Borrowing into Oblivion

One of the best columns that I recently read was penned by Jay Jefferson Cooke.  His screed appeared on the front page of the Courier News.  It discusses the decades-long love affair of Americans with instant gratification, and of how it plunged us into the deep waters of unsustainable debt.  Cooke discusses ways to avoid that.

If you read his column, you will get a sense for the vigor and passion – not to mention the accuracy – with which he gets his points across about overspending and its consequences. 

 

I can relate to his essay very well:  When I grew up in post-WWII Lowell, Massachusetts, textile and shoe manufacturing industries were its economic backbone – at least 50 million square feet of productive capacity.

The war effort kept everything booming, but post-war peace brought a sharp decline in demand, and mills shifted south in chase of cheaper labor and proximity to its raw material, cotton.  Later, everything would move to Asia.

Yale students sign petition to abolish the First Amendment

Seeking to determine just how many, if any, Yale University students were willing to sign a petition in favor of repealing the First Amendment, film maker Ami Horowitz went on campus in New Haven on a balmy day, and stood outside asking students passing by if they were interested in lending their signatures to it.

What these students did not know is that satirist Horowitz’s petition, though clearly worded and plain as all get-out, was not for real.  It was an experiment to see just how many students would fall for his ruse and sign the document declaring their position – and it worked.

Within one hour, Horowitz had the signatures of over 50 gullible Yale students willing to destroy some of the basic tenets of universal human rights.

AAA Pushes for a Boycott of all Israeli Academic Institutions

Last month at its annual conference in Denver, the American Anthropological Association (no relation to the AAA auto club) overwhelmingly passed a resolution of censure [1040 to 36] that calls for the boycott of all Israeli Academic Institutions.

In April, 2016, it will be presented for final approval to the group’s full membership numbering about 12,000.  The proposal calls on members “to officially adopt a boycott to refrain from formal collaborations with Israeli academic institutions, though not of individual academics.”

The resolution fails to explain the paradoxical distinction which it strikes between “Israeli academic institutions” and its members, seeming not to take into account that one cannot exist without the other.

This move is largely the result of efforts by Palestinian groups including the “Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors” and other Palestinian organizations that “have called for an international boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

Unexpected Beauty, Small yet Substantial

Cradled among the pines. 

While Pris and I were outdoors during the last week of October in the backyard, cleaning up before the arrival of cold weather (where did it go?), I came across a solitary leaf that had drifted from a nearby maple tree and gently settled within the blue needles of a dwarf spruce growing at the base of our rain garden.

Whenever I’m outdoors, everything about nature compels my eyes to observe and to ponder – however momentarily – the smallest of things such as, in this case, a leaf.  This one though, as also happens within the human family, stood out from all the others.

Had it been just one of those dried-up, crinkled foliage remnants of early fall, I might have simply brushed it off from the spruce and gone about my chores.

A Thanksgiving Message for all of Humanity

Annalee Dolls from Priscille's collection welcome our guests.

America is not such a bad place after all.  If it were, would there be such a tsunami of immigrants washing across this country seeking a better life?

The uncontrolled flow of immigrants into the United States would be even larger, were it not for two oceans separating us from the hundreds of thousands of Middle East refugees: 

They have no place to go, except to risk their lives to reach Europe and, once there, to seek solace and a good life in the heart of its great cities.

Moreover, if there were a geographic land bridge connecting the Middle East to America, Syrian refugees would be pouring across it to reach the U.S.

A visualization of the tired minds and bodies of undocumented Latin American immigrants streaming across our southern border, together with those of Syrian refugees desperately seeking asylum in Europe paints a self-evident picture:

Bridgewater-Raritan School Board Discloses Details of Teachers Union Salary Negotiations

For the first time in memory, the Board of Education for Bridgewater-Raritan Schools (the Board) has disclosed details of its ongoing salary and benefit negotiations with the teachers’ union, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA).

Since February, both parties have been locked in secret negotiations, according to a release on the Board’s web site, the highlights of which follow:

The BREA seeks a three-year contract under which the Board has offered salary increases of 3.25%, 2.9%, and 2.9%, for years one, two and three respectively, for a cumulative three-year increase of 9.05%.

However, since multi-year salary increases are compounded over time, the Board’s actual three-year salary proposal to the BREA is 9.33%.

Bridgewater Township Governance – Hayes, Moench, and Henderson-Rose for Stability, Transparency and Robust Leadership

Updated, November 5, 2015, 2:36 PM

On Tuesday, November 3^rd, you get to vote in the Bridgewater Township Mayoral and Council elections.  For those of us who make Bridgewater our home, this may turn out to be the most influential among the other three contests on the ballot; namely, those of the schools, county, and state elections.

This is one of the few times in Bridgewater history that there has been a well-organized, concentrated push on behalf of new faces to oust all three incumbents.  This one is not a sleeper.

Competition in elections is good but, onto itself, an opposing field of candidates does not necessarily provide a compelling basis to replace an ongoing, effective leadership such as that which exists in Bridgewater.

The candidates striving to push out incumbents Mayor Dan Hayes and Council Members Matthew Moench and Christine Henderson-Rose simply have not come up with the beef, despite a bevy of claims, most of which don’t hold water.

RECOMMENDATION:  Although change is at times desirable, this is not the moment for it in Bridgewater.  It will not improve conditions here, will not change your real estate taxes for the better, and will disrupt a well-managed team running this township, one that is doing much better than most Bridgewaterites may suspect.

Fall in Somerset County, Late but Gorgeous

Color along Washington Valley Road. (Bergeron Image)

Last week has been one for refreshing my skills with photography.  I have two cameras, a Nikon D7000 series DSLR, and a Nikon Coolpix P600.  Both have quality sensors, the heart of any good digital camera.

 

The Coolpix is a light, smaller “bridge camera,” the designation used to describe the difference in size and heft between the larger, heavier DSLRs and the much smaller slide-in-your-pocket cameras that are now becoming endowed with much more power and quality.

Maybe, someday, a genius entrepreneur will combine all the photo-taking qualities of those three camera types into a single smartphone.  Several decades ago, who would have dreamed that pixels generated by a chip would consign celluloid film to the museums of photography?

Expert: The “coach barns are more significant than the house.”

Two bugs on a flower!  Captured while I was on a walk at Duke Farms.

Updated Oct. 18, 9:46 AM

After following this summer’s accounts of  the attempts by Michael Catania, Executive Director of the Duke Farms Foundation to destroy the mansion sitting on the 2,700-acre site built by James Buchanan Duke, and inherited by his daughter, Doris, I was appalled to learn yesterday that he finally prevailed.

I was even further dismayed to see how easily the Hillsborough Historic Commission (HHC) caved in, voting 6-l in favor of the foundation to raze the 65,000 square foot mansion which has been the estate’s anchor and its principal jewel, designated as an historical site.

Chief of Bridgewater-Raritan Schools Resigns

Below is the text of an internal e-mail obtained this evening that was sent to faculty and staff by Victor Hayek, recently appointed Superintendent of Schools for the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District:

Dear Bridgewater-Raritan Faculty and Staff,

It is with a heavy heart that I have tendered my resignation as Superintendent of Schools effective January 3, 2016.  After much thought and consideration, my family and I have decided to relocate to sunny California.

Though I will be here for a few more months, I want to thank each and every one of you for giving me the opportunity to lead our great school system.  I wish all of you continued success in your professional careers.
    
Respectfully,
Victor 

Victor P. Hayek, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District

836 Newmans Lane

Bridgewater, NJ 08807

p:908-685-2777 ext 3201

f:732-563-9673

www.brrsd.k12.nj.us

Fracas in the Dugout

When I read the sports section of the Washington Post this morning, I was taken aback to see how 34-year-old Jon Papelbon, a recently acquired star relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals, unceremoniously tried to discipline his teammate 22-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper, a top contender for National League MVP.

It seems that Papelbon didn't like the way Harper simply jogged to first base after hitting a long-ball out.

The Post reported that "Papelbon said 'run that out' to Harper as the outfielder walked toward the dugout after the flyball out, and he followed Harper to the dugout steps, still jawing to him.

Fiorina, Rubio, Christie

Last night, after the second GOP debate at the Reagan Library in Simi California, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer expressed his opinion that Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie were the three best debaters, in that order.

That was no surprise to me, especially concerning Fiorina.  In my post of August 18, 2015, I suggested in closing, to Keep your eyes on Carly Fiorina.  She has a role to play in the upcoming elections.

  

Poll results from Wednesday evening’s debate were not wholly consistent, but it is clear that Rubio and Christie both have gained momentum.

 

It is also just as clear that Carly Fiorina was more than a match for Donald Trump.  This woman has spent her entire career rising against the tide up the ranks of what was often a largely male-dominated work environment.

Labor Day Musings

Jogging on Long Beach Island, NJ in Late September.

One of the characteristics that I like about Labor Day in Bridgewater and, I suspect in other Central Jersey towns, is that for those of us who have not gone away for the weekend, it’s pleasantly quiet – a welcome break from the hustle and bustle that will begin anew in a few days.

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of a Nat King Cole summer song have been good this year, especially for Jersey Shore communities and their tourists who sought well-deserved pleasure in the waves of the Atlantic, the beckoning aromas of boardwalk food emporiums, and the warmth of sunshine captured by golden sands stretching over one hundred miles along coastal beaches and barrier islands of the Garden State.

“Tending to Grace”

A teen overcomes a bad start. (Bergeron Image)

If it had not been for a writing class that I attended – the only male in a sea of patient ladies – I never would have purchased the book, Tending to Grace.  But within its crisply written pages, I unearthed the gem of a story:  

A small paperback only 175 pages long, easy to read, with some chapters so small, that they consist of no more than a large paragraph.

I read it in one sitting.  You could do the same, maybe in two, but you won’t want to put the book down.  Although its theme seems aimed at young people, it pierces the artificial boundaries of age.

The main character, Cornelia, is an avid, quality reader, well beyond that of her teen years.  She stutters badly, and suffers from the neglect of her mother Lenore, a person who has fallen off the ship of life.

A Debate or a Negotiation?

A black & white Trump delivers a stark, black & white message.

Watching Donald Trump romp through the Fox News debates on Thursday, August 6, caused me to reassess the nature of his candidacy for the GOP nomination and 2016 presidential run.

Prior to that “debate,” Trump said that “I’m not a debater.”  He emphasized that he “just knows how to get things done.”

Trump is right.  He is definitely not a debater.  Yet he continues to lead the pack of GOP contenders with a 25% lead, double that of the next person, with all of the others falling well behind.

Despite the fact that his entrenched popularity appears to be at odds with many of his seemingly outrageous comments, poll respondents seem to love what he says and the style by which he delivers it.

So what’s going on?  Here are at least two clues:

GOP Presidential candidates in first debate tonight, August 3rd.

Updated 8/3/15, 9:23 PM

A first-in-the-nation Q&A debate among all GOP candidates except Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee (they declined to participate) will be held this evening at 7:00 PM at the Dana Center in Manchester, New Hampshire.

It will be carried live nationally by C-Span on Channel 109 Verizon FIOS, and on Channel 75 Cablevision.  It will also be available on iHeartRadio, and will be hosted by WGIR radio personality Jack Heath.

 

This debate, dubbed “The Voters First Republican Presidential Forum” is the brainchild of Joseph W. McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Granite’s State’s largest newspaper, and one which reflects the independent spirit of that state.

The Shamelessness of Donald Trump

I was appalled when I came across the following Internet report in which Donald Trump is attributed to have said of John McCain that “He is not a war hero,”  followed by “he is a war hero because he was captured.” 

 

Trump reinforced his position as follows:  "I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you. He is a war hero because he was captured. OK, you can have -- I believe perhaps he is a war hero."

Those comments were made in the mid-west at the Iowa Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa.  Later today, after this monumental gaffe, Trump tried to walk back those comments.

What was this man thinking?  Or, more precisely, not thinking?  His military record is non-existent.  He was given four student deferments and a medical deferment in the 1960’s when the Vietnam War was raging.

So, who is this man Trump to take on the military record of John McCain, a 1958 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Naval Aviator:  Both his dad and granddad were four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy.

The Tenacity of Life

The grassy weed that refused not to be!

I first noticed it late this spring:   A tiny sprig of grass growing from one of 15 bags of garden soil piled up in the backyard, all destined to be spread out at the base of the English privets lining the northeast side of our lot.

Although the bags containing that soil are made of sturdy plastic, one of them somehow incurred a small cut somewhere along its voyage from initial packaging to the time that I plopped them all out back last fall.

 

That’s all that Mother Nature needed:  a tiny opening in a bag full of rich garden soil, and she promptly went to work, taking advantage of the opportunity afforded her.

The nine saints of Charleston, South Carolina

Crystal icon on our south-facing window.

Updated 6/19/2015, 3:00 PM

It was at a Bible study in the sanctuary of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, on Wednesday evening, when a young white man walked in and was warmly welcomed.

Greeted by the pastor and his congregants, this person sat among this group for an hour, as they read and discussed the meaning of selections from Holy Scripture and their daily application for each of them.

When the hour-long discussion period ended, this 21-year-old allegedly pulled out a .45 caliber handgun, hurled racial slurs at the peaceful assembly, then began shooting and reloading, killing nine of God’s faithful.

Pension Obligations: Back into the Political Sandbox

Members of Somerset County's education association in Somerville.

Today, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey decisively ruled (5-2) that it will not interfere with what are the constitutional responsibilities of the New Jersey Legislative and Executive branches concerning the much contested and underfunded pensions of public employees.

Although a lower court had previously ruled in favor of the New Jersey Education Association and its members to enforce a pension payment shortfall of $1.57 billion to be included in next year’s state budget, the Supreme Court reversed that decision upon direct appeal by the Christie administration.

In a 144-page opinion released this morning, N.J.’s highest court ruled “That the State must get its financial house in order . . . and that “the need (to do this) is compelling in respect of the State’s ability to honor its compensation commitment to retired employees.”

National security compromised

In a rare U.S. Senate session on Sunday, Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky unilaterally prevented that body from temporarily extending the Patriot Act which expired on the same day.  Both the House of Representatives and President Obama had supported an extension.

Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building

Approval by Congress and the Administration to extend the Patriot Act would have allowed time for Congress to amend it or to write a new law to replace it, but Rand scuttled that proposal through procedural maneuvering.

He was criticized for that by his colleagues, many of whom simply walked out of the Senate Chamber when he rose to speak.  Rand admitted that he will eventually lose his fight on this issue.  Senator John McCain accused him of posturing to gain favor in his bid for the GOP Presidential nomination.

The Patriot Act was enacted shortly after the infamous Osama bin Laden-inspired 9/11 attacks on American soil.

Although a U.S. Court had struck down Section 215 of the Patriot Act which permitted the collection of telephone billing records by the National Security Agency, it nevertheless wisely permitted the U.S. Congress to extend the entirety of that law while working to revise it or to enact new legislation in cooperation with the White House.

After Rand obstructed Senate action, Obama’s Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, embarrassingly explained that U.S. Security Agencies will be employing “workaround tools” until this problem is resolved.  He appeared unpersuasive, as he tried to assure the American people that homeland security will not be jeopardized during the interim.

A remedy that was too long in coming

Yesterday, the Courier News reported in a front-page article by Sergio Bichao that the Borough of Somerville settled a racial discrimination lawsuit for $1.75 million, while not admitting any wrongdoing.

A reading of that article coupled with a prior story on the same topic back on October 2, 2014, by Mike Deak, would lead most people to conclude that the alleged racist behaviors by Somerville personnel inflicted upon three African Americans under their supervision should have been fixed years ago.

Booking Along at the Fairgrounds

This afternoon was the last day to take advantage of the VNA’s semi-annual rummage sale at the Fairgrounds in Far Hills.  Twice yearly in the spring and fall, I religiously attend, browse around and enjoy the variety of people who are also there seeking bargains of their own.

Volunteers arrange books as patrons peruse shelves, (File, 05-06-2011)

Everyone has different tastes and a desire to pick up good buys.  Mine is books.  Because of my ever-growing library and the clear fact that I’ll never be able to read all of it, I almost passed up on the opportunity this year. 

 

Then I realized that no one can possibly read all of the books that constitute a good private library, but that is not the point.  Like good friends, one can never have too many in a lifespan, even though time and circumstances will take a person away from some of them.

More about Christie

If ever there was a dark horse in the GOP primary race for the presidency, it’s our very own governor Chris Christie.  Although he does not fit within the strict meaning of that term, Christie is not generally considered to have much of a chance of garnering the nomination and, should he do so, even less of a chance of becoming president.

That is why I consider him a dark horse should he decide to run.  However, those probabilities don’t concern me much, because I think that the country could use someone with his style in the upcoming debates.

There’s been too much phoniness in the last two presidential debates.  Yet at least one person in those verbal exchanges was genuine and providential: 

Why Not Christie?

Governor Chris Christie’s favorability numbers in New Jersey have plummeted from their post second-election highs to their current lows.  Yet, he continues to act like a contender in a crowded field struggling for position in the race for the GOP 2016 presidential nomination. 

 

Whether he decides to run or not, he is unlikely to garner the Garden State’s vote in the 2016 general election against whomever the Democrats choose as their candidate for U.S. president. 

 

New Jersey is a true-blue state, covered from nearly one end to the other with Democratic Party influence.  Moreover, Christie’s entanglements with opponents to public sector pension reform have not endeared him to those committed to the status quo on this third-rail-of-politics issue – none of this comes as a surprise to Christie.

Medicare on the ropes.

When I read this morning’s article by Mike Deak that emphasized the funding threat that faces home health care services such as those provided by the VNA of Somerset County (Visiting Nurses Association), I was appalled.

 

But it was no surprise.

When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama, Medicare became one of its first victims.

The Congressional Budget Office issued a report estimating that passage of the ACA would result in from $500 billion to $716 billion that would be drained from Medicare in the years between 2013 and 2022 to help fund the Affordable Care Act.

Dishonoring Vietnam women vets.

At the Vietnam Memorial late in 2009.  Photo speaks for itself.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most iconic and sacred of sites in Washington, D.C.  The Wall itself bears the names of over 58,000 American men and women who died or who went missing in action.

Their memory is chiseled into that wall’s black marble, never to be forgotten; always to be honored in perpetuity each day, as scores of grateful Americans and others walk by, sometimes pausing to make an etching of a loved one lost in the far-away jungles of Vietnam.

Across a grassy space away from the wall stand two statues commemorating the service of thousands of draftees.  The first is the “Three Servicemen Statue” depicting fighting men standing shoulder to shoulder.

The second sculpture is that of the Vietnam “Women’s Memorial Statue.”  It portrays volunteer military service women painfully in the midst of a combat area of operations:
 
One is seen holding a severely wounded American soldier in her arms, consoling him while another is looking desperately at the skies, anticipating the descent of a helicopter to whisk him to the nearest field hospital.  (MASH:  Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.)

White House blasts Netanyahu, infers reversal of U.S. support in the U.N.’s Security Council

In early March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – in defiance of President Obama’s wishes – stood before a joint meeting of the United States Congress.

 

There, in full view of America and of the world, he delivered an impassioned plea outlining what he considered serious flaws with the in-progress terms and conditions of negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the U.S. concerning Iran’s march towards building a nuclear arsenal.

His speech quickly drew a searing blast of disapproval from the White House, and was characterized by the media as a ploy to win re-election in a nail-biting contest where Netanyahu was reportedly trailing his opponent, Isaac Herzog.

According to media reports, Herzog was thought to have been the favorite of the White House:  He was presumed to be far more pliable to the wishes of the Obama Administration’s push to convince Israel to relinquish territory that it occupied after the 1967 war.

 

However, Netanyahu’s unexpected come-from-behind electoral victory upset 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’s apple cart.  His win was quickly followed by a second White House burst of disapproval even more intense than the first:

 

Netanyahu was accused of flipping his position concerning his alleged reversal about the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He was criticized for his comments of Israeli Arabs “flocking” to the polls, and was accused of forming a last-minute alliance with hard-right Israeli political groups.

Barack Obama has consistently insisted that Israel revert to the borders that existed before the 1967 six-day war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

 

Nonetheless, Netanyahu has just as consistently maintained that Israel would not do that without iron-clad conditions to guarantee its security.  He recently said that he sees none of those now on the horizon.

What Netanyahu does see in the proposed Iranian deal which he so fiercely criticized is a largely one-sided, unverifiable agreement that will eliminate sanctions upon Iran, and facilitate the rise of an aggressive nuclear regime determined “to wipe Israel off the map.”

The security of any nation’s own citizens is at the apex of its responsibilities.  Without security you have nothing – not the basics of life – nothing.  This fundamental, existential premise is well-understood and internalized by the Israeli prime minister.

Israel is bounded to the north by Lebanon which is controlled by a militant Hezbollah.  To its northeast rise the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria during the six-day 1967 war and annexed by Israel in 1981.

Clinton kept official government e-mails on a private server.

At a brief press conference this afternoon former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton read a statement and took questions explaining why she kept a private computer server – site unclear – for all of her official government e-mails when she served as U.S. Secretary of State during the first Obama administration.

She confirmed that all of her private e-mails were also recorded on that same Clinton server. 

This practice was publicly revealed just recently.  President Obama claims not to have had knowledge of that custom. 

 

Mrs. Clinton, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2016 presidential race, spoke about this today from U.N. Headquarters, defending the use of her own server by invoking loosely-defined rules which, at the time, she claims, permitted her to do so.

Staunch U.S. Ally, leader and visionary – prophet in his own time, yet ignored by the White House

Netanyahu looks up at the gallery in honor of Elie Wiesel. (Bergeron Screen Shot)

Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered an address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

He expressed his deep reservations about the nature and risks of a nuclear agreement being negotiated between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States by Secretary of State John Kerry on behalf of President Barack Obama.

These talks are aimed at slowing – not halting – Iran’s march towards the development, acquisition and stockpiling of nuclear weapons, a goal that Iran’s leadership steadfastly maintains it has the right to do.

After carefully listening to Netanyahu’s message in its entirety and to his firm objections to the terms and conditions which he outlined as being at the core of the negotiations underway, I am able to confidently summarize our president’s offer to Iran in two short paragraphs:

N.J. Pension Reform: Screaming at it or solving it?

Wendell Steinhauer, NJ Teachers' Union President, on NJTV, 02/07

The impact of a headline appearing in the print edition of a newspaper that is unlike that for the same story written by the same author on the same day in that newspaper’s digital edition can project a significantly skewed message.

EXAMPLE:  (At least for those who care for such distinctions.)

Thursday’s print edition of The Star-Ledger displayed a front-page, above-the-fold banner that read, “N.J. Unions’ Outrage,” while the headline for the same story in the digital edition read, “Second try on N.J. pension overhaul a much bigger lift.”

Both statements are true, but the second banner published on the Internet emphasizes a more practical view of the problem and attempts to move past highly-charged feelings.

Some thoughts about tomorrow and for some, a pause for meaning

Good reading, whatever your persuasion.

For Christians worldwide, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  It represents the first day of Lent, a time of fasting and of reflection in advance of Easter, the most significant observance within the Christian tradition, a day of hope and of resurrection – life renewed.

Tomorrow is also a day when non-Christians may come across some of their Catholic friends or co-workers bearing the shape of a cross etched in ashes upon their forehead.  This represents a very old custom and, while applied by a priest with the thumb of his hand, is accompanied with words from Genesis, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Belichick, Brady and their now Ego-Deflated Inquisitors

Patriots logo as cropped from our NFL lawn flag. (Bergeron Images)

Once, years ago, when a candidate for the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education was running for a seat after becoming thoroughly disgusted with the actions of a few board members, he was quoted by the media as saying, “I’ve seen enough and heard enough.”

That quote accurately reflects my sentiments about the concocted issue that has been swirling around the topic of football inflation.

Since a week ago last Sunday when the New England Patriots blew away the Indianapolis Colts 45-7, thereby earning the right to move ahead to play for the the biggest prize of all in Super Bowl XLIX, Pats haters have raised their ugly voices in unison, yet without any proof to demand the heads of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, preferably that of the former.

Dick’s Pick of Selected News Stories

I thought that I would try a different tack with this blog post by inviting your attention to a few of the newspaper articles that I came across yesterday.

The first story is about the kind of topic that level-headed parents really like to read about; namely, the achievements of their own school-age kids and – in this case, specifically – of the enthusiasm and respect that Nina Kozielska, a senior at the Bridgewater-Raritan High School has for American education and for this country’s people. 
 
Her expression in the story’s photo says it all.  Just click on the link below “for the rest of the story.”

A Standout Student from Poland:

·         Nina Kozielska:  A terrific, uplifting article of human interest on the local scene:  Polish exchange student thrives at Bridgewater-Raritan High School

The last three paragraphs below provide links to the controversy about the alleged deliberately underinflated footballs used by the New England Patriots last Sunday in their championship game and victory over the Indianapolis Colts.  On February 1^st, the Patriots will meet the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

All about the Air in Footballs:

·        1.)  In Sports, the New England Patriots are in the frying pan, and sports writers are falling all over themselves to analyze what happened, most of them speculating about facts which they don’t yet have and drawing conclusions which they should not be making until those facts are made available.  The best article that I’ve read so far about the N.E. Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks game last Sunday was written by retired sports writer Jerry Isenberg, a pro among pros.

·         2.)  A  Seattle Seahawks player was fined for obscene gestures in Seattle’s win over Green Bay last Sunday.   Marshawn Lynch was slapped with a $20,000 fine and, on December 21^st, he was also fined $11,000 for the same violation in a match against Arizona.  Click on the link to find out about another $50,000 fine in 2013 for violating a league media policy.  Nice going Lynch.

  

·       3.)   Columnist Shirley Leung advises us to get our heads on straight about football and of what it tells us about ourselves in the midst of this nation’s real problems.  Her analysis of this topic presents a rational woman’s view about this sport.  It is essential reading should you wish to consider a completely different viewpoint about so much attention to this ‘inflation’ brouhaha.

Icy Rain and a Few Thoughts about a Delayed BR-BOE Meeting

Brd. Sec. Peter Starrs and Consultant Judith Ferguson review data.

THE DRIVE:  It was one of those mornings when no one with a modicum of common sense should be on the road.  I think that I may have had a lapse in judgment about that basic dictum. 

Around 7:30 am, I put a pair of ice walkers over the soles of my shoes, got behind the wheel of one of the Subaru’s, and carefully drove to the Wade Building for an 8:00 am, Sunday morning public meeting billed as a “Special Session of the Board.”

Icing conditions for early today had been predicted well in advance.  This morning, roads were treacherous.  Washington Valley Road was covered with ice – too early even for road crews to salt all of the roadways.

While driving, I pulled over into the breakdown lane at least five times to let careless drivers pass. Eventually, I safely arrived at the Wade Building in Martinsville after a long, rather harrowing drive at 15 to 20 mph.

New Common Core Testing Requirements Cause Consternation in Education Communities

 As promised in my blog post of Friday, January 9^th, the text below contains the entirety of the comments delivered to the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at its reorganization meeting on Monday, January 6^th, by Mr. Steve Beatty, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan and Somerset County Boards of Education.

Mr. Beatty emphasizes a point in in his address to the BR-BOE.

They contain strong objections to the new academic testing process soon to be introduced into the school district under federal mandates, as a part of Common Core requirements.

Mr. Beatty’s remarks are presented in their entirety and have not been edited.  However, I’ve taken the liberty to add headings to facilitate the reader’s segueing from one sub-topic to the next.  In the first paragraph, I’ve also added a description of the term “PARCC” for those who may not be familiar with this acronym.

Mr. Beatty’s Comments as Delivered on Monday Evening

 Introduction and Initial Critique of PARCC:  I would like to open the conversation on the implementation of the Common Core, and more specifically, the PARCC tests (Partnership of Readiness for College and Careers assessment) and their impact on the students of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District.