March 19, 2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood JOLT is being accused of hijacking the “student led” protests with the help of a sympathetic school administration and principle Tom Gorman . The new poster boy for the group is Laurence Fine who is 14. He finished eight grade at the Solomon Schechter of Westchester and is entering ninth grade at Ridgewood High School, where he will be on the cross-country team.
He runs a politically themed Instagram account, @Democrats_for_2020, which doesn’t mention his age or name, and bills itself as “This liberal news feed supports Democrats for 2020 and resisting GOP agenda. Together, we can take back the House, Senate, and presidency!” He was instrumental in getting Alexandra Harwin to speak at the school and rounded up many kids to help on her campaign.
Ridgewood JOLT according to there Facebook page is a community organization activating citizens to JOIN ORGANIZE LEAD and TEACH. Our mission is to protect and fight for our democracy through active participation in upcoming elections, monitoring and acting on legislative activity, educating ourselves and others as to our rights and our laws, and using the power of our purse to affect change and require accountability from corporations dependent on our economic participation.
They are the same people looking to push the anti conceal and carry the , “Oppose Legislation for H.R. 38 and S. 446 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 ” .
The fact is it is another far left organization looking to get Paul Aronsohn and his group of unloved misfits back into control of the Village of Ridgewood and continue the job of destroying the town for profit that they started.
Laurence Fine is a student at RHS. This post implies he is not.
“educating ourselves and others as to our rights and our laws” Only the law and rights they agree with.
We don’t need NYers
JOLT is a wild group of very angry people. All women. Their leader is a nucking futcase.
JOLT admins say they HATE republican hate.
It’s okay for them to HATE Republicans but it’s not okay for Republicans to hate anti nationals.
You should read posts from JOLT members. They are filled with HATE towards anyone that does not agree with them(even moderate democrats)
Are you really going after a 14 year old for being politically active, having opinions and trying to act on them?
Fine seems like Ridgewood’s version of the #mediahogg in Parkland. They have a hidden agenda, driven by parents who want to live vicariously through their kids.
Alice @10:02 – When 14 years olds offer themselves us as willing foot soldiers in adult-directed propaganda, what else do you expect?
Also – didn’t these 14-year olds declare themselves to be as knowledgeable about issues as adults? Why then do they need the ‘child’ shield at the same time?
If 1/2 the adults in this town cared 1/2 as much as this kid we would have a very different council. I am not sure why his middle school matters (besides for the obvious dog whistle) but it makes it all the more impressive that he is leading thousand kid walk outs when he only started in the school 4 months ago. That is called leadership.
leadership by who, the principle supported it the BOE supported , the HSA’s supported and parents donated …right lol
You’re really publicly calling out a 14-year old for being politically active? Seems like a pretty shameful thing to do. I hope my kids, when they’re that age, have the initiative to take action on their beliefs – whether I agree with them or not.
A few other notes:
– Of what relevance is where this student went to school previously? I haven’t seen other posts here cite that students previously attended Willard, Ridge, Hawes, etc. Does it have anything to do with calling out the religious affiliation? This seems very similar to the fact that other Blog posts highlight Ms. Harwin’s spouse’s profession, but does not do so for other candidates.
– If the concern is either equal airtime or presenting balanced views on the issues, has the author, the other campaigns, or anyone else approached this group or an advisor to ask whether other candidates might also have an opportunity to speak with students and answer questions? I suspect the students would welcome this. Even if you fear that these students are predisposed to a different political point of view, perhaps this could be a constructive opportunity for other candidates to try to sway their opinions?
– Do you have any specific points about any of the numerous issues facing the Village that you’d like to address? Perhaps that might be more constructive than spending time highlighting connections to current candidates or previous Council members whose points of view you disagree with. I see a lot of discussion here that focuses on “guilty by association,” but really not a lot of meaty coverage of issues.
– The title of this report is ” JOLT group accused of hijacking the ‘student led’ walkout.” Who, aside from the author, is making such an accusation? Is there some issue with these students expressing their shared points of view (notwithstanding whether or not you agree with their views on the issue)?
– You spelled “principal” wrong.
no one is call the kids out they are calling the “adults” who are using a 14 to make a point
This too shall pass…
8:04 why dont you say what you really mean…we all can read between the lines. Jessie Jackson would be proud.
So… all JOLT organizations are having their non-profit tax status denied (or their applications delayed/ignored indefinitely) by the IRS, just like the Tea Party organizations were?.
yeah… I didn’t think so.
You shouldn’t talk about/mention specific kids.
Yes Jane. A new low.
If you are willing to use a 14 year old , don’t be surprised when adults take issue
Have you interviewed the child (not that I would encourage it, but he might be open to it), or anyone else directly involved? I’m quite certain he is representing his own beliefs. No one is “using” him. It would be interesting to see some actual journalism related to this, rather than his religious background.
Matt… BULLSEYE…
@matt and Jane couldn’t agree more
OK everyone. Calm down.
I was the source of the original quote, which I cut and paste from an article I found in Google.
I searched “Laurence Fine Ridgewood” to get a little more info on the “student leader”
I also searched “Alana Benson Ridgewood” but didn’t get any results.
So go ahead and read the full article. Here is the link:
https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/on-instagram-no-one-knows-the-pundit-is-a-high-school-freshman/
Quoting the contents of a recently published article in the Jewish Standard is not picking on a 14 year old.
True, Jolt is a bunch of people who are filled with hate against anyone that doesn’t agree with their view of the world.
@Matt – when someone jumps to run for council, when they have not attended a SINGLE council meeting and just moved to the town, and they ARE associated with the dark side, they ARE “guilty by association”. They are going to be puppets of the dark side and will work for the developers and builders who want to sell the village.
As “Ridgewood Taxpayer” was the one calling out a 14 year old, shouldn’t we know the identity of this “Ridgewood Taxpayer”?
Matt… the DOLTS are rattled by the JOLT
pesmith – they could not get vagianos elected. They *think* they are someone, but they are *no one*.
@Ridgewood Taxpayer – ok, that’s just plagiarism
@6:51 – Aside from name-calling, can you address specific issues that have actually been voiced by the candidate (not just imagined) with which you disagree? You have a concern about experience, I hear; fair enough. Anything else?
@736… the “theys” tend to not post anonymously… But the question is, who is “Ridgewood Taxpayer”?… It can’t be James, he uses his name and doesn’t pay re taxes… so the mystery continues…
Ridgewood Taxpayer–I think the point is not where the information came from but that you are busy Google stalking 13 year olds because they happen to be expressing a political position that is not the same as yours.
Yes Brian… stalking… we DO know what that implies as the mysterious “Ridgewood Taxpayer” was also implying something as well…
@matt 7:36 pm -She has listed 4 issues on her website, without any proposed approach to solve them.
1. Save us Money – HOW? Everything she wants to do with her 3rd and 4th issue is going to raise the taxes. She just says she is going to save us money without any concrete examples.
2. Promote Progressive Values – Who decides that she is more progressive compared to the other three candidates? If we have to run the election on political affiliation, then lets first do a primary contest.
3. Focus on quality of life – HOW? Which Village roads are bad? All roads in desperate need of repair are county roads. Not Village roads. If she plans to repave all village roads which are not in a bad shape, how will she save us money?
4. Revitalize Downtown – HOW? By following her mentor’s agenda and build a 5 story garage which covers a street and brings out of town commuters to the town? By changing all available lots to multi family housing? By selling the soul to Valley hospital, developers, and rich restaurant owners? – WHAT EXACTLY IS HER PLAN?
Basically EVERYTHING she says – sounds like its coming straight from her mentor’s mind. We all dislike her mentor. He ruined Ridgewood forever.
8:13… perfect justification for calling out a 14 year old student who happens to be an activist… right mysterious “Ridgewood Taxpayer”?
“Ridgewood Taxpayer” simply reiterated public information if you were not up to anything or just using a 14 year old to make points you would not be asking about it over and over , don’t use children to fight you battles and you wont have these issues
Pave the roads for godsakes…
pesmith – 8:18 – there are THREE different discussions going on here in this thread. (1) 14 yr old kid – wrong to use his name
(2) role of JOLT in RIdgewood
(3) a council candidate.
You are trying to mislead by diverting attention from the issue of council candidate’s knowledge about the village – stay on that topic.
Yes 8:32… a 14 year old activist being STALKED by a male adult in anonymity who calls himself “Ridgewood Taxpayer” is not an issue…. Thanks for the clarification…
8:54pm pesmith – you are AGAIN distracting from the issue.
You’re an asshole pesmith.
14 year old activist?
There is no such thing.
Talk about stalking…get a life you liberal creep.
Thats right. A 14 yr old activist. Profanity and political labeling shows what 1039 is all about. Easy to be brave in anonymity.
Chill guys.
Just like Nazis don’t represent ALL Republicans,
JOLT does not represent ALL Democrats.
Nazis ,like the KKK were Democrats
Nazis were not Democrats. In the 1930’s The NationalSocialist German Workers Party was formed to reverse the Treaty of Versailles and became known as the Nazi Party. It became known as the party of military nationalism and was embraced by the extreme right. In America, the KKK is known as our oldest hate group which came into being after the Civil War to suppress the integration of black people in all ways. The Democratic Party in the South was anti reconstruction. After the Civil Righrs Act of 1964, the so called Dixie Crats fled to the Republican Party.
nice story , Nazi = Nation Socialism ie socialism Democrats, KKK was the military arm of the Democrat party formed by the party to keep blacks in line and keep blacks down
I beg to disagree. I believe every thing I said is factual. But if we fast forward to 2018, The Democratic Party can be accused of being too far to the left but not the far right.
3:30pm – Not everyone in democratic party is too far left. Yes JOLT is KKK of democratic party, but not every democrat in town is a member of JOLT.
3:57: Hardly! Yikes.
“Nazi = Nation Socialism ie socialism Democrats”
HOLY SHIT this is such a juvenile misunderstanding of history. It’s like hearing “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and thinking that North Korea is democratic or a republic. Asinine.
So, let me get this straight – if you are DEM, you are a Jolt member which make you a Nazi.
Appose to the rest of the town that are GOP and Trumpeters
See where this is going – no where but down hill as individuals and as a community.
More division will continue on any and every topic – which is incited by this BLOG
Statistically – RW turnout is DEM
wrong if you use children to make political points , you are creepy and disgusting its thats simple, most Democrats , Republicans, Libertarians, Trumpsters and Independents agree