‘Everyone in US under virtual surveillance’ – NSA whistleblower
Published: 04 December, 2012, 18:01
Edited: 05 December, 2012, 19:13
The FBI records the emails of nearly all US citizens, including members of congress, according to NSA whistleblower William Binney. In an interview with RT, he warned that the government can use this information against anyone.
Binney, one of the best mathematicians and code breakers in the history of the National Security Agency, resigned in 2001. He claimed he no longer wanted to be associated with alleged violations of the Constitution, such as how the FBI engages in widespread and pervasive surveillance through powerful devices called ‘Naris.’
This year, Binney received the Callaway award, an annual prize that recognizes those who champion constitutional rights and American values at great risk to their personal or professional lives.
RT: In light of the Petraeus/Allen scandal while the public is so focused on the details of their family drama, one may argue that the real scandal in this whole story is the power, the reach of the surveillance state. I mean if we take General Allen – thousands of his personal e-mails have been sifted through private correspondence. It’s not like any of those men was planning an attack on America. Does the scandal prove the notion that there is no such thing as privacy in a surveillance state?
William Binney: Yes, that’s what I’ve been basically saying for quite some time, is that the FBI has access to the data collected, which is basically the emails of virtually everybody in the country. And the FBI has access to it. All the congressional members are on the surveillance too, no one is excluded. They are all included. So, yes, this can happen to anyone. If they become a target for whatever reason – they are targeted by the government, the government can go in, or the FBI, or other agencies of the government, they can go into their database, pull all that data collected on them over the years, and we analyze it all. So, we have to actively analyze everything they’ve done for the last 10 years at least.
RT: And it’s not just about those, who could be planning, who could be a threat to national security, but also those, who could be just…
WB: It’s everybody. The Naris device, if it takes in the entire line, so it takes in all the data. In fact they advertised they can process the lines at session rates, which means 10-gigabit lines. I forgot the name of the device (it’s not the Naris) – the other one does it at 10 gigabits. That’s why they’re building Bluffdale [database facility], because they have to have more storage, because they can’t figure out what’s important, so they are just storing everything there. So, emails are going to be stored there in the future, but right now stored in different places around the country. But it is being collected – and the FBI has access to it.
RT: You mean it’s being collected in bulk without even requesting providers?
On Friday, January 11, 2013 from 7:00 to 11:00 pm, the 07450 Schools Committee will host a fundraiser to benefit the Ridgewood High School Learning Commons project at The Woodcliff Lake Hilton in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Due to hurricane Sandy and the families still suffering, the event that was originally scheduled to take place at the end of November was postponed.
The event is open to all Ridgewood families and alumni and will include cocktails, dinner and dancing, with giving opportunities at all levels.
Guests will enjoy live music by Matthew Friedman and Uptown Sounds. Matthew Friedman starred as “The Piano Man” in Billy Joel’s award-winning musical, Movin’ Out. Friedman brings his unique talent and two decades of performing experience to this versatile band, which features members of Billy Joel’s own band and a former singer from Meatloaf. The group can cover a wide range of musical styles – from Journey to Jay Z, Lady Gaga to The Cure – and of course, Billy Joel.
Admission for the event is $110 per person and $200 per couple, and includes an open bar. All donations made at the event are tax deductible.
Bringing it Home
November 30,2012
Dr. Daniel Fishbein
When we close our eyes and recall Thanksgiving, each of us can imagine our own scenes with family and friends, the smell and even taste of our favorite dishes, and the expressions of gratitude that were exchanged at the dinner table. This year I am especially thankful because while many in our community suffered property and material damages during Hurricane Sandy, we did not endure the loss of any community member or experience the elimination of an entire village infrastructure, as some municipalities sadly did. Even Ridgewood’s lost pets were found safe and sound.
We were lucky. Fortunately Sandy is behind us and life in Ridgewood has for the most part returned to normal. And while we still see tarps on roofs, enormous tree stumps and broken sidewalks around the Village, the ongoing regional media coverage continues to remind us that
normalcy has not returned to many areas and/or families, nor will it for years to come.
That means our work as citizen neighbors is not done. Along with its wallop, Sandy delivered to us a small taste of what it is like to live without the very basics for even a short period of time. Schools were closed but the lessons continued firsthand, especially the one about how a small amount of generosity goes a very long way to people in need. How our temporary hardship is something that many people around the world live with every day, even when the winds are still and the sun is shining.
Each year, around this time, our students and staff go into overdrive to organize activities that raise awareness about people in need. They solicit monetary donations, collect food and assemble clothing drives and the like for those less fortunate than we. The causes extend all over the globe and each and every one of them is worthy of our support. And yet this year, because Sandy chose to hit so close to home, we have the unique opportunity to truly think globally and act locally, as the saying goes, to bolster the service organizations in our own backyard. There is a particularly increased need for our investment in our community.
So please, help to replenish the shelves at our food pantries and to fill storage lockers at our blood banks. Go through your closets and drawers and give to the clothing and coat drives of your choice. And finally, for those who can, please give to the hurricane relief effort of your choice. Your acts of kindness will be appreciated by those in need and will also make you feel good about yourself.
I hope the beginning of the holiday season was happy and restful and that the rest of this season brings you peace! Be well and thank you for giving!
PSEG Estimates the Utility’s Cost of Superstorm Sandy Restoration at $250 – $300 million
December 4, 2012
Company maintains 2012 operating earnings guidance of $2.25 – $2.50 per share
(December 4, 2012 – Newark, NJ) – PSEG estimates that the cost associated with the restoration of PSE&G’s distribution and transmission system following the impact of Superstorm Sandy and the subsequent Nor’easter as approximately $250 – $300 million.
Superstorm Sandy left 1.7 million of our electric customers without power during the course of the storm and caused severe damage to our transmission and distribution system throughout our service territory as well as to some of our generation infrastructure in the northern part of New Jersey.
Superstorm Sandy’s strong winds and heavy rainfall resulted in a storm surge which caused the Hudson, Hackensack and Passaic rivers to overflow causing damage to switching stations, substations and generating infrastructure.
Over the two-week period following the storm, including the Nor’easter, we restored power to more customers than in any other storm in our history. We brought in 1,000 out-of-state line workers and tree trimmers in preparation for the storm and that number grew to more than 4,000 at the height of the restoration. As part of the storm restoration process, approximately 48,000 trees were removed or trimmed and we replaced/repaired over 2,400 utility poles.
Crews have continued working to make repairs permanent and return the system to its normal design. At the same time, we are analyzing the best ways to protect the system from this type of storm in the future.
The estimated cost of restoration of $250 – $300 million associated with Superstorm Sandy includes both expenses and capital related to the restoration, and the Company expects at least 85% of those costs to be deferred or capitalized for future distribution or transmission recovery. The estimate does not include potential future costs to permanently repair PSE&G’s damaged infrastructure or to modify the infrastructure to reduce the risk of damage of future storms.
PSEG continues to forecast operating earnings for 2012 of $2.25 – $2.50 per share. The forecast recognizes the impact of storm-related costs to be expensed at PSE&G. However, storm-related expenses at PSEG Power, which are still being assessed, will be treated as one-time in nature and excluded from operating earnings given the unusual nature of the storm on Power’s operations. PSEG expects to provide investors with estimates for the costs at Power prior to the release of the Company’s fourth-quarter earnings.
We intend to seek recovery for insured property damage at both PSE&G and at PSEG Power, however, no assurances can be given relative to the timing or amount of such recovery.
IRS: Retirement Plans Can Make Loans, Hardship Distributions to Sandy Victims
IR-2012-93, Nov. 16, 2012
WASHINGTON — As part of the administration’s efforts to bring all available resources to bear to support state and local partners impacted by Hurricane Sandy, the Internal Revenue Service today announced that 401(k)s and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Sandy and members of their families.
401(k) plan participants, employees of public schools and tax-exempt organizations with 403(b) tax-sheltered annuities, and state and local government employees with 457(b) deferred-compensation plans may be eligible to take advantage of these streamlined loan procedures and liberalized hardship distribution rules. Though IRA participants are barred from taking out loans, they may be eligible to receive distributions under liberalized procedures.
Retirement plans can provide this relief to employees and certain members of their families who live or work in the disaster area. To qualify for this relief, hardship withdrawals must be made by Feb. 1, 2013.
The IRS is also relaxing procedural and administrative rules that normally apply to retirement plan loans and hardship distributions. As a result, eligible retirement plan participants will be able to access their money more quickly with a minimum of red tape. In addition, the six-month ban on 401(k) and 403(b) contributions that normally affects employees who take hardship distributions will not apply.
This broad-based relief means that a retirement plan can allow a Sandy victim to take a hardship distribution or borrow up to the specified statutory limits from the victim’s retirement plan. It also means that a person who lives outside the disaster area can take out a retirement plan loan or hardship distribution and use it to assist a son, daughter, parent, grandparent or other dependent who lived or worked in the disaster area.
Plans will be allowed to make loans or hardship distributions before the plan is formally amended to provide for such features. In addition, the plan can ignore the limits that normally apply to hardship distributions, thus allowing them, for example, to be used for food and shelter. If a plan requires certain documentation before a distribution is made, the plan can relax this requirement as described in the announcement.
Ordinarily, retirement plan loan proceeds are tax-free if they are repaid over a period of five years or less. Under current law, hardship distributions are generally taxable. Also, a 10 percent early-withdrawal tax usually applies.
School Choice: Securing a Better Future for Our Country
by Andrew Campanella
It’s time to take the fight for school choice in America to a new level. To ensure that millions of additional children have access to the best schools possible, we must — must — reach tens of millions of additional Americans and galvanize their support for educational equality.
With one American child dropping out of school every 26 seconds, we cannot wait. Our country faces an education crisis, and it’s up to us to let our friends and neighbors know — en masse — that school choice CAN provide an essential and beneficial solution for families across the country.
To help make this vision a reality, National School Choice Week will host the first-ever nationwide, whistle-stop train tour in support of school choice.
The goal of this tour — along with the record-breaking 3,000 events being independently planned for National School Choice Week 2013 — is to demonstrate overwhelming support, and demand, for school choice…while shining a positive spotlight on the hundreds of organizations, thousands of schools, and millions of Americans working every day to increase access to great schools in our country.
The National School Choice Week Special — a historic railcar — will depart Los Angeles Union Station on January 25, 2013 and arrive in New York on February 2, 2013. Parents, students, community leaders, education organizations and elected officials of both parties will host 14 very special events along the tour’s route.
The Special will link the modern-day fight for educational equality to important movements that have shaped the American way of life — from suffrage to civil rights — all of which used similar whistle-stop tours to generate overwhelming support for causes that changed our history for the better.
With bold strokes, our generation can — and will — make its mark on the tapestry of our national experience. Social change isn’t just something we read about in history books. It’s something we can make a reality, and in the process, secure for ourselves not only a place in history books yet unwritten, but secure for our country a brighter and more prosperous futurewhere no child is denied the opportunity to attend the best schools possible.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 2, 2012, 11:44 PM
BY LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Spend a while at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, one of the first in New Jersey to hand every student a laptop, and you’ll likely hear a teacher tell students to “forty-five it.”
That means closing laptops halfway during a lesson — to a 45-degree angle — so they aren’t tempted to surf the Internet, check email or shop for shoes. It’s one of many techniques savvy teachers are adopting to keep the attention of a generation easily sidetracked by an unprecedented bounty of technology.
As a growing number of schools let iPads, laptops and cellphones enter the classroom, some teachers say they’re shouldering a new role as electronics police. Teachers warn constantly that abused devices will be confiscated. Some continually roam behind the back row to see who is watching what. And in a step that smacks of Big Brother, some have programs that monitor all their students’ screens at the same time, and shut off the computer of anyone goofing off.
6 Fixes to America’s Fiscal Crisis
Amy Payne
November 30, 2012 at 9:09 am
President Obama made his first offer to congressional Republicans yesterday in negotiations over the “fiscal cliff”—an economic catastrophe of tax hikes just a few weeks away.
The White House’s proposal? $1.6 trillion in tax increases, $50 billion in new stimulus spending, and a change that would make it easier to raise the debt limit—so that all this spending could continue.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) couldn’t contain his laughter at these suggestions.
One congressional aide said the offer “amounts to little more than reiterating the President’s budget request—which failed to get a single vote in the House or Senate.”
Perhaps House Republicans could simply bring President Obama’s latest proposal up for another vote to see if anything has changed.
The “fiscal cliff” is man-made. Congress—primarily the liberal-led Senate—and the President built it themselves through their legislative decisions over the past four years, and then they turned away and tried not to look at it until after the election.
Elected officials in Washington keep enacting short-term patches to keep the government running, which is not a real solution. We need to reform the programs that are causing the runaway spending and deficits today and in the years to come—the large, lumbering entitlement programs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
>>> As a candidate in 2008, Barack Obama said he’d like to reform entitlements in his first term. We’re still waiting. Watch the video.
In a new paper, Heritage’s J. D. Foster, Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy and Alison Acosta Fraser, director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, point out that
Obama’s tax hikes would reduce the rise in federal debt over the next 10 years by 15 percent. The President is silent about the other 85 percent. The numbers confirm that President Obama’s tax hike demands are at best tangential to attaining a balanced budget.
The real issue is federal spending, and Foster and Fraser describe the bottom line this way:
When this year’s kindergarteners enter college, just 13 years away, spending on these two programs [Social Security and Medicare] plus Medicaid and interest on the debt will devour all tax revenue.
To make meaningful changes to the nation’s unsustainable budget policies, Foster and Fraser lay out four “simple, commonsense, and thoroughly vetted solutions” that already enjoy broad support across the political spectrum:
1. Raise the Social Security eligibility age to match increases in longevity. People are living longer, and entitlement programs need to be updated to reflect that fact. According to the Social Security actuaries, continuing to increase the eligibility age to 69 by the year 2034 and allowing it to rise more slowly thereafter to reflect gains in longevity could go a long way toward reducing Social Security’s funding shortfall. While this would not reduce today’s budget deficit, it would strengthen Social Security’s finances and put it on a path toward sticking around in the future.
2. Correct the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in Social Security. The annual COLA benefit adjustment is determined today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, the CPI, an antiquated measure, generally overstates inflation, meaning that benefits are increased a bit too much each year to offset inflation. Again, according to the Social Security actuaries, using a more modern inflation measure would substantially reduce Social Security’s shortfall over time.
3. Raise the Medicare eligibility age to agree with Social Security. Medicare has an eligibility age problem, but unlike Social Security, the Medicare eligibility age remains stuck at 65. An obvious solution is to wait five years and then slowly raise the eligibility age to align eventually with the Social Security eligibility age. While the short-term budgetary savings would be negligible, the long-term savings in Medicare would be profound.
4. Reduce the Medicare subsidy for upper-income beneficiaries. In 2012, the average Medicare beneficiary received a subsidy of about $5,000. Subsidizing Medicare benefits for low-income seniors—and perhaps for some middle-income seniors—makes sense, but upper-income seniors do not need and should not receive a $5,000 subsidy to buy Medicare health insurance.
In addition to those reforms, Foster and Fraser list two bonus proposals that have not been considered as closely by lawmakers, but would be simple and effective:
5. Phase out Social Security benefits for upper-income retirees. As a nation, we need to ask whether today’s working families should pay payroll taxes so that upper-income retirees can continue to receive their checks. In short, Social Security should be social insurance against poverty rather than a government-run pension scheme.
6. Consolidate Medicare’s elements and collect a single higher premium. Medicare is actually three distinct components, referred to generally as Parts A, B, and D, reflecting the fact that Medicare was built up over many years. This antiquated structure is confusing and inefficient. An obvious reform is to consolidate the three distinct parts into a unified Medicare program, with a single premium, and then raise the premium to cover 35 percent of related program costs.
Continuing to raise America’s debt limit every few months is irresponsible and dangerous. And failing to address the budget deficits that give rise to this debt limit pressure every few months is equally irresponsible and dangerous. Raising taxes would weaken the economy, kill jobs, and hold down people’s wages. This is not a “solution.”
Congress and the President should instead consider these serious fixes to the drivers of out-of-control government spending. All that’s missing is for the President to take the lead, which is what Presidents are supposed to do.
2012 Final Brush and Storm Debris Pick Up Schedule
Due to extensive storm brush and debris, the Village Council has determined that an additional collection cycle is needed for bush pick up.
BRANCHES/DEBRIS
“One Final Pass” will be made by the Village to collect Brush and Debris in each Area following the schedule below. Brush and debris material should be placed in a pile between the curb and sidewalk by the first day of collection for your Area– NOT in the street or mixed with leaves. Brush and debris do NOT have to be bundled, tied or put in a container–Brush and debris should be cut in lengths as close to 3 feet x 2 ½ inches diameter as possible.
2012 FINAL BRUSH/DEBRIS Pick Up Schedule
Area B December 3 – 6
Area D December 10 -13
Area C December 17- 18
Area A December 19
This will be the last pick up of brush and debris in 2012. In an effort to keep a positive image of the Village, no branches should be put out after this final pick up. You can bring branches to the Recycling Center or hold them in rear of your property until the Yard Waste Collection begins Spring 2013.
RECYCLE CENTER located at 205 E. Glen Avenue
Open to receive brush and debris (3 feet x 2 ½ inches diameter) Monday through Saturday – 8AM to 3PM. Special Sunday Hours – December 2, 9 from 8AM to 3PM
Click Here for Leaf Area Map.
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/engineering/wsu/ActivitiesResources/MapsResources/LeafPickUpZones2012.pdf
BOE GETS $500K BOOSTER SHOT FROM VALLEY FOR STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMMING
Ridgewood NJ, The Valley Hospital has pledged to donate $500,000, payable over five years, to the Ridgewood Public Schools. The donation will support both new and existing initiatives in the areas of health education, fitness and wellness, and disease prevention programs aimed at raising awareness and promoting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to Ridgewood students, faculty and their families. Examples to be considered include adolescent health and wellness education, diabetes education, injury prevention, and nutrition.
“We truly appreciate Valley’s generosity with this five-year grant,” said Sheila Brogan, Ridgewood Board of Education President. “The Valley Hospital has long been a good neighbor to the Ridgewood Public Schools and a valuable partner in several programs that support the district’s mission of excellence. The Ridgewood Academy for the Health Professions, ongoing classroom speaker series and funding of special projects through the Ridgewood Education Foundation are but a few examples of our ongoing and successful relationship with Valley. Their continued support through this grant will enable us to continue our mutual commitment to the health and wellness of our students.”
4 Reasons Warren Buffett Is Wrong on Tax Hikes
Amy Payne and Alison Acosta Fraser
November 27, 2012 at 9:40 am
Let’s talk taxes. In a New York Times op-ed yesterday, famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett once again argued that the wealthy should be taxed more.
This isn’t the first time Buffett has made the case for higher taxes, and it’s not the first time he’s been wrong. Here are four reasons he is wrong to push for tax hikes.
1. Buffett says tax hikes won’t hurt jobs.
Fact: Tax hikes, especially those he espouses, hurt jobs.
Buffett cites periods when tax rates were high and says that “Under those burdensome rates,” employment “increased at a rapid clip.”
This country has an employment problem right now, and tax rates aren’t even as high as Buffett wants. The tax increases President Obama champions would hit small businesses that create jobs. According to Treasury figures, 1.2 million Americans who employ people are paying their taxes through the individual income tax, and they would be hit head-on. The amount that their taxes would go up could be roughly equivalent to one employee’s salary, meaning that’s one person they can’t hire in the new year. A study by Ernst and Young estimates that these tax hikes would kill 710,000 jobs.
2. Buffett says tax hikes won’t stop investors from investing.
Fact: Any time you tax something, you get less of it.
Buffett says: “So let’s forget about the rich and ultrarich going on strike and stuffing their ample funds under their mattresses if—gasp—capital gains rates and ordinary income rates are increased. The ultrarich, including me, will forever pursue investment opportunities.”
Let’s think about what taxes are intended to do. The cigarette tax is intended to curb smoking. Proponents of a carbon tax want to curb the amount of carbon emissions we are producing. In Washington, D.C., a plastic bag tax is intended to curb the number of plastic bags people use.
When you tax something more, people do less of it. This is how taxes work. It doesn’t change because the behavior being taxed is investing rather than smoking.
3. Buffett says the wealthy aren’t even paying a minimum tax.
Fact: We already have an Alternative Minimum Tax.
Buffett says, “We need Congress, right now, to enact a minimum tax on high incomes.”
We already have this. It’s called the Alternative Minimum Tax. As Heritage’s Curtis Dubay explains:
Congress passed the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) in the early 1970s to ensure that a few high-income taxpayers did not reduce their tax liability too much by taking advantage of all the deductions, exemptions, and credits Congress put in the tax code. But Congress did not index for inflation the income threshold over which families qualify for this extra tax. So now Congress must annually “patch” the AMT by raising the threshold to correct this mistake. Even with the patch, the AMT still ends up falling on almost 4 million taxpayers; Congress initially intended for it to hit only a few hundred.
The top 10 percent of earners in the United States already pay more than 70 percent of federal income taxes. To move forward in this debate, those who argue that we just need to “tax the rich” will have to get real. We can’t close the budget deficit by taxing the rich. Even though Buffett also claims…
4. Buffett says we need to raise taxes to bring in more revenue for the government.
Fact: The problem is government spending, not government revenue.
Buffett says, “Our government’s goal should be to bring in revenues of 18.5 percent of [gross domestic product] and spend about 21 percent of G.D.P.”
Revenues are lower now today than normal, not because of tax rates, but because of the slow-growing economy. As the economy recovers, so will revenues. And they will continue to grow as the economy thrives. Why? Because more people are investing, saving, working, and enjoying higher wages. The nifty little benefit for the government of a strong, growing economy is that people pay more in taxes.
But on to spending. The White House already estimates that federal spending will be 23.1 percent of GDP this year—well above Buffett’s target. But, unlike taxes—which will return to the historical levels Buffett aims for, spending will continue to spiral ever upwards. In 25 years, spending will be 35.7 percent of GDP. In 2025, the big three entitlements will gobble up a full 18.5 percent of GDP—the entire amount of revenue that Buffett would like to raise.
In Buffett’s world, then, after funding entitlements, that leaves only 2.5 percent of GDP for everything else (assuming that interest rates don’t go through the roof). The fact is that ever-growing entitlements have put spending on a trajectory toward a European-level implosion. If they are not reined in, taxes on everyone will have to rise perpetually just to keep pace.
While Warren Buffett is right about many things, he is wrong about tax hikes. Which leads us to the real questions: Why are we even talking about tax hikes? Where are the spending cuts?
Denis Leary ,Wednesday, November 28th @7:00pm
Actor from the hit show: Rescue Me, Denis Leary, will sign his new book: Denis Leary’s Merry F*ing Christmas Books available Oct. 30th We Take Phone Orders if you can’t make the event.
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK…CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
506 PM EST MON NOV 26 2012
NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX-
NORTHERN NEW LONDON-WESTERN PASSAIC-EASTERN PASSAIC-WESTERN BERGEN-
WESTERN ESSEX-WESTERN UNION-ORANGE-PUTNAM-ROCKLAND-
NORTHERN WESTCHESTER-506 PM EST MON NOV 26 2012
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN
CONNECTICUT…NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST NEW YORK.
.DAY ONE…THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.
AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE PASSING SOUTH OF LONG ISLAND WILL PRODUCE
A LIGHT SNOWFALL EVENT DURING THE DAY ON TUESDAY…ENDING TUESDAY
NIGHT. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES.
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL
WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER EVENTS THAT MAY REACH NWS WARNING
CRITERIA. MOST LONG F– USED NWS WATCHES…WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES IN
EFFECT ARE HIGHLIGHTED.
15% of America Is Shopping Today, 11% Are Already Done
Friday, November 23, 2012
The holiday shopping season keeps starting earlier and earlier.
This year, 11% of Americans had finished the gift-buying before Black Friday, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That’s up from seven percent (7%) who finished shopping early a year ago. The day after Thanksgiving is often considered the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
Ridgewood News editorial: The shopping season
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2012
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The turkey leftovers are in the fridge, and maybe a bit of stuffing. If you’re lucky, there’s still a piece of pumpkin pie. But if you want to work off some holiday calories, check out the tradition of post-Thanksgiving shopping.
Today is Black Friday, when retailers begin the big commercial push to the Christmas holidays, and brave shoppers looking for bargains battle crowded malls and highways leading to the stores. If you’re up to the physical challenge, head out and face the crowds.
