Posted on 1 Comment

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALERT – OPPRESSIVE HEAT AND HUMIDITY THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND

heat stroke

Below is a report from the National Weather Service – Reminder – the Ridgewood Library is open to serve as a cooling center.

URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 227 PM EDT THU AUG 11 2016 …OPPRESSIVE HEAT AND HUMIDITY THROUGH THIS WEEKEND… …HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT SATURDAY…

…EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON HAS ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDT SATURDAY. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED. THIS EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. * HEAT INDEX VALUES INTO THIS EVENING…100 TO 103. * HEAT INDEX VALUES FRIDAY…100 TO 105 DEGREES. * HEAT INDEX VALUES SATURDAY…AROUND 105 DEGREES. * HEAT INDEX VALUES SUNDAY…AROUND 105 DEGREES. * TIMING…HIGHEST HEAT INDICES IN THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. * IMPACTS…THE COMBINATION OF THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY WILL INCREASE THE RISK FOR HEAT RELATED HEALTH ISSUES…ESPECIALLY FOR THE ELDERLY…THOSE WITH CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS SUCH AS LUNG AND HEART DISEASE…THOSE WORKING OUTDOORS…AND OTHER  HEAT SENSITIVE GROUPS OF PEOPLE. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A HEAT ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN THE COMBINATION OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY IS EXPECTED TO MAKE IT FEEL LIKE IT IS 100 TO 104 DEGREES FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE HOURS. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MEANS THAT THE COMBINATION OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY COULD CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE…RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. SENIORS AND THOSE WITH CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS OR MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS ARE AT AN INCREASED RISK. HOMES WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING CAN BE MUCH HOTTER THAN OUTDOOR TEMPERATURES. USE AIR CONDITIONING TO STAY COOL AT HOME OR GO TO A PLACE THAT HAS AIR CONDITIONING. CHECK ON VULNERABLE FRIENDS…FAMILY MEMBERS AND NEIGHBORS. TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS SCHEDULING FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT STROKE IS AN  EMERGENCY…CALL 9 1 1.

Posted on 3 Comments

The medical marijuana movement just got some really bad news

POT-SMOKING-KID

By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on August 11, 2016 at 7:28 AM, updated August 11, 2016 at 11:32 AM

TRENTON — The Obama administration will uphold the ban on researching the therapeutic benefits of marijuana, once again rebuffing requests to remove the plant from the list of the drugs, like heroin and cocaine, that are considered to be the most addictive and lacking medicinal value.

On Thursday, the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration will publish a notice in the Federal Register, a compilation of government rules, that will announce its decision to keep marijuana as a “schedule 1” drug, according to the Washington Post.

The decision will no doubt disappoint supporters who had hoped the federal government would finally allow research to determine cannabis’ potential. Half of the states in the nation, including New Jersey, as well as Washington D.C. permit the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medical purposes.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/08/feds_reject_petitions_to_allow_medical_research_on.html?ath=9c46bfc08d76232bb5a5e00eeaf0bfa2#cmpid=nsltr_strybutton

Posted on 3 Comments

Gottheimer Silent on $400 million Bribe Paid to Iran the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism

Joshua S
August 11,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Congressman Scott Garrett has been a strong advocate for Israel. He has sponsored or cosponsored numerous pieces of legislation supporting Israel’s right to defend its sovereignty, recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, and condemning Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. He was an outspoken member of the Iran Sanctions Conference Committee, calling for full implementation of strong sanctions against the Iranian regime, and he strongly opposed the Iran Nuclear Deal. In contrast, our Democrat challenger, Josh Gottheimer, claims to be a supporter of Israel, but he waited weeks before publicly stating his position, obviously waiting to see which way the wind was blowing. That’s not leadership, that’s political opportunism.

What You Won’t Read in the Liberal Media: Gottheimer Praises Obama on Iran

Despite his recent political positioning otherwise, Josh Gottheimer has a track record of being a vocal supporter of President Obama’s Iran policy. You would have no way of knowing that, because despite being provided this information, The Record, Star Ledger, NJ Herald, and other NJ papers have refused to write about this important issue.

The Iranian government just wrapped up some impressive “fundraising” this past quarter. Usually their “donors” are terrorist organizations and states that threaten our security.  Well, apparently that “donor list” now includes President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s State Department. Recently, it has been reported that the Obama Administration gave $400 million to the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Before he was a congressional candidate, Gottheimer was a political strategist who served as a surrogate for Obama/Clinton foreign policies as a frequent contributor on cable news.

Voters in the Fifth District are curious to know – what does Josh Gottheimer really think? Is he saying one thing just to get elected, when really, he’s just a mouthpiece for a Democrat Administration?

Posted on 10 Comments

Ex Mayor’s Attempt to Squelch Free Speech at Ridgewood Council Meetings Falls Short with Mayor Kundsen

Councilwoman Knudsen
file photo by Boyd Loving
August 11th 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Siobhan Winograd, self-appointed Mistress of Niceness, went to the podium and started whining about why can’t everyone be nice and how people’s comments are not pleasant  and then she suggested that people’s comments should be cut to three minutes from five.  Said she had done a bunch of research about other towns and we have more time allowed than many towns.    And then she went on past the buzzer for more than five minutes.

Mayor Knudsen stated that she was trying to think of how to accommodate MORE speakers, not fewer. She was considering one possibility of shortening each speaker’s time but lengthening the time slot to 40 minutes.  Clearly the Mayor is an advocate for the people and wants to hear from all of us.

The meeting went really smoothly and was very business like.  Even residents who had frustrations to air were treated respectfully.  All the former moaning and groaning about CIVILITY was completely unnecessary because really all we had to do was get rid of Aronsohn-Pucciarelli-Hauck and the air in the room cleared instantly.
Posted on Leave a comment

Study Shows Unique Brain Exercise Lowers Risk of Dementia

Ridgewood Police Alzheimer's patient was found
file photo by Boyd Loving  Ridgewood PD searching for Dementia patient
August 10th 2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

SAN FRANCISCO, CA , A unique brain exercise cut the long-term risk of dementia nearly in half in a large study of older adults that was presented today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto. Researchers from the ACTIVE Study (Advanced Cognitive Training in Vital Elderly) tracked 2,802 cognitively healthy, community-dwelling, older adults for 10 years, as the average study participant aged from 74 to 84.
The randomized, controlled trial compared three different types of cognitive training – speed, memory and reasoning – against a control group, to determine if brain training might help with healthier aging. The speed training was found to cut long-term dementia risk by 33 percent among those asked to complete 10 hours of training in the first year of the study. The other types of training had no significant effect. Sub-groups of participants were asked to complete an additional four hours of training in months 11 and 35 of the study. Those who were asked to complete 11 or more hours of speed training were found to reduce their dementia risk by 48 percent over the 10-year study. Memory and reasoning training were found not to have any significant effect on dementia risk.
Previously published results from the ACTIVE Study showed participants in speed training also improved at measures of brain processing speed and at measures of tasks related to independent living. They also did better than the control group at measures of mood, confidence, health, and driving. “Clearly, the time spent on effective brain training has potential long lasting benefits for many aspects of older adults’ lives” said Dr. Jerri Edwards of the University of South Florida, who announced these latest ACTIVE study results.
The computerized speed training pushes a user to progressively improve visual speed of processing, with attentional demands at both the center of gaze and periphery. It was developed by Dr. Karlene Ball of the University of Alabama Birmingham and Dr. Dan Roenker of Western Kentucky University. It is now exclusively licensed to Posit Science Corporation, and a web version is available as the “Double Decision” exercise of the BrainHQ.com brain training program. “This type of exercise has been shown to improve various measures of speed, attention, and memory, as well as quality of life, across many different studies,” said Dr. Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. “It targets elemental sensory systems of the brain, where a split second improvement can serve you well during every waking hour of every day
Posted on 1 Comment

Reader says public-sector labor unions are attempting to influence the legislative process with campaign donations? Wow, there’s a surprise!

Sweeney & Prieto

The NJEA, FOP and other public-sector labor unions are attempting to influence the legislative process with campaign donations? Wow, there’s a surprise. Union thugs have destroyed NJ’s economy and made property taxes so unreasonable that the state suffers from net migration out and an economy that lags the recovery in surrounding states. The unions and their paid-for cheerleaders in Trenton are 100% to blame, they are driven by shameless greed.

Posted on Leave a comment

AN AMERICA FIRST ECONOMIC PLAN: WINNING THE GLOBAL COMPETITION

-donald-trump-candidacy-speech-thridgewoodblog

AN AMERICA FIRST ECONOMIC PLAN: WINNING THE GLOBAL COMPETITION

Please read the transcript from Mr. Trump’s speech at the Detroit Economic Club.

________________________________

Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. It’s wonderful to be in Detroit.

We now begin a great national conversation about economic renewal for America. It’s a conversation about how to Make American Great Again for everyone, and especially those who have the very least.

The City of Detroit Is Where Our Story Begins

Detroit was once the economic envy of the world. The people of Detroit helped power America to its position of global dominance in the 20th century.

When we were governed by an America First policy, Detroit was booming. Engineers, builders, laborers, shippers and countless others went to work each day, provided for their families, and lived out the American Dream.

But for many living in this city, that dream has long ago vanished.

When we abandoned the policy of America First, we started rebuilding other countries instead of our own. The skyscrapers went up in Beijing, and in many other cities around the world, while the factories and neighborhoods crumbled in Detroit. Our roads and bridges fell into disrepair, yet we found the money to resettle millions of refugees at taxpayer expense.

Today, Detroit has a per capita income of under $15,000 dollars, about half of the national average. 40 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty, over two-and-half times the national average. The unemployment rate is more than twice the national average. Half of all Detroit residents do not work.

Detroit tops the list of Most Dangerous Cities in terms of violent crime – these are the silenced victims whose stories are never told by Hillary Clinton, but victims whose suffering is no less real or permanent.

In short, the city of Detroit is the living, breathing example of my opponent’s failed economic agenda. Every policy that has failed this city, and so many others, is a policy supported by Hillary Clinton.

She supports the high taxes and radical regulation that forced jobs out of your community…and the crime policies that have made you less safe…and the immigration policies that have strained local budgets…and the trade deals like NAFTA, signed by her husband, that have shipped your jobs to Mexico and other countries… and she supports the education policies that deny your students choice, freedom and opportunity.

She is the candidate of the past.

Ours is the campaign of the future.

This is a city controlled by Democratic politicians at every level, and unless we change policies, we will not change results.

Today, I will outline my economic vision. In the coming weeks, we will be offering more detail on all of these policies, and the ones we have already rolled out can be viewed on my campaign website.

Our opposition, on the other hand, has long ago run out of ideas. All Hillary Clinton has to offer is more of the same: more taxes, more regulations, more bureaucrats, more restrictions on American energy and American production.

If you were a foreign power looking to weaken America, you couldn’t do better than Hillary Clinton’s economic agenda.

Nothing would make our foreign adversaries happier than for our country to tax and regulate our companies and our jobs out of existence.

The one common feature of every Hillary Clinton idea is that it punishes you for working and doing business in the United States. Every policy she has tilts the playing field towards other countries at our expense.

That’s why she tries to distract us with tired political rhetoric that seeks to label us, divide us, and pull us apart.

My campaign is about reaching out to everyone as Americans, and returning to a government that puts the American people first.

Here is what an America First economic plan looks like.

First, let’s talk tax reform.

Taxes are one of the biggest differences in this race.

Hillary Clinton – who has spent her career voting for tax increases – plans another massive job-killing $1.3 trillion-dollar tax increase. Her plan would tax many small businesses by almost fifty percent.

Recently, at a campaign event, Hillary Clinton short-circuited again – to use a now famous term – when she accidentally told the truth and said she wanted to raise taxes on the middle class.

I am proposing an across-the-board income tax reduction, especially for middle-income Americans. This will lead to millions of new good-paying jobs.

The rich will pay their fair share, but no one will pay so much that it destroys jobs, or undermines our ability to compete.

As part of this reform, we will eliminate the Carried Interest Deduction and other special interest loopholes that have been so good for Wall Street investors, and people like me, but unfair to American workers.

Tax simplification will be a major feature of the plan.

Our current tax code is so burdensome and complex that we waste 9 billion hours a year in tax code compliance.

My plan will reduce the current number of brackets from 7 to 3, and dramatically streamline the process. We will work with House Republicans on this plan, using the same brackets they have proposed: 12, 25 and 33 percent. For many American workers, their tax rate will be zero.

While we will develop our own set of assumptions and policies, agreeing in some areas but not in others, we will be focused on the same shared goals and guided by the same shared principles: jobs, growth and opportunity.

These reforms will offer the biggest tax revolution since the Reagan Tax Reform, which unleashed years of continued economic growth and job creation.

We will Make America Grow Again.

In the days ahead, we will provide more details on this plan and how it will help you and your family. It will present a night-and-day contrast to the job-killing, tax-raising, poverty-inducing Obama-Clinton agenda.

The State of New York has already lived through Hillary Clinton’s failed leadership. The Washington Post just published a devastating article on Hillary Clinton’s broken promises. She pledged 200,000 jobs for upstate New York as Senator. But what happened? The Washington Post writes, and I quote: “upstate job growth stagnated overall during her tenure, with manufacturing jobs plunging nearly 25 percent…the former first lady was unable to pass big ticket legislation… Many promised jobs never materialized and others migrated to other states as she turned to her first presidential run…data shows that upstate actually lost jobs during Clinton’s first term.”

Compare that to my record. In a recent New York Post article by Steve Cuozzo, “How Donald Trump Helped Save New York City,” the paper writes that I – and this is a direct quote – “waded into a landscape of empty Fifth Avenue storefronts, the dust-bowl mugging ground that was Central Park and a Wall Street area seemingly on its last legs as companies moved out…almost by force of will — [he] rode to the rescue. Expressing rare faith in the future, he was instrumental in kick-starting the regeneration of neighborhoods and landmarks almost given up for dead.”

This is what I want to do for our country – I want to jumpstart America.

Now let’s look at what the Obama-Clinton policies have done nationally.

Their policies produced 1.2% growth, the weakest so-called recovery since the Great Depression, and a doubling of the national debt.

There are now 94.3 million Americans outside the labor force. It was 80.5 million when President Obama took office, an increase of nearly 14 million people.

The Obama-Clinton agenda of tax, spend and regulate has created a silent nation of jobless Americans.

Home ownership is at its lowest rate in 51 years.

Nearly 12 million have been added to the food stamp rolls since President Obama took office. Another nearly 7 million Americans were added to the ranks of those in poverty.

We have the lowest labor force participation rates in four decades.

58 percent of African-American youth are either outside the labor force or not employed.

1 in 5 American households do not have a single member in the labor force. These are the real unemployment numbers – the five percent figure is one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics.

Meanwhile, American households are earning more than $4,000 less today than they were sixteen years ago.

The average worker today pays 31.5 percent of their wages to income and payroll taxes. On top of that, state and local taxes consume another 10 percent.

The United States also has the highest business tax rate among the major industrialized nations of the world, at 35 percent. It’s almost 40 percent when you add in taxes at the state level.

In other words, we punish companies for making products in America – but let them ship products into the U.S. tax-free if they move overseas.

This is backwards. All of our policies should be geared towards keeping jobs and wealth inside the United States.

Under my plan, no American company will pay more than 15% of their business income in taxes. Small businesses will benefit the most from this plan. Hillary Clinton’s plan will require small business to pay as much as three times more in taxes than what I am proposing, and her onerous regulations will put them totally out of business. I am going to cut regulations massively.

Our lower business tax will also end job-killing corporate inversions, and cause trillions in new dollars and wealth to come pouring into our country – and into cities like Detroit. To help unleash this new job creation, we will allow businesses to immediately expense new business investments.

No one will gain more from these proposals than low-and-middle income Americans.

My plan will also help reduce the cost of childcare by allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of childcare spending from their taxes.

We are also going to bring back trillions of dollars from American businesses that is now parked overseas. Our plan will bring that cash home, applying a 10 percent tax. This money will be re-invested in states like Michigan.

Finally, no family will have to pay the death tax. American workers have paid taxes their whole lives, and they should not be taxed again at death – it’s just plain wrong. We will repeal it.

Next comes regulatory reform

As with taxes, I will have one overriding goal when it comes to regulation: I want to keep jobs and wealth in America.

Motor vehicle manufacturing is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country. The U.S. economy today is twenty-five percent smaller than it would have been without the surge of regulations since 1980.

It is estimated that current overregulation is costing our economy as much as $2 trillion dollars a year – that’s money taken straight out of cities like yours.

The federal register is now over 80,000 pages long. As the Wall Street Journal noted, President Obama has issued close to four hundred new major regulations since taking office, each with a cost to the American economy of $100 million or more.

In 2015 alone, the Obama Administration unilaterally issued more than 2,000 new regulations – each a hidden tax on American consumers, and a massive lead weight on the American economy.

It is time to remove the anchor dragging us down.

Upon taking office, I will issue a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations. My running mate, Mike Pence, signed a similar order when he became governor of Indiana. This will give our American companies the certainty they need to reinvest in our community, get cash off of the sidelines, start hiring for new jobs, and expanding businesses.

I will also immediately cancel all illegal and overreaching executive orders.

Next, I will ask each and every federal agency to prepare a list of all of the regulations they impose on Americans which are not necessary, do not improve public safety, and which needlessly kill jobs. Those regulations will be eliminated.

We are in a competition with the world, and I want America to win. When I am president, we will.

One of the most important reforms of all is trade reform

As Bernie Sanders has said, Hillary Clinton has bad judgment. We’ve seen this bad judgment overseas, in Libya, Iraq, and Syria. We’ve seen it in Iran. We’ve seen it from President Obama, when he gives $150 billion to Iran, the number one terror state, and even gives them $400 million in money-laundered cash as a ransom payment.

But we’ve also seen the terrible Obama-Clinton judgment right here in Detroit.

Hillary Clinton has supported the trade deals stripping this city, and this country, of its jobs and wealth.

She supported Bill Clinton’s NAFTA, she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization, she supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea, and she supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Let’s talk about South Korea for a moment, because it so perfectly illustrates the broken promises that have hurt so many American workers.

President Obama, and the usual so-called experts who’ve been wrong about every trade deal for decades, predicted that the trade deal with South Korea would increase our exports to South Korea by more than $10 billion – resulting in some 70,000 jobs.

Like Hillary Clinton’s broken promises to New York, these pledges all turned out to be false. Instead of creating 70,000 jobs, it has killed nearly 100,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Our exports to South Korea haven’t increased at all, but their imports to us have surged more than $15 billion – more than doubling our trade deficit with that country.

The next betrayal will be the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hillary Clinton’s closest friend, Terry McAuliffe, confirmed what I have said on this from the beginning: if sent to the Oval Office, Hillary Clinton will enact the TPP. Guaranteed. Her donors will make sure of it.

A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for TPP – and it’s also a vote for NAFTA.

Our annual trade deficit in goods with Mexico has risen from close to zero in 1993 to almost $60 billion. Our total trade deficit in goods hit nearly $800 billion last year.

This is a strike at the heart of Michigan, and our nation as a whole.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, before NAFTA went into effect, there were 285,000 auto workers in Michigan. Today, that number is only 160,000.

Detroit is still waiting for Hillary Clinton’s apology. I expect Detroit will get that apology right around the same time Hillary Clinton turns over the 33,000 emails she deleted.

Hillary Clinton’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be an even bigger disaster for the auto industry. In fact, Ford Motor Company has announced its opposition to the deal.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. trade deficit with the proposed TPP member countries cost over 1 million manufacturing jobs in 2015.

By far the biggest losses occurred in motor vehicles and parts, which lost nearly 740,000 manufacturing jobs.

Michigan ranks first for jobs lost as a share of state workforce due to the trade deficit with TPP members.

Just imagine how many more automobile jobs will be lost if the TPP is actually approved. That is why I have announced we will withdraw from the deal before that can ever happen. Hillary Clinton will never withdraw from the TPP. She is bought, controlled and paid-for by her donors and special interests.

Because my only interest is the American people, I have previously laid out a detailed 7-point plan for trade reform, available on my website. It includes strong protections against currency manipulation, tariffs against any countries that cheat by unfairly subsidizing their goods, and it includes a renegotiation of NAFTA. If we don’t get a better deal, we will walk away.

At the center of my plan is trade enforcement with China. This alone could return millions of jobs into our economy.

China is responsible for nearly half of our entire trade deficit. They break the rules in every way imaginable. China engages in illegal export subsidies, prohibited currency manipulation, and rampant theft of intellectual property. They also have no real environmental or labor protections, further undercutting American workers.

Just enforcing intellectual property rules alone could save millions of American jobs. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, improved protection of America’s intellectual property in China would produce more than 2 million more jobs right here in the United States.

Add to that the saved jobs from cracking down on currency cheating and product dumping, and we will bring trillions of dollars in new wealth and wages back to the United States.

Trade has big benefits, and I am in favor of trade. But I want great trade deals for our country that create more jobs and higher wages for American workers. Isolation is not an option, only great and well-crafted trade deals are.

Also critical to our economic renewal will be energy reform

The Obama-Clinton Administration has blocked and destroyed millions of jobs through their anti-energy regulations, while raising the price of electricity for both families and businesses.

As a result of recent Obama EPA actions coal-fired power plants across Michigan have either shut down entirely or undergone expensive conversions. The Obama-Clinton war on coal has cost Michigan over 50,000 jobs. Hillary Clinton says her plan will “put a lot of coal companies and coal miners out of business.”

We will put our coal miners and steel workers back to work.

Clinton not only embraces President Obama’s job-killing energy restrictions but wants to expand them, including going after oil and natural gas production that employs some 10 million Americans.

According to the Heritage Foundation, by 2030, the Obama-Clinton energy restrictions will eliminate another half a million manufacturing jobs, reduce economic output by $2.5 trillion dollars, and reduce incomes by $7,000 dollars per person.

A Trump Administration will end this war on the American worker, and unleash an energy revolution that will bring vast new wealth to our country.

According to the Institute for Energy Research, lifting the restrictions on all sources of American energy will:

Increase GDP by more than $100 billion dollars annually, add over 500,000 new jobs annually, and increase annual wages by more than $30 billion dollars over the next 7 years;

Increase federal, state, and local tax revenues by almost $6 trillion dollars over 4 decades;

Increase totaleconomic activity by more than $20 trillion dollars over the next 40 years.

The reforms I have outlined today are only the beginning

When we reform our tax, trade, energy and regulatory policies, we will open a new chapter in American Prosperity.

We can use this new wealth to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.

As part of this new future, we will also be rolling out proposals to increase choice and reduce cost in childcare, offering much-needed relief to American families. I will unveil my plan on this in the coming weeks that I have been working on with my daughter Ivanka and an incredible team of experts.

Likewise, our education reforms will help parents send their kids to a school of their choice.

We will also give our police and law enforcement the funds and support they need to restore law and order to this country. Without security, there can be no prosperity. We must have law and order.

In the coming days, we will be rolling out plans on all of these items. One of my first acts as President will be to repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare, saving another 2 million American jobs.

We will also rebuild our military, and get our allies to pay their fair share for the protection we provide – saving us countless more billions to invest in our own country.

We also have a plan, on our website, for a complete reform of the Veterans Health Administration. This is something so desperately needed to make sure our vets are fully supported and get the care they deserve.

Detroit – the Motor City – will come roaring back. We will offer a new future, not the same old failed policies of the past.

Our party has chosen to make new history by selecting a nominee from outside the rigged and corrupt system.

The other party has reached backwards into the past to choose a nominee from yesterday – who offers only the rhetoric of yesterday, and the policies of yesterday.

There will be no change under Hillary Clinton – only four more years of Obama.

But we are going to look boldly into the future.

We will build the next generation of roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, sea ports and airports that our country deserves.

American cars will travel the roads, American planes will connect our cities, and American ships will patrol the seas.

American steel will send new skyscrapers soaring.

We will put new American metal into the spine of this nation.

It will be American hands that rebuild this country, and it will be American energy – mined from American sources – that powers this country.

It will be American workers who are hired to do the job.

Americanism, not globalism, will be our new credo.

Our country will reach amazing new heights.

All we have to do is stop relying on the tired voices of the past.

We can’t fix a rigged system by relying on the people who rigged it in the first place.

We can’t solve our problems by relying on the politicians who created them.

Only by changing to new leadership, and new solutions, will we get new results.

We need to stop believing in politicians, and start believing in America.

Before everything great that has ever happened, the doubters have always said it couldn’t be done.

America is ready to prove the doubters wrong.

They want you to think small. I am asking you to think big.

We are ready to dream great things for our country once again.

We are ready to show the world that America is Back – Bigger, and Better and Stronger Than Ever Before.

Thank you, and God Bless You.

Posted on Leave a comment

Reading to you Child Creates a Successful Adult

Bolger_theridgewoodpublic_library_theridgewoodblog

August 8,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Before they even understand what words and books are about, young children still benefit from listening to you read aloud. And by making books a part of your daily routine, you’re setting the stage for future success in school, work and life.

Benefits include:

Boosting School Readiness – Reading is one of the easiest ways to increase school readiness. When you read to your child, you’re building their vocabulary, language and literacy skills, while improving concentration, curiosity and memory. Watch the video below to learn more about how reading builds comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Success in School – Studies show that children who grow up with lots of books in the home tend to go farther in school.
A Love of Books – Reading together builds strong family relationships. By cuddling up together with a good book, you teach your child that reading is fun—even for adults.
Teaching Coping Skills – Books are a great way to teach children how to handle new experiences and stressful situations. Stories can help children understand, talk about and deal with everything from starting a new school to the loss of a pet.

Did you know?

If a child reads for 20 minutes every day, they are exposed to about 1.8 million words of text every year. That is 137 new words per minute!
If families read together for 20 minutes a day, 7 days a week, they get more than 121 hours of bonding time every year!
Many states use third-grade reading scores to predict the number of jail cells they might need in the future (about three out of five prisoners in America are illiterate).
For every year you read with your child, average lifetime earnings increase by $50,000. You make a $250,000 gift to your child from birth to age 5 by reading aloud, just 20 minutes a day!
Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3–4 times more likely to drop out in later years.

Posted on Leave a comment

Ridgewood YWCA Now Offers Special Needs Fitness Class

Ridgewood_YMCA_theridgewoodblog
August 8th 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, YWCA Bergen County now offers “Music and Movement Fitness Class”, a special needs program for children ages 6 through 12 years. This class is designed for children with intellectual and development delays, including autism, with self-help skills to independently participate.

Music and movement are stimulating for children’s physical, emotional and intellectual growth and can positively impact their educational experience. This program is designed to keep children focused and engaged by involving them with exercise, musical instruments, puppets, drumming and parachute play.

Instructor Lisa Powers, aka Lisa La La, has been designing and teaching children’s music and physical fitness programs since 2001 in preschools, daycares and public schools throughout Bergen County. She holds a B.S. in Music Business from NYU.

Classes are held Thursdays from 5:00 to 5:45pm at 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood, NJ. Registration opens Monday, August 15th and program session runs from September 6th through October 29th. For more information or to enroll, please contact the Membership Department at 201-444-5600 x400.

Posted on 2 Comments

Recent Breaches Raise Fears of Voting System Hacks

Vote Ridgewood NJ

file photo Dana Glazer

Best Practices’ considered for state and local election officials

In an already topsy-turvy presidential campaign, the recent breaches of Democratic Party computer networks have fueled fears about potential foreign meddling and raised questions about how secure the electronic systems that record and tally votes across the country are from sophisticated hackers.

For years, computer security experts have warned that electronic voting is vulnerable to hacking that could alter vote tallies and theoretically swing an election. The intrusions that compromised the Democratic National Committee and the House Democrats’ fundraising campaigns’ systems — both of which cybersecurity experts have blamed on groups linked to Russian intelligence agencies — have only heightened those concerns.

Even a minor breach could wreak havoc by undermining the public’s faith in the integrity of the balloting, particularly in a campaign as contentious as this year’s presidential race.

“We cannot function without the leadership that is elected via the democratic process, and attacks on our election system could undermine all of the confidence that voters have in the legitimacy of our leadership,” said J. Alex Halderman, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan who has studied security in electronic and internet voting.

With the stakes running high, the Obama administration has said it is attuned to the threat and is looking at ways to mitigate it.

– See more at: https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/recent-breaches-raise-fears-voting-system-hacks#sthash.3VxahQHi.dpuf

Posted on Leave a comment

The Ridgewood Chamber Annual Charity Golf Classic

Ridgewood_Golf_theridgewoodblog
Mon, August 15, 2016
Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Ramsey Country Club, 105 Lakeside Drive, Ramsey, NJ 07446

Join us for our Charity Golf Classic – proceeds
go to the Chamber’s RHS Scholarship Fund –
“empowering children through education”.

Monday, August 15, 2016
Ramsey Country Club
Registration: 10am
Putting Contest: 11am
Lunch BBQ: 11am-12:30pm
Shot Gun Start 12:30pm
Open Bar- 5-7:30pm
Buffet Dinner-
Prizes

$300pp for a fabulous day on the greens.
Sponsorships available.
Great golf close to home.
Networking at it best on the greens.
for more information call Chamber
201-445-2600
[email protected]

Posted on 3 Comments

Iran: $400 Million in Cash Was Part of ‘Expensive Price’ to Free U.S. Hostages

monopoly-money-748981

New Iranian television footage shows stacks of cash

BY: Adam Kredo
August 5, 2016 11:50 am

Iranian television has broadcast what some say is purported footage of the $400 million pallets of cash that officials claim was part of the “expensive price” paid by the Obama administration to free several U.S. hostages.

The footage, which could not be independently verified, shows images of large stacks of hard currency and features claims that the Obama administration sent this money over as part of an effort to free several U.S. hostages. The White House vehemently denied these claims this week following new reports about the cash exchange.

BBC Persian reporter Hadi Nili posted the footage on Twitter, describing it as showing the “pallets of cash” and quoting officials as saying “this was just part of the ‘expensive price’ to release Americans.”

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-400-million-cash-part-expensive-price-free-u-s-hostages/

Posted on 8 Comments

Trenton Democrats Want to Make Drinking Coffee While Driving In N.J. Illegal

ridgewoodcoffee theridggewoodblog
August 6,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , New Jersey Democrat Lawmakers are at it again ,and they want to take away your morning coffee. Under the guise of trying to crack down on distracted driving NJ Democrats are looking to ban anything that takes your hands off a steering wheel, including eating, drinking coffee.

Democrat lawmakers are currently pushing a bill, A-1908, that specifically prohibits a driver from engaging in any activity such as eating, drinking or using electronic devices not related to the operation of the vehicle. New Jersey already bans cellphone usage while driving.Violators could face fines from $200 to $400 for the first offense, $400 to $600 for a second offense and $600 to $800 for a third or subsequent offense. A third violation may also result in a driver’s license suspension of up to 90 days and a motor vehicle points penalty at the court’s discretion.

No surprise the bill is sponsored by Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat in Middlesex County, and Nicholas Chiaravalloti, a Democrat in Hudson County. The bill is modeled after a similar law in Maine that punishes drivers for using an electronic device, applying cosmetics or performing personal grooming while driving.
The bill was introduced early this year and has been referred to the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee. No votes have been scheduled so far but its August and the only people left in Trenton are the people with no friends perhaps sizing up another opportunity to pick New Jersey tax payers pockets clean.
Democrat Wisniewski has pushed similar bills in the past, saying that, ” education is an important goal not ticketing everyone who drives.” Sure John and have I got a bridge to sell you.
Once again Trenton is in a desperate quest for funds and clearly willing to say or do anything to get into your pocket. Will they next announce that the “Coffee fines” will make up for the public pension short fall or fund the Transportation Slush Fund ,we mean Trust Fund. Stay tuned you cant make this stuff up.
Posted on 13 Comments

Resident Proposes 8-Point Plan for a Happy Ridgewood

park

My 8-Point Plan for a Happy Ridgewood

Dear Village Council,

Thanks for listening to your Residents last night and for engaging in thoughtful, open dialogue about the issues facing our town.  All kidding in the subject line above aside, I wanted to share

My list of key points from last night.  You all have been thrown very quickly into a fire that has been burning in RW for years.  The way out that is best for RW will NOT be comfortable or easy.  You are clearly already taking some steps to mitigate future problems from the prior Council’s mess.  But to really help us, and to do the job really right, it is going to be somewhat uncomfortable for a while.  As I stated, for the past four years your Residents have really been the ones dealing with much of the uncomfortable stuff (along with Mayor Knudsen and Deputy Mayor Sedon) – rallying the troops, writing endless letters, filing lawsuits, being verbally abused by developers agents as well as prior Council members, Planning Board Members and their attorney, being physically threatened, being shut up, ignored, derided, etc., etc.

So, please don’t be afraid of the uncomfortable. We’re not.  To truly lead, whether in business, in our own families, or in Ridgewood, we all have to face the uncomfortable to get to what makes things work better.

Here’s my list.

#1.  PLEASE SET YOUR OWN AGENDA:  For the past for years the developer and their compatriots in our village governance have asserted their agendas, forcing us to follow, react and defend.  It’s time to be as strong as them and SET THE AGENDA.  Let them react and defend for once, even if some of that has to happen in the courts.

#2.  3066: Continue your work to undo Ordinance 3066.  Keep this momentum going.

#3.  RESOLVE PARKING QUICKLY AND SMARTLY:  Continue to solve Ridgewood’s parking issues in a sensible and comprehensive way.  If the Zabriske Lot Closed Session discussion is regarding a lease for parking, that is fantastic!  Keep working to get a garage size and location right.  Regarding angled parking and removal of the parallel spot buffers, please review this with Mr. Jahr, subsequent to Chris Rutishauser’s comments.  AND PLEASE GET SOME SIGNAGE DIRECTING DRIVERS TO THE PARKING LOTS!

#4.  REPEAL HIGH DENSITY ORDINANCES:  Repeal the three high-density ordinances now.  We appreciated this discussion last night.  Kudos.  There is no reason for these laws to remain on the Village’s books as an inspiration to neighboring owners or other land speculators who might buy up Village properties and seek variances or new ordinances for more high density housing.

#5. TAKE A CREATIVE LOOK AT MEETING AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEEDS:  Take a real and creative look at ways to plan properly to meet our affordable housing needs.  Perhaps you can amend some of the village property zoning on Chestnut St to allow for potential future Sr. Affordable Housing developments, a need clearly defined but not honestly met by the current developers.  Look at other places where this can be done and include zoning for special needs.

#6.  REDO THE MASTER PLAN REVIEW:  Budget for a REAL Master Plan Review NOW and demand that the Planning Board replace the improper review done this year – where they even forgot to perform the necessary polling of residents for our views of Ridgewood’s future. Replace it with a real Master Plan Review, done by an unbiased 3rd party professional firm.  I know you know we need this.  We need a really planning bible, not a fake one.  Please put the money aside now and start the RFQs.

#7. SETTLE LAWSUITS WITH YOUR RESIDENTS QUICKLY:  Initiate discussions to Settle the lawsuits brought by your fellow citizens on the High Density and Valley matters.   This is your decision to make, not the decision of the Council Attorney, or the Planning Board attorney.  Regarding High Density, you can tell Matt now, that you want him to initiate settlement discussions this week with your fellow citizens.  It is fully within your power to set that agenda.  And don’t fear objection or intervention by the applicants.  That’s great as it will bring the parties together.  Be strong and bring them to the table too.  Right now, nobody’s talking.  If needed, ask Matt to have the court to appoint a mediator to oversee a settlement.  But let’s get this done now. Let’s stop the need for citizen groups to continue to litigate the preservation of our Village.  And please note that #8 below will help you settle these negotiations more quickly, because so much was wrong with the process.

#8.  INVESTIGATE THE DEFECTIVE PROCESS THAT LED  TO BAD ORDINANCES:  Take Councilman Voigt’s Investigative Committee proposal very seriously… and please do it.  The Village of Ridgewood, through its Council owes Residents clarity on the matter of how these very unpopular and defective high-density ordinances got passed.  You don’t have to make this a witch hunt.  Just as your Residents have done in their legal filings, take a look at the most serious issues, while also reviewing some aspects of the aggressive politicking and keep it short and sweet.  But don’t avoid it because it is uncomfortable.   For the past four years, your Residents have not avoided anything uncomfortable in our efforts to save Ridgewood.  We will do our part to help by supporting you and providing you with a list of questions we have regarding the concerns, conflicts and issues with the defective and oft abusive process that led to passing of the high density ordinances.  Again… we support a focused investigation towards clarity and eventual closure.

And last, please have Roberta and the Village’s tech staff get all the planning board minutes and transcripts back up on the website in a manner that can be found.

Thanks again for doing the right thing for Residents.

Dave Slomin, Concerned Resident

Posted on 2 Comments

U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed

Obama-Golf

Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom

By
JAY SOLOMON and

CAROL E. LEE
Updated Aug. 3, 2016 12:01 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane, according to these officials. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland, they said.

The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874