Tag: Ridgewood Schools

Cruising down main street, meeting friends at the local car hop, doing the Lindy and the Jive to the jukebox, going to the drive-in and barely watching the movie…these are some of the images invoked by the retro and automotive pop-art-flavored paintings of Jen Bissu. Strong composition, unique points of view, and striking color and contrast are hallmarks of her work. Driven by a passion for an era before her time, Jen Bissu’s paintings take the viewer back to the excitement-charged days when Elvis was King and  a chrome-laden car was the coolest. “I can’t even explain what got me so interested in it,” Bissu says. “I just have this deep passion for the fifties embedded in me. There was a kind of magic to the era, a romance, that you can’t find anymore. Going to drive-ins in these gorgeous cars, sharing a Coke with two straws, going steady…it was so romantic! And the music of the era captures it perfectly. That’s what I strive for in my paintings, too…to capture the romance and excitement of the Fabulous Fifties.”

Born in a New Jersey town directly across the river from Manhattan, Jen Bissu had the art c
apital of America at arm’s reach during her formative years. Visiting museums and attending art classes in New York City schools added fuel to the creative fire burning inside her from her earliest days. By age six, Bissu could be found standing in the bustling corridors of NYC’s Chrysler Building, selling her drawings (both prints and originals). She began studying art formally by age nine, and knew right away it was to be her calling. She took art classes at several New York City schools including the United Nations International School, The Art Students League, the School of Visual Arts (SVA), and Pratt. Bissu went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in Visual Communications/Illustration and M.A. in Fine Art Education from Kean University.

From childhood to now, Jen Bissu has delved into several art forms from drawing to watercolor to photography, and dabbled in several three-dimensional media as well. In a college Intro to Painting class, she discovered her medium of choice. Bissu immediately fell in love with the way the buttery acrylic and oil paints glide over the painting surface, and the rich colors they produce. Over the years, Bissu has flirted with many themes in painting: portraits, still life, landscape, even dilapidated buildings. But above all, her love for the roots of Rock’n’Roll and classic mid-century American culture has fostered a need to create art about classic cars, chrome, candy shoppe fountains, greasers, and pin-up cuties. Jen Bissu’s paintings embody the wholesomely sinful spirit of the 1950s and bring about a deliciously nostalgic feeling, even for those born too late to experience firsthand the magic of the Fabulous Fifties.

https://www.jenbissu.com/

Twitter @JenBissu

[email protected]

10 of Stupidest and Worst Regulations of 2012
James Gattuso and Diane Katz
December 28, 2012 at 8:36 am

It seems that no aspect of American life can escape government regulation. In the past year, regulators drafted rules that addressed everything from caloric intake to dishwasher efficiency.

Most of these rules increase the cost of living, others hinder job creation, and many erode freedom. Not all regulations are unwarranted, of course, but increasingly, the rules imposed by the government have less to do with health and safety and more to do with whether government or individuals get to make basic pocketbook and lifestyle decisions that affect them. And it is not just the regulators who are to blame. Congress writes laws that give unelected bureaucrats the broad powers they wield.

Today we bring you 10 of the worst regulations from 2012:

1. HHS’s Contraception Mandate

The Department of Health and Human Services on February 15 finalized its mandate that all health insurance plans include coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization procedures, and contraceptives. To date, 42 cases with more than 110 plaintiffs are challenging this restriction on religious liberty.

2. EPA Emissions Standards

The EPA in February finalized strict new emissions standards for coal- and oil-fired electric utilities. The benefits are highly questionable, with the vast majority being unrelated to the emissions targeted by the regulation. The costs, however, are certain: an estimated $9.6 billion annually.

3. Fuel Efficiency Standards

In August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in tandem with the Environmental Protection Agency, finalized fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks for model years 2017–2025. The rules require a whopping average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Sticker prices will jump by hundreds of dollars.

4. New York’s 16-Ounce Soda Limit

Not all regulations come from Washington. On September 13, at the behest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York City Board of Health banned the sale of soda and other sweetened drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces.

5. Dishwasher Efficiency Standards

Regulators admit that these Department of Energy rules will do little to improve the environment. Rather, proponents claim they will save consumers money. But they will also increase the price of dishwashers, and only about one in six consumers will keep his or her dishwasher long enough to recoup the cost.

6. School Lunch Standards

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in January published stringent nutrition standards for school lunch and breakfast programs. More than 98,000 elementary and secondary schools are affected—at a cost exceeding $3.4 billion over the next four years.

7. Quickie Union Election Rule

In April, the National Labor Relations Board issued new rules that shorten the time allowed for union-organizing elections to between 10 and 21 days. This leaves little time for employees to make a fully informed choice on unionizing, threatening to leave workers and management alike under unwanted union regimes.

8. Essential Benefits Rule

Under Obamacare, insurers in the individual and small group markets will be forced to cover services that the government deems to be essential. Published on November 26, the HHS list of very broad benefits has created enormous uncertainty about the extent of essential treatment.

9. Electronic Data Recorder Mandate

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on December 13 issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to mandate installation of electronic data recorders, popularly known as “black boxes,” in most light vehicles starting in 2014. The government mandate understandably spooks privacy advocates.

10. “Simplified” Mortgage Disclosure and Servicing Rules

In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its proposal for a more “consumer friendly” mortgage process, with a stated goal of simplifying home loans. The rules run an astonishing 1,099 pages. Then, one month later, the bureau proposed more than 560 pages of rules for mortgage servicing.

No End in Sight

As busy as regulators were in 2012, do not look for them to slow down in the new year. We’ll continue to document the real-life impact with our ongoing Tales of the Red Tape series on The Foundry.

https://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/28/morning-bell-the-10-worst-regulations-of-2012/

 

Flu hits North Jersey
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
BY  BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Keep your hands out of the party mix.

The flu is spreading rapidly in North Jersey, and tossing that fistful of snacks into your mouth just might give you more than some pretzels and nuts — like one of the handful of influenza strains circulating among youngsters, college students and the elderly.

Influenza activity is at a high level, according to the state health department, a vast difference from last year, when the flu season never really ramped up and few residents were infected with the virus.

“We are escalating to a kind of activity level considered by New Jersey standards as high,” said Dr. Gary Munk, director of clinical virology at Hackensack University Medical Center. “It’s remarkable — we went from seeing no cases to these heightened levels early in the season.”

During the first week of December, New Jersey physicians said they were starting to see the first cases of influenza, but two weeks later the number of patients complaining of flu-like symptoms jumped significantly. Doctors attributed the rise to the refusal of many residents to get vaccinated.

“It’s a willful ignorance — they believe the vaccine will make them sick,” said Dr. Thomas Birch, president of the medical staff at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. “But if someone feels like they have a cold after getting the vaccine, it’s just a coincidence. The vaccine doesn’t cause illness.”

Despite the prevalence of the illness in several schools, Dr. Jeffrey Bienstock, director of pediatrics at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, said he’s seeing reluctance on the part of some parents to have their children vaccinated.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/184730821_Flu_hits_North_Jersey.html

Readers takes an unconventional view of of the Connecticut School Shooting
December 23,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, A readers pointed out a creepy idea and reminded us that Al Qaeda in the past has targeted schools and school children .

On September 1, 2004, Beslan’s Secondary School Number One was taken over by Islamist Chechen terrorists. 1200 adults and children were taken hostage on what was supposed to be an exciting first day of school. When the siege ended 3 days later, 344 were dead, including 186 children. Hundreds more were wounded.( https://www.nationalterroralert.com/2007/09/17/the-terrorist-threat-to-our-schools-pt-1/ )

Then speculated ,what would happen if a misguided lone wolf was convinced that this was the thing to do? A disgruntled alienated youth playing video games all day long is a perfect recruitment target .

Al Qaeda Targets Our Schoolchildren
September 25, 2007
By Marc Sheppard

Nearly 6 months have passed since I first challenged the inexcusable refusal by DHS and FBI authorities to publicly connect the obviously connectable dots representing an unnerving number of alarming events — particularly in the wake of the Beslan school massacre. These include:

Videotapes confiscated in Afghanistan showing al-Qaeda terrorists training to takeover a school [newly available Video]
Spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith‘s declaration of al-Qaeda’s “right” to kill 2 million American children
An Iraqi national with known terrorist connections caught with a computer disk containing information detailing Department of Education crisis planning for U.S school districts.
Two Saudi men – one wearing a black trench coat despite the Florida heat — terrifying a busload of Tampa schoolchildren by boarding a school bus and remaining for the entire ride to school, all the while laughing and speaking Arabic.
A March FBI/DHS bulletin noting “recent suspicious activity” by foreigners who drive school buses, are licensed to drive them, or have actually managed to purchase them right here at home. Including “members of the unnamed extremist groups” who have obtained commercial drivers licenses with school bus endorsements.
Osama bin Laden’s promise that the 2004 terrorist attack at Beslan will happen many times over in the United States.
In that time, little or nothing has been done to relieve parents’ understandable anxieties, despite the fresh dots which continued to accrue on this disturbing non-puzzle.

Dots like the seventeen full-sized yellow school buses reported stolen from charter schools, business schools and private bus companies in Houston, Texas, over the past few months. Connect to that and previous disturbing stories the fact that thousands of school bus radios have also been stolen (2000 in California in 2005 alone), and the images shaped should be triggering earsplitting alarms throughout all branches of media and law enforcement.

But instead — the silence looms apparent while the question remains: Why?

https://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/al_qaeda_targets_our_schoolchi.html

The Terrorist Threat To Our Schools Pt. 1 9/17/2007 https://www.nationalterroralert.com/2007/09/17/the-terrorist-threat-to-our-schools-pt-1/

 

Readers debate Arming Teachers as a Solution to Protect Children

maybe….

I like this in principle…in practice, I hope not ALL teachers have this privilege and that there is a thorough vetting process beforehand. All it takes is for a teacher with a gun to lose control and all bets are off!

But to this guys point, as long as a potential shooter knows that someone might be armed but not know who…might be a deterrent. In the case (as in Newtown) where someone has gone off the rails and shoots his way INTO a school, lives might still be lost but not nearly as many helpless children.

Something has to change. I have a 2 year old and if this shit is still happening when she is 5, I will simply leave the country. Nobody in Hong Kong or Singapore is shooting up kindergarten classes.

 no.. 

Rob, it seems that we agree there should be someone at school who has the ability to act immediately as a first line of defense. However, I am concerned about the idea of arming teachers because:

(1) How do we train people, who are not police officers, to act like police officers when a gunman enters the school creating an extreme pressure situation that even police officers have difficulty handling? We can’t just send teachers to a weekend training course and expect that they will be up to the challenge of dealing with an armed intruder, let alone being able to kill that intruder if necessary.

(2) Teachers are in too close contact with the students, and thus having them carry a gun may lead to unfortunate accidents or offer a student with bad intentions easier access to a weapon.

If the cost of hiring a new police officer for each school is too much, then perhaps we hire a few additional officers. The current police force and those few additional officers could cover each school (it’s not like there is a lot of crime that takes place during school hours that would be neglected if a few of our current officers were diverted to the schools).

Anyway, the point of my original post is that our government wastes so much money on nonesense that perhaps we should insist that some of the money be used instead to protect our children while they are at school.

Photo by Boyd Loving

How to Talk to Your Children About Violence

Tragic events such as shootings with mass casualties serve as a shocking reminder that violence can
happen anywhere, even in good schools in affluent communities. Parents who wonder whether a violent
event has troubled their children should face the issue head on by inviting their kids to talk.
Child care experts recommend listening first. Find out how your children feel, and then ask open-ended
questions. See what their reactions are and how they’re responding.
You know your children best. Tailor the type and amount of information you share based on their age and
maturity. For teenagers, knowledge is power. They may want specific details so they can feel more in
control. Watching the news together can provide an opportunity to talk about what issues come up—
emotionally and intellectually—as stories analyzing the tragedy unfold.
Don’t bombard younger children with too much information
Parents shouldn’t let younger children watch TV accounts of the violent events or be overexposed to
graphic photographs in newspapers and magazines. Don’t give pre-school and grade-school-age children
a lot of details, but if they have questions, answer them briefly. If they’re worried, be sure to ask them
what they’re worried about. Let them tell you their fears.
While acknowledging how scary and heartbreaking such incidents are, parents should also emphasize
that it is extremely rare for children to be hurt by this kind of violence. Remind children that there are
many adults who look out for their safety: teachers, neighbors, police.
Don’t pretend to have all the answers. It’s OK to say, “We may never know why it happened. Maybe
something was lacking in their lives.” Discuss what might have been missing. Children are very perceptive
about these things.
Watch for signs of stress
Children react to fear, stress or trauma in different ways. Over the next few weeks after a violent incident,
you may notice disrupted sleep patterns, frequent nightmares and/or insomnia; changes in eating habits,
loss of appetite or overeating; decline in school performance; lack of concentration; irritability or
prolonged depression. Younger children may display separation anxiety, not wanting to be left alone in a
room, or getting upset when parents leave the house. They may cling to parents more than usual.
Remember, these symptoms are common reactions to anxiety. However, if symptoms persist for longer
than six weeks and disrupt your child’s daily routine, seek help from a social worker, pediatrician or
psychologist. A professional cannot only help your child deal with his emotions, but can provide valuable
tips and guidance to parents.
How you react to a traumatic event gives your children clues on how to act. If you react with alarm, a child
may be more scared. The following tips may make it easier for you to talk to your children and alert you to
early warning signs of a child at risk:
How to talk to teenagers
1. Don’t force the issue. Let them know that you’re willing to listen when they’re ready to talk.
2. Ask open-ended questions about what they think or feel.
3. Don’t lecture, preach or interrupt.
4. Watch the news together and discuss the information in the broadcast.
5. Reassure them that it’s normal to feel anxious after such an incident. . Emphasize that such violence is rare.
How to talk to younger children
1. Don’t let young children be bombarded by graphic images on TV or in newspapers and
magazines.
2. Don’t bring up the subject of the violent event, but if children ask questions, answer them briefly
and honestly.
3. Remind children that there are many adults watching out for their safety.
4. Don’t pretend to have all the answers.
Resources
ValueOptions® Behavioral Healthcare Services
(800) 700-8646
Behavioral Health Appointment Assistance
(877) 298-3514
TRICARE Assistance Program (TRIAP): A video Web-based counseling service
https://www.humana-military.com/south/bene/health-wellness/triap.asp

Humana Military Healthcare Services
https://www.humana-military.com/south/bene/beneficiary.asp
(800) 444-5445
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