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Interview: Gene Simmons Defends Tim Tebow, If he was wearing a burqa, they wouldn’t dare say anything

Gene Simmons Signs "KISS Kompendium"

Interview: Gene Simmons Defends Tim Tebow, If he was wearing a burqa, they wouldn’t dare say anything

September 13, 2013 11:59 AM

Has polarizing football player Tim Tebow gotten a raw deal in the press because of his religious beliefs? And would he be treated more respectfully if he were not Christian, and specifically, Muslim? Gene Simmons thinks so.

“He’s got a religious passion, as well he should, we’re in America,” the KISS frontman told Radio.com earlier this week. ”He’s proud to be a Christian, what’s wrong with that? And yet, with sports media and pop culture media, they make fun of his religion. Really? In America? If he was wearing a burqa, they wouldn’t dare say anything [editor’s note: only Muslim women wear burqas]. But if you’re a Christian, you get to be picked on? What the hell? The guy’s got family values. I never saw the media picking on Michael Vick for torturing dogs. Or this other football player, who’s alleged to have killed, committed murder.  That’s ‘cool.’ But a guy who’s religious and has got family values isn’t ‘cool?’ He’s cool to me.”

As has been widely reported, Simmons and his KISS bandmate Paul Stanley are now co-owners of a new Arena Football League team, to be called LA KISS. And Simmons wasted no time drawing attention to the expansion team (which will begin playing in 2014), extending a very public offer to quarterback Tim Tebow, who after a brief up-and-down career in the NFL, was released by the New England Patriots a few weeks ago.

https://news.radio.com/2013/09/13/gene-simmons-tim-tebow-religion-football-interview/

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CFPB’s data-mining on consumer credit cards challenged in heated House hearing

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CFPB’s data-mining on consumer credit cards challenged in heated House hearing
By RICHARD POLLOCK | SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 AT 10:51 AM

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials are seeking to monitor four out of every five U.S. consumer credit card transactions this year — up to 42 billion transactions – through a controversial data-mining program, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

A CFPB strategic planning document for fiscal years 2013-17 describes the “markets monitoring” program through which officials aim to monitor 80 percent of all credit card transactions in 2013.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1.16 billion consumer credit cards were in use in 2012 for an estimated 52.6 billion transactions. If CFPB officials reach their stated “performance goal,” they would collect data on 42 billion transactions made with 933 million credit cards used by American consumers.

In addition, CFPB officials hope to monitor up to 95 percent of all mortgage transactions, according to the planning document.

https://washingtonexaminer.com/cfpbs-data-mining-on-consumer-credit-cards-challenged-in-heated-house-hearing/article/2535726

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Arson suspected in Jersey Shore boardwalk fire

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www.nbcnewyork.com – 

Arson suspected in Jersey Shore boardwalk fire
By Natalie O’Neill and Lia Eustachewich
September 13, 2013 | 8:44am

An inferno that gutted more than 30 Jersey Shore boardwalk businesses and took all night to put out appears “suspicious” — and is being investigated by prosecutors, sources said on Friday.

Investigators are eyeing arson because the blaze erupted midday with no obvious cause — and it just happened to come at the end of the summer season, the sources told ABC News.

The fire is believed to have started under the boardwalk near Kohr’s Custard Stand on Thursday, wiping out six blocks of the boardwalk in Seaside Park.

Custard shop owner Bruce Kohr said his workers spotted the flames coming from under the planks — not inside the shop.

https://nypost.com/2013/09/13/fire-ravages-jersey-shore-boardwalk/

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Driver responsible for accidents caused by texting

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Boyd Loving file Photo

Driver responsible for accidents caused by texting

A recent ruling by a New Jersey appellate court rightly upheld a Superior Court’s finding that a young woman who texted a driver moments before his pickup truck crashed into a couple on a motorcycle cannot be held liable for the couple’s grievous injuries. Trenton Times

https://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2013/09/editorial_17.html

 

Texting a driver

A New Jersey appeals court created a stir last month when two judges on a three-judge panel said someone who sends a text to a driver and has “special reason” to know the motorist will read the text while driving can be held liable in civil court for any resulting accident. Atlantic City Press

https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/texting-a-driver-helpful-ruling/article_69c96aeb-87b8-5cbc-9172-392203b60ffc.html

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NJ Transit making policy changes on advice of Attorney General

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NJ Transit making policy changes on advice of Attorney General

NJ Transit’s executive director said Thursday that the agency’s board, which for years has been voting in secret to approve millions of dollars in personal injury claims and other litigation, has changed its procedures on the advice of the state Attorney General’s Office. Record

https://www.northjersey.com/news/state/NJ_Transit_making_policy_changes_on_advice_of_attorney_general_.html

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Rand Paul mocks Cory Booker

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Senator Paul meeting supporters in New Jersey — at Gran Centurions Clubhouse.

Rand Paul mocks Cory Booker
by ALEXANDER BURNS | 9/11/13 11:16 PM EDT

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul took a dim view of Newark Mayor Cory Booker on the eve of a planned trip to New Jersey to stump against the Democratic Senate candidate.

Explaining his decision to campaign for Republican nominee Steve Lonegan on Friday, Paul jabbed at Booker as a politician with “an imaginary friend with imaginary problems” — an allusion to stories Booker has told about a Newark drug lord named “T-Bone,” whom he has said he befriended.

Booker has described “T-Bone” as an “archetype” of Newark, and according to the conservative National Review the Democrat has told at least one associate that “T-Bone” is a composite figure.

“If Cory will introduce me to T-Bone when I get there, I’d love to meet T-Bone. If T-Bone’s not real, maybe we need to get Mr. Booker to talk about real problems,” Paul told POLITICO in an interview.

The senator described Lonegan, who is far behind Booker in the polls for next month’s special election, as a solid conservative and “defender of the Fourth Amendment” who impressed Paul during a visit to Washington over the summer.

Booker spokesman Kevin Griffis responded to Paul’s comments with a broadside at Lonegan, saying that the former Bogota mayor would “raise taxes on the working and middle classes and privatize Social Security, and he even opposed Hurricane Sandy aid.

“As mayor and as a leader of the Tea Party in New Jersey, Mr. Lonegan has only proven that he cares about the plight of the ultra-wealthy and big corporations,” Griffis said.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/cory-booker-mocked-by-rand-paul-96689.html#ixzz2erAFXqEf

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Aetna withdraws from N.J. health exchange

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Aetna withdraws from N.J. health exchange

Some 500,000 New Jersey residents expected to be eligible to buy health coverage on the marketplace created by President Obama’s health law will have one fewer company to choose from when enrollment starts on Oct. 1, but prices are unlikely to be affected. Record

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Aetna_withdraws_from_health_exchange_program_in_NJ.html

 Esurance

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Update : Graydon Pool – ADA Sloped Entry Ramp

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Update : Graydon Pool – ADA Sloped Entry Ramp – Update – 9/13/13

NJ Historic Preservation Office Opinion Letter

Click Here Click Here

DEP Flood Hazard Letter

Click Here Click Here

9/13/13 Update Below –

For two years the Village Council, Community, and Village Staff have discussed options to increase accessibility into Graydon Pool.

A ramp allowing direct access into the pool has been designed and was approved by the Council. Based on recent discussions with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), that plan was revised accordingly. We are now waiting for DEP approval.

Esurance
9/13/13 The revised design for the sloped entry to Graydon Pool has subtle changes which include –

• Horizontally, things did not change except for the lengthening of the initial approach ramp from the existing patio to provide a better vertical envelope to create the necessary slopes.

• Vertically, the changes are also minor, but primarily involved lowering the designed ramp to satisfy the NJDEP criteria that there is no impediment to flood flows in the flood hazard area. The first landing once in the pool is now at 78.04 and under the water, whereas before it had been set at 78.40 and above the water surface elevation. Water surface elevation of the pool is at 78.29. The ramp is cut more into the grade around the pool, again to satisfy NJDEP.

• The ramp lowering was accomplished without the need for railings on either side of the accessible path to the pool.

• There will be decorative stonework placed on the areas of the ramp that are above the pool’s water surface elevation matching the existing stonework around the pool.

Click Here for current site plan documents.

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“To change a town’s master plan for this is ludicrous”

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“To change a town’s master plan for this is ludicrous”

When in doubt, use logic. The Master Plan is the Planning boards reason out and to say no. The Master Plan is the logic for the Council and all involved just to say no.

The Master Plan is the reason and logical way out for all involved.

Sorry Valley, the Master Plan should not be changed and you have wasted a lot of peoples time and money for this ridiculous expansion in Ridgewood. I do not know why the better solution of expanding is no being talked more about in Paramus. Valley is not a hard luck case. You do not have to expand here to survive.

I find it amazing that we are even still entertaining this year after year.

The existing Master Plan should be enough to stop this just as it’s done in years past. Add next to a school and in a residential neighborhood…why is this still going on?

BIG NO TO VALLEYWOOD

Stop the Nonsense

Esurance

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Ridgewood officials report road signs are disappearing

wrong_way_theridgewoodblog.net

Ridgewood officials report road signs are disappearing
September 13, 2013, 2:21 PM
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, According to Acting Village Manager Heather Mailander road signs in the Village are disappearing  at an alarming  rate  telling the Ridgewood News on Wednesday that about 75 signs have gone missing in the last month. ( https://www.northjersey.com/news/223653511_Ridgewood_officials_report_road_signs_are_disappearing.html )

This is not only a financial burden for tax payers but can create dangerous road conditions, for both motorists and pedestrians.

The village is urging residents to notify officials at Village Hall if they observe road signs knocked from poles. Resident who witness anyone illegally removing signs should call the Ridgewood Police Department at 201-652-3900.

sourced : https://www.northjersey.com/news/223653511_Ridgewood_officials_report_road_signs_are_disappearing.html#sthash.RYODM8Yu.dpuf

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Ridgewood Chamber’s plan back out to bid

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Photo is courtesy of Ridgewood Tax Assessor’s Offfice

Ridgewood Chamber’s plan back out to bid
Friday September 13, 2013, 2:12 PM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce’s large-scale plan to introduce a new retail building and at least one parking garage to the Central Business District has hit a snag: The village did not receive any response to its recent request for proposals (RFP) before last week’s deadline.

A RFP advertised earlier this summer sought developers to convert Lot 12, Block 3703 into a “first-class two-story facility” that would ultimately attract new retailers. The site, located next to The Gap on East Ridgewood Avenue, is currently used as a municipal parking lot.

Though two separate entities expressed preliminary interest in potential development, none responded by the Sept. 5 bid opening date, according to Heather Mailander, Ridgewood’s acting village manager. Mailander said the village will likely re-advertise the RFP, as one of the interested parties intended to respond to the original request but could not do so by the deadline.

The lack of responses surprised some Village Council members, who subsequently raised a number of questions. Mayor Paul Aronsohn brought up two points, wondering if the original RFP was adequately advertised and whether its wording was restrictive or too specific.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/223652031_Ridgewood_Chamber_s_plan_back_out_to_bid.html#sthash.DghOKu94.dpuf

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Lonegan: Booker is Obama’s Hollywood stand-in

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Senator Rand Paul rallies the crowd — with J.d. Bryden and Steven Lonegan at Gran Centurions Clubhouse.

Lonegan: Booker is Obama’s Hollywood stand-in
By Max Pizarro | September 13th, 2013 – 2:19pm
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CLARK – Steve Lonegan said he looks forward to joining U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in Washington, D.C., to fight for civil liberties, the Constitutional use of war powers and small business owners.

“Cory Booker is the Hollywood stand-in for Barack Obama,” said Lonegan, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate who’s running against Democrat Booker.

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Loengan called Obama an embarrassment in the Middle East, and a failed steward of the national economy.

“Barack Obama and Cory Booker think government is going to create jobs,” said the former mayor of Bogota. “Give us our freedom and we’ll create all the jobs we need.”

Fellow movement conservative Paul stood on the outdoor platform with Lonegan while the nominee spoke.

Read more at https://www.politickernj.com/68256/lonegan-booker-obamas-hollywood-stand#ixzz2er8nQah4

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Twitter announces, via tweet, that it has filed for an IPO

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Twitter announces, via tweet, that it has filed for an IPO
By Andrea Chang
September 12, 2013, 2:44 p.m.

Twitter has filed for an initial public offering of stock, months earlier than expected.

The 7-year-old microblogging site announced the news — via tweet, of course — on Thursday afternoon: “We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.”

A minute later, Twitter followed up its IPO tweet with a new message: “Now, back to work” along with a photo of employees in the company’s San Francisco offices.

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-twitter-ipo-20130912,0,6439890.story

follow the Ridgewood blog on twitter
@Ridgewoodblog

 

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September 15 at 4 pm at Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church

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September 15 at 4 pm at Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church  

Birmingham 1963 Remembered

On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded outside the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham and killed four young girls who had just finished Sunday School. You are invited to gather as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of that tragedy.  Paul Beverly spent a week at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute this past summer. He will be talking about the church bombing and putting it into the larger context of the civil rights movement in Birmingham.  Join the discussion of how the murders of four innocent people brought the message of the civil rights movement into our living rooms in a very real way and began to make an impact on the larger population who may have been previously uninvolved and aloof.

The program will begin at 4:00 PM on Sunday, September 15 at the Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church, 271 Lincoln Ave, Ridgewood, NJ.  For more information email corneroffice@rcrcnj.org or call the church office at 201-445-1832.