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Jack Lorenz, former Ridgewood principal, remembered as ‘agent of change’

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Jack Lorenz, former Ridgewood principal, remembered as ‘agent of change’

December 4, 2014    Last updated: Thursday, December 4, 2014, 1:40 PM
By By Jodi Weinberger
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News

At the celebration of the Learning Commons last month, when the lengthy project to upgrade the high school’s library was deemed complete, Jack Lorenz was smiling from his home in Alabama.

“It was his vision and his dream,” said Tina Telesco, a parent involved with the Home and School Association (HSA). “When we called him for the ribbon cutting, he actually cried on the phone. He was pretty sick at the time and he said ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’

“So many other principals and leaders are so worried about their image and the politics and everything,” Telesco continued. “Jack’s only care in the world was about the students.”

Lorenz, the beloved principal who served Ridgewood High School from 2006-2011, died Saturday. He was 69. He is survived by his wife, Karen, and sons, Jake and Matthew.

To say that students and parents in Ridgewood loved Lorenz would only be telling half the story; Lorenz was an educator who truly loved the community back.

David Zrike first met Lorenz about four years ago when he was driving by a high school Sweet 16 party where many teens were being arrested for drinking.

“It was sickening, so I decided to call him to see if there was something we could do to stop that trend,” Zrike recalled. “Within 10 minutes he called me back, he asked for me to come meet him, and from there we established Backwoods.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/jack-lorenz-former-ridgewood-principal-remembered-as-agent-of-change-1.1146665?page=all

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In 2 Charts: Why the ‘War on Poverty’ Should Be Renamed the ‘War on Marriage’

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In 2 Charts: Why the ‘War on Poverty’ Should Be Renamed the ‘War on Marriage’

Kelsey Harris / @KelsRenHar / December 03, 2014

“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.” Sort of.

I grew up singing the “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” jingle with my elementary school friends during recess. Now many of those same friends have the baby in the baby carriage and a boyfriend. They aren’t alone.

>>>REPORT: How Welfare Undermines Marriage

According to research by Robert Rector, an expert in welfare at the Heritage Foundation, more than 40 percent of all children born in the U.S. were born outside of marriage in 2013, and the number of single-parent families with children has skyrocketed by nearly 10 million.

Rector explains how the War on Poverty undermined marriage:

It is no accident that the collapse of marriage in America largely began with the War on Poverty and the proliferation of means-tested welfare programs that it fostered. When the War on Poverty began, only a single welfare program—Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)—assisted single parents. Today, dozens of programs provide benefits to families with children, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food stamps, child nutrition programs, public housing and Section 8 housing, and Medicaid. Although married couples with children can also receive aid through these programs, the overwhelming majority of assistance to families with children goes to single-parent households.

These charts breakdown exactly how much marriage and childbearing has changed since 1964.

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High-performing N.J. school districts will no longer have intensive state monitoring

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High-performing N.J. school districts will no longer have intensive state monitoring

DECEMBER 3, 2014, 1:42 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014, 9:04 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Print

TRENTON — High-performing school districts will no longer have to participate in an intensive state monitoring and evaluation system used to measure schools, education officials said Wednesday.

Districts can now request waivers from the commissioner of the state Department of Education if they meet certain benchmarks, Acting Education Commissioner David Hespe announced Wednesday. The move will allow schools to focus more time and resources on students and instruction and free up the department’s time and staff so they can work more closely with struggling schools, he said.

To get a waiver, schools must score 80 percent or higher in all areas of review under the system, known as the Quality Single Accountability Continuum. The areas are instruction and program, fiscal management, governance, operations and personnel.

The exempt districts will have to submit proof that they remain high-performing, in lieu of receiving a full review every three years.

Hespe said that about half of all districts could be exempt, but that it will remain a critical method to assess struggling districts.

The changes will help ease the burden on school districts, which have complained about the time and paperwork associated with the review. The typical performance review takes several months to complete and consumes large amounts of time for district and county staff to complete.

Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Board Administrators, welcomed the decision.

“This effort to streamline the process, increase efficiency, and provide flexibility for educators are educational reforms that the NJASA supports and changes that will benefit New Jersey’s students,” he said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/high-performing-n-j-school-districts-will-no-longer-have-intensive-state-monitoring-1.1145410

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Lego misses U.S. Christmas rush with new ‘Frozen’ sets

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Lego misses U.S. Christmas rush with new ‘Frozen’ sets

DECEMBER 3, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY KATARINA GUSTAFSSON AND BENJAMIN KATZ
BLOOMBERG NEWS |
WIRE SERVICE

Kids in North Jersey and elsewhere in the U.S. asking Santa for a “Frozen” Lego set won’t find it under the tree this year — unless their parents travel to Santa Claus’ back yard to make them happy.

One of the Lego sets that will be out in 2015.

Lego, Europe’s biggest toymaker, will add a product based on Walt Disney Co.’s animated hit film to its Disney Princess line in the U.S. in January. The toy will go on sale in the Nordic and Baltic regions, as well as select other northern European markets between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, said Vicki Stoltz, a Lego brand manager.

The post-Christmas release date means that Lego is missing out on offering a “Frozen” product in the U.S. at a time when items related to the movie are ranked as most desired by American girls. Lego, which generates about half its revenue at the holidays, tops the list of items wanted by boys in the world’s biggest economy, the National Retail Federation said last week.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/shopping/lego-misses-u-s-rush-1.1145126

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NJ TRANSIT ROLLS OUT NEW RAIL SAFETY VIDEO FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

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NJ TRANSIT ROLLS OUT NEW RAIL SAFETY VIDEO FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS 

“Chicken on the Tracks” Video to Promote Rail Safety
November 18, 2014

NEWARK, NJ — At an assembly hosted at Hackensack Middle School, NJ TRANSIT  today debuted an updated version of its “Chicken on the Tracks” video, a dramatic depiction of incidents on the rails involving young people – to educate students on the possible consequences of trespassing near rail lines. The video was accompanied by a presentation and interactive session by NJ TRANSIT personnel from the agency’s Office of System Safety.

Continue reading NJ TRANSIT ROLLS OUT NEW RAIL SAFETY VIDEO FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

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Jonathan Gruber and the Truth About Obamacare

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Sen. Chuck Schumer’s admission that passing Obamacare was a mistake.

Jonathan Gruber and the Truth About Obamacare

In a 2009 interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, President Obama emphatically rejected the notion that the individual mandate is a tax. He was adamant that it was a penalty and not a tax, reasoning that because people without health insurance sometimes end up in the emergency room, causing costs to rise for the rest of us, the individual mandate penalty was not a tax.

Then in 2012, White House attorneys argued before the Supreme Court that it was indeed tax, and repeatedly called it that before the Court, which in its ruling found that the only way the mandate could pass constitutional muster was if it is construed as a tax, not a penalty. In what is by now Gruber’s most famous video, he explains that the bill was “written in a tortured way to ensure that CBO did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes the bill dies.” Clearly, he considers the mandate a tax, albeit one cleverly written not to be scored as such by the Congressional Budget Office, but a tax nonetheless.

This is a pattern. In one of the Gruber videos, he admitted that the purpose of the “Cadillac tax” on certain employer-sponsored health plans is to discourage employers from providing health insurance. The ultimate goal, Gruber explained, is to get rid of the tax subsidy for employer health plans altogether, albeit indirectly, by “mislabeling it, calling it a tax on insurance plans rather than a tax on people when we all know it’s a tax on people who hold those insurance plans.” At a town hall meeting in 2009, the president specifically said this was not the purpose of the Cadillac tax and that it had been “taken off the table.”

In terms of understanding Gruber’s unexpected honesty about his deceit, it could be that four years is just the distance necessary for people in politics to admit their failings. That seems to be the rationale for Sen. Chuck Schumer’s admission that passing Obamacare was a mistake.

https://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2014/11/25/jonathan-gruber-and-truth-about-obamacare

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Tolls Set to Increase as Port Authority unveils proposed $7.8B budget

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Tolls Set to Increase as Port Authority unveils proposed $7.8B budget

DECEMBER 2, 2014, 6:28 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014, 6:34 PM
BY SHAWN BOBURG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Days before tolls on Hudson River crossings are set to rise again, the Port Authority on Tuesday released a proposed spending plan for 2015 that relies heavily on those tolls to pay for upgrades to some of the region’s airports, rail lines, roadways and the World Trade Center.

The $7.8 billion overall budget — larger than that of approximately a dozen U.S. states — is about $400 million less than what the agency spent in 2014, mostly due to a significant drop in spending to rebuild the World Trade Center, which is taking shape and will start bringing in office rental revenues in 2015.

That may come as little comfort to motorist who will see the fourth toll hike in as many years starting Dec. 6. Cash tolls will rise $1, to $15, while E-ZPass rates will rise $0.75, to $12.50 during peak hours and $10.50 at off-peak times. It is estimated that an additional $100 million will be collected at the bridges and tunnels in 2015 compared with this year.

The agency’s 2015 budget will be voted on by commissioners at their Dec. 10 meeting.

The agency plans to spend $2.9 billion on day-to-day operations—a 1.8 percent increase over this year. The agency said Tuesday that it was the ninth consecutive year that it had kept its operating budget at or below the annual rate of inflation. That is despite adding hundreds of new officers to a police force that is expected to number 1,840 in 2015, the largest it has been in at least a decade.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/port-authority-unveils-proposed-7-8b-budget-1.1144925

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Constitutional Convention Gathers Some Steam

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Constitutional Convention Gathers Some Steam

337 NOV 30, 2014 10:59 AM EST
By Albert R. Hunt

Rising frustration with Washington and conservative electoral victories across much of the U.S. are feeding a movement in favor of something America hasn’t done in 227 years: Hold a convention to rewrite the Constitution.

Although it’s still not likely to be successful, the effort is more serious than before: Already, more than two dozen states have called for a convention. There are two ways to change or amend the founding document. The usual method is for an adjustment to win approval from two-thirds of the Congress and then be ratified by three-quarters of the states. There have been 27 amendments adopted this way.

The second procedure is separate from Congress. It requires two-thirds of the states, or 34, to call for a convention. The framers thought this was necessary because Congress wouldn’t be likely to advance any amendments that curtailed its powers. But this recourse never has been used.

Two states, California and Vermont, have called for a convention to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that permits huge amounts of unregulated money into federal campaigns. Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, wants a conventionto adopt sweeping changes, including a single six-year presidential term and concomitant House and Senate terms, to create more of a parliamentary system. Petitions to adopt term limits for members of Congress have circulated for years.

But much of the current impetus comes from fervent fiscal conservatives. This includes calls for an amendment requiring abalanced budget and other restraints on the federal government’s spending and taxation powers.

https://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-11-30/constitutional-convention-gathers-some-steam

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Mindfulness helps teens cope with stress, anxiety

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By GOSIA WOZNIACKA, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As the morning school bell rings and students rush through crowded corridors, teenagers in one Portland classroom settle onto mats and Meditation Pillow . They fall silent after the teacher taps a Tibetan “singing bowl.”

“Allow yourself to settle into the experience of being here, in this moment,” teacher Caverly Morgan tells two dozen students at Wilson High School.

The students are enrolled in a for-credit, year-long mindfulness class meant to ease youth anxiety and depression and to prevent violence. For 90 minutes, three days a week, they practice a mix of yoga, sitting and walking meditation, visualization techniques, deep breathing, journaling and non-judgmental listening .

The idea behind mindfulness is that focusing on the present moment helps a person deal better with stress, difficult emotions and negative thoughts.

Mindfulness, yoga and meditation have gained popularity among Americans in recent decades, buoyed by studies showing their benefits to emotional, mental and physical health. The centuries-old practices have roots in Buddhism and Hinduism, but Western culture has secularized them to focus on physical postures, breathing and relaxation techniques.

Such practices are now offered by corporations like Google, Target and General Mills to their employees. Prison inmates, hospital patients and the U.S. Marines are using them to combat stress and illness, increase focus and well-being. And now schools all over the country are introducing the practices.

Some people have greeted the move with less than enthusiasm.

Last year, an elementary school in Ohio ended its mindfulness program after parents complained it was too closely linked to Eastern religion and a conservative Christian law firm unsuccessfully sued on behalf of a couple in Encinitas, California, arguing their school district’s yoga classes indoctrinate children.

https://hosted2.ap.org/ORBEN/b9c78830725e4646849871a247322f76/Article_2014-12-02-US-Mindfulness-In-Schools/id-fb894e7ffe9c4df9bab2e392a61887f2#.VH5XTWTF9LY

 

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EXPLORE Science for December Recess 12/29

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EXPLORE Science for December Recess 12/29

Explore Science, Inc. offers December Recess

Special Programs to Village Youth

Ridgewood Parks and Recreation welcomes Explore Science, Inc. during the December recess with fun hands-on building events:

Balloon Buggies – Grades K through 2

Monday, December 29th, 10 am to 12 noon, at the Stable, 259 N. Maple Ave.

Cost: $40 per person, all materials provided (non-residents $50 if space allows).

Students will create their own balloon buggy while learning the third law of motion – for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. The group will enjoy racing fun with their finished projects.

Young Inventors Little Bits Engineering and Robotics – Grades 3 through 8

Tuesday, December 30, at the Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue.

Grades 3-5, 10 am to 12 noon

Grades 6-8, 1 to 3 pm

Cost: $40 per person, all materials provided (some for on-site use only).

(non-residents $50 if space allows).

Youth will engage in the scientific process of invention with the newest electronic components. Little Bits puts the power of electronics in their hands allowing them to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary. Modules include pressure sensors, LED sensors, sound sensors, fan sensors and more. Students will showcase their inventions at the end of the session.

Register online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass, or by mail/in person at The Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue. Locate the registration forms on the Recreation homepage at www.ridgewoodnj.net/recreation.

Don’t hesitate to contact the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 with questions or if special accommodations are needed.

Callaway RAZR Fit Xtreme & X Hotshow?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=205477

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Ridgewood Police Announce Drunk Driving Enforcement Crackdown

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Ridgewood Police Announce Drunk Driving Enforcement Crackdown

Drunk Driving Enforcement Crackdown to be Conducted Locally as Part of Statewide Year End Campaign

Village of Ridgewood — Law enforcement officials from Ridgewood will be cracking down on drunk drivers as part of the annual holiday season “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” statewide campaign. Beginning December 5, 2014 and continuing through January 2, 2015, local and state law enforcement officials will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints looking for motorists who may be driving while intoxicated.

The national “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” effort endeavors to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through a combination of high-visibility enforcement and public education. “This is a critical law enforcement program that can save lives during a time of the year when impaired driving traditionally increases by nearly 10 percent,” said Chief John Ward. “This initiative brings attention to the serious consequences of drunk driving and the grave danger those who choose to drink and drive pose to all who share the road with them.”

Last year, 22% of all motor vehicle fatalities in New Jersey were alcohol-related. Nationally, more than 10,000 people die each year in drunk driving crashes. The societal cost associated with drunk driving crashes is estimated to be $37 billion annually.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over 2014 Year End Holiday Crackdown offer the following advice for holiday season:

• Take mass transit, a taxicab, or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
• Spend the night where the activity or party is held.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact law enforcement. Your actions may save someone’s life, and inaction could cost a life.
• Always buckle-up, every ride. It’s your best defense against an impaired driver.
• If you are intoxicated and traveling on foot, the safest way to get home is to take a cab or have a sober friend or family member drive or escort you to your doorstep.
• Be responsible. If someone you know is drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel.

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Al Sharpton will attend Monday White House civil rights meeting

Plane Watchers

Al Sharpton will attend Monday White House civil rights meeting as White House proposes $263 million plan that puts body-worn cameras in police departments and reviews police ‘militarization’

Slain 18-year-old Michael Brown’s parents have demanded the use of more body-cams by police forces to document violent encounters with suspects
President will meet with ‘young … civil rights leaders’ and law enforcement officials after he holds a cabinet meeting about the Ferguson unrest
Civil rights meeting will focus on challenges posed by ‘mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color’
Speculation ran rampant that Al Sharpton would be in the White House Monday, and his representatives confirmed it before lunch
Cabinet meeting will concern the militarization of local law enforcement with equipment provided by the federal government
Task force will have four months to make recommendations to Obama about how to change the program that has moved $5.1 billion in ge

President Barack Obama will meet with controversial black pastor and MSNBC host Al Sharpton on Monday at the White House, and plans to demand 263 million from Congress to put 50,000 body-worn cameras in U.S. police departments in response to the August police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Brown’s parents have pushed the cameras as one solution to the distrust between police and criminal suspects following physical encounters. The White House said in August that it agreed with the idea in principle.

‘We support the use of cameras and video technology by law enforcement officers, and the Department of Justice continues to research best practices for implementation,’ the administration wrote in response to a public petition that attracted more than 154,000 supporters on the White House website.

The new initiative will provide 50 per cent of the funding for cameras, but will not pay for them entirely, at a cost of $75 million.

It will also provide new training resources and funds to study how to reform police practices.

It’s unclear why Officer Darren Wilson didn’t wear a camera during his fateful encounter with Brown. Members of the Ferguson Police Department were photographed wearing body cameras later that month during an August 30 rally.

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2855715/Obama-hold-White-House-meetings-Ferguson.html#ixzz3KgHIJVuN

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Equal Treatment Under the Law Time the the IRS and do its Job and Audit and Garnish Al Sharpton’s Wages

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Equal Treatment Under the Law Time the the IRS and do its Job and Audit and Garnish Al Sharpton’s Wages

“MSNBC should suspend Rev Al Sharpton until he gets on a payment plan to pay the reported millions he owes in taxes. And the IRS and state revenue divisions should garnish his MS/NBC salary until his reported tax bill is paid. NYT reports he owes $4.5 million in taxes ” Greta Van Susteren

NYT investigation: MSNBC’s Sharpton runs ‘delinquent’ nonprofit organization

A New York Times investigation into the finances of MSNBC host and Washington heavyweight Al Sharpton has found “$4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses,” according to the story by Russ Buettner. Titled “Questions About Sharpton’s Finances Accompany His Rise in Influence,” the story documents a long trail of unmet obligations and a messy web of financial interests spanning nonprofits, personal finances and beyond.

“Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills,” claims the piece. Even with his tax liabilities, notes the story, Sharpton “traveled first class and collected a sizable salary.”

Though he anchors “Politics Nation” on MSNBC on weeknights, Sharpton is a target of far greater resonance than a cable news host. The longtime rabble-rousing Brooklyn preacher and civil rights activist has become a player of national import under the Obama administration. As explained in an August piece in Politico Magazine by Glenn Thrush, Sharpton had transformed himself into the Obama administration’s “go-to man on race.” After the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August, Sharpton established himself as the “de facto contact and conduit for a jittery White House seeking to negotiate a middle ground between meddling and disengagement.”

All of which makes him a large and fair target for a newspaper investigation.

In 1991, Sharpton founded the National Action Network (NAN), which calls itself “one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States.” Trouble is, it has achieved its current size without paying the payroll taxes of its employees, according to the Times:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/11/18/nyt-investigation-msnbcs-sharpton-runs-delinquent-nonprofit-organization/

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Reader says its time for Ridgewood to consider later start times for School

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Reader says its time for Ridgewood to consider later start times for School

The science on kids and sleep is the driver. The studies point to the need for more sleep, the fact that teens can’t physically go to sleep before 11 and the positive impact on the brain to getting 8hrs sleep.

School asks kids to be at their most alert when they are not, why not maximize the learning opportunities to the brain. A better educational experience is the best preparation for the real world.

It is more the science of sleep and impact on learning than preparation for a post-college life so the science is there…the test case in nearby Wilton, CT is there…when will Ridgewood start considering this?

Guilford weighs later start times for high school students
By Kate Ramunni
Posted: 11/29/14, 4:19 PM EST |

GUILFORD >> An extra hour of sleep is considered a luxury to most, but many say it’s a necessity for high school students. And now several school districts are considering giving that extra hour to its older students, not because they’re feeling magnanimous, but for the safety, physical and academic benefits that extra hour of sleep brings.

The Guilford Board of Education is one district contemplating the change. As the board begins its 2015-16 budget process, its list of priorities includes the investigation of the benefits of later starting times for the older students.

“It’s been on the table for years,” said Board of Education Chairman William Bloss. “It’s really driven by medical science — it seems like every year or two there is a study that describes the advantages to later start times for teens and how medically and educationally it is in the students’ best interest.”

https://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20141129/guilford-weighs-later-start-times-for-high-school-students

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Is it any wonder no one wants Chuck Hagel’s job?

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Is it any wonder no one wants Chuck Hagel’s job?

https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/is-it-any-wonder-no-one-wants-chuck-hagels-job

Does anyone want Chuck Hagel’s old job? (AP Photo above /Mark Wilson, Pool)

First, Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed said ‘no’. He’s enjoying serving his constituents too much to consider leaving the Senate.

Then, former undersecretary of defence Michèle Flournoy announced she wasn’t interested either. She is committed to spending more time with her family.

Nobody, it would seem, wants to succeed the dismissed Chuck Hagel as Barack Obama’s defence secretary.

But who would want the job?

Given what Mr Hagel had to deal with, and what happened to him as a consequence, the downside of any such appointment is glaringly obvious.

Since the financial meltdown of 2008, it’s almost universally agreed that significant budget cuts are essential to restore the American economy. Cuts in military spending are an indispensable component of this because the overall share of the Armed Forces’ funding is at least 17 per cent, which is a significant part of annual government spending. Many believe that 17 per cent is a gross underestimate.

It is often said that the Pentagon is effectively the largest corporation in the United States. It is also one of America’s biggest employers, of both uniformed and civilian personnel. In such circumstances, one of the key tasks of any defence secretary is to preside over some pretty ruthless downsizing.

The pain is even greater because in this case the expenditures are public rather than private. Jobs are lost every time a base closes, a contract cancelled, or a deployment scrapped. Mr Hagel was initially brought in partly to oversee another phase in this politically damaging process.

His successor will be the fourth defence secretary to preside over the giant rollback.

As the process moves on, it becomes more difficult, and the cuts more controversial. Indeed, Mr Hagel was reportedly upset that Mr Obama did not fight harder in Congress to secure the Pentagon’s budget.

https://ibishblog.com/2014/11/29/is-it-any-wonder-no-one-wants-chuck-hagels-job/