The Integrated Justice Alliance (IJA) requests the help of New Jersey’s social justice community to assist in, “righting a wrong in New Jersey commonly referred to as Prison Based Gerrymandering (PBG)”. This practice is outlawed in several states and New Jersey State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D) has sponsored Senate Bill S-1055 to make this unethical practice illegal in our state too.
Support ban on prison-based gerrymandering in NJ
Posted in All, Gov't & Trade, Justice
Tagged fair elections, legislative redistricting, prison-based gerrymandering, S-1055, Social Justice
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Christie erodes privacy through NJMVC
Update May 9, 2012: Implementation of this law is on hold following an injunction filed on Friday, May 4 by ACLU officials and advocates for homeless, immigration, minority and women’s groups on grounds that the state imposed the new requirements without publishing details or soliciting public comment.
Posted in All, Gov't & Trade, Privacy & You
Tagged civil rights, driver's license, national ID
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New tracking skews against some NJ students
The intent to harm vulnerable young people inherent in Christie’s new educational initiative begins to reveal itself. We have to look for this in every move Christie makes: even when his PR buzz makes it look like he’s doing something good for low-income students, the reverse is always true. Using the new federal system of tracking high school graduation rates as an excuse, Christie announces plans to expand the number of assessment tests students get in their high school years.
Posted in All, Education, Find the Truth, Kids & Earth
Tagged new educational standards, vulnerable students
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Chicken broth & soup recipe
My latest chicken broth & soup recipe produced the huge amount of very flavorful broth I was hoping for. My younger son and I have some kind of bacterial infection this week that’s been making us woozy and weak, plus Ari’s throat has been paining him like crazy so plenty of healing broth is exactly what we need. I have recently been scraping the bottom of my store of frozen chicken broth for cooking too, so I’d like to replenish it. Here’s how I got both:
Draw your line for Trayvon Martin
Hosts on a radio show this morning were discussing Trayvon Martin’s murder. A caller surprised everyone by saying that Trayvon’s death is a great tragedy, but it’s also tragic, “when we kill each other and no one ever talks about it.” The hosts acknowledged the truth of that statement and honored it by agreeing that there’s way too much acceptance in society today of urban violence whereas the “sexier” crimes that become high-profile stories grab maybe too much media attention.
Posted in All, Find the Truth, Justice, Kids & Earth, rich v. poor
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Nobility in finance: are they kidding?
This morning I shared a chuckle with my friend Rita over the hypocrisy of finance executives who are expressing dismay over today’s lack of morality in their ‘once noble profession’. Rita agreed when I said, “What they guys do was never good, but when they were able to strut around acting like they were taking care of people by taking everyone’s money and no one knew enough to challenge that image effectively, they could fool themselves into believing they were helping people. Things have become so polarized in our society that it’s become very clear what’s been really going on and now these guys are being called out on it. Naturally, they don’t like that: it’s uncomfortable for them.”
Posted in All, Find the Truth, Gov't & Trade, rich v. poor
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Danger looms for higher ed student diversity
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider if it’s lawful for colleges and universities to take into account the ethnicity of a student who applies for entrance when deciding whether to admit him/her. Most institutions of higher education have been required since 1978 to make room for students who may be lower-achieving academically than other candidates because they’re members of ethnic groups recognized as disadvantaged and need the boost of a handicap to raise their area of the playing field to a level which will statistically provide a similar admission opportunity as students coming from ethnic groups with history of better academic performance.
Posted in All, Education, Find the Truth
Tagged education, equal opportunity, ethnicity
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Toll increases were for ARC tunnel, should be rolled back
A trip to Woodbridge yesterday from Bergen County cost me a whopping $1.50 in tolls. The toll increase was to pay for the ARC tunnel, which Christie cancelled. New Jersey Senate Democrats have proposed legislation to roll back the toll increases on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. What do you say people – will you join me in getting behind this?
Posted in Change the World, Gov't & Trade
Tagged ARC tunnel, legislation, roll back, toll increases
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Help for low-income families to fight an eviction demand
D writes:
Looking for an attorney who would be willing to help on a pro bono basis a young family with two adorable children (under three years old) to avoid eviction from their apartment. The apartment has not received the appropriate heat this winter, and thus their children are always sick. So they withheld their rent to try to get the landlord’s attention. Instead they received an eviction notice. The court date is this Thursday. Any help would be truly appreciated.”
Posted in All, Gov't & Trade, Help . .
Tagged court, eviction, housing, tenant's rights
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The Wei Family loves World Happy Day
When I’ve been praying for something happens and my prayers are suddenly answered in the most offbeat way imaginable, I see the breath of G-d moving through my life. That was the case yesterday. Rachel Wieland posted that she was headed to the city to watch a screening of The Happy Movie yesterday on World Happy Day. Wow! This sounded like a fabulous idea so I dived onto the site to look for place to see it with my sons Ivan and Ari.
Posted in All, Change the World, The Best Stuff, Wei Family
Tagged happy movie, sustainaibility, world happy day
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