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NJ TRANSIT OFFERS ‘EARLY GETAWAY’ SERVICE FOR LABOR DAY WEEKEND

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NJ TRANSIT OFFERS ‘EARLY GETAWAY’ SERVICE FOR LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Kids ride free all weekend with Family SuperSaver Fare
August 27, 2014

NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT will offer “early getaway” rail and bus service on Friday, August 29, for the benefit of customers leaving work early for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

On Friday, August 29, extra outbound trains will operate on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley, Morris & Essex and Port Jervis lines starting at approximately 1 p.m.  Extra buses will operate from the Port Authority Bus Terminal on more than a dozen bus routes starting around noon.  Visit njtransit.com for details.

On Labor Day, Monday, September 1, trains will operate on a weekend/major holiday schedule on all lines.  Hudson-Bergen Light Rail will operate on a weekend schedule. Newark Light Rail will operate on a Saturday schedule.  River Line will operate on a Sunday schedule.  Bus schedules vary by route—customers are advised to check their timetables or visit njtransit.com for schedule information.

For complete schedules and fares, visit njtransit.com or call 973-275-5555.

Summer Savings

With summer winding down, there is still time to take advantage of NJ TRANSIT’s discounted travel packages to destinations including the Jersey Shore, Six Flags Great Adventure, Monmouth Park Racetrack and Mountain Creek Action Park:

Beach Packages:  Save up to $6.50 on admission to one of five beaches— Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Belmar—by purchasing round-trip train fare and a beach pass for one price at NJ TRANSIT ticket vending machines (choose “Special Promotions” and select “Beach Package”) or at ticket windows.  Customers can purchase the package for $31.50 from New York Penn Station or any station on the Main, Bergen County or Pascack Valley lines (except from Metro-North stations), and for $23.50 from Hoboken Terminal or Newark Penn Station.  Beach packages are now on sale daily through Labor Day, Monday, September 1.

Shore Express:  Enjoy a shorter trip and one-seat ride to the Jersey Shore with NJ TRANSIT’s new express service, departing New York Penn Station at 7:52 a.m. and 10:01 a.m. and stopping at Secaucus Junction, Newark Penn Station, Elizabeth, Rahway, Aberdeen-Matawan, Red Bank, Long Branch, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach, Belmar, Spring Lake, Manasquan, Point Pleasant Beach and Bay Head without having to change trains in Long Branch.  Return trips will depart Bay Head at 4:54 p.m. and 6:54 p.m. This express service will operate on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays through September 1, supplementing NJ TRANSIT’s hourly rail service between Long Branch and Bay Head.
Shore EZride Jitney provides shuttle service to beaches, shopping and dining locations from Long Branch Station.  NJ TRANSIT customers can ride the jitney for free with a coupon available on njtransit.com/shore.

Six Flags Great Adventure and Safari or Hurricane Harbor:  Save up to $40 by purchasing round-trip bus transportation and park admission together.  NJ TRANSIT provides express bus service to Six Flags from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York, Newark Penn Station, Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal, Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, and from Freehold.
Monmouth Park:  Board a train anywhere on NJ TRANSIT’s rail system and save up to $5.50 when you travel to Monmouth Park Racetrack.  Simply purchase a round-trip package to Monmouth Park from NJ TRANSIT ticket vending machines (choose “Special Promotions” and select “Monmouth Park Racetrack”) or at ticket windows, and receive Grandstand Admission and an official track program for $1 plus round-trip train fare.
Mountain Creek Action Park:  Save $8 on the adult admission price when you ride Bus No. 304 from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Weehawken, Union City, North Bergen or Wayne/Route 23 Transit Center on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays through September 1.

For details on NJ TRANSIT’s Summer Services and customer discounts, visit njtransit.com/summer.

On weekends, kids ride free on NJT

Every weekend, families riding NJ TRANSIT can save with the Family SuperSaver Fare, which allows two children 11 and younger to travel free with each fare-paying adult.  For the Labor Day holiday weekend, the program will be in effect from 7 p.m. Friday, August 29 until 6 a.m. Tuesday, September 2.

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Ridgewood High School to hold soccer marathon for charity

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Ridgewood High School to hold soccer marathon for charity
AUGUST 29, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014, 12:31 AM

This Sunday, the Ridgewood High School boys and girls soccer programs will host a “Dawn to Dusk” 12-hour marathon soccer match to benefit two local charities, “Go 4 the Goal” and the Social Service Association of Ridgewood and Vicinity, and to help raise money for the RHS soccer programs.

This is the first time in many years that the high school teams will be coming together to host an event to help those in need. The event is planned to kickoff at 7 a.m. at the Ridgewood High School Stadium field, and play will continue until 7 p.m. If the stadium field — which suffered damage during the rainstorm earlier this month — is not repaired by Aug. 31, the Soccer-A-Thon will be held at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

RHS soccer players will donate their time and energy, and they will solicit sponsorships based on 12 hours of play. Parents will be contributing time as well, helping to organize the event and support the players. Several businesses, including Valley Hospital, Stifel, F.O.R.C.E. Performance Training of Ho-Ho-Kus, Keller Williams and The Fireplace, have agreed to sponsor the event.

According to parent organizer Annette Testa, “We are expecting this event to be a tremendous success, not only in the amount of funds we raise but also in creating a sense of caring and camaraderie within the soccer community.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/community-events-and-announcements/rhs-soccer-marathon-for-charity-on-sunday-1.1077790#sthash.ndbLS6WL.dpuf

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Young artists go to camp in Ridgewood

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Young artists go to camp in Ridgewood

AUGUST 29, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY EILEEN LA FORGIA
STAFF WRITER

“It is exciting to see the progress the young students make within one week at art camp,” said instructor Laura Paray.

The oil painting summer session was held at the Ridgewood Art Institute’s East Studio the week of Aug. 18 to 22. This is the third summer that Paray has taught an oil painting summer session at Ridgewood Art Institute. The students paint from still life and from landscapes previously created en plein air.

“There is no better way to learn than from real life set ups, the three dimensional objects are there and the goal is to convey that on a two dimensional surface,” said Paray.

“The landscape sketches help them to see the colors used to create atmosphere in an outdoor scene, and eventually they can attempt to paint outdoors themselves using the information that is given – helping them to translate the complicated outdoors into an understanding of color and value and the reasoning behind the prismatic palette of the Ridgewood Art Institute.”

Paray teaches oil painting for young people on Sundays 12 to 2 p.m. during the year.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/art/young-artists-explore-different-mediums-at-camp-1.1077871#sthash.Kk6kJLH4.dpuf

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Upgrades planned for Ridgewood senior center

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Upgrades planned for Ridgewood senior center

AUGUST 29, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER

Based on a recent study of other local centers, Ridgewood seniors have found that the Patrick A. Mancuso Senior Center in Village Hall pales in comparison.

But Ridgewood’s center will soon be a little comfier, with aims to make it even better in the future.

“This should be home away from home,” said Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, the council’s Community Center liaison.

In addition to a new blue-green paint color and artwork soon to grace the walls, there will be two new small couches and a larger couch, a floor rug, a flat screen TV on the wall, an end table and a coffee table – all from Pottery Barn, afforded by a discount through Ridgewood resident and designer Donna Bello and $10,000 donation from the Habernickel family.

Despite these improvements, more money will be needed in the future to improve the adjoining Anne Zusy Youth Center, where more active senior exercise classes and other events take place.

As a result, the Community Center Advisory Board, which formed last year, is launching a fundraising campaign in September.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/towns/plans-in-place-for-upgrades-at-center-1.1077817#sthash.pP7QxXgJ.dpuf

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Ridgweood school board names new business administrators

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Ridgweood school board names new business administrators

AUGUST 29, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER

A former school district employee will return to the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) as its business administrator in the coming months.

On Aug. 25, the BOE approved the hire of Alfredo Aguilar as the district’s business administrator, with a contract lasting through June 30, 2015. Aguilar will be paid an annual salary of $168,000.

Although Aguilar was unanimously approved to hire, he will remain in his current position, as the business administrator for the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, for 90 days or until a replacement is found.

In the interim, assistant business administrator Gertrude Engle has been named acting business administrator and will receive a stipend of $250 per day.

Aguilar previously served as the business administrator for the Oradell Board of Education and from 2009 to 2012 was the assistant business administrator in Ridgewood.

From 2004 to 2009, Aguilar was a middle school math teacher in Paterson Public Schools and from 2001 to 2004 was a financial services officer in the U.S. Air Force.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/board-names-new-business-administrator-schools-1.1077823#sthash.oZjujw36.dpuf

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‘Micro site’ antennas proposed to close cellphone coverage gaps in Ridgewood

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‘Micro site’ antennas proposed to close cellphone coverage gaps in Ridgewood

AUGUST 28, 2014    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014, 1:57 PM
BY JODI WEINBERGER

A radio frequency engineer for Verizon Wireless said a gap in data coverage affects more than 4,000 people in the village.

The telecommunications company is asking for a use and height variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a “micro site” antenna on the top of the steeple at the West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 S. Monroe St., said engineer Glenn Pierson.

The antenna, which is not permitted in a residential zone, would bring the total height of the building to 83 feet where 30 feet is permitted by law. The building is at an existing height of 81 feet.

Pierson said the antenna would provide relief for about 700 people, but if the village approves the plan, Verizon would propose other micro sites to “start chipping away at the coverage gap.”

The 2-foot antenna is being proposed in response to negative reaction from the big “macro site” cell towers seen around the state, Pierson said.

“It’s a start, a first step,” Pierson said. “We want to see how Ridgewood reacts to this type of design versus a 100-foot tower.”

He said the topography of Ridgewood creates a “significant gap” in coverage in the area north of West Ridgewood Avenue on North Monroe Street, Beachwood Road, Monte Vista Avenue, Sheridan Terrace and other roadways. The coverage, however, would not reach West Glen Avenue.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/micro-site-antennas-proposed-to-close-cellphone-coverage-gaps-in-ridgewood-1.1077633#sthash.SnQORn96.dpuf

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Bergen County sheriff puts use of armored military vehicles on hold

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Bergen County sheriff puts use of armored military vehicles on hold

AUGUST 28, 2014, 12:26 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014, 12:29 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

The Bergen County sheriff said Thursday he will delay using armored military vehicles until state and federal officials complete their reviews of the program under which police departments across the country acquired the surplus equipment free.

But Sheriff Michael Saudino said he still plans to take possession of two mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, known as MRAPs, which he said have saved officers’ lives in other states.

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department is in line for two surplus military vehicles similar to this one, originally designed as defense against roadside bombs in war zones.

County Executive Kathleen Donovan welcomed the delay but called on the county freeholders to rescind their vote from earlier this year authorizing the sheriff to obtain MRAPs from the U.S. Defense Department. Donovan said Thursday she wants a one-year moratorium on the acquisition of any military equipment to allow time for full and public debate.

“We don’t want to see them rumbling into neighborhoods inappropriately and scaring our citizens,” Donovan said.

Saudino and Donovan, both Republicans, have a history of feuding and not speaking to each other. In dueling news conferences on Thursday, each claimed the other is playing politics amid a national debate over the militarization of local police departments.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-sheriff-to-delay-using-surplus-armored-military-vehicles-donovan-wants-one-year-moratorium-1.1077594#sthash.idJFk04t.dpuf

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Missing NJ man found dead in Israel forest

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteers take part in searches for a missing New Jersey native in Jerusalem

Missing NJ man found dead in Israel forest
By David K. Li
August 28, 2014 | 11:16am

Israeli police have confirmed that the body found in a Jerusalem forest is that of a missing student from New Jersey.

An Israeli police official has confirmed that the body found in a wooded area in Jerusalem is that of a missing student from New Jersey.

Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld made the confirmation Thursday, hours after rescue workers found what they believed was Aaron Sofer’s body in a forest park in Jerusalem days after the student went missing, according to CNN.

The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Sofer, 23, got separated from a friend while hiking on a trail Friday afternoon, triggering a massive search that included helicopters, mounted police and canine units.

The young man’s parents, who live in Lakewood, NJ, had gone to Israel to help with the search.

Sofer’s loved ones earlier this week said they feared he had been kidnapped by Palestinians.

https://nypost.com/2014/08/28/body-found-in-israeli-forest-believed-to-be-missing-nj-man/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

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School Rankings : Daily Beast fails to mention Ridgewood in its top Schools Survey

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School Rankings : Daily Beast fails to mention Ridgewood in its top Schools Survey

The Daily Beast had this one,

not sure how it was done, saw it had Glen Rock and Ramsey in it, but not Ridgewood or Northern Highlands or Ramapo
Zillow uses www.greatschools.org which ranks RHS 10 out of 10 …. also very high marks for Northern Highlands 9, Glen Rock 9, and Ramapo 9.
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Garber Square construction project

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photos by Boyd Loving

Garber Square construction project

TRAFFIC ALERT – Garber Square Complete Streets Project

The Garber Square paving project resumed Monday, August 25th. The work is taking place 7:30am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday. During construction, vehicles will be able to use alternating lanes (one lane will be closed), supervised by Police Officers. It is recommended that the public use alternate routes during construction to avoid potential traffic congestion. Thank you for your patience.

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Photos by Boyd Loving

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Study: Kindle readers have lower comprehension levels

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Study: Kindle readers have lower comprehension levels

by Mark Tyson on 20 August 2014, 12:00

Tags: Kindle reader

Studies into the impact of digitisation on the reading experience have indicated that what is read in e-books is “significantly”less well absorbed than the same information read from a traditional paper book. In the most recent study it  was found that the plot reconstruction ability of an e-book reading subject was most at fault – when the readers were asked to recall story events in the correct order.

The Guardian reports that this latest research paper is the result of a comprehension study of 50 readers, all of whom were given a short 28-page story by Elizabeth George to read. Half of the subjects read the e-book on an Amazon Kindle and the other half read through a paperback. After their reading, the subjects were tested on various aspects of the story.

Study: Kindle readers have lower comprehension levels
https://hexus.net/mobile/news/e-readers/73497-study-kindle-readers-lower-comprehension-levels/

Readers absorb less on Kindles than on paper, study finds
Research suggests that recall of plot after using an e-reader is poorer than with traditional books

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb-less-kindles-paper-study-plot-ereader-digitisation

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Study: Smartphones stunting students’ social skills

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Study: Smartphones stunting students’ social skills

August 27, 2014

LOS ANGELES – When you see a tween or teen on the street, in a store, outside a school building, sitting in a car, eating at a fast food restaurant…virtually anywhere…what are they likely to be doing? If your answer is staring at their Smartphone, you’d probably be right. And a new study done by the University of California Los Angeles says that can be a roadblock in a child’s ability to read emotions.

The UCLA psychology department looked at two groups of 11- to 12-year-olds. During the research, one group made significantly more progress than the other. The group deprived of all digital media, even television, performed significantly better at recognizing emotions than those allowed to keep texting and tweeting and talking on Facebook after just five days.

In an article published in Malay Mail Online, Patricia Greenfield, senior author of the study, complained, “Many people are looking at the benefits of digital media in education, and not many are looking at the costs. Decreased sensitivity to emotional cues—losing the ability to understand the emotions of other people—is one of the costs.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that as of 2009 22 percent of teens log on to their favorite social media sites more than 10 times a day, half log on more than once a day. Seventy-five percent own cell phones. Twenty-five percent use them for social media, 54 percent for texting and 24 percent for instant messaging.  No doubt those numbers have increased since that poll was published.

Researchers worked with a total of 105 sixth graders from a Southern California public school, a small but significant study. Half of those students spent five days at a nature and science camp where digital technology was strictly taboo. It seems participants were forced to interact with each other face-to-face instead of screen-to-screen.

All were tested before and after the five days.

https://eagnews.org/study-smartphones-stunting-students-social-skills/

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Bergen County freeholders discuss guidelines for military vehicles

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Bergen County freeholders discuss guidelines for military vehicles

The debate over the militarization of law enforcement in Bergen County reverberated at Wednesday’s Freeholder Board meeting, where a full-throated discussion took place over the wisdom of the Sheriff’s Office accepting two military surplus armored vehicles. (Ensslin/The Bergen Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-freeholders-discuss-guidelines-for-military-vehicles-1.1076873

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LA Schools’ $1 Billion iPad Fiasco Ends After Corruption Revelations

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LA Schools’ $1 Billion iPad Fiasco Ends After Corruption Revelations

Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………………..

Robby Soave|Aug. 27, 2014 1:55 pm

Los Angeles Unified School District is ending its billion-dollar iPad program, which has drawn widespread criticism for distributing expensive devices to teachers who didn’t know what to do with them and students who kept losing or breaking them.

The costly program was considered a total failure, and it’s little surprise that district officials have finally relented and scaled back. More surprising, however, are revelations that District Superintendent John Deasy may have engaged in some crooked bargaining to arrange the deal in the first place.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Deasy’s previous connections to Apple and Pearson—the companies contracted to supply the iPads and instructional materials for them, respectively—amount to a conflict of interest. In hindsight, the bidding process that Apple and Pearson won to score the contracts seems biased in those companies’ favor,The LA Times notes:

Last week, a draft report of a district technology committee, obtained by The Times, was strongly critical of the bidding process.

Among the findings was that the initial rules for winning the contract appeared to be tailored to the products of the eventual winners — Apple and Pearson — rather than to demonstrated district needs. The report found that key changes to the bidding rules were made after most of the competition had been eliminated under the original specifications.

In addition, the report said that past comments or associations with vendors, including Deasy, created an appearance of conflict even if no ethics rules were violated.

Emails obtained by The LA Times show Jaime Aquino, Deasy’s deputy superintendent, advising Pearson officials on how to win the bid.

https://reason.com/blog/2014/08/27/la-schools-1-billion-ipad-fiasco-ends-af

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Millennials aren’t listening to you. That’s a good thing.

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Generation Independent

Millennials aren’t listening to you. That’s a good thing.

Nick Gillespie & Emily Ekins from the October 2014 issue

There was a moment at the 2013 Grammy Awards that captured how millennials are different than Gen Xers and baby boomers, and what it all means for the future of America. After the traditional parade of side-boob-flashing songstresses and tonsorially wackadoo manchildren allegedly flouting convention in utterly predictable ways, the hipster band fun. (whose name is uncapitalized and over-punctuated) was honored with a richly deserved statuette for the catchy generational anthem “We Are Young.”

The song broke big after being featured on the hit series Glee, itself a touchstone of the millennial generation, roughly defined as those born between the beginning of the 1980s and the early ’00s. Glee is set in the sort of high school unimaginable to Americans raised on older coming-of-age fare such asHappy Days, Rock and Roll High School, or even the ultra-G-rated Saved by the Bell. OnGlee, even (especially!) the football players sing in a music club that features a paraplegic guitarist, a Down Syndrome cheerleader, and a lesbian Latina, an ensemble that would have been a punchline just a few decades ago. (As recently as 1983, U.S. Interior Secretary James Watt made headlines for joking that an advisory panel he appointed consisted of “a black, a woman, two Jews, and a cripple,” a comment that led to his resignation.)

fun.’s “We Are Young” is a smart variation on that enduring theme of pop music, the booty call. “We are young,” croons the singer to a lost or near-lost love, “So let’s set the world on fire/We can burn brighter/than the sun.” But then comes the generational twist: After vaguely alluding to “scarring” his lover through some unspecified failure, the protagonist sings: “If by the time the bar closes/And you feel like falling down/I’ll carry you home./I know that I’m not/All that you got.”

What matter of musical strangeness is this, actually acknowledging that your drunken, staggering bedmate could do better than you? “We Are Young” is a song in which the singer is a decent human being and penitent lover, an emotional designated driver rather than the standard-issue letch that has dominated the charts from your grandparents’ “Baby It’s Cold Outside” to your parents’ “Under My Thumb” to the entire hair-metal genre of the ’80s.

The 2013 Grammys, in contrast, were a millennial coming-out party for a different kind of POV. The post-racial, post-ethnic, post-American, post-heteronormative, post-everythinglikes of Rihanna and Bruno Mars and Frank Ocean and Janelle Monae and Skrillex took center stage, and the winningly metrosexual fun. took home top honors for its kinder, gentler love song.

Then came the real intergenerational shocker­, when one of the members of the group thanked his parents for letting him live at home “for a very long time.” Did Mick Jagger even have parents? Would Axl Rose have been able to pronounce the word mother, let alone thank her for letting him couch-surf? You could feel a half-century of rebellious rockers, from Jim Morrison to Joey Ramone, groaning in their graves.

Millennials, like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s rich, are different than you and me. For one thing, at around 80 million strong, they’re as big as or bigger than the baby boom—and far more populous than both Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) and the Silent Generation (1929-1945). They are filled with what at first glance looks like contradictions: More Democratic in their voting behavior than previous generations, and yet more politically independent than any cohort in history. Worryingly unafraid of the word socialism, and yet full-bore in favor of the free market.

https://reason.com/archives/2014/08/26/generation-independent