as savior of the Union and emancipator of the slaves creates a legacy that endures. His eloquence of democracy and his insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to achieve.
Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you…. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.”
Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.
The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party’s nomination for President, he sketched his life:
“I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families–second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks…. My father … removed from Kentucky to … Indiana, in my eighth year…. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up…. Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher … but that was all.”
Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, “His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest.”
He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.
As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.
Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.
The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…. ”
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln’s death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.
The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Michael Beschloss and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2009 by the White House Historical Association.
We are currently experiencing snow and ice weather conditions. During this icy weather, residents are required to bring their garbage cans to the curb for collection.
Village of Ridgewood staff will only pick up garbage and recycling at the curb in snow and ice conditions. Ice condition is when ice is present in driveways and sidewalks.
Village : Seeking Residents to Volunteer to Serve on the Planning Board
The Village Council is looking for residents who are interested in volunteering to serve on the Planning Board.
The Planning Board reviews site plans and subdivision applications; prepares, adopts, and amends the Master Plan; and makes recommendations to the Village Council regarding amendments to developmental regulations and the official map.
All interested residents should fill out a Citizen Volunteer Leadership form (found on the Village website under “Forms”), and send it along with a cover letter and a biography or resume to:
Report: Menendez emails sought to aid donor’s firm
Monday, February 11, 2013 Last updated: Monday February 11, 2013, 5:02 PM
HENRY C. JACKSON AND STEPHEN BRAUN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Emails between Sen. Robert Menendez’s office and the Homeland Security Department describe efforts by his staff in January to thwart U.S. donations of cargo-screening equipment to the government of the Dominican Republic. Donated equipment could have jeopardized a port security contract benefiting a close Menendez associate and fundraiser.
The emails came six months after Menendez raised concerns about the Dominican government’s port security in a Senate hearing with senior officials from the State and Commerce departments. A company run by Dr. Salomon Melgen, Menendez’s biggest political donor, has pushed to secure a lucrative port security contract with the Dominican government.
In the emails, an unidentified staffer for Menendez told U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the Dominican government wouldn’t use any U.S.-supplied security equipment as effectively as the port’s private contractor, which the aide did not mention by name. “My boss’ concern is that the CBP equipment will be used for ulterior purpose and asks that you hold off on the delivery of any such equipment until you can discuss this matter with us,” the staffer wrote.
Bergen freeholder questions last-minute resolutions
Monday February 11, 2013, 6:03 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Bergen County Freeholder Maura DeNicola complained Monday that too many resolutions – some for large dollar contracts – are coming before the board at the last minute.
DeNicola noted that at the board’s last work session on Feb. 6, there were 14 late items on the agenda that called for total spending of $1.4 million. The spending resolutions – most of which were approved by the board – paid for bills ranging from the printing of sample ballots to the purchase of emergency generators.
But getting those items right before the start of a 4:30 p.m. work session does not allow the board enough time to give them the fiscal scrutiny they deserve, DeNicola said. Too often non-emergency items are being rushed through as though they were an emergency, she said.
Super Science Saturday Hosts its 25th Science and Technology Event
Ridgewood NJ Super Science Saturday presents its 25th celebration of science and technology
on Saturday, March 9. This fascinating and entertaining event will be from 9 a.m. to 1:30
p.m. at Ridgewood High School, 627 East Ridgewood Avenue. Admission is free.
Started by a Ridgewood science teacher and a handful of parents and students in 1987,
Super Science Saturday has become Northern New Jersey’s largest science show for
both students and professional scientists.
To celebrate its 25th year, Super Science Saturday invites attendees to participate in a
25-foot egg drop contest. Participants will be supplied with kits, which they can use to
protect their eggs from breaking on impact. Village and school district officials will be
invited to compete with students in the egg drop contest.
Other highlights include a Franklin Institute show on “Life in Space,” hundreds of exhibits
and demonstrations, the “Great Paper Airplane Contest,” and model rocket launches on
the high school football field.
Students from any school system, as well as adult hobbyists and professional scientists,
are invited to share their love of science with the community. Super
Science Saturday is a non-competitive event designed for fun, understanding and
appreciation of science and technology in our daily lives.
Two long-standing village institutions, The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood’s not-for-profit
hospital, and Ridgewood Education Foundation, which provides grants to enhance and
support the quality of education in Ridgewood public schools, again are fully funding
Super Science Saturday.
For more information, including ideas for science presentations or to sign up to exhibit,
www.supersciencesaturday.org.
While I believe some bans are simply a infringement on one’s rights banning smoking in a public park is not unreasonable
February 9, 2013
Tracy Frasche
While I believe some bans are simply a infringement on one’s rights, i.e. over sized soft drinks, Big Macs, $700 fines for dogs deemed “dangerous” etc., banning smoking in a public park is not unreasonable.
We are all aware of the health hazards associated cigarette smoking. It’s not a myth. Why should a nonsmoker be subjected to second-hand smoke in any public venue? No one is suggesting that smoking be banned in someone’s home. Only in places in which other people’s health could be effected by the habit.
It’s true, that if there is something to complain about, someone will find a reason to complain. Personally. I can’t complain that the Village Council is trying to protect one’s personal safety.
