Ridgewood Campaign signs end up in a front yard
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Campaign signs of failed candidates litter the yard of a Ridgewood home. Senior prank ,we are not sure but 50 Evan Weitz signs were posted on a lawn at Robinson Lane and North Walnut this morning. “All the loser signs are posted. It’s hilarious.” On the positive someone did sneak a Hache sign in there.
It was supposed to be another staid meeting of the board that oversees New Jersey’s $71 billion public-employee pension system. It ended with a dramatic deadlocked vote on a key policy issue — how heavily pension assets should be invested in hedge funds — and an equally dramatic threat from one veteran board member to immediately tender his resignation. John Reitmeyer, NJ Spotligh Read more
After months of delays and mutual recrimination between the city and state, the state Assembly and Senate approved an amended Atlantic City rescue package Thursday. The successful bill would give the city 150 days to balance its nearly $100 million budget shortfall for 2017, then hold it accountable for doing the same over a period of five years in order to avoid a state takeover of its finances. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJRead more
Mahwah’s mayor and police chief were behind a plot to discredit a public works official and political rival, pressing false allegations that he viewed pornography on a township computer that ultimately led to his death, a lawsuit alleges. Peter J. Sampson, The Record Read more
file photo by Boyd Loving
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Toms River’s zoning laws affecting religious land uses, including the Board of Adjustment’s requirement that a rabbi obtain a use variance to continue operating his Church Road home as a house of worship. Jean Mikle, Asbury Park Press Read more
May 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, More or less all lawyers in New Jersey who are both intelligent and honest will freely admit that, even though the New Jersey Supreme Court has boldly declared and decreed that our state constitution mandates the ready availability of so-called “affordable housing”, the actual text of that document mandates no such thing. In other words, the New Jersey Supreme Court made it all up based on its policy preferences.
For its part, the New Jersey legislature subsequently failed effectively to fight against the Supreme Court’s usurpation of its constitutionally-bestowed power to devise and enact generally-applicable public laws. So why has the unconstitutional Mount Laurel regime survived and become so well-ingrained in New Jersey? Because the vast majority of New Jersey attorneys have regrettably maintained decades of strict radio silence on this issue, thereby allowing the Mount Laurel regime to develop the necessary patina of legitimacy. Some have done this because they fear the professional consequences of vocal dissent. In other words, they are ruled by political correctness. However most do so because they so heartily support the underlying affordable housing POLICY that they are willing to accept however much DAMAGE the Mount Laurel regime will unavoidably wreak on the integrity of our state constitution.
This is such a brutal attack on the New Jersey State Constitution that it arguably amounts to a violation of the United States Constitution. This is because the Mount Laurel regime is both judicially-created, and judicially-enforced, and therefore deprives New Jersey residents of the small “r” republican form of government the U.S. Constitution guarantees to all U.S. citizens. As a rueful result, New Jersey is now poised to be used by political progressives as a constitutional-law-based model for imposing a similar housing policy on the rest of the country, much like Massachusettes’ all-encompassing healthcare regime (i.e., Romneycare) was used by Obama and Ridgewood’s own Jonathan Gruber as a template for foisting the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) on every U.S. citizen that currently draws breath.
file photo by Boyd Loving
May 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The two major events on Memorial day in the Village of Ridgewood are the Fred D’Elia Ridgewood Run at Veteran’s Memorial Field, Monday at 8 a.m. and the American Legion Post 53 will host a service at Memorial Park Monday at 11 a.m. in Van Neste Square on East Ridgewood Avenue.
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
May 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Personnel from the Village of Ridgewood’s Parks Department Shade Tree Division work to remove a large limb that fell at 7:00 AM on Thursday, 05/26 and blocked the intersection of West End Avenue and Grandview Circle. A RIdgewood PD patrol officer had cordoned off the roadway with caution tape prior to the arrival of tree workers.
Airport screening delays have caused more than 70,000 American Airlines (AAL.O) customers and 40,000 checked bags to miss their flights this year, an executive for the airline told a U.S. congressional subcommittee on Thursday.
A shortage of staff and a surge in air travelers have created a nightmare scenario for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), with airport wait times in places like Chicago stretching beyond two hours.
While TSA is taking steps to shorten lines such as hiring more full-time officers, it lacks the staffing to handle peak travel times this summer, Administrator Peter Neffenger said on Wednesday.
American, the world’s largest airline, wants TSA to create a senior internal role focused on traveler concerns, said American Airlines Group Inc Senior Vice President for Customer Experience Kerry Philipovitch. The request comes days after Neffenger shook up TSA’s management, removing the head of security operations, Kelly Hoggan.
Philipovitch also recommended that TSA consider reinstating a risk-based screening program that it canceled last year because of high-profile lapses.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-american-airline-idUSKCN0YH1KV
Reps. Garrett (NJ) and Foster (IL) Offer Amendment to Relieve “Payer States” like New Jersey
May 26, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Reps. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) and Bill Foster (IL-11) introduced an amendment to H.R. 5055, the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, that would stop “payer states” like Illinois and New Jersey from giving more money to smaller “taker states” by eliminating an out-of-date government program.
Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars is transferred out of “payer states” (those that pay more in federal taxes than they receive back in federal spending ), into “taker states” (those that receive more federal spending than they pay in taxes). One of the worst offenders of this redistribution is the National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which is special federal research spending that goes almost exclusively to small states that already receive far more federal spending than they pay in taxes.
“For too long, politicians have advocated for an ever-expanding federal government, confiscating more and more money from hard-working families in payer states like New Jersey,” said Garrett. “And what does this mean for these families? It means that they will continue to subsidize the countless ineffective, wasteful redistributive programs like the NSF EPSCoR. The people of New Jersey deserve to have their tax dollars spent in their state, not sent to Washington to be diverted and wasted by unelected bureaucrats, and the Foster-Garrett amendment would relieve the taxpayers of this burden.”
EPSCoR was first authorized by Congress in 1978 with goal of redistributing federal research dollars into states that did not get their “fair share” of research dollars. However, because the “fair share” was determined on a per-state basis rather than a per-capita basis, it has devolved into another program that steers money into states that already get more than their fair share of federal spending.
What was intended to be temporary assistance to a select group of states to build their research infrastructure and then exit the program has become a permanent and growing pot of taxpayer subsidies. Eligibility to participate in NSF EPSCoR opportunities is based solely on whether or not a state has received less than 0.75% of NSF research funding in the previous three years. This means that the EPSCoR opportunities are based solely on whether or not a state has received less than 0.75% of NSF research funding in the previous three years.
The Foster-Garrett Amendment would eliminate this program so more money can stay in the pockets of New Jersey families.
Aaron E. Carroll
THE NEW HEALTH CARE APRIL 15, 2016
There was a lot of news this week about a study, published in the medical journal BMJ, that looked at how diet affects heart health. The results were unexpected because they challenged the conventional thinking on saturated fats.
And the data were very old, from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
This has led many to wonder why they weren’t published previously. It has also added to the growing concern that when it comes to nutrition, personal beliefs often trump science.
Perhaps no subject is more controversial in the nutrition world these days than fats. While in the 1970s and 1980s doctors attacked the total amount of fat in Americans’ diets, that seems to have passed. These days, the fights are over the type of fat that is considered acceptable.
Most of our fat comes from two main sources. The first is saturated fats. Usually solid at room temperature, they’re in red meat, dairy products and partly in chicken. The second is unsaturated fats, usually softer and more liquid at room temperature. They’re in fish, nuts and vegetable oils. Many doctors and nutritionists still argue, quite strongly, that the key to health is to emphasize the unsaturated fats. Others believe that’s misguided.
This week’s news came to us by way of a randomized controlled trial, which I’ve argued repeatedly is the best kind of study to determine how one thing causes another.
By Carina Storrs, for CNN
Updated 6:11 PM ET, Wed May 25, 2016
(CNN)The results are in from the one of the largest and broadest surveys of health in the United States. And although many of the findings are encouraging — more Americans had health insurance and fewer smoked cigarettes in 2015 than in previous years — the gains were overshadowed by rising rates of obesity and diabetes.
Every year since 1957, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been asking Americans 18 and older about their health and the health of their family members as part of the National Health Interview Survey. The new report contains data from the 2015 survey, which included more than 100,000 people.
https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/health/americans-health-obesity-diabetes/index.html
by Mark Molloy
26 MAY 2016 • 11:47AM
It’s known as the dreaded 2:30 feeling.
You’ve had your eight hours of sleep, a very productive morning and a healthy lunch – but as the afternoon hits you start to fall into a post-lunch slump.
Feeling drowsy after lunch is completely natural, according to Dr Fiona Kerr, a neuro specialist from the University of Adelaide, who explains that humans are “built for two sleeps a day”.
Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) welcomed Maryana Stern to be his shadow for a day as part of the fifth annual “Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Day.” Nearly 100 foster youth and alumni from across the country travelled to Capitol Hill to accompany members of Congress to work and get a behind-the-scenes look at the House of Representatives.
“It was a pleasure to have Maryana shadow me this morning on Capitol Hill,” said Garrett. “She is an ambitious young woman who has overcome a lot, and it was great to show her around Congress and discuss issues that affect foster youth across the country. As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, I know it’s important to ensure that our nation’s foster youth have the opportunities and support they need to succeed.”
In addition to shadowing Rep. Garrett, Maryana attended a lunch where members speak about the work Congress is doing to support foster youth. Rep. Garrett is a member of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. This bipartisan caucus unites over 160 Members of Congress to examine the challenges facing all foster youth and develop policy initiatives
