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Ridgewood Fireworks Tickets!

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photo by Michael Fidanza 2013

Monday, July 4, 2016

Alternate Date – Tuesday, July 5th

Veteran’s Field, Ridgewood, New Jersey Entrance gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM

While the Parade is free, Fireworks Tickets are required for entrance to Vet’s Field. Donations for Fireworks Tickets is one of the Celebration’s largest sources of income. Tickets are available for advance purchase at stores for $10. Tickets will be on sale at the gates for $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-12. Buy your tickets in advance for big savings! Children 5 and under are admitted for free. Tickets may be purchased online at https://www.ridgewoodjuly4.net/evening-entertainment-fireworks/buy-tickets/ for $11.00 each including shipping and handling.

Tickets will be on sale at the following vendors for $10 each. Children 5 and under are admitted free.

Patrons and belongings will be subject to security checks by Police Department personnel when entering Veterans Field. Alcohol is not permitted. There will be 2 lines at the gates, one for those with bags and one for those without bags. Expect delays. All gates will close at 9:00 PM.

Gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM. No Dogs allowed

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Hank ‘Meltdown’ Paulson Cites Hillary’s Globalist Platform as Reason for Endorsement

International Leaders And Luminaries Attend Clinton Global Initiative

by JULIA HAHN

25 Jun 2016

Washington D.C.

Hank Paulson, George W. Bush’s treasury secretary, who presided over both the meltdown of the U.S. economy and the subsequent bailout of his close friends and associates, has endorsed Hillary Clinton — citing his belief that she’d be more likely to enact globalist policies on trade and immigration as part of the reason for his endorsement.

Paulson also posits that Clinton would be more likely to cut Americans’ medicare and social security, which Paulson cites as a top priority following the financial collapse he helped to create.

Paulson is also the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, which has given Hillary Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollars for speeches. According to Politico, Goldman Sachs rewarded Clinton with a total of $675,000 for three paid speeches.

“When Hillary Clinton spoke to Goldman Sachs executives and technology titans at a summit in Arizona in October of 2013, she spoke glowingly of the work the bank was doing raising capital and helping create jobs, according to people who saw her remarks,” Politicowrites. “She spent no time criticizing Goldman or Wall Street more broadly for its role in the 2008 financial crisis.”

“It was pretty glowing about us,” one attendee told Politico, “She sounded more like a Goldman Sachs managing director.”

https://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/25/hank-paulson-cites-hillarys-globalist-platform-reason-endorsement/

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NJ TRANSIT OFFERS SUMMER SERVICE OPTIONS FOR BEACH GOERS

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June 26,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Includes enhanced express weekend rail service to the shore; late-night weekday Bay Head rail shuttles and daily express buses from Philadelphia to Cape May County

Ridgewood NJ,  NJ TRANSIT is making it convenient and affordable to get to summer shore destinations with express weekend rail service from Penn Station New York to shore communities along the North Jersey Coast Line, the return of weekday late-night Bay Head-Long Branch shuttles, and daily express bus service from Philadelphia to Wildwood and Cape May.
Saturday, June 25

The #316 express bus from Philadelphia to Wildwood and Cape May resumes for the summer.  This year, the #316 will conveniently originate on JFK Boulevard just outside the Amtrak 30th St. Station in Philadelphia providing access to Wildwood and Cape May from the University City section of Philadelphia.  All trips will continue to serve the Greyhound Terminal in Philadelphia and then serve the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, eliminating the need for customers to travel to the Avandale Park and Ride to transfer to the #316.  Also new this year, the #316 will stop at the Gloucester Premium Outlets in Blackwood, providing access to the new and popular shopping destination. Beach goers can enjoy service to North Wildwood, Wildwood, Rio Grande and Cape May.  The complete timetable is available at njtransit.com.

Sunday, June 26

Enhanced Saturday, Sunday and holiday express rail service on the North Jersey Coast Line will operate from June 26 through September 10 and feature the agency’s dual-powered locomotives to provide a one-seat ride.

“Going ‘down the shore’ is a time honored summer tradition in New Jersey.  So whether you’re traveling from North Jersey or South Jersey, New York or Philadelphia we are providing more options to get you to the fun in the sun,” said NJ TRANSIT Interim Executive Director Dennis J. Martin. “Everyone should experience New Jersey’s beautiful beaches and what better way to relax than a stress-free ride on a bus or train.”

Four round-trip weekend and holiday express trains will operate between Penn Station New York and Bay Head.  This service also features hourly train service between Bay Head and Long Branch from approximately 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Two of the round-trip express trains will be geared to beach travelers, with an additional two round-trips providing service during the early morning and late night timeframes.

The express service will serve Penn Station New York, Secaucus Junction, Newark Penn Station, Elizabeth, Rahway, Aberdeen-Matawan, Red Bank, Long Branch, Asbury Park, and then all station stops to Bay Head, and no need to transfer in Long Branch.  A travel time savings of approximately 25 minutes is expected from the regular travel time between New York and towns such as Belmar, Manasquan and Point Pleasant.

Seating will be limited aboard the express service.  Customers are strongly encouraged to purchase round-trip tickets or discounted beach packages to Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Belmar (a savings of $5.00) prior to the start of their trip.  NJ TRANSIT beach packages are available at all rail station ticket windows and ticket vending machines except on the Atlantic City rail line.  More information on beach packages is available on njtransit.com.

Customers can also purchase NJ TRANSIT tickets using MyTix mobile ticketing.  However, beach packages are not currently available on the NJ TRANSIT mobile app.

Express trains will supplement NJ TRANSIT’s regular weekend hourly rail shuttle service between Long Branch and Bay Head, and will operate using the ALP-45 dual-powered locomotives.   These specialized trains operate in electric mode between New York and Long Branch and switch to diesel operation for travel between Long Branch and Bay Head – allowing for the one-seat ride.

Detailed schedules are available on njtransit.com.

Monday, June 27

Late-night weekday Bay Head-Long Branch rail shuttles return.  This service was temporarily suspended in October for the winter season.  Late-night shuttles will depart Long Branch at 11:19 p.m. and 2:42 a.m. heading to Bay Head.  In addition, there will be a 9:43 p.m. departure from Bay Head to Long Branch.  This service will run through September 9.

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Could a Brexit sentiment sweep Trump into office?

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BY DAVID GOLDSTEIN

The 2016 race for the White House has weathered more shocks than an old pickup truck bumping along a pothole-covered road.

Now there’s Brexit, Britain’s stunning decision this week to bolt from the European Union, and possibly another jolt in America’s journey to the November election.

Political seismographs were busy Friday measuring the shock waves on this side of the Atlantic.

Does it help real-estate mogul Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, whose nativist, anti-immigration, anti-trade-deals campaign has channeled a similar current of anger among a large swath of Republican voters?

Or does former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic standard-bearer, benefit, given her foreign policy résumé at a time when the global order could come under increasing strain?

“What you’re watching right now is how candidates deal with it,” said Republican pollster David Winston. “Are they going to address the concerns, or have a traditional discourse of attacking their opponents?”

Read more here: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article85877257.html#storylink=cpy

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Mentoring is Secret to a Satisfying & Impactful Career at YWCA June Women’s Empowerment Network

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June 25,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, YWCA Bergen County is holding its June Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) event, “Mentoring: The Secret to a Satisfying & Impactful Career”, on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 from 8:30 to 10:00 am at 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood.

No matter what point you are in your career, do you know that having a mentor can help you flourish, achieve your goals AND experience new meaning in your work? Do you wish you had someone you could truly talk with, trust fully AND who would totally “get it” so that you could maximize your potential and realize your career goals? Learn the key lessons to enhancing your career success and satisfaction by selecting and working with the mentor that is BEST FOR YOU.

Elizabeth Resnick is the President and Founding Partner of Elizabeth Resnick, LLC. She lives her passion by significantly contributing to the success and satisfaction of her clients as
a senior executive advisor and career coach. Highly skilled and deeply intuitive, Elizabeth motivates, inspires and guides the leadership capability and effectiveness of individual executives and teams. Her key strength is identifying and solving human condition issues that inhibit executive and business success. She specializes in coaching business leaders in transition; those preparing for their next senior level position and those whose career path requires strategic analysis and redirection.

Get the personal and professional growth you seek with exclusive opportunities for WEN Membership. Annual WEN Memberships are available at $100 for Professionals and $75 for Military or Students (with valid ID). Memberships include one-year basic YWCA membership, members-only discount for all WEN Intensive workshops, and a tax deductible donation ($50/$25) toward vital YWCA programming. WENPlus Memberships are also available at $250 annually and include a one-year basic YWCA membership, exclusive early bird registration and members-only discount for all WEN Intensive workshops, one non-member guest pass for the monthly program series, and discounts for other YWCA programs for women. A $200 tax-deductible donation toward YWCA is also included. Per event rates for monthly WEN programs include $25 for non-members, $10 for WEN members, and no charge for WENPlus members.

To become a WEN member, please visithttps://www.ywcabergencounty.org/programs/empowerment/womens-empowerment-network/ or for more information, please contact Samantha at 201-345-1895 or[email protected]. To register for June WEN event, please visit https://ywca-jun-wen16.eventbrite.com.

YWCA Community Sponsors include Suez Water and Wilmington Trust. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available.

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Common Core Does Not Prepare Students for College, New Report Finds

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Mary Clare Reim / @Mary_Clare21 / June 14, 2016

A recently released report confirms what Common Core critics have suspected all along: Common Core State Standards do not adequately prepare students for college-level work.

The ACT report finds many concerning shortcomings in the Common Core State Standards, which have been adopted by most states. Notably, the report reveals:

“While secondary teachers may be focusing on source-based writing [essays written about source-based documents], as emphasized in the Common Core, college instructors appear to value the ability to generate sound ideas more than some key features of source-based writing.
“Some early elementary teachers are still teaching certain math topics omitted from the Common Core standards, perhaps based on the needs—real or perceived—of students entering their classrooms.
“In addition, many mathematics teachers in grades 4–7 report including certain topics relevant in STEM coursework in their curricula at grades earlier than they appear in the Common Core.”

Teachers who must adjust their curriculum to fit Common Core aligned state tests now find themselves in a bind. As the report finds, the Common Core math standards do not adequately provide a child with the skills needed to succeed in the classroom, forcing teachers to add on extra material to their limited instruction time.

Additionally, high school English teachers must now emphasize material that leaves students lacking in original thought and analytical skills, according to many college professors. For example, only 18 percent of college professors surveyed rated their students as prepared to distinguish between opinion, fact, and reasoned judgement—a skill determined to be important for college-level work.

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The “one-size-fits-all” national standards are underserving American children. It is nearly impossible, and does a great disservice to future generations, to demand uniformity and place restrictions on the classroom that assumes one “best practice.”

Each child’s unique abilities require variation in teaching styles and curriculums. Common Core limits a parent’s say in their child’s curriculum, making the possibility of an education suited to his needs a near impossibility. Unfortunately, this report indicates that in an attempt to create uniform standards for achievement, Common Core fails to create the building blocks necessary to prepare aspiring students for college-level work.

The Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke and Jennifer Marshall predicted the unintended consequences of Common Core in 2010:

It is unclear that national standards would establish a target of excellence rather than standardization, a uniform tendency toward mediocrity and information that is more useful to bureaucrats who distribute funding than it is to parents who are seeking to direct their children’s education.

Education isn’t mentioned in the U.S. Constitution; it is quintessentially a state and local issue. Common Core forces uniformity on America’s ingenious system of federalism—which decentralizes power and allows different, but finely attuned policies to serve communities.

Yet initiatives like Common Core—and other efforts before it to establish national standards and tests—reinforce a misalignment of power and incentives, forcing states to respond to the demands of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., instead of being responsive to the needs of families.

Correcting that misalignment will come by infusing education choice throughout K-12 education, by ensuring every child can access options like vouchers, tuition tax credit scholarships, and education savings accounts in order to be able to finance education options that fit their unique learning needs.

Instead of more centralization, which further removes parents from the decision-making process, states should fully exit Common Core and work to create choices for every family. Restoring parental control of education is essential to establishing truly high standards.

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Teachers claim the Ridgewood Board of Education has refused to meet with the new state appointed Super Conciliator

REA, ridgewoood teachers

BOE has not made an offer.. on the contrary;
The Ridgewood Board of Education has refused to meet with the new state appointed Super Conciliator assigned to mediate the contract impasse.

The REA and BOE were recently assigned a state appointed Super Conciliator. This past Tuesday he offered three available dates of June 21, June 23, and June 27. The REA quickly informed the Super Conciliator and the BOE that they would make themselves available all three dates.

On Thursday, the BOE’s attorney sent an email to the Super Conciliator requesting dates after July 6 due an upcoming meeting of the SEHBP Commission where 2017 premium rate increases will be discussed. They also “heard” that the elimination of Direct 10 is an anticipated topic of discussion for the same meeting. They feel that both issues are key to resolving the current impasse.

#1. The commission doesn’t have the ability to eliminate a plan. That is done by the SEHBP design team which is not meeting until the Fall. Is it the Board’s intention to keep delaying negotiating until after the start of the new school year?

#2. Rates discussed will be recommendations and probably will not be adopted until another meeting later in the summer or closer to the Fall. Those are the rates which would be implemented on January 1, 2017.
REMINDER: The Fact Finder’s report had no change in healthcare plan and took into consideration the BOE’s projected premium increases which they budgeted at 10%. The Fact Finder’s report proved they could keep status quo health plan and settle this contract while balancing their budget under the 2% cap – without any additional increase in taxes. This upcoming meeting has no bearing on the Fact Finder’s recommendations which is the basis of the next round of mediation

#4. Delaying the process creates concern for finding availability of dates from the Super Conciliator that will work when trying to coordinate vacation and summer work schedules.

The BOE informed the public at their last meeting that they were willing to meet anytime with the REA to work towards settling this contract. Apparently that simply was not true. There is now an opportunity to meet with the new state appointed mediator as early as next week. Their refusal to meet is further indication of their lack of desire to settle a contract.

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DONALD J. TRUMP ON THE STAKES OF THE ELECTION

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DONALD J. TRUMP ON THE STAKES OF THE ELECTION

Today I‘d like to share my thoughts about the stakes in this election.

People have asked me why I am running for President.

I have built an amazing business that I love and I get to work side-by-side with my children every day.

We come to work together and turn visions into reality.

We think big, and then we make it happen.

I love what I do, and I am grateful beyond words to the nation that has allowed me to do it.

So when people ask me why I am running, I quickly answer: I am running to give back to this country which has been so good to me.

When I see the crumbling roads and bridges, or the dilapidated airports, or the factories moving overseas to Mexico, or to other countries, I know these problems can all be fixed, but not by Hillary Clinton – only by me.

The fact is, we can come back bigger and better and stronger than ever before –Jobs, jobs, jobs!

Everywhere I look, I see the possibilities of what our country could be. But we can’t solve any of these problems by relying on the politicians who created them.

We will never be able to fix a rigged system by counting on the same people who rigged it in the first place.

The insiders wrote the rules of the game to keep themselves in power and in the money.

That’s why we’re asking Bernie Sanders’ voters to join our movement: so together we can fix the system for ALL Americans. Importantly, this includes fixing all of our many disastrous trade deals.

Because it’s not just the political system that’s rigged. It’s the whole economy.

It’s rigged by big donors who want to keep down wages.

It’s rigged by big businesses who want to leave our country, fire our workers, and sell their products back into the U.S. with absolutely no consequences for them.

It’s rigged by bureaucrats who are trapping kids in failing schools.

It’s rigged against you, the American people.

Hillary Clinton who, as most people know, is a world class liar –

just look at her pathetic email and server statements, or her phony landing in Bosnia where she said she was under attack but the attack turned out to be young girls handing her flowers, a total self-serving lie.[1]

Brian Williams’ career was destroyed for saying far less.

Yesterday, she even tried to attack me and my many businesses. But here is the bottom line: I started off in Brooklyn New York, not so long ago, with a small loan and built a business worth over 10 billion dollars. I have always had a talent for building businesses and, importantly, creating jobs. That is a talent our country desperately needs.

I am running for President to end the unfairness and to put you, the American worker, first.

We are going to put America First, and we are going to Make America Great again.

This election will decide whether we are ruled by the people, or by the politicians.

Here is my promise to the American voter:

If I am elected President, I will end the special interest monopoly in Washington, D.C.

The other candidate in this race has spent her entire life making money for special interests – and taking money from special interests.

Hillary Clinton has perfected the politics of personal profit and theft.

She ran the State Department like her own personal hedge fund – doing favors for oppressive regimes, and many others, in exchange for cash.

Then, when she left, she made $21.6 million giving speeches to Wall Street banks and other special interests – in less than 2 years – secret speeches that she does not want to reveal to the public. [2] [3]

Together, she and Bill made $153 million giving speeches to lobbyists, CEOs, and foreign governments in the years since 2001.[4]

They totally own her, and that will never change.

The choice in this election is a choice between taking our government back from the special interests, or surrendering our last scrap of independence to their total and complete control.

Those are the stakes.

Hillary Clinton wants to be President. But she doesn’t have the temperament, or, as Bernie Sanders’ said, the judgement, to be president.

She believes she is entitled to the office.

Her campaign slogan is “I’m with her.”

You know what my response to that is? I’m with you: the American people.

She thinks it’s all about her.

I know it’s all about you – I know it’s all about making America Great Again for All Americans.

Our country lost its way when we stopped putting the American people first.

We got here because we switched from a policy of Americanism – focusing on what’s good for America’s middle class – to a policy of globalism, focusing on how to make money for large corporations who can move their wealth and workers to foreign countries all to the detriment of the American worker and the American economy.

We reward companies for offshoring, and we punish companies for doing business in America and keeping our workers employed.

This is not a rising tide that lifts all boats.

This is a wave of globalization that wipes out our middle class and our jobs.

We need to reform our economic system so that, once again, we can all succeed together, and America can become rich again.

That’s what we mean by America First.

Our country will be better off when we start making our own products again, bringing our once great manufacturing capabilities back to our shores.

Our Founders understood this.

One of the first major bills signed by George Washington called for “the encouragement and protection of manufactur[ing]” in America.[5]

Our first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, warned us by saying:

“The abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people.”[6]

I have visited the cities and towns across America and seen the devastation caused by the trade policies of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton supported Bill Clinton’s disastrous NAFTA, just like she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization.[7]

We’ve lost nearly one-third of our manufacturing jobs since these two Hillary-backed agreements were signed.[8]

Our trade deficit with China soared 40% during Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State — a disgraceful performance for which she should not be congratulated, but rather scorned.[9]

Then she let China steal hundreds of billions of dollars in our intellectual property – a crime which is continuing to this day.[10]

Hillary Clinton gave China millions of our best jobs, and effectively let China completely rebuild itself.

In return, Hillary Clinton got rich!

The book Clinton Cash, by Peter Schweitzer, documents how Bill and Hillary used the State Department to enrich their family at America’s expense.

She gets rich making you poor.

Here is a quote from the book: “At the center of US policy toward China was Hillary Clinton…at this critical time for US-china relations, Bill Clinton gave a number of speeches that were underwritten by the Chinese government and its supporters.”

These funds were paid to the Clinton bank account while Hillary was negotiating with China on behalf of the United States.[11]

She sold out our workers, and our country, for Beijing.

Hillary Clinton has also been the biggest promoter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will ship millions more of our jobs overseas – and give up Congressional power to an international foreign commission.[12]

Now, because I have pointed out why it would be such a disastrous deal, she is pretending that she is against it. She has even deleted this record of total support from her book – deletion is something she is very good at — (at least 30,000 emails are missing.)[13]

But this latest Clinton cover-up doesn’t change anything: if she is elected president, she will adopt the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and we will lose millions of jobs and our economic independence for good. She will do this, just as she has betrayed the American worker on trade at every single stage of her career – and it will be even worse than the Clintons’ NAFTA deal.

I want trade deals, but they have to be great for the United States and our workers.

We don’t make great deals anymore, but we will once I become president.

It’s not just our economy that’s been corrupted, but our foreign policy too.

The Hillary Clinton foreign policy has cost America thousands of lives and trillions of dollars – and unleashed ISIS across the world.

No Secretary of State has been more wrong, more often, and in more places than Hillary Clinton.

Her decisions spread death, destruction and terrorism everywhere she touched.

Among the victims is our late Ambassador, Chris Stevens. He was left helpless to die as Hillary Clinton soundly slept in her bed — that’s right, when the phone rang at 3 o’clock in the morning, she was sleeping.

Ambassador Stevens and his staff in Libya made hundreds of requests for security.[14]

Hillary Clinton’s State Department refused them all.

She started the war that put him in Libya, denied him the security he asked for, then left him there to die.

To cover her tracks, Hillary lied about a video being the cause of his death.[15]

Here is what one of the victim’s mothers had to say:

“I want the whole world to know it: she lied to my face, and you don’t want this person to be president.”[16]

In 2009, before Hillary Clinton was sworn in, it was a different world.

Libya was cooperating.

Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence.

Syria was under control.

Iran was being choked by sanctions.

Egypt was governed by a friendly regime that honored its peace treaty with Israel.

ISIS wasn’t even on the map.

Fast forward to 2013: In just four years, Secretary Clinton managed

to almost single-handedly destabilize the entire Middle East.

Her invasion of Libya handed the country over to the ISIS barbarians.

Thanks to Hillary Clinton, Iran is now the dominant Islamic power in the Middle East, and on the road to nuclear weapons.

Hillary Clinton’s support for violent regime change in Syria has thrown the country into one of the bloodiest civil wars anyone has ever seen – while giving ISIS a launching pad for terrorism against the West.[17]

She helped force out a friendly regime in Egypt and replace it with the radical Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian military has retaken control, but Clinton has opened the Pandora’s box of radical Islam.

Then, there was the disastrous strategy of announcing our departure date from Iraq, handing large parts of the country over to ISIS killers.[18]

ISIS threatens us today because of the decisions Hillary Clinton has made.

ISIS also threatens peaceful Muslims across the Middle East, and peaceful Muslims across the world, who have been terribly victimized by horrible brutality – and who only want to raise their kids in peace and safety.

In short, Hillary Clinton’s tryout for the presidency has produced one deadly foreign policy disaster after another.

It all started with her bad judgment in supporting the War in Iraq in the first place.[19]

Though I was not in government service, I was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war, and yes, even before the war ever started.[20]

But Hillary Clinton learned nothing from Iraq, because when she got into power, she couldn’t wait to rush us off to war in Libya.

She lacks the temperament, the judgment and the competence to lead.

In the words of a Secret Service agent posted outside the Oval Office:

“She simply lacks the integrity and temperament to serve

in the office…from the bottom of my soul, I know this to be true…Her leadership style – volcanic, impulsive…disdainful of the rules set for everyone else – hasn’t changed a bit.”[21]

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy is that she refuses to acknowledge the threat posed by Radical Islam.

In fact, Hillary Clinton supports a radical 550% increase in Syrian refugees coming into the United States, and that’s an increase over President Obama’s already very high number.[22]

Under her plan, we would admit hundreds of thousands of refugees from the most dangerous countries on Earth – with no way to screen who they are or what they believe.[23] [24]

Already, hundreds of recent immigrants and their children have been convicted of terrorist activity inside the U.S.[25]

The father of the Orlando shooter was a Taliban supporter from Afghanistan, one of the most repressive anti-gay and anti-women regimes on Earth.[26]

I only want to admit people who share our values and love our people.

Hillary Clinton wants to bring in people who believe women should be enslaved and gays put to death.

Maybe her motivation lies among the more than 1,000 foreign donations Hillary failed to disclose while at the State Department.[27]

Hillary Clinton may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency.

Here is some more of what we learned from the book, Clinton Cash:

A foreign telecom giant faced possible State Department sanctions for providing technology to Iran, and other oppressive regimes. So what did this company do? For the first time ever, they decided to pay Bill Clinton $750,000 for a single speech. The Clintons got their cash, the telecom company escaped sanctions.[28]
Hillary Clinton’s State Department approved the transfer of 20% of America’s uranium holdings to Russia, while 9 investors in the deal funneled $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.[29]
Hillary Clinton appointed a top donor to a national security board with top secret access – even though he had no national security credentials.[30]
Hillary Clinton accepted $58,000 in jewelry from the government of Brunei when she was Secretary of State – plus millions more for her foundation. The Sultan of Brunei has pushed oppressive Sharia law, including the punishment of death by stoning for being gay. The government of Brunei also stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Hillary’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, which she would absolutely approve if given the chance. [31]
Hillary Clinton took up to $25 million from Saudi Arabia, where being gay is also punishable by death.[32]
Hillary took millions from Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and many other countries that horribly abuse women and LGBT citizens.[33]
To cover-up her corrupt dealings, Hillary Clinton illegally stashed her State Department emails on a private server.

Her server was easily hacked by foreign governments – perhaps even by her financial backers in Communist China – putting all of America in danger.[34]

Then there are the 33,000 emails she deleted.[35]

While we may not know what is in those deleted emails, our enemies probably do.

So they probably now have a blackmail file over someone who wants to be President of the United States.

This fact alone disqualifies her from the Presidency.

We can’t hand over our government to someone whose deepest, darkest secrets may be in the hands of our enemies.

National security is also immigration security – and Hillary wants neither.

Hillary Clinton has put forward the most radical immigration platform in the history of the United States.

She has pledged to grant mass amnesty and in her first 100 days, end virtually all immigration enforcement, and thus create totally open borders in the United States.[36]

The first victims of her radical policies will be poor African-American and Hispanic workers who need jobs. They are the ones she will hurt the most.

Let me share with you a letter our campaign received from Mary Ann Mendoza.

She lost her amazing son, Police Sergeant Brandon Mendoza, after he was killed by an illegal immigrant because of the open borders policies supported by Hillary Clinton.[37]

Sadly, the Mendoza family is just one of thousands who have suffered the same fate.

Here is an excerpt from Mrs. Mendoza’s letter:

“Hillary Clinton, who already has the blood of so many on her hands, is now announcing that she is willing to put each and every one of our lives in harms’ way – an open door policy to criminals and terrorists to enter our country. Hillary is not concerned about you or I, she is only concerned about the power the presidency would bring to her. She needs to go to prison to pay for the crimes she has already committed against this country.”

Hillary also wants to spend hundreds of billions to resettle Middle Eastern refugees in the United States, on top of the current record level of immigration.

For the amount of money Hillary Clinton would like to spend on refugees, we could rebuild every inner city in America.

Hillary’s Wall Street immigration agenda will keep immigrant communities poor, and unemployed Americans out of work. She can’t claim to care about African-American and Hispanic workers when she wants to bring in millions of new low-wage workers to compete against them.

Here are a few things a Trump Administration will do for America in the first 100 days:

Appoint judges who will uphold the Constitution. Hillary Clinton’s radical judges will virtually abolish the 2nd amendment.
Change immigration rules to give unemployed Americans an opportunity to fill good-paying jobs
Stand up to countries that cheat on trade, of which there are many
Cancel rules and regulations that send jobs overseas
Lift restrictions on energy production
Repeal and replace job-killing Obamacare — it is a disaster.
Pass massive tax reform to create millions of new jobs.
Impose tough new ethics rules to restore dignity to the Office of Secretary of State.
There is one common theme in all of these reforms.

It’s going to be America First.

This is why the stakes in November are so great.

On Election Day, the politicians stand trial before the people.

The voters are the jury. Their ballots are the verdict. We don’t need or want another Clinton or Obama.

Come November, the American people will have a chance to issue a verdict on the politicians that have sacrificed their security, betrayed their prosperity, and sold out their country.

They will have a chance to vote for a new agenda with big dreams, bold ideas and enormous possibilities for the American people.

Hillary Clinton’s message is old and tired. Her message is that can’t change.

My message is that things have to change – and this is our one chance do it. This is our last chance to do it.

Americans are the people that tamed the West, that dug out the Panama Canal, that sent satellites across the solar system that built the great dams, and so much more.

Then we started thinking small.

We stopped believing in what America could do, and became reliant on other countries, other people, and other institutions.

We lost our sense of purpose, and daring.

But that’s not who we are.

Come this November, we can bring America back – bigger and better, and stronger than ever.

We will build the greatest infrastructure on the planet earth – the roads and railways and airports of tomorrow.

Our military will have the best technology and finest equipment – we will bring it back all the way.

Massive new factories will come roaring into our country – breathing life and hope into our communities.

Inner cities, which have been horribly abused by Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party, will finally be rebuilt.

Construction is what I know — nobody knows it better.

The real wages for our workers have not been raised for 18 years — but these wages will start going up, along with the new jobs. Hillary’s massive taxation, regulation and open borders will destroy jobs and drive down wages for everyone.

We are also going to be supporting our police and law enforcement — we can never forget the great job they do.

I am also going to appoint great Supreme Court Justices.

Our country is going to start working again.

People are going to start working again.

Parents are going to start dreaming big for their children again – including parents in our inner cities.

Americans are going to start believing in the future or our country.

We are going to make America rich again.

We are going to make America safe again.

We are going to make America Great Again – and Great Again For EVERYONE.

——————————————————

[1] (“Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton Remarks on Iraq” The George Washington University, 3/17/2008)

[2] (“2013 Tax Return,” Hillary Clinton, Accessed 6/22/2016)

[3] (“2014 Tax Return,” Hillary Clinton, Accessed 6/22/2016)

[4] (Robert Yoon, “$153 million in Bill and Hillary Clinton speaking fees, documented,” CNN, 2/6/2016)

[5] (“Statement submitted by Thomas O. Marvin, Secretary Home Market Club, Boston,” Committee of Ways and Means, 1/10/1913)

[6] (“Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works,” John Nicolay and John Hay, 1894)

[7] (Domenico Montanaro, “A Timeline Of Hillary Clinton’s Evolution On Trade” NPR, 4/21/2015)

[8] (“All Employees: Manufacturing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Accessed 6/22/2016)

[9] (“Trade in Goods with China,” U.S. Census Report, Accessed 6/22/2016)

[10] (“The Report of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property,” The IP Commission Report, May 2013)

[11] (Lauren Carroll, “Fact-checking ‘Clinton Cash’ author on claim about Bill Clinton’s speaking fees,” Politifact, 4/26/2015)

[12] (“Press Release, “Fast-Track Would Give Obama Green Light To Form EU-Inspired ‘Pacific Union,’ Surrender Congress’ Treaty Powers,” Senator Jeff Sessions, 6/8/2015)

[13] (“Paperback version of Clinton’s ‘Hard Choices’ omits her former TPP trade pact support” Fox News, 6/11/2016)

[14] (Melanie Hunter, “More Than 600 Benghazi Security Requests Never Reached Clinton’s Desk, But Reports on Libya from Her ‘Friend’ Did,” CNS News, 10/22/2015)

[15] (Press Release, “State Department Belatedly Releases New Clinton Benghazi Documents,” Judicial Watch, 4/14/2016)

[16] (“’I Want the World to Know That Hillary Lied to My Face,’” Fox News, 8/22/2013)

[17] (Anne Barnard, “Death Toll From War in Syria Now 470,000, Group Finds,” The New York Times, 2/11/2016)

[18] (“Obama: All US Troops Out Of Iraq By End Of Year,” NBC News, 10/21/2011)

[19] (Adam Lerner, “Hillary Clinton says her Iraq war vote was a ‘mistake,’” Politico, 5/19/2015)

[20] (Donald J. Trump, “Your World With Neil Cavuto,” Fox News, 1/28/2003)

[21] (“Secret Service agent’s book claims Clinton has ‘volcanic’ leadership style,” Fox News, 6/6/2016)

[22] (Rebecca Kaplan, “Hillary Clinton: U.S. should take 65,000 Syrian refugees,” CBS News, 9/20/2015)

[23] (Michael Patrick Leahy, “Politifact Says Trump Is Right: Hillary Clinton Supports ‘500% Increase in Syrian Refugees’” Breitbart, 6/15/2016)

[24] (Melanie Hunter, “FBI Director Admits U.S. Will Have No Basis to Vet Some Syrian Refugees” CNS News, 10/21/2015)

[25] (Judson Berger, “Anatomy of the terror threat: Files shed light on nature, extent of plots in US,” Fox News, 6/22/2016)

[26] (Jonathan Landay and Yeganeh Torbati, “Father of Orlando shooter hosted political show on Afghan-Pakistan issues,” Reuters, 6/13/2016)

[27] (Joshua Green and Richard Rubin, “Clinton Foundation Failed to Disclose 1,100 Foreign Donations,” Bloomberg Politics, 4/29/2015)

[28] (Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross, “Bill Clinton Cashed In When Hillary Became Secretary of State,” ABC News, 4/23/2015)

[29] (Jo Becker and Mike McIntire, “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal,” The New York Times, 4/23/2015)

[30] (David Sirota, “Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department,” International Business Times, 5/26/2015)

[31] (“Office of the Chief of Protocol; Gifts to Federal Employees From Foreign Government Sources Reported to Employing Agencies in Calendar Year 2012; Notice,” Department of State, 8/20/2013)

[32] (William La Jeunesse, “Rights groups silent as Clinton Foundation takes millions from countries that imprison gays,” Fox News, 6/17/2016)

[33] (“Contributor and Grantor Information,” Clinton Foundation, Accessed 6/22/2016)

[34] (Josh Gerstein and Rachael Bade, “Clinton server faced hacking from China, South Korea and Germany,” Politico, 10/8/2015)

[35] (Paula Reid and Hannah Fraser-Chanpong, “Report: FBI pulls deleted emails from Hillary Clinton’s server,” CBS News, 9/22/2015)

[36] (Monica Alba, “Hillary Clinton Calls Trump a ‘Bully’ Who Threatens Economy,” NBC News, 5/23/2016)

[37] (Megan Cassidy, “Mom is angry that man who killed son wasn’t deported,” USA Today, 7/11/2014)

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Scutari to Lead Delegation to Colorado on Pot Fact-finder

up-smoke-cheech-chong_l

 

“Go west, young man,” were those inimitable words attributed to Horace Greeley unheeded in the Garden State by generations of swampland denizens content to dig in by the docks. Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ Read more https://politickernj.com/2016/06/scutari-to-lead-delegation-to-colorado-on-pot-fact-finder/

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The Preserve Graydon Coalition: Vote NO to GarageZilla, Tuesday, June 21

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All information courtesy of The Preserve Graydon Coalition

Events since our June 8 newsletter describing tomorrow’s special election reinforce the importance of voting NO.

The two continuing and three incoming council members do not support the current iteration of the garage, believing that anything built at the corner of Hudson and South Broad Streets should be smaller and not stick out into the street.

The same concern to preserve the Village’s historic character that led the Preserve Graydon Coalition to oppose ill-advised ideas about replacing Graydon with a concrete pool now drives us to join a number of grassroots groups and individuals to oppose the $11.5 million parking garage bond in tomorrow’s binding referendum.

More than a radical alteration in our skyline
Even now, at the 11th hour, many, perhaps even most, residents do not comprehend what’s at stake. And it’s more than a big garage.

Although the official word is that the $11.5 million bond that is the sole item on tomorrow’s ballot would not inevitably fund any particular garage design, it is generally understood that the contract, already prepared and ready to go, would force the new council’s hand, giving them little leeway in determining what, if anything, should be built on the parking lot at Hudson and Broad, and taxpayers would be stuck with the bill.

The garage construction contract that has been readied in hopes of a “yes” vote is said to incorporate a 6% penalty on either side for making changes even though it’s impossible to predict everything that will happen. If the referendum passed and the contract were quickly signed before the outgoing council’s final day, June 30, the new council’s hands would be tied. Apparently that is precisely what the outgoing council members desire, although they deny it. Tomorrow’s special election could have been scheduled for next month, weeks after the new council had taken office—but the “council majority” set it on the first possible day.

Several members of our Village Council have put their concerns in writing. Excerpts, with full text available through the links that follow:

Councilman Mike Sedon:
“I will be voting no in Tuesday’s special election.
In order for the new council to move forward with a comprehensive parking plan for the Central Business District, which includes a reasonable parking structure, it is imperative that we can do so without having our hands tied by the outgoing council majority.
A no vote will not defeat a parking structure. It will allow us, the new council, to incorporate such a structure into the fabric of our CBD along with other solutions that have been mentioned in the past by some of my other colleagues and myself.
A true parking committee should be formed that includes residents, property and business owners along with Village officials to further explore any other ideas that could improve our situation.
The mayor’s previous parking committee did not include residents, and in my opinion resulted in information that appeared filtered and then potentially misrepresented when it reached the wider public.
This outgoing council majority has proven over and over that they cannot be trusted, and I for one will not give them any more trust by supporting what has become a monument to deceit and manipulation.”

https://theridgewoodblog.net/councilmen-michael-sedon-urges-a-no-vote-in-tuesdays-special-election/

Councilman-Elect Ramon Hache:
“Ultimately we have a parking distribution problem in our CBD, not a parking deck problem. We have already begun planning for more cost-effective solutions that will require minimal expenditures. . . . The notion that a single parking deck will solve our parking problem is in itself an outdated 90 year old idea.”

https://theridgewoodblog.net/ramon-hache-the-village-of-ridgewood-needs-a-comprehensive-and-modern-parking-solution-that-is-both-innovative-and-reflective-of-the-world-we-live-in/

Councilman-Elect Jeff Voigt:

Short video:  https://youtu.be/hVcW-r8Q-qk

Letter to the Editor, The Ridgewood News, June 10, 2016:
“. . .the Hudson St garage addresses a symptom but not the disease. . . . I am voting no (to not adopt ordinance No. 3521) on June 21st. As a Village, let’s put together something that makes sense, is clear as to what our monies are to be used for, and makes our central business district more user friendly.”

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/ridgewood-news-letter-voigt-is-voting-no-june-21-1.1613884

Residents are shocked by the lengths to which Paul Aronsohn and his yes-persons on the Council have gone, along with the Village Manager and others, to make their garage happen.

Dave Slomin, representing Ridgewood Citizens for Reasonable Development (RCRD, formerly Citizens for a Better Ridgewood), notes that the garage would set new guidelines for size and scale that developers would use to obtain permission to construct bigger and more dense buildings here. High-density developers could seek garage-related “parking variances,” giving them the opportunity to build as big as they wanted under new high-density ordinances passed by the outgoing mayor’s voting bloc.

The group recommends voting no in the referendum for reasons outlined here:
https://theridgewoodblog.net/why-a-garage-no-vote-on-tues-621-is-important-to-limiting-high-density-housing-more/

RCRD supporter Jim McCarthy shares his views in this short video:  https://youtu.be/3MSgIMYcfyA

A new lawsuit and a new ethics complaint
A lawsuit has been filed in Superior Court claiming misuse of Village funds and employees’ time to create a video posted on the village website that urges residents to vote for the referendum:

https://theridgewoodblog.net/breaking-ridgewood-residents-file-lawsuit-against-village/

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/town-government/lawsuits-emerge-over-garage-video-1.1617759

In addition, a complaint has been filed with the Local Finance Board in Hackensack—the agency that enforces the Local Government Ethics Law—by the Open Government Advocacy Project of the New Jersey Libertarian Party. The letter names Mayor Paul Aronsohn and Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld as having violated “N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.5(c), which prohibits a local government officer from ‘using’ or attempting to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others.”

https://theridgewoodblog.net/ridgewood-mayor-and-village-manager-accused-of-violating-local-government-ethics-law/

The video was watched several times by Rev. Msgr. Ronald J. Rozniak (Father Ron), Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, who wrote in his weekly bulletin yesterday (pages 2-3) that it “lists a number of entities that were consulted. You will not hear the name of Our Lady of Mount Carmel mentioned . . . . Incredibly, the single largest reality, neighbor, directly across the street from the deck, not four or six blocks away was ignored. This is despite the fact that Mount Carmel hired its own traffic consultant from an equally reputable traffic consulting firm.”

If reducing Hudson St. to two lanes would “eliminate the on-street parking on the church side of Hudson,” he wrote, it would “unquestionably have a negative impact on the operations of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”

https://www.olmcridgewood.com/images/pdf/bulletin.pdf

More quarters in the meter for longer hours
To repay the bond—a loan, after all, not a gift—we would face extended street parking meter hours and fees, including at the Route 17 Park & Ride, rising incrementally over time. This would add insult to injury for taxpaying residents while driving shoppers and diners to the many surrounding towns that provide parking for free. Only a few years ago, when meter hours were extended to 8 pm, downtown business owners objected to the council and the end time for feeding meters reverted to 6 pm. Why would 9 pm fare better than 8 pm did?

For these reasons, we consider it essential to reject the proposed bond and to vote NO onTuesday, June 21.

If tomorrow’s referendum passes, the three outgoing council members, while stating repeatedly that the new council will be in control, are prepared to rush-approve a contract for an enormous garage via a special council meeting a week before leaving office. That would leave the new council in a “bind.”

Bonding…binding…bind.

Only by voting down the referendum can residents prevent GarageZilla from rising above all it surveys at the corner of Hudson and Broad.

Where to vote: wherever you usually do. Polls will be open from 6 am to 8 pm.

To share this message (please do), click on “Forward this message to a friend” below the pail photo below.

Swimmingly,
Marcia Ringel and Alan Seiden
Co-Chairs, The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation

“It’s clear—we love Graydon!”

[email protected]    PreserveGraydon.org

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7 facts about the 2016 summer solstice, the official start of summer

300px-Stonehenge2007_07_30

By Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on June 19, 2016 at 7:02 AM, updated June 19, 2016 at 7:34 AM

Unless you’re obsessed with astronomical clocks, you probably won’t even notice it. But when the sun sets in the western sky Monday, it will be the culmination of the longest day of the year.

June 20 is the summer solstice, marking the official start of the 2016 summer season — and the day with the most amount of sunlight all across the northern hemisphere.

While many New Jerseyans will be at the Shore or hitting other vacation spots as the solstice arrives, folks in other parts of the world will be holding traditional solstice celebrations that include drinking, feasting and dancing around big bonfires, singing songs and, in some places, going bare.

https://www.nj.com/weather/index.ssf/2016/06/7_facts_about_the_2016_summer_solstice_official_start_of_summer.html

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The Ridgewood Fourth of July is looking for volunteers for the Parade and Fireworks

4thofJuly_flag_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving

June 20,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Fourth of July is looking for volunteers for the Parade and Fireworks. Please volunteer as a parade marshal or for the evening program. All volunteers receive a signature Ridgewood Fourth of July t-shirt and a free ticket to the evening entertainment and fireworks. As we are a non-profit we can also offer community service hours to students.

Parade Marshal – Be the eyes and ears of the committee. Sit wherever you normally sit to enjoy the parade. We will give you a clip board with a copy of the parade regulations and a committee t shirt. If you see anything that doesn’t look right, such as a gap between groups or things being thrown or distributed by any groups, you step forward and correct the situation. If the participant does not comply, you have the cell phone numbers of the committee to call for help.

Parade Judges – Sit wherever you normally sit to enjoy the parade. We will give you a clip board with the necessary judge’s forms. Judges are needed for the following categories:
Parade Groups
Floats
Music Groups

Fireworks Ticket Takers – There are four gates onto Veteran’s Field for the fireworks. Each gate needs 5 people to take tickets, sell tickets, hand out programs, etc. For this position, you will receive a shirt and a boxed dinner.

Pre-Show Gate Security – Due to added security, we will need 2 people at each of our four gates between 4 and 6 pm. Once the Police have done their security sweep of the field at 4pm, no one will be allowed on the field until the gates open at 6pm. For this position, you will receive a shirt and a boxed dinner.

We will have our volunteer meeting Thursday, July 1st at 7:00 p.m. at the Firehouse located at 201 Glen Avenue in Ridgewood. The Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration is an all-volunteer organization supported entirely by private donations. Support the Tradition.

If you’re interested – please message us or contact us at [email protected]

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Father Ron of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Issues a VERY STRONG statement on Hudson Garage

Mt_Carmel_Church_theridgewoodblog

Dear Friends,

I liked last year’s Father’s Day reflection, so I decided to put it in again. I may fail to be as clever as my neighbor down the street, I may fail to be as wealthy as some other men I meet, I may never win the glory which a lot of men have had, But I’ve got to be successful as a little fellow’s dad. There are certain dreams I cherish which I’d like to see come true, There are things I would accomplish when my time of life is through, But the task my heart is on is to guide a little lad And to make myself successful as that little fellow’s dad. I may never come to glory, I may never gather gold, Men may list me with the failures when my business life is told, But if he who follows after me shall be manly, I’ll be glad, For I’ll know I’ve been successful as that little fellow’s dad. It’s the one job that I dream of, it’s the task I think of most, If I fail that growing youngster, I’d have nothing else to boast; For though wealth and fame I’d gathered, all my failure would be sad, If I failed to be successful as that little fellow’s dad. God bless all our dads on their special day and thank you for who you are. As a gift from the parish, please take a pen with you and know how much your faith contributes not only to your family but to the parish family as well.

Here we go again. I had resolved not to write on the deck again but I find myself on the subject one last time (since the referendum is Tuesday). Someone said to me that there was a video on the Village website and I should be sure to view it. I did. Several times. And that’s why I find myself writing. Notwithstanding the article in The Ridgewood News, dated June 10th, in which Council members indicate the referendum is about the bonding for a deck, the statement is made in the video, “There will be one question on the ballot that day, ‘Do you support this parking deck.?’” And the video clearly points to the 325 car deck. I find the ambiguity between these two positions worrisome. I have said all along I will not comment on the aesthetics of that deck, “its size, its proportionality to surrounding buildings and the streetscape it creates.” My two issues remain the traffic pattern changes and the on-street parking on the south side of Hudson Street. You will find in the video this statement, “There are two churches on South Broad and in looking at that we decided that directing traffic from the parking deck to Prospect provided better dispersion and less of a loading on South Board St. Our Office worked with ….” And then the video lists a number of entities that were consulted.

You will not hear the name of Our Lady of Mount Carmel mentioned in that consultation. Incredibly, the single largest reality, neighbor, directly across the street from the deck, not four or six blocks away was ignored. This is despite the fact that Mount Carmel hired its own traffic consultant from an equally reputable traffic consulting firm. In their review of the Village’s traffic report, they had this evaluation. “The traffic analysis in the STIS shows that with Hudson Street remaining one-way in the westbound direction, the parking garage will not (their emphasis) cause failure operations at the Hudson Street intersections with South Broad and Prospect Street. As such, we believe there is no need to reverse the traffic flow on Hudson Street or Passaic Street.” Of prime importance to the operations of Mount Carmel Church is the on-street parking on the church side of Hudson Street. In the early months of the year, it was claimed that even with the deck encroaching five feet into the sidewalk (and thus into the street), it would still allow for three lanes on Hudson Street, a parking lane (on the church side), a drive-thru lane and a turning lane into the deck. At a meeting of the Preservation Committee in March, this was unqualifiedly debunked. With the width of Hudson Street narrowed, even by only five feet, there will only be enough space for two lanes. Does this mean that in the future it may be found necessary to eliminate the on-street parking on the church side of Hudson? That will unquestionably have a negative impact on the operations of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

I just thought you needed some further information before you go to the polls on Tuesday. God Bless,

Father Ron

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Why the ‘lone-wolf’ terrorist is a myth

Rolling_Stone_Cover_with_Boston_Bomber

By Paul Sperry

June 18, 2016 | 3:20pm

President Obama says don’t worry, the Orlando terrorist was just another “lone actor” operating in isolation, unconnected to any larger group of supporters. In fact, these so-called “lone wolves” are running in packs, and suggesting otherwise gives the public a false sense of security.

Yet Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson echoed Obama, saying Omar Mateen was “self-radicalized” without any religious, ideological or operational support from friends, family or others in the Muslim community.

“What we do know at this point is it appears this was a case of self-radicalization,” Johnson said. “He does not appear to have been part of any group.”

A more accurate picture is that Mateen, an Afghan-American, was part of a disturbingly large Muslim family of sympathizers, supporters and even co-conspirators.

For starters, his wife could face criminal charges in the attack on the gay Orlando nightclub, the deadliest act of terrorism in the US since 9/11. Noor Zahi Salman, who wed Mateen in 2011, reportedly told the FBI she knew about her husband’s planned attack and even drove him to the site of the massacre as part of a scouting operation. She also is said to have helped him case the Disney Springs shopping complex. What’s more, Salman allegedly was with Mateen when he bought ammo and a holster used in the attack.

https://nypost.com/2016/06/18/why-the-lone-wolf-terrorist-is-a-myth/

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Ridgewood July 4th Fireworks Ticket Now Available!

Ridgewood_-4th_of-_July_theridgewoodblog
July 4th Fireworks Ticket Now Available

Fireworks Tickets
Monday, July 4, 2016
Alternate Date – Tuesday, July 5th
Veteran’s Field, Ridgewood, New Jersey
Entrance gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM
While the Parade is free, Fireworks Tickets are required for entrance to Vet’s Field. Donations for Fireworks Tickets is one of the Celebration’s largest sources of income. Tickets are available for advance purchase at stores for $10. Tickets will be on sale at the gates for $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-12. Buy your tickets in advance for big savings! Children 5 and under are admitted for free.
Tickets may be purchased online at https://www.ridgewoodjuly4.net/evening-entertainment-fireworks/buy-tickets/ for $11.00 each including shipping and handling.
Tickets will be on sale at the following vendors for $10 each. Children 5 and under are admitted free.
• Backyard Living – 235 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood
• Bergen News Plus – 890 Prospect Street, Glen Rock
• Chestnut Catering & Deli – 25 Chestnut Street, Ridgewood
• Connect One Bank – 171 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
• Custom Cut Salon – 239 Godwin Avenue, Midland Park
• Daily Treat Restaurant– 177 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood – Open July 4th until 2:00 PM
• Goffle Brook Farm– 425 Goffle Road, Ridgewood – Open July 4th until 5:00 PM
• Hillman Electric Inc. – 133 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
• Hogan’s Restaurant & Diner – 20 Central Avenue, Midland Park
• Hoskins Propane – 523 Goffle Road, Ridgewood
• Ridgewood Auto Wash Co. – 450 South Broad Street, Glen Rock
• Ridgewood Cycle Shop – 35 North Broad Street, Ridgewood
• Town & Country Apothecary – 60 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
• Uncorked Wines and Spirits- 607 N. Maple Avenue, Ho-Ho-Kus – Open July 4th until 5:00 PM
• The Wine Seller – 6 West Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
Patrons and belongings will be subject to security checks by Police Department personnel when entering Veterans Field. Alcohol is not permitted. There will be 2 lines at the gates, one for those with bags and one for those without bags. Expect delays. All gates will close at 9:00 PM.
Gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM.
No Dogs allowed – Village Ordinance 1689