March 16, 2012

Consequences of "home schooling".

I've been the legal representative of a mother. All her children were removed three years ago by Child Welfare. One of the allegations is educational neglect. She may lose her parental rights and the kids adopted by the foster parents. We're in trial right now.

Because she kept her three eldest children out of public or private schools. The eldest couldn't go beyond "J" in his ABC's at age 8. Fortunately once the kids were in enrolled in school by social services, they not only caught up in months, but have continued to excel in their grades.

It's debatable how much culpability can be attributed my client as she lived under the thumb of her husband-abuser and was a victim of domestic violence. Whatever her husband said or wanted became the law. The kids watched television (including educational television) most of the time and she read them books. She wanted the kids to go to school and there were options. Although client and her husband withheld vaccinations on "religious grounds", the public school would have accepted the kids and they were poor enough to qualify for financial hardship scholarships at the local Catholic School. The father/husband/abuser just wanted to control the kids. (More likely he didn't want the kids in school to reveal the abuse going on in his house.)

Does my client regret her role in keeping the kids out of school? Sure, she does. The kids have been remediated and she'd put them in school if they are returned.

BTW, my client moved to another state 18 months after the children were removed, to escape her husband and go into hiding from him. She's gone to counseling, therapy for the DV. She's completed school herself and has received two certifications, one advanced, as an EKG technician. She was top of her class gradewise. And she's days away from getting a final divorce judgment from her estranged husband.

I'm not defending her per se as much as explaining what happened.

March 14, 2012

Dying Rutherford man throws a party to say goodbye

Alan “Big Al” Note couldn’t have asked for a better last day on Earth.

'Big Al' Note died hours after this photo was taken at a party he planned to celebrate his life. With him were his niece Jackie and her husband, Woody. There he was at the Rutherford Elks Lodge on a Sunday afternoon, surrounded by 130 people dear to him.

His two brothers and sister-in-law. Nieces and nephews. Old friends. Those in Rutherford who shared his zeal for civic involvement. His Ramsey High School teaching colleagues and former students.

All had been invited by Note himself, and all heard him announce what most already knew: that Note, a non-smoker, was dying of lung cancer.

-more-

He was my history teacher in high school. He's one reason why I'm here on DU.

http://www.northjersey.com/topstories/ramsey/031312_Dying_Rutherford_man_throws_a_party_to_say_goodbye_.html

March 4, 2012

I scored a big enamel turkey roaster pan with cover at Macys today.

Original price: $29.99
Reduced to $14.99 and 40% off that price.
Used my Macy's sale card for another 15% off.
Final price: $7.64
Saved nearly $24 (nearly 75% off original price)

Martha Stewart surplus, you can't beat it.

March 2, 2012

Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill

In my career as a psychologist, I have talked with hundreds of people previously diagnosed by other professionals with oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety disorder and other psychiatric illnesses, and I am struck by (1) how many of those diagnosed are essentially anti-authoritarians, and (2) how those professionals who have diagnosed them are not.

Anti-authoritarians question whether an authority is a legitimate one before taking that authority seriously. Evaluating the legitimacy of authorities includes assessing whether or not authorities actually know what they are talking about, are honest, and care about those people who are respecting their authority. And when anti-authoritarians assess an authority to be illegitimate, they challenge and resist that authority—sometimes aggressively and sometimes passive-aggressively, sometimes wisely and sometimes not.

Some activists lament how few anti-authoritarians there appear to be in the United States. One reason could be that many natural anti-authoritarians are now psychopathologized and medicated before they achieve political consciousness of society’s most oppressive authorities

-snip-

Many people with severe anxiety and/or depression are also anti-authoritarians. Often a major pain of their lives that fuels their anxiety and/or depression is fear that their contempt for illegitimate authorities will cause them to be financially and socially marginalized; but they fear that compliance with such illegitimate authorities will cause them existential death.

-more-

http://www.madinamerica.com/2012/02/why-anti-authoritarians-are-diagnosed-as-mentally-ill/

January 8, 2012

Bonus battles: Disgruntled bankers threaten to sue or walk

Wall Street bankers are fuming about the prospect of paltry payouts come bonus time — and plan to go nuclear.

They’re taking their cues from their disgruntled brethren in London, who are eyeing lawsuits to regain their over-the-top pay. Here at Jefferies Group, a group of brokerage executives reportedly threatened management that they would walk away from the firm if their year-end compensation was not up to par with The Street.

This hubris is just the beginning of much more to come as the downtrodden banking industry gets ready to dole out the most meager bonuses since the 2008 financial crisis.

Big banks are hoarding some of their bonus pools in anticipation of complaints. And being proactive seems to be the plan.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/bonus_battles_BSxbIOec8IVZhSJeriURzI#ixzz1itYKUeMj

January 8, 2012

Meet Sheldon Adelson, who donated $5 million to a Gringrich for President PAC.

Sheldon Gary Adelson (born August 6, 1933) is an American casino and hotel magnate. Adelson is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Adelson vastly increased his net worth upon the initial public offering of Las Vegas Sands in December 2004. He is currently the 8th wealthiest American[2] and 16th wealthiest person in the world,[3] with a net worth of $21.5 billion.

-snip-

Originally a Democrat, Adelson became a Republican as his wealth increased. "Why is it fair that I should be paying a higher percentage of taxes than anyone else?" he once asked. He began making major contributions to the Republican National Committee following clashes with labour unions at his Las Vegas properties.[5]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson

The funding behind Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions for Winning the Future, an independent political committee, offers an intriguing clue into the financial deep pockets backing Gingrich’s candidacy. This week, McClatchy revealed that American Solutions footed the $8 million bill for private jet charters while Gingrich weighed whether to enter the 2008 and 2012 presidential races. Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson was the biggest funder of American Solutions, contributing $7.65 million and rumored to have committed $20 million to a pro-Gingrich super PAC, a report denied by an Adelson spokesperson. Whether the report is true or not, the facts increasingly show that the billionaire casino magnate is a central figure in Newt Gingrich’s political career.

Sands Corporation CEO Sheldon Adelson is based in Las Vegas but has business and political interests in Macau, China and Israel. In Israel, Adelson’s importance stems from his close friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ownership of Israel HaYom, a free daily newspaper which supports Netanyahu’s Likud party. Back in the U.S., Adelson sits on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition and is outspoken about his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/12/21/393391/sheldon-adelson-the-deep-pockets-behind-newt-gingrich/?mobile=nc

January 8, 2012

I'm not watching the Debate. Has anyone said anything stupid yet?

Excluding George and Diane.

January 7, 2012

Ninth District: Rothman v. Pascrell

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/doblin/doblin_010612.html?c=y&page=1

I'm not entirely convinced that Rothman independently chose to run in the Ninth District instead of taking on Garrett in the Fifth. Your "sponsors" often lend their opinion on how you should run your campaign and my guess is that donors balked at spending their money and possibly losing it if Rothman lost his re-election against Garrett. And that held great sway on his decision to take on Pascrell.

Rothman's first mistake was to characterize himself as the "Bergen County" representative. Clifton, Paterson, and Passaic will not believe that he will have their interests in D.C. primarily. He wants their votes but he may not deliver the money and services that Pascrell currently does.

January 2, 2012

New China food safety scandal widens to oil, peanuts

Chinese authorities in a southern boomtown have detected a cancer-causing toxin in peanuts and cooking oil that was only recently discovered in milk, in the nation’s latest food safety scandal.

The food safety regulator in Shenzhen said it had found excessive levels of aflatoxin in peanuts sold in three stores, and in cooking oil in four restaurants, the official Xinhua news agency said late Friday.

Calls to the regulator — the Shenzhen market supervision bureau — went unanswered.


The incident comes after leading dairy firm Mengniu revealed at the weekend that authorities found high levels of aflatoxin in a batch of milk before it was sold, caused by cows eating mouldy feed at a farm in southwest China.

-more-



http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/31/new-china-food-safety-scandal-widens-to-oil-peanuts/


Do you think any of these products are used in Chinese Take-Out here?

January 1, 2012

Oldie but goldie: my mother's classic 1950s Waring Blendor

Still kicks ass especially making Smoothies with solidly frozen strawberries.