According to recent reports, the Italian Secret Service fears an air attack by ISIS, compounding the already existent danger of terrorist infiltration among with throngs of immigrants coming to Italy by boat from neighboring Libya.
Several days ago, the air defense system went into high alert after the secret service sent a notice.
The notice spoke of aircraft prepared to take off from Sirte and able to strike the Italian peninsula. Though this has not yet occurred, tensions remain high because of the strong risk of an attack carried out by “lone wolves” as occurred in Paris and in Copenhagen.
The State official responsible for the Secret Services, Marco Minniti, said that ISIS has what he called both “symmetric and asymmetric” capabilities, in that it can execute “both military and terrorist campaigns.” According to Minniti, this means that the ISIS threat holds the “maximum unpredictability,” which is “unprecedented.” Minniti also said that the dynamics of the situation makes necessary “comprehensive data collection.”
Specifically, Minniti has called for the immediate implementation of a Europe-wide sharing of Passenger Name Records (PNR) on all flights, exchanging pertinent information especially regarding n passengers that trigger suspicions, because though the Schengen open treaty should not be suspended, “it is essential to maintain control of who moves in or out of the theaters of war.”
Meanwhile, the Egyptian journalist Mustapha Bakri has released details on the Egyptian special forces strike on Derna yesterday. According to Bakri, Egyptian forces “killed 155 terrorists and captured 55 others before returning safely to Egypt.”
Ridgewood Arts Council plans exhibit at Village Hall
February 20, 2015 Last updated: Friday, February 20, 2015, 12:31 AM
By Darius Amos
STAFF WRITER |
The Ridgewood News
Less than a year after the village breathed new life into the Ridgewood Arts Council, RAC members are ready to return the favor.
The municipality’s official organization for the arts has set its sights on an ambitious but achievable goal, one that will end with the installation of a permanent public art display throughout Village Hall.
Titled “Ridgewood Art at Village Hall,” the idea for the permanent art exhibit comes on the heels of the success of Ridgewood High School’s Learning Commons display. Resident Linda Bradley was one of the volunteers who played an instrumental role in the RHS project.
“I was curating art for the Learning Commons. The art I was amassing was from Ridgewood residents,” Bradley said. “I got pulled over to be a part of the [RAC] because there was a lot of interest in the Learning Commons. We wanted to continue that visibility and celebration of the arts.”
FEBRUARY 20, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Whether you like it or not, PARCC testing is coming to Ridgewood. The new state-mandated assessment exams are slated for administration for the first time on March 2.
Trey Gowdy: Time for a Select Committee to Investigate the IRS Scandal
Feb 18, 2015 12:13 PM EST
GREENVILLE, S.C.—At a Republican Party fundraising breakfast in his district on Wednesday, Representative Trey Gowdy suggested that the congressional GOP needed to investigate the IRS’s scrutiny of political groups with the same intensity that it was investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi.
“I’m glad that the speaker of the House convened a select committee on Benghazi,” said Gowdy, a former prosecutor who chairs that panel. “I think it makes every bit as much sense to convene a select committee on the IRS. Now that we have the Senate, the Senate has tools the House doesn’t have in terms of getting e-mails and cooperation. It has nothing to do with politics. Do you really want an IRS targeting you based on your political beliefs?”
The congressman, flanked by colleagues Mick Mulvaney and Jeff Duncan, took most of the questions at the $25-per-head voter briefing. Mulvaney encouraged fellow Republicans to win the moral argument about immigration reform, instead of allowing the issue to be frozen and polarized. “If you hear us talking 10 percent about the Constitution and 90 percent about something else, that’s why,” he said. Gowdy described the ways that Democrats had undermined his committee—mostly by portraying it as heartlessly partisan.
U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on Feb. 23, 1945. Strategically located only 660 miles from Tokyo, the Pacific island became the site of one of the bloodiest, most famous battles of World War II against Japan. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal)
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire during World War II. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, along with its three airfields (including the South Field and the Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands.[2] This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II.
RHS Athlete is Recognized for outstanding contributions to the RHS Girls Soccer team
February 19,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, RHS senior soccer and lacrosse player Natalie Weil was recognized at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration on February 1 at Seton Hall University for outstanding contributions to the RHS Girls Soccer team, where she also served as one of the team’s co-captains. Sponsored by the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, the event celebrated the many achievements of girls and women in sports, recognizing female athletes, coaches and administrators.
Photo: Natalie Weil with RHS Girls Soccer coach Jeff Yearing.
Obama refuses to acknowledge ‘Muslim terrorists’ at summit
By Geoff Earle
February 18, 2015 | 10:37pm
WASHINGTON — They’re burning and beheading victims in the name of Islam, but President Obama delivered a major speech Wednesday on combating violent extremism — while refusing to use the words “Muslim terrorists.”
“No religion is responsible for terrorism — people are responsible for violence and terrorism,” Obama told a crowd that included Muslim community leaders at the White House.
Following months of unrelenting atrocities by ISIS killers who released videos of themselves beheading US journalists and, most recently, 21 Coptic Christians, and burning a man alive, the president kowtowed to the audience by proclaiming that “Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding.”
“Generations of Muslim immigrants came here and went to work as farmers and merchants and factory workers, helped to lay railroads and build up America,” he said.
“The first Islamic center in New York City was founded in the 1890s. America’s first mosque — this was an interesting fact — was in North Dakota.”
U.S. Congress questions plan to admit Syrian refugees
BY MARK HOSENBALL
WASHINGTON Thu Jan 29, 2015 6:03pm EST
(Reuters) – The Republican-led House Committee on Homeland Security is challenging an Obama administration plan to admit Syrian refugees to the United States, saying it could allow potential terrorists to sneak into the country.
In a letter sent to the White House, Michael McCaul, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee and Peter King and Candice Miller, who chair subcommittees, said the administration’s plan “raises serious national security concerns.”
The letter, dated Wednesday, said the United States lacks the resources to fully investigate the backgrounds of refugees fromSyria, a base for Islamic State militants, before they are admitted to the country.
Anne Richard, an Assistant Secretary of State, said on Dec. 9 that the United States resettled nearly 70,000 refugees from nearly 70 countries in 2013 and that the administration’s refugee plans would lead to “resettling Syrians as well.”
Nayeon Park from George Washington Middle School Among the Winners Announced for Third Annual Adolescent Immunization Awareness Contest
Middle School and High School Winners of the Annual Protect Me With 3+ Video and Poster Contest Promote Vaccine Awareness
Newark, NJ – February 13, 2015 – The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Health, today announced the winners for the third annual Protect Me With 3+ adolescent immunization awareness video and poster contest. The winning entries can be viewed at https://protectmewith3.com.
Video Contest Winners:
1st place: Timothy Smith, Samantha Tracy and Liam Keller from Cherokee High School located in Marlton, New Jersey (Burlington County, Flu).
2nd place: Emily Churak from Henry Hudson Regional located in Highlands, New Jersey (Monmouth County, Flu).
3rd place: Gavriel Epstein from Torah Academy of Bergen County located in Teaneck, New Jersey (Bergen County, Tdap).
Poster Contest Winners:
1st place: Nayeon Park from George Washington Middle School located in Ridgewood, New Jersey (Bergen County, Tdap).
2nd place: Virendra Ghate from Terrill Middle School located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey (Union County, Flu).
3rd place: Sophia Iacona, Margot Rizzi and Paris Mercurio from Terrill Middle School located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey (Union County, MCV4).
Classroom Winners
Poster: Patricia Selby from Terrill Middle School located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey (Union County).
Video: James Gregg from Henry Hudson Regional located in Highlands, New Jersey (Monmouth County).
The top three winners in the poster and video categories received prizes and the opportunity for their submissions to be distributed during statewide immunization awareness activities.
In its third year, the Protect Me With 3+ contest increases awareness about the importance of four adolescent immunizations: tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap), human papillomavirus (HPV), meningococcal conjugate (MCV4) and influenza.
“The Protect Me With 3+ contest offers a unique opportunity for New Jersey residents to learn about the importance of adolescent vaccinations. We are very happy with this year’s winners, as their efforts have helped to raise public health awareness,” commented Ilise Zimmerman, Executive Director, of Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey.
The poster contest was open to New Jersey students in grades 5-8, while students in grades 9-12 were eligible to participate in the video contest. The public voted for their favorite entries from January 24, 2015 through February 8, 2015.
Honorable Mentions
Finalists in each category were also honored at the awards ceremony held at the West Windsor Public Library on February 12, 2015. The two video finalists were group entries by Ian McBride and Dominic Capasso, and Adam Danzger, Dana Tsipenyuk, Avital Rubinchik and Julia Pak. The two poster finalists were group entries by Justin Rizzi and Rachel Schuman, and Julia Zucosky, Colette Franciscus, Zoe Rouder and Carly Dvorin.
About the Organizers
The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation, licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH). Its mission is to improve the health of women, children, and families. The Partnership has more than 20 years of experience mounting community-based, consumer-friendly and culturally competent educational programs to parents, caregivers, pregnant women and individuals of child-bearing age. For more information visit: https://partnershipmch.org/
To learn more about vaccinations, please visit the Department of Health’s website: https://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/imm.shtml
FEBRUARY 17, 2015, 9:49 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015, 9:49 PM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
As the state pours billions of dollars in business tax breaks into programs aimed at strengthening New Jersey’s struggling economy, it has put the brakes on another incentive program, leaving hundreds of companies without promised payments that could total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Seeking to balance the state budget over the last few years, the Christie administration and the Legislature have each slashed funding for the Business Employment Incentive Program, commonly referred to as BEIP, eliminating payments to companies that were promised annual income tax rebate checks in return for moving to New Jersey or expanding here.
The affected businesses range from HighRoad Press — a small printing company that was promised $345,000 over 10 years for its move from Manhattan to Moonachie — to retail giant Bed Bath & Beyond, which is owed $2.8 million for creating jobs in 2012 and 2013. Paying out the money from these awards — estimated at $650 million according to one state estimate — would seem out of reach without an unexpected massive boost in state revenues. The state stopped awarding new grants under the program in 2013.
Ridgewood Sanitation Services During Snow and Icy Weather
Dear E-Notice Residents,
Due to the recent snow and ice conditions we are requiring that for the foreseeable future your sanitation containers have to be placed on the curb, by the driveway, for pick up. Last week we tried a hybrid approach in telling residents that we would continue rear yard pick-up if the driveways were free and clear of snow and ice. Unfortunately this caused some confusion. We also had four accidents last week of our staff falling and two needing to go to the hospital.
I know that for me personally this morning there was snow and ice on my driveway which was not there last evening. We placed our garbage out by the curb. The sanitation workers come around early during the coldest portion of the day. There are municipalities that suspend rear yard pick-up for the entire season for this reason. We would prefer to keep the services at a normal level whenever possible.
Once we resume normal pick-up we will send E-Notices as well as post to our website.
The White House is facing mounting skepticism that its high-profile summit on violent extremism this week will help to counter a rising tide of radicalism, as world leaders search for a response to another wave of attacks, in Denmark and Libya.
The summit, to be held in Washington, will draw high-level officials from more than 60 countries and will focus on how to stave off the kind of political and socio-economic exclusion that drives marginalised groups into the hands of terror groups, senior administration officials said on Monday.
Plans for the three-day summit, which have been in the works for months, took on greater urgency after Islamist extremists killed 17 people in Paris last month, starting with an assault on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.
Over the weekend, a gunman in Copenhagen opened fire at a free-speech event at a cultural centre and synagogue, killing two people, while on Sunday fighters affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isis, claimed they had killed up to 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians they were holding in the central Libyan city of Sirte.
Democrats seek relief from health law penalties
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The official sign-up season for President Barack Obama’s health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties deserve a second chance.
Three senior House members told The Associated Press that they plan to strongly urge the administration to grant a special sign-up opportunity for uninsured taxpayers who will be facing fines under the law for the first time this year.
The three are Michigan’s Sander Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, and Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, and Lloyd Doggett of Texas. All worked to help steer Obama’s law through rancorous congressional debates from 2009-2010.
The lawmakers say they are concerned that many of their constituents will find out about the penalties after it’s already too late for them to sign up for coverage, since open enrollment ended Sunday.
That means they could wind up uninsured for another year, only to owe substantially higher fines in 2016. The fines are collected through the income tax system.
This year is the first time ordinary Americans will experience the complicated interactions between the health care law and taxes. Based on congressional analysis, tax preparation giant H&R Block says roughly 4 million uninsured people will pay penalties.
The IRS has warned that health-care related issues will make its job harder this filing season and taxpayers should be prepared for long call-center hold times, particularly since the GOP-led Congress has been loath to approve more money for the agency.
“Open enrollment period ended before many Americans filed their taxes,” the three lawmakers said in a statement. “Without a special enrollment period, many people (who will be paying fines) will not have another opportunity to get health coverage this year.
“A special enrollment period will not only help many Americans avoid making an even larger payment next year, but, more importantly, it will help them gain quality health insurance for 2015,” the lawmakers added.
So far, administration officials have deflected questions about whether an extension will be granted. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell has authority to grant special enrollment periods under certain circumstances.
Prescription Opioid Abuse: A First Step to Heroin Use?
Prescription opioid pain medications such as Oxycontin and Vicodin can have effects similar to heroin when taken in doses or in ways other than prescribed, and they are currently among the most commonly abused drugs in the United States. Research now suggests that abuse of these drugs may open the door to heroin abuse.
Nearly half of young people who inject heroin surveyed in three recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before starting to use heroin. Some individuals reported taking up heroin because it is cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription opioids.
Many of these young people also report that crushing prescription opioid pills to snort or inject the powder provided their initiation into these methods of drug administration.
Heroin is an opioid drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.”
In 2011, 4.2 million Americans aged 12 or older (or 1.6 percent) had used heroin at least once in their lives. It is estimated that about 23 percent of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it.
How Is Heroin Used?
Heroin can be injected, inhaled by snorting or sniffing, or smoked. All three routes of administration deliver the drug to the brain very rapidly, which contributes to its health risks and to its high risk for addiction, which is a chronic relapsing disease caused by changes in the brain and characterized by uncontrollable drug-seeking no matter the consequences.
How Does Heroin Affect the Brain?
When it enters the brain, heroin is converted back into morphine, which binds to molecules on cells known as opioid receptors. These receptors are located in many areas of the brain (and in the body), especially those involved in the perception of pain and in reward. Opioid receptors are also located in the brain stem, which controls automatic processes critical for life, such as blood pressure, arousal, and respiration.
Heroin overdoses frequently involve a suppression of breathing. This can affect the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia can have short- and long-term psychological and neurological effects, including coma and permanent brain damage.
After an intravenous injection of heroin, users report feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heaviness of the extremities, and clouded mental functioning. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Users who do not inject the drug may not experience the initial rush, but other effects are the same.
Researchers are also investigating the long-term effects of opioid addiction on the brain. One result is tolerance, in which more of the drug is needed to achieve the same intensity of effect. Another result is dependence, characterized by the need to continue use of the drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms. Studies have shown some deterioration of the brain’s white matter due to heroin use, which may affect decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to stressful situations.
People who inject drugs are at high risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). This is because these diseases are transmitted through contact with blood or other bodily fluids, which can occur when sharing needles or other injection drug use equipment. (HCV is the most common blood-borne infection in the Unites States.) HIV (and less often HCV) can also be contracted during unprotected sex, which drug use makes more likely.
Because of the strong link between drug abuse and the spread of infectious disease, drug abuse treatment can be an effective way to prevent the latter. People in drug abuse treatment, which often includes risk reduction counseling, stop or reduce their drug use and related risk behaviors, including risky injection practices and unsafe sex. (See box, “Treating Heroin Addiction.”)
What Are the Other Health Effects of Heroin?
Heroin abuse is associated with a number of serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and infectious diseases like hepatitis and HIV (see box, “Injection Drug Use and HIV and HCV Infection”). Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, constipation and gastrointestinal cramping, and liver or kidney disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of the user as well as from heroin’s effects on breathing.
In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs.
Treating Heroin Addiction
A range of treatments including behavioral therapies and medications are effective at helping patients stop using heroin and return to stable and productive lives.
Medications include buprenorphine and methadone, both of which work by binding to the same cell receptors as heroin but more weakly, helping a person wean off the drug and reduce craving; and naltrexone, which blocks opioid receptors and prevents the drug from having an effect (patients sometimes have trouble complying with naltrexone treatment, but a new long-acting version given by injection in a doctor’s office may increase this treatment’s efficacy). Another drug called naloxone is sometimes used as an emergency treatment to counteract the effects of heroin overdose.
For more information, see NIDA’s handbook,Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment.
Chronic use of heroin leads to physical dependence, a state in which the body has adapted to the presence of the drug. If a dependent user reduces or stops use of the drug abruptly, he or she may experience severe symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms—which can begin as early as a few hours after the last drug administration—can include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), and kicking movements (“kicking the habit”). Users also experience severe craving for the drug during withdrawal, which can precipitate continued abuse and/or relapse.
Besides the risk of spontaneous abortion, heroin abuse during pregnancy (together with related factors like poor nutrition and inadequate prenatal care) is also associated with low birth weight, an important risk factor for later delays in development. Additionally, if the mother is regularly abusing the drug, the infant may be born physically dependent on heroin and could suffer from neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a drug withdrawal syndrome in infants that requires hospitalization. According to a recent study, treating opioid-addicted pregnant mothers with buprenorphine (a medication for opioid dependence) can reduce NAS symptoms in babies and shorten their hospital stays.
Reader says the punishment was ineffectual because had it gone to trial, the whole coin room issue and a lot of employees and management would have been exposed
Perhaps “accomplices” is too narrow a description. If I could re-write this piece, I would not use “accomplices”, but rather other employees, whose actions ranged from not doing their job, to outright stealing (albeit on a much lesser scale). I have no doubt that this coin room was viewed as a place of petty cash, where little to no accounting was effectively maintained. It was a place where handfuls of the stuff could be used for all kinds of incidental expenses, such as coffees and meals. The whole process of old-style coin meters that didn’t record how much they took in made this possible. Basically, the amount of money that was “supposed” to be in the coin room was whatever was either in there, or you wanted it to be. The meters didn’t leave an audit trail whereby they collectively would record the amount that should be in the coin room. The only reason Rica was busted is because he absolutely went completely overboard with his stealing. The reason why the punishment was so ineffectual was because had it gone to trial, his lawyer would bring up the whole coin room issue and a whole lot of employees would be exposed, and management would have been shown to be thoroughly incompetent in their oversight. What couldn’t be allowed to come out was the whole abuse of the coin room, which no matter how you try to rationalize it, is nothing less than Village officials stealing public money.
What about some of his ( worker ) friends had to know some thing, or see some thing . he had bank papers next to the lamp, and coins all around. what about all the things he just bought and did, you would think how can he pay for all this on 85 grand. I say bull , others new and just said zip . well his big head got him caught . and for top managers should be fired. other workers told up top watch out for this guy but they looked the other way, why I don’t know . you think about it. tom must of had real dirt on people, what else would it be. the problem we have is we have lap dogs in this town. and the upper managers like that and take care of those who suck up to them. but the rest of the workers know just who they are, and they will get it in the end. what comes around goes around. so wake up brown nose. yeah you.
