>Congress will vote on Healthcare Reform this week. Today, we have sent 2 busloads to Washington, DC for a “Congressional House Call”
If you were unable to attend the trip to Washington, please consider making a “Congressional House Call” locally. Tell Congressman Rothman and Senators Lautenberg and Menendez to vote NO on the Obama/Pelosi/Reid health care takeover. The goal is simple: today, activists like you show up at key Senate and Congressional offices in your state with your own message telling them to keep their “hands off your health care.”
The procedure will be: Arrive, go into the office and register your opposition in writing. As we do not know how many people can participate during the work week, consider putting your request in writing ahead of time if you are pressed for time. If you cannot visit, please FAX your letter or CALL during the afternoon beginning at noon. A FAX is more effective than an email. A personal visit is more effective than a FAX.
If you need help composing a letter, several letters have been written that you can use “as is” or as a template for you to personalize. https://www.njteapartycoalition.org/Contact-Your-Congressman.html
Many who intended on visiting local offices have made the trek to Washington. We do not have a “group” attending, but please attend with a friend or as an individual. The suggested schedule is as follows:
12:00 noon Congressman Steven Rothman Hackensack, NJ Office 25 Main Street, Suite 101 Hackensack, NJ 07601 201-646-0808 201-646-1944 (fax) OR Congressman Scott Garrett 266 Harristown Road Suite 104 Glen Rock, NJ 07452 (201) 444-5454 (201) 444-5488 (fax)
1:30 p.m. Senator Bob Menendez One Gateway Center, Suite 1100 Newark, New Jersey 07102 973-645-3030 973-645-0502 (fax) AND Senator Frank Lautenberg One Gateway Center Newark, New Jersey 07102 973-639-8700 888-398-1642 973-639-8723 (fax)
If you cannot make both location and times, at least show up at ONE. If you are not from the immediate area, go to: https://americansforprosperity.org/nov5 for your congressional representative and their office nearest to you. Time grows short and opportunities to make a difference are important especially now.
Please join Congressman Scott Garrett for a live Web Townhall this Thursday night at 7 p.m. to discuss H.R. 3962, the health care legislation currently under consideration in the House of Representatives.
>One day only. Saturday 11-7-2009 9AM to 5PM All nice stuff. priced right. Some furniture. lighting ; books ,clothes. nick knacks etc. No early callers please.
570 Barnett Place ( off Mulberry place ) Ridgewood, NJ
Our struggle to preserve Graydon has inspired a paper presented at a conference and summarized on a Psychology Today blog by University of Washington psychologist Peter H. Kahn, Jr., PhD. His book The Human relationship with Nature explores the deep significance of children’s interactions with nature and the unfortunate long-term consequences for both them and the environment when these are lost. Read his blog entry here or from a link on our home page. Click on Reader Comments (below the text of the blog entry) to check out Marcia’s exchanges with Dr. Kahn and the coauthor of his paper.
In the past few years an entire movement has grown around the precepts of similarly minded experts, such as Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder and six other books. Louv is chairman of the Children & Nature Network. The importance to children’s development of nature and unstructured play has been stressed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and many other organizations of high repute.
Louv writes in the book, for example: “A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development. They say the quality of exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level.”
Among many fascinating studies on the Network’s website is a summary of a recent report from the University of Illinois. The researcher cites documentation, for example, that children with ADHD have fewer symptoms after outdoor activities in nature-filled environments and that college students achieve better results on cognitive tests when their dormitory windows view natural settings. This is clearly an already-rich area that is ripe for greater study.
Coalition supporter Diane Palacios, who spotted a link to Kahn’s article on the Ridgewood Blog, instantly recognized its importance and delivered or sent copies to all members of the Village Council and its Graydon Pool Committee. Awareness, initiative, communication—a fine way to get the message out.
We’ll be back soon with more autumn pictures of Graydon. If you’d like to share your best Graydon photos, taken in any season, send them to us in digital format. The park is so picturesque that we’re considering producing a 2011 Graydon calendar. It’s lovely throughout the year at the beach in our back yard.
Swimmingly,
Suzanne Kelly and Marcia Ringel, Co-Chairs The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation “It’s clear—we love Graydon!” [email protected] www.PreserveGraydon.org
More disturbing videos of young school children singing praises to President Obama, quite a shock. What seemed like an aberration now appears to be a troubling pattern. Maybe “epidemic” is a better word. Here is just a sample with each video creepier than the last.
ELEMENTARY EPIDEMIC: 11 Uncovered Videos Show School Children Performing Praises to Obama
the Ridgewood blog staff Congrats!!! Chris Christie
now its time to drive the dirtbags into the sea lol !!!!!
“Tomorrow we will take back New Jersey back for our families. Tomorrow we will take back New Jersey for our friends,” Christie said. “Tomorrow we begin to build that greater New Jersey for our children and grandchildren. I want my children to raise their children in this state. I want your children to raise their children in this great state.
“I will tell you, the campaign we just went through was easy compared to the tasks that will face us to fix this state. There are no easy answers to these difficult questions.
“Starting tomorrow, we are going to pick Trenton up and turn it upside down.”
>…sounds suspiciously like the “anonymous parent” who went onto Facebook, printed out photographs of RHS seniors drinking at parties, and stuffed them into the mailboxes of administrators and coaches at RHS with a note saying that “my child doesn’t drink”. Whoever was responsible for that should be truly ashamed of themselves. Lorenz is wonderful and is trying to do the right thing – binge drinking is becoming a serious problem in all communities. That being said, the punishments are quite severe, especially for those attending the parties to be social and not drinking themselves. Not an easy solution…..
Yes, it is most definitely true that a parent printed out the Facebook photos, evidently with kids circled in specific pictures, and sent them to coaches and administrators at RHS. While some pictures were recent, others were from events over the summer and last spring. The kids believe it is a parent of a senior who is looking for any edge in the college admissions process and would love to see some kids “dethroned” and their applications marred. It’s a very sad commentary to be sure on the state of affairs and to what lenghts some parents will go to to give their kids a leg up.
> The Travel Center/American Express Travel Service Representative Azamara & Celebrity Cruises
invite you to a cruise night at Blend Restaurant 17 Chestnut Street, Ridgewood, NJ November 18, 2009 6-8 PM Tapas Cocktails at Happy Hour Prices Seating is limited – Reservations required Call The Travel Center 201.447-3311 Special Event Pricing!
>What is RHS going to do with the athletes and other individuals who participate in extra curricular activities? Don’t they have power to mete out punishment to our children for offenses committed even while off campus?
Did we forget that the legal age for drinking was 18 when we grew up and is now 21 – to the dismay of many college presidents. Whenever society has tried prohibition, it has made things worse. On college campuses today, binge drinking has become a serious problem. Prohibited from learning how to drink responsibly within their local communities, students go off to college having no such reference. Ask yourself this, would you rather have your child learn about the unpleasant effects of over-drinking while under your supervision, that is, while in high school with their friends and living at home or away at college with kids you don’t know? In which environment is your child safer?
So, why the hypocrisy as adults, we drink? Our children are going to drink. The only question is how do we teach them to do so responsibly and to look out for one another when they do? Might it be best that the police department and the parents deal with the situation as they see fit and leave our ever eager to parent, public school system to the task of teaching?
> Central Business District Merchants Plan to Blast Village Council on Wednesday Night – Catsup Sandwiches on Menu?
Led by Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce President Doug Seiferling, Ridgewood’s Central Business District shopkeepers and property owners plan to be out in force for Wednesday evening’s Village Council Work Session to air their gripes over increased parking fees.
The Fly has spotted “Roll Back the Parking Rate Increase” petitions in numerous East Ridgewood Avenue establishments over the past few days. It is reported that all signed petitions will be presented to Village Council members during Wednesday’s meeting.
It is also rumored that Councilwoman Anne “Suck it Up” Zusy’s recent letter to the editor of The Ridgewood News will be the primary focus of comments planned by Mr. Seiferling.
Though I am quite amused at the person screaming at me anonymously through an online message board, I do feel the need to defend my comments which have been taken out of context – shocking!
Here is exactly what I posted:Just a heads up I have spoken to Oradell, as well as two AnimalHospitals in NYC near my office, and neither is recommending this shot.Additionally, the fee is $20, plus a $40 visit fee, both x 2, so the total cost is $120 for the vaccine. Not telling anyone which decision tomake, just helping provide some additional facts.
Nowhere am I “knocking” Ridgewood Animal Hospital or Dr. Cerf, who has seen our dog since we moved here and from what I can tell, does an excellent job. I am also quite happy for you that Dr. Cerf was able tosave your dog, as we had a difficult and expensive experience with our pup at 6 months old having developed a liver shunt and needing surgery,luckily for us he was saved by the great team at the NYC Animal Medical Center.
I did call Oradell after receiving the letter from RVH because I wanted to see if they charged less than Ridgewood for the shot, as my initial inclination was to absolutely vaccinate our dog. Oradell did inform mewhen I called that they were not recommending the shot across the board,and I will concede that perhaps in my above post, I could have been abit more specific. Additionally, I also contacted two vets near my office in NYC, who also stated they were not recommending the vaccine.My post was providing as accurate information as I had at the time. The mere suggestion that I would have some sort of agenda and thus put the beloved pets of my neighbors at risk is insulting.
If you were so curious as to where I work (as if I am some rogue internet poster who owns stock in Oradell Animal Hospital) you should note that unlike you, I do not post anonymous comments, though, for your piece of mind, I can assure you, that the utility company I work for has no vested interest in hurting RVH.
From the Democrat polling firm Public Policy Polling:
“Chris Christie leads Jon Corzine 47-41 in PPP’s final poll of the New Jersey Governor’s race, with Chris Daggett at 11%.
Corzine had pulled to within a point of Christie on our poll three weeks ago after trailing by as many as 14 points over the summer, but his momentum has stalled since then and Christie’s built his lead back upto 4 points last week and now 6.
Christie’s advantage is due largely to his support from independents and because he has Republicans more unified around him than the Democrats are around Corzine. Christie leads Corzine 52-29 with indies, as Daggett’s support with that group has declined to 16%. Christie is getting 82% of Republicans to Corzine’s 72% of Democrats.
As the campaign concludes it seems like Daggett’s presence in the race has actually ended up hurting Corzine more than Christie, contrary to the earlier conventional wisdom. 45% of Daggett voters say the incumbent is their second choice to 36% for the challenger. Daggett’s backers report having voted for Barack Obama by a 67-23 margin last year.
As is the case around the country this year enthusiasm is on the Republicans’ side in New Jersey. 47% of Christie’s supporters say they’re ‘very excited’ about voting this fall to just 34% of Corzine’s. The electorate is also likely to be more Republican leaning this year with likely voters reporting that they voted for Obama by a 54-43 margin in 2008, a spread narrower than the actual 57-42 result in the state.
In a finding symbolic of how unenthralled New Jersey voters were with their choices this year Christie is polling at 47% despite the fact that only 40% of voters think he made a strong case for why he should be elected Governor. Fully 27% of Christie’s supporters don’t feel he made the case for himself but Corzine’s approval rating with that group of voters is only 3%, and those folks seem to have picked Christie as the lesser of two evils.
Corzine could still win with an exceptional Democratic turnout on Tuesday but there aren’t a lot of factors in the race pointing to that as a strong possibility.”
Chris Christie’s Next Case: Who Stole My Election?
By JOHN FUND
The race for governor in New Jersey is so close in final polls that it may well end up in a recount — the 1981 election did and was decided by less than 1,800 votes. If there is a recount, you can bet disputes about absentee ballots will loom large. Moreover, if serious allegations of fraud emerge, you can also expect less-than-vigorous investigation by the Obama Justice Department — which showed just how seriously it takes such allegations when it walked away from an open-and-shut voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia earlier this year.
Plenty of reasons exist for suspecting absentee fraud may play a significant role in tomorrow’s Garden State contests. Groups associated with Acorn in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York appear to have moved into the state. An independent candidate for mayor in Camden has already leveled charges that voter fraud is occurring in his city. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party in New Jersey is taking advantage of a new loosely written vote-by-mail law to pressure county clerks not to vigorously use signature checks to evaluate the authenticity of absentee ballots, the only verification procedure allowed.
The state has received a flood of 180,000 absentee ballot requests. On some 3,000 forms the signature doesn’t match the one on file with county clerks. Yet citing concerns that voters would be disenfranchised, Democratic Party lawyer Paul Josephson wrote New Jersey’s secretary of state asking her “to instruct County Clerks not to deny applications on the basis of signature comparison alone.” Mr. Josephson maintained that county clerks “may be overworked and are likely not trained in handwriting analysis” and insisted that voters with suspect applications should be allowed to cast provisional ballots. Those ballots, of course, would then provide a pool of votes that would be subject to litigation in any recount, with the occupant of New Jersey’s highest office determined by Florida 2000-style scrutiny of ballot applications.
Absentee voter fraud is in danger of becoming a hardy perennial in New Jersey. Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and 13 campaign workers were indicted in September on charges of conspiring to commit election fraud using absentee ballots. One worker pleaded guilty last month. In Newark, five campaign workers were indicted in August on charges involving absentee ballot fraud.
