>My good buddy, Liz, from This Full House has gotten Stop and Shop to pony up $1 for every comment left (up to $300) under the blog post linked below. Please take a second to click and comment. Let’s see how quickly we can raise $300 more bucks for the FoodBank.
(https://www.thisfullhouse.com/this_full_house/2008/12/blogging-out-hunger-we-cant-let-this-bank-fail-the-big-give.html)
Thanks so much and Happy Holidays!
Deb Smith
JerseyBites.com
Win Something Tasty Every Wednesday on JerseyBites
>How is that, you ask? They take fees unjustly; pulling stunts to collect overdraft fees of $35.00 a pop.
Here’s how it is done. Say you have $100.00 in your checking account. You make a purchase for $20.00 with your debit card at 4pm. Your balance shows $80.00. Now, if you have a $101.00 transaction that posts that night from your automatic bill paying system that you forgot about, Bank of America will hit you with an overdraft fee for both. You see, the bank posts automatic bill payments between 12:01 am and 5:00 am the next day and dates the transaction for the previous day. This allows them to charge you an overdraft fee of $35.00 for each, even though they had authorized the debit card purchase for $20.00 earlier the day, when in fact you had the money in the account to cover the purchase.
But wait you ask, you had the money in your account when you made the debit card purchase. How can they charge you a $35.00 overdraft fee? We all know that if you don’t have the funds in your account, a debit card purchase is declined.
Bank of America has found a way around that fact. Bank of America’s policy is that they allow for the $20.00 deduction because they couldn’t know of the impending automatic withdrawal for later that night. But overnight, when they reconcile your account, they deduct the highest withdrawal first. Having done that, all other purchases made prior can now be classified as overdrafts too.
Get how this works? Even though at the time of purchase you had funds to cover the transaction, and it was approved by Bank of America, they then reverse the order of the transactions to ensure that they can charge you additional fees by deducting the highest withdrawal first. This guarantees that all smaller withdrawals are posted as an overdraft too, even if you had the money to cover the smaller transactions.
Thus they can charge you an overdraft fee of $35.00 for the lower debit transaction. Even though this defies logic and common sense, Bank of America says that it’s their policy, it’s written down.
This is a shameful scam. One that Fleet, Nat West and Ridgewood Bank would never perpetrate on its customers. After 25 years, I guess it is time to find another bank. Bank of America is just too big and doesn’t care about its small customers. Goodness knows, it was my mistake to have forgotten to transfer the funds to cover the larger automatic payment.
This policy is duplicitous and a shameful reflection on Bank of America. No customer should be treated in such a manner. This is just another example of the arrogance endemic of huge banking institutions such as Bank of America, the largest bank in the U.S. I think I shall have to find a smaller bank, one that values my business and does not take undue advantage of its customer’s mistakes.
>In this era of heightened awareness of our environment, artists are increasingly turning to junk stores, trash bins and surplus outlets to satisfy their urge to create while still caring for our planet. The tradition of recycling dates back to the nineteenth century, when American pioneers used recycled items instead of discarding them. Crazy quilts, pieced quilts, weathervanes made from scrap wood, and rag rugs are a treasured legacy of America’s tradition of recycling. Indeed, throughout our history, Americans have learned “to make do,” saving rubber bands and tinfoil and recycling gift-wrap and other items.
For the past one hundred years, artists have seen creative possibilities in cast-offs. Pablo Picasso, one of the foremost artists of the twentieth century, fashioned a bull’s head from a discarded bicycle handlebar and seat, while Marcel Duchamp, a founder of the Dada movement, asked viewers to see sculpture in a urinal and snow shovel. During the 1930s and 1940s, Alexander Calder made whimsical animals from coffee cans, while Joseph Cornell created intimate, surrealistic tableaux from found objects.
In the 1950s, artist Louise Nevelson created poetic and evocative sculpture from scrap wood, while Robert Rauschenberg began to explore the creative possibilities of junk as an artistic medium. In the 1960s and 1970s, John Chamberlain used auto body parts—squashed fenders, broken doors, twisted bumpers, and dented hoods, to create dynamic and expressionistic works of art. With increased environmental concerns in recent years, the use of recycled materials in art has gained new credibility.
Have no fear good people of Ridgewood the dopey hippie ideas your children have been exposed to are just recycled ideas of the past.
Or…..
Ms. Zusy calls them Christmas decorations doesn’t mean that they are not garbage-on-a-string.
It wasn’t as if something was done to them to change their status, they were just thrown there, and people were told that they had to like them because “THE CHILDREN” made them. Any criticism easthetic/religious or otherwise has been interpreted by some as an attack on “THE CHILDREN”. It isn’t. We know that had “THE CHILDREN” had a choice, they would have made something decorative and pretty.
We are doing wrong by the children to tell thm that the tree is decorative, that garbage-on-a-string is art, and to, in the first place , coerce them to waste their time doing this.
>THE RECORD
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
By Karen Rouse
Five Bergen County municipalities will get a share of $6 million in state grants to keep pedestrians safe as they walk to school or public transportation.
Governor Corzine and the state Department of Transportation on Monday announced $4 million in “Safe Routes to School” grants and $2 million in “Safe Streets to Transit” grants.
New Jersey’s Safe Routes to School Program supports projects that encourage safe walking and bicycling to school. It also promotes pedestrian safety awareness among motorists and schoolchildren and aims to reduce traffic jams and air pollution.
The 2008 Safe Routes to School initiative will support projects in 33 municipalities ranging from $8,000 to $300,000.
The North Jersey municipalities include:
* Demarest, $150,000
* Fort Lee, $184,000
* Hasbrouck Heights, $23,000
* Ridgewood, $42,000
The Safe Streets to Transit program helps counties and municipalities improve access to mass transit facilities, such as bus stops and train stations. Grants are going to 15 municipalities to install and upgrade sidewalks and pedestrian barriers, and improve lighting and drainage on roads.
In Bergen County, Edgewater was awarded a $70,000 Safe Streets to Transit grant.
“These programs are critical components of New Jersey’s five year pedestrian safety program,” Corzine said.
“Providing kids and commuters with safe facilities to walk and ride their bikes can encourage mass transit use, improve quality of life and prevent childhood obesity.”
>Sorry we missed this one
For information on steps to prevent Cyberbullying ….
What steps can parents take to prevent their children from becoming victims
of cyberbullying? (pro-active approach)
If they become victims, what can victims and parents do, where can parents
go for help and when do they bring it to the attention of school
administrators or law enforcement?
What to do if you discover that your child is a Cyberbully?
Most victims of CyberBullying are so affected by the threats and harassment
that they keep quiet and never report it to their parents, teachers or
friends. It is important that victims realize that trusted adults are here to
fight this new form of bullying.
More information may be accessed at the following website. www.wiredsafety.org
for more information: contact Mary Lou Handy at [email protected]
>At approximately 12:35 PM on Sunday, a Hope Street resident was struck by a vehicle plowing snow on the street as she was shoveling out her driveway. The vehicle, described as an unmarked black pickup truck with flashing strobe lights, fled the scene without stopping. The victim was uninjured.
Initial reports are that the vehicle description matches one used by a landscaper under contract with the Village for street snow removal services. Police and public works department personnel are currently investigating the incident.
>”There are strong and powerful forces that maintain the system, because it works well for lots of people, just not the kids.
The tragedy is how many kids are graduating wholly unprepared for anything that follows. The easiest way to improve the graduation rate in America is to lower the standards. And lots of people have done that, and as long as we keep doing that, we’ll delude ourselves into thinking we have a decent graduation rate, but in fact our kids will be wholly unprepared.
The magic ingredient in the game I play is high-quality teaching. We don’t remotely have enough of it because we don’t reward it properly, we backload the pay scale. The real money goes into the people who are in the system a long time, gets rolled up in a defined-benefit pension plan, makes it very hard to attract new talent. We don’t reward excellence, we don’t give hardship pay, we pay the same thing for a science teacher and a math teacher that we do for a physical-education teacher. If any university did that, they’d go under.
The countries that succeed, they tend to draw their teachers from the top quarter, top third of their graduating college classes. These are people who have been academically successful, who believe in assessment, because they’ve lived under it and it’s served them well. In the United States, we draw teachers from the bottom quarter of our college graduates, and our kids in high-poverty neighborhoods get the bottom quarter of the bottom quarter.”
Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education in his Wall Street Journal Interview – November 23, 2008
>It is definitely the driver’s fault. That is a busy area where the kid was hit yesterday and cars should be travelling very slowly and drivers should be watching closely. And yes, the more people complain about the lousy drivers the better. Maybe all the complaining will make some people slow down when driving where pedestrian traffic is likely. INCLUDING THE MINISTER WHO ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WAS GOING TO CONTEST THE CHARGE THAT SHE HIT A CHILD IN A STROLLER IN A CROSSWALK. You should hear the scuttlebut about her at her church and and our church which is next door. People like her who blame the victim are part of the problem. A big part of the problem.
>I am all for addressing legitimate concerns and obviously our tax dollars should be spent wisely but in this blog post I haven’t seen any legitimate concerns – as yet. I see someone saying special ed parents howl and someone else saying they are easily offended. Most folks don’t understand the issues enough to express legitimate concerns. They hear from a neighbor that we are spending too much on special ed and then they start beating the drum. I attended a meeting last year regarding overcrowding (in certain grades) at Somerville where a parent suggested that all Ridgewood special ed children rotate from school to school based on whichever school had the most room that year. A couple folks actually agreed. Does it make sense to have the children who have the most issues and the hardest time adjusting and making friends to be moved from school to school each year to save money? That would be hard on any child. When I hear ridiculous comments like this I am going to get offended and I am going to howl. I won’t keep quiet for fear of being branded an oversensitive special-ed parent. I am more concerned with the welfare of my children than what other parents think. I am also not afraid to sign my name to my opinions.
Al Donohue
>
The History of Hanukkah
Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar). In Hebrew, the word “Hanukkah” means “dedication.”
The holiday commemorates the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews’ 165 B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.
In 168 B.C.E. the Jews’ holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus.
Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back.
The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias’ family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.
Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.
The Menorah
On each night of Hanukkah, the menorah is lit to commemorate a miracle which occurred after the Jews proclaimed victory over the Syrian armies in 165 B.C.E. When Jews came to rededicate the Temple-which had been defiled by the Syrians-they found only one small flask of oil with which to light the menorah. This flask contained only enough oil for one day, yet the lamp burned for eight days (by which time a fresh supply of oil was obtained).
– In Israel, the Hanukkah menorah is called the Hanukiyah
Menorahs come in all shapes and sizes. The only requirement is that the flames are separated enough so that they will not look too big and resemble a pagan bonfire.
– Ancient menorahs were made of clay. They consisted of small, pearl shaped vessels, each with its own wick, which were arranged side-by-side.
– Today’s menorah, which stands on a base from which the branches sprout, resembles the holy Temple’s menorah and started to appear towards the end of the Middle Ages.
>
>”anne zusy said…
Hi James. Once again (ad infinitum; ad nauseum), you have got it wrong. If it’s your intention to Drill Baby Drill then you go. But by the way: You’ve got it wrong, and I’m too incensed to bother trying to correct. Happy holidays to those who still have a soul amid your otherness nastiness. Annie”
An absolutely pathetic attempt at damage control on Ms. Zusy’s part.
Councilwoman Zusy: Yes or no; is the Planning Board, of which you are a member, recommending that the Village’s ENTIRE affordable housing obligation be satisfied by constructing a multiple story housing facility on South Broad Street, at the former site of Brogan Cadillac? Will the Village Council be voting on this plan tonight? Yes or no Ann, please.
Thank you.
>have a mix of special needs and non-special needs in my family. The truth is that it’s more expensive to send sped kids out of district than to keep them in district.
Some sped kids really do need a special program, but just because they’re getting shipped a half hour away doesn’t mean we’re not still paying for it. Sped is paid for by the sending district, not the receiving district.
That’s true for all districts, not just Ridgewood. Special ed is simply a fact of life. There’s no getting away from it. Let’s remember that all the sped kids we DO see–because they’re in-district–are saving us money.
We do need to be realistic, however, about sped expenditures. Just like everyone else, I don’t want my regular kids to miss out because too much is going to special ed.
How about if us sped parents stop getting offended when non-sped parents express legitimate concern? Geesh.
>Thursday, December 18, 2008
Last updated: Thursday December 18, 2008, 7:34 AM
BY MICHAEL GARTLAND
STAFF WRITER
The Bergen County Freeholder Board lent their support Wednesday night to Hackensack University Medical Center’s proposal to reopen the former Pascack Valley Hospital.
The decision took place before a crowd in Hackensack that numbered more than 150, who came out to voice both support and criticism of the plan. The resolution to back HUMC passed 6-0, with one abstention.
Thom Misciagna, the president of the Bergen County Building and Construction Trades Council, said the plan would be a boon for laborers facing a tough economy in the coming year.
“We want the hospital to go ahead for a number of reasons — certainly jobs,” he said, then gestured toward the crowd. “That’s why these guys are here. … They’re frightened.”
Misciagna estimated that proceeding with the proposal would create about 200 construction jobs, as well as permanent positions for nurses, doctors, technicians and maintenance people.
But not everyone in attendance was there to support HUMC’s plan to reopen the Westwood hospital. Representatives from The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center said that the proposal would add more hospital beds to an area that already has an excess.
Jeff Lieto, the vice president for The Valley Hospital, said that the issue is not about “the health-care industry against organized labor. The issue is about the regulation of the health-care industry through a fair process.”
Lieto cited state-commissioned reports that said there were too many beds in Pascack Valley Hospital when it was in operation.
“The beds that it held were not necessary,” he said.
Tony Orlando, the CFO of Englewood Hospital, said that an excess of beds makes it more difficult for a health-care facility to cover costs. A new hospital would add even more beds to a region that has an abundance, he said.
“Taking away patients makes us inefficient,” he said.
Leaders from the communities around the now-shuttered Pascack Valley Hospital offered support for the Hackensack Medical Center extension as well.
Westwood Mayor John Birkner Jr. described HUMC’s plan as a “vision.” He noted that businesses around the facility have closed and jobs have been lost as a result.
“This particular hospital can survive, and Hackensack has presented the plan to make it happen,” he said.
E-mail: [email protected]
>WINTER STORM ANNOUNCEMENT: RIDGEWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED TODAY, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19. ALL BEFORE-SCHOOL, AFTERNOON AND EVENING PROGRAMS ARE ALSO CANCELLED.
