Author: James

UN Climate Change Report Ignores 15-Year ‘Pause’ in Warming

An exhaustive United Nations report that claimed with 95% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming left out data that found the planet has stopped warming over the last 15 years, because it did not fit with the climate change agenda it wanted to advance.

The report, produced by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),  could not explain “why the planet has largely stopped warming over the past 15 years.” So it just ignored it. According to the climate data from the U.K.’s weather-watching Met Office, “global surface temperatures rose rapidly during the 70s,” but they have “have been relatively flat over the past decade and a half, rising only 0.05 degrees Celsius (0.09 degrees Fahrenheit).”

In September, a draft of the U.N. report simply could not explain why the surface temperatures have not warmed.

“Due to natural variability, trends based on short records are very sensitive to the beginning and end dates and do not in general reflect long-term climate trends,” the report now reads. “There may also be … an overestimate of the response to increasing greenhouse gas and other anthropogenic forcing.”

Judith Curry, professor and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said if the “if the pause continues beyond 15 years (well it already has), they are toast.”

https://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/28/UN-Climate-Change-Report-Ignores-15-Year-Pause-in-Warming

Ung: the best things I ate this month

Sunday, September 29, 2013
By ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT REVIEWER

THE BEST DISHES I ATE THIS MONTH

Two dishes jumped out from my restaurant reviews this month. Both were carnivores’ dreams, though the similarities end there. One is rustic and grilled, from a new Ridgewood restaurant; the other is a refined rendition of one of Bergen’s best-known dishes.

n The sage-cured pork chop at Due in Ridgewood emerges from the wood-fired grill with an irresistible smoky flavor. A grape balsamic sauce gives it depth and just a bit of sweetness; we picked our bone clean. I emerged from the restaurant wanting to grab everyone on the street and tell them about the chop ($28, the best part of a menu that is otherwise somewhat inconsistent). Due, 18 E. Ridgewood Ave., 201-857-3231, dueridgewood.com.

Due, 18 E. Ridgewood Ave., 201-857-3231, dueridgewood.com

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/225683311_Ung__the_best_things_I_ate_this_month.html#sthash.7FUd6hpC.dpuf

Honey harvested from rooftop beehives at Valley Hospital
By Myles Ma/NJ.com

The Valley Hospital’s first honey harvest — which yielded about 45 pounds of honey — is in the news!

PARAMUS — Valley Hospital has its own brand of honey.

It’s light, with an almost citrus aftertaste, and would go great with figs, John Graziano, executive chef at the hospital, said.

Graziano tasted the honey for the first time Tuesday after beekeepers Joseph G. Lelinho and Eric Hanan extracted it from the hives on the rooftop of the hospital’s Paramus campus. The hives are part of an initiative to use more locally sourced food.

Lelinho and Hanan, co-founders of Bee Bold Apiaries in Glen Ridge, installed the hives in May. To produce the honey, the bees used nectar from flowers within two miles of the hospital to produce the honey: dandelions, Japanese bamboo, goldenrod, clovers, skunk cabbage, crocuses and fruit trees.

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2013/09/photos_honey_harvested_from_rooftop_behives_at_valley_hospital.html

Judge Orders New Jersey to Allow Gay Marriage
By KATE ZERNIKE and MARC SANTORA

Published: September 27, 2013 344 Comments

A New Jersey judge ruled on Friday that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry, saying that not doing so deprives them of rights that were guaranteed by the United States Supreme Court in June.

It is the first time a court has struck down a state’s refusal to legalize same-sex marriage as a direct result of the Supreme Court ruling, and with lawsuits pending in other states, it could presage other successful challenges across the country.

The decision was a rebuff to Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who vetoed a bill passed by the Legislature last year that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry. His office said it would appeal to the state’s highest court. And he is likely to seek a stay preventing same-sex marriages from beginning on Oct. 21, as the judge ordered.

New Jersey was particularly ripe for a challenge after the Supreme Court ruling, because of a previous ruling by the state’s highest court in 2006. In that decision, in the case Lewis v. Harris, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unanimously that same-sex couples were entitled to all of the rights and benefits of marriage. But the court stopped short of saying they had a fundamental right to marry, and in an unusual step instructed the Legislature to define how to confer equal protection.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/nyregion/new-jersey-judge-rules-state-must-allow-gay-marriage.html?_r=0

CW Gaylord

Pope’s new man in North Jersey said to embody Francis’ vision
Sunday September 29, 2013, 12:26 AM
BY  JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
The Record

At an international gathering of papal delegates in Rome this summer, Pope Francis described the qualities he seeks in a bishop: a priest who is close to his people; not a bureaucrat; and a modest, simple-living man who doesn’t have “the mind-set of prince.”

The Rev. Bernard Hebda, 54, selected by the pope last week as the coadjutor archbishop of Newark, embodies all those traits, said friends, colleagues and parishioners who were interviewed in recent days.

It’s Francis’ most significant appointment in the United States since he became pope in March, and Vatican watchers say the selection has importance that transcends the immediate problems of the Newark Archdiocese and its embattled prelate, Archbishop John J. Myers. The eyes of the Catholic world, they say, will be fixed on Hebda as an indicator of the new pope’s attempt to steer the church in a new, more inclusive direction.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community/religion/Popes_new_man_in_North_Jersey_said_to_embody_Francis_vision.html#sthash.MMfE8HBf.dpuf

H-1B workers in line for Obamacare work

IT requirements of the Affordable Care Act are being met under state contracts that allow, in their silence, the use of temporary visa workers

By Patrick Thibodeau
September 25, 2013 06:14 AM ET

Computerworld – Some state governments are willing to hire offshore IT service providers to work on healthcare IT projects under controversial contracts that don’t bar use of temporary foreign labor, or workers on H-1B visas.

Two multimillion-dollar government healthcare IT projects, one in Illinois and the other in the District of Columbia, illustrate what’s going on.

In Illinois, Cognizant was awarded a $74.1 million contract in June to upgrade the state’s Medicaid systems to meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

In January, the District of Columbia awarded Infosys a $49.5 million contract to develop a health benefit exchange and replace its Medicaid and eligibility systems.

https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242648/H_1B_workers_in_line_for_Obamacare_work

Zombie apocalypse

House delays Obamacare as shutdown nears

By JOHN BRESNAHAN and JAKE SHERMAN | 9/28/13 10:39 AM EDT Updated: 9/29/13 12:41 AM EDT

House Republicans forced through a short-term government funding bill that delays Obamacare and permanently repeals a tax on medical devices, setting up their most dramatic face-off ever with President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats.

The vote to delay Obamacare was 231-192, with two Republicans voting against the bill, while two Democrats supported it.  The Republicans opposed to the bill were New York Reps. Chris Gibson and Richard Hanna, and the Democrats who supported the measure were North Carolina Rep. Mike McInytre and Utah Rep. Jim Matheson.

The move represents a complete about-face by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the House Republican leadership. They wanted to shift the focus of health care and budgetary squabbles onto the debt ceiling fight, but conservative Republicans honed in on the government funding battle.

This strategy — forced upon Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) by the conservative rank-and-file — dramatically increased the chances of a government shutdown come Oct. 1.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/house-gop-budget-strategy-government-shutdown-97496.html#ixzz2gH2mss6v

Students cross the street at Somerville Elementary School. (credit: CBS 2)

Alumni return to Ridgewood school they opened in 1950s
Saturday, September 28, 2013
BY  CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

RIDGEWOOD — They sat inside the principal’s office on Friday for the first time in nearly six decades, only this time, they weren’t in any kind of trouble.

Instead, a bunch of lifelong friends — now scattered across the United States in places as far away as Arizona, Florida, Texas and Minnesota — gathered inside Somerville Elementary School Principal Lorna Oates-Santos’ office to share tales of childhood mischief and about the families they’ve since raised.

These eight men and women, members of Somerville’s first graduating class, were in town to attend their 55th high school reunion on Friday night at Mac Murphy’s on Godwin Avenue.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/225615092_Alumni_return_to_Ridgewood_school_they_opened_in_1950s_reunion_in_Ridgewood.html#sthash.HbNm0ATj.dpuf

H.S. Girls Tennis: Ridgewood nets 100th win for head coach
Friday, September 27, 2013
BY  RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT
The Ridgewood News

PARAMUS — Ridgewood High School’s girls tennis win was neatly packaged Tuesday, a smooth 5-0 shutout at rival Paramus.

Following that package came the gifts. When the varsity bus returned home, members of the junior varsity team, which had played a home match that day, marched out onto the RHS Tennis Courts with balloons and a sign that they and a group of parents had put together congratulating their thoroughly surprised head coach Medha Kirtane on her 100th career win.

There, they presented her with a keepsake scrapbook and all shared some cake.

It turns out that Kirtane was the last to know about her personal milestone.

“I just found out at the [Ridgewood] tennis court,” she said a few hours later, her voice rising slightly. “I had no idea, but the girls knew. While I was driving home later, I was wondering, how did they find out?”

First singles starter and co-captain Tara Olson had the answer. “My co-captain, Erica Kontos, and I went through all the stories in The Record and The Ridgewood News,” Olson said by phone, “and we knew near the end of last season that she was close to 100.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/sports/225457922_H_S__Girls_Tennis__Ridgewood_nets_100th_win_for_head_coach.html#sthash.hEHn1JMI.dpuf

Newark: Behind the violence
Posted: Sep 26, 2013 9:05 PM EST Updated: Sep 27, 2013 7:52 AM EST
By LISA EVERS, Fox 5 News Reporter

NEW JERSEY (MYFOXNY.COM) -I got connected to the Street Authority, who was like our all-access pass through dangerous territory in Newark. No matter what colors the gang bangers were wearing, they all saluted him and left us alone to see for ourselves what’s going on.

When I saw a nice residential area in the notorious South Ward, I had my doubts it would live up to its bad rep. But the Street Authority warned looks can be deceiving. He told us it’s “turned up,” meaning a lot of violence lately. It’s also home to one of the city’s most promising rappers, Riq Bubz, who showed me around.

The Street Authority warned us about driving. No joke. He recommends keeping a car’s length distance at stop lights so that if someone tries to carjack you, you have options for escape.

We spoke to community activist Al-Tarik Onque is working for a different escape — from the cycle of violence. Right now he’s trying to convince Cleavan Lambert to reject a criminal lifestyle that began when a gun was put in his hand at the age of 11, and got him shot five times. He just finished his latest “bid,” slang for a prison term, and is struggling not to go back. It is an all too common story.

Read more: https://www.myfoxny.com/Story/23543411/newark-behind-the-violence#ixzz2g7qc9wY5

RHS GYMNASTICS HOLDS FREE CLINICS FOR K-8

The Ridgewood High School Varsity Gymnastics team is offering its free clinics again from 8-9 a.m. in RHS Gym 3 on the following Saturdays: October 5. 12, 19 and 26. The clinics are open to Ridgewood residents enrolled in Kindergarten through Grade 8. Please come for one, a few, or all of the gymnastics clinics. For more information please contact RHS Varsity gymnastics coach Mrs. Karen Mendez at [email protected]. There is no charge for participation; donations are welcome, but not necessary

R,H.S. football: Ridgewood flexes its muscles
Saturday, September 28, 2013
BY  JIM MCCONVILLE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
The Record

RIDGEWOOD – It was game that resembled a boxing match. Hackensack landed a few good shots but every time Ridgewood answered back with a haymaker of its own. When it was all said and done, the Maroons put themselves in the conversation about North Jersey’s top football teams.

KEVIN LACKEY/SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Ridgewood quarterback Jamal Locke, who ran for 105 yards in the first half, looking for an open downfield target Friday night.

Using a big-play, quick-strike offense, Ridgewood went up, 14-0, early and answered each Hackensack touchdown on the way to a 49-21 win that moves it to 3-0 heading into the bye week.

“We got punched in the mouth,” Ridgewood coach Chuck Johnson said, “But what really pleased me was our response. We didn’t flinch. We went right back to work.”

The offensive assault came from a number of levels. Quarterback Jamal Locke and Doug Barnes hooked up on two deep passes in the first quarter, the first a 49-yarder setting up the first of Jake Sabatini’s two touchdowns and the second a 36-yard scoring strike.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/sports/225615362_H_S__football__Ridgewood_flexes_its_muscles.html#sthash.VJCbIdnS.dpuf

Ridgewood resident’s novel steeped in mythology
Friday, September 27, 2013
BY  JOYCE VENEZIA SUSS
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Bogota Bulletin

Sextant: An instrument for measuring angular distances used especially in navigation to observe altitudes of celestial bodies (as in ascertaining latitude and longitude).

It seems fitting that Lynn Clay Byrne chose to name her first book “The Sextant” – given that her life has unexpectedly changed direction several times.

Shortly after college and marriage, the Ridgewood resident put her career on hold when she gave birth to the couple’s first child, Patrick. Over the next 25 years, their family grew with six more children – some born to the couple, and some adopted.

When her youngest child started elementary school, Byrne started writing her book, “and I asked Patrick to be the editor. I knew I could absolutely trust him with that job.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/books/225457162_Ridgewood_resident_s_novel_steeped_in_mythology.html#sthash.37nlZ1Wi.dpuf