New Jersey Baby Boomer

ACORN has made news in a big way with the pimp and prostitute videos in the past few weeks thanks to Glenn Beck and FoxNews Channel, not to mention the courage of James O’Keefe acting as a pimp (a New Jersey native…grew up in the town next to where my mother lives now) and Hannah Giles playing the role of a prostitute looking for help to open up a brothel, complete with girls brought in through the sex trade.

Forgive me, this isn’t my typical nice post, I’m a little steamed at this. I know just mentioning Glenn Beck’s name and FoxNews in one sentence probably has raised the blood pressure of a few of you, but many are watching according to the ratings…..and talk about raised blood pressure, if you haven’t seen the videos, I hope your’s will be too after viewing them…and not because of pretty Hannah who Glenn Beck suggested be careful and “cover up”.  Don’t be fooled by Acorn’s claims that these are just a few problem people, there are at least 5 videos that I’ve seen in various locations throughout the country, all similar, some more shocking than others.

After watching the videos in stunned disbelief, I wondered how many ACORN community organizations were here in New Jersey.  I did a search, and as you would be inclined to expect, most are located in our cities, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, and Trenton.  I’m not going to include links to these organizations until I know that they are worthy…in fact I removed a most of a post I had done a few months ago because of their ties to the organization. 

I’m going to be interested in seeing how the investigation they are starting is going to change things, if at all, and watching the shuffle in Washington DC as they try to distance themselves from the organization that President Obama claimed would play a role in his being elected to the Presidency. 

Just in case you watch the wrong news stations, thought maybe I’d include a video or two for you so you can see what’s been going on, and lets hope that exposing this will lead to a better ACORN, and if it can’t get better, no ACORN at all.  Where did they get these people?  Don’t they have a screening process when they hire?  Here’s just a couple parts of one video session in Brooklyn, New York:

And here’s the one from the other side of the Country, in San Bernadino, oh there’s more, but this is enough for now…I’m really sorry to clutter up this blog with such negative stuff, but it’s important, and since the film maker is from New Jersey, belongs:

(acorn image from acorn.org)

What would we do without our local news, County news and State news?  For example, here in our county of Passaic, there are quite a few sources for news, maybe the following list will help you.  At each  site you’ll find links that go deeper into the towns that make up the counties, local newspapers, and more.   

I hope to add more in time, look at the “NJ News” category to narrow down the search, or search for your county name in the search box above.

• nj.com provides news from all over New Jersey, including Passaic County
• Passaic County Newspaper is another site thats a bit less organized than some, but has information about the area, when you visit page down to the links to various parts of the County.
• northjersey.com has a link to our local Passaic County news, but note that Morris County is also found at the same link. This site is a comprehensive site on the northern nj area.
• topix.com has a page for Passaic County that covers a broad selection of items, news and more.
• More news can be found at Passaic Online
• Then there’s passiac.newjersey.com

This isn’t a complete list, but should keep you busy reading about happenings in Passaic County.

The “Jersey Shore beach Vacation” season will be starting at the end of this month, a favorite time of year for those of us that love the beach.  There’s hardly a place in NJ that isn’t within a reasonable distance from one of our beautiful beaches.  We are in the very northernmost part of New Jersey, but have made trips down to Wildwood, NJ which is at the bottom of the state, and is always worth the trip!

If you are planning a vacation or trip to the Jersey Shore this year, and will be near Wildwood, New Jersey, please do plan to attend one or more of the FREE concerts offered at Morey’s Piers taking place from June through August. Many of the top Radio Disney artists will be performing. Morey’s Piers is a fun place for the whole family, if you are in need of a place to stay, this link will provide you with some Wildwood New Jersey motels in the area.

You’ll find more information at any of the fun links in this post.

I have to admit that I haven’t quite grasped the Tax Day Tea Party movement, it’s my own fault, haven’t really taken the time to explore it. Not because I don’t care, just distracted by other seemingly more important things lately. To learn more, I’ll be watching some of the special coverage on television.  Since this seems to be a conservative movement, FOX News, will probably be the station to watch…the station that claims to be “Fair and Balanced” but is definitely a bit more right-leaning.  They are going to have some great coverage today.

I decided to do a search this morning to see what Tea Parties will be taking place in NJ, there may be more than you’ll see on the following list of parties taking place only on the 15th, found at taxdayteaparty.com, so feel free to comment if you know of other NJ Tea Parties taking place….if you live in another State, visit the link above, and find the link to your State:

City: Belmar
When: April 15, Noon – 3:00pm
Where: 16th Avenue boardwalk
Contact: EMAIL

City: Cape May
When: April 15, 6:00 pm  – 8:30pm
Where: Harbor View Park, Texas Avenue at the harbor
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Participate by land or sea, bring your boat, flags and patriotic American Spirit!!

City: Flemington
When: April 15, Noon – 2:00pm
Where: The northwest corner of Main Street and Court Street
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: http://flemingtonteaparty.blogspot.com/

City: Hackensack
When: April 15, 4:00 pm – 6:00pm
Where: Bergen County Court House, Hackensack, NJ (Court Street Side)
Contact: EMAIL

City: Jersey City
When: April 15, 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Liberty State Park
Contact: EMAIL

City: Morristown
When: April 15, Noon
Where: On The Green at the center of Morristown
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Yahoo Group
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

City: Newark
When: April 15, 12:00 pm
Where: Gateway Center One – 782 McCarter Highway, Newark Offices of Senator Lautenberg and Menendez conveniently located in the same building.
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Parking: 66 Edison Place, Newark
Google Map: Click Here
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

City: Piscataway
When: April 15, 5:00pm
Where: Johnson Park (River Road, Piscataway Township)
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/032409-new-jersey-tax-day-tea-party

City: Trenton
When: April 15, 11:30am – 4:00pm
Where: New Jersey State House, 125 W State St
Contact: EMAIL
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

City: Vineland
When: April 15th, 1-4PM
Where: 722 E Landis Avenue, Vineland, NJ 08360
E-mail: t@thomassnow.com
Phone: 973-406-4688
Web Site: http://tomsnow.serveblog.net
Face Book: CLICK HERE

Please add your tea party info in a comment, if you like, and let me know what you think about all of this. I’ll probably do more on this at Married to Politics later today.

What a surprise it was to be called by Sid Johnston from the Suburban Trends, a local/regional paper, to ask me questions about my blogs and websites. As much as I share in writing, verbally, I’m relatively quiet (some may disagree, but it’s true, I promise LOL!) by nature, so just say that I live in Northern NJ on most of my sites to maintain some privacy, but Sid was persistent, and tracked me down, and then put together this wonderful article…thank you so much!  Actually when you think about it, there isn’t a lot of privacy when you post to blogs and on the web, your audience is huge, hmmm. Well anyway, never expected a full page article, and very much appreciate it.

Everything is true in the article…well, almost…I guess since I have a blog for Work at Home Grandmothers, and a small but growing network of Work at Home Grandmothers one would imagine that I’m a grandmom…not yet, but maybe one day.  Most if not all of my other blogs and sites will be listed in my blogroll as soon as I finish typing this.

One thing I wasn’t “savvy” enough to do was figure out how to make the images so that you could click on them and bring up a bigger image, so if you’d like to be able to read the article, email me at claudiascorner[at]gmail.com and I’ll send you larger images, or if you live locally, stop by the store and pick up a copy of the Trends, and for more information about the paper, or to subscribe, click here.

3/19/09 Update:  Suburban Trends has added the article to their site, and IZEA did a post on their blog, you can click here to find the post.  Thanks to both of you!

With the increase in job loss, or fear of job loss in the present recession, there are support groups beginning to form in New Jersey. I just received an email from a fellow NJ Baby Boomer, and thought I’d share the content with you. If you know of other support groups forming, please leave a comment:

UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare to Provide Free Support Groups for People Affected by the Economic Crisis

NEWARK – Panic over job loss. Fear of unemployment. Profound worry about meeting mortgage and tuition payments. Unfortunately, these are the realities of this severe recession.

If you are experiencing any of these kinds of reactions to the current fiscal crisis, it is important to know that you are not alone; there is a place you can go for assistance.

Beginning March 3, UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare (UBHC), a statewide mental health and addiction services network, will offer free 90-minute support groups, run by experienced counselors, for those affected by the economic downturn. Sessions will be held weekly at the following locations on the days and times specified:

-Newark: Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. at UBHC, 183 South Orange Avenue;
-New Brunswick: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. at 303 George Street, 2nd Floor;
-Edison: Thursdays at 3 p.m. at 100 Metroplex Drive, 2nd Floor, Suite 200;
-Monmouth Junction: Tuesdays at noon at 4326 U.S. Highway 1.

• Sessions are open to the public and no appointments are necessary to attend. Participants may remain anonymous.
• People interested in attending may call (800) 969-5300 for more information.
• Members of the media interested in more information about this new initiative should contact Zenaida Mendez at (973) 972-7273.

PLEASE VIEW THE COMMENT(S) BELOW if you are viewing this as a single post, or click the “comments” link under the title of the post, for more support group information that has been added since this post was published.  Thank you.

A few posts ago I told you about the earthquake felt in the town where my husband works, Dover. Well it appears that there have been a couple more small quakes in the area, one on Valentine’s Day, and another in the wee hours of the morning.

The first quake, the one mentioned in an earlier post, was reported on the 4th of the month, and measured 3.0, the second that occurred on Valentines Day measured 2.2, and the latest that occurred around 1:40 in the morning today, Wednesday, was a 2.3 magnitude quake, centered about a mile outside of Dover. Windows rattled in Dover, Rockaway and the Morris Plains area. The Valentines Day quake was felt in Boonton and Montville.

These quakes are due to shifting of plates along the Ramapo fault.

Click here for info about the most recent quake, and below is a “youtube” about our the first quake. Okay, if you’re living in California, this probably isn’t a big deal, but we don’t shake, rattle and roll in New Jersey as much as you do, at least when it comes to earthquakes:-)

My husband is working in Dover, NJ, and called me today to tell me that his co-workers were all talking about the earthquake they had last night at about 10:30 pm EST.  Everyone had their own story of what it felt like, and sounded like.  Now remember, here in NJ we don’t have many earthquakes, and when we do, even though it may not feel like much to someone in California, it feels like a lot to us.

After he told me about it, I did my “google” thing to see if I could find any more information, and sure enough, there were a few things written about it, including an article in the New York Times, with the picture I’m using in this post.  According to the New York Times, people described it like this:

Workers at an Exxon Station in Rockaway, N.J., said that the night was going along normally when the earthquake struck.

“It was like a bomb, a strong one,” said Cafer Sahin, 40, an attendant.

Tom Smaga, 27, was working inside the station when, he said, he first heard and then felt the earthquake.

“It was a loud boom and after that it shook the whole building,” Mr. Smaga said. He said the vibrations lasted for about two or three seconds.

Toni Dellamonica, a dispatcher for the Rockaway Township Police Department, said that there had been no reports of injuries or major damage.

Ms. Dellamonica said the earthquake felt like “a rolling rumble,” as if someone was dragging something across the ground.

In Dover, N.J., near the quake’s epicenter, Francis Rodriguez was playing cards with a friend when, she said, “it felt like something exploded underground.”

The shaking did not damage her house, she said, but her friend, Cheryll Post, who was visiting Ms. Rodriguez, said “it was very scary.” Patricia Avila, was in her second-floor apartment in Rockaway, N.J., when she felt what she described as “a loud thump.”

“It was just a bang,” Walter Michalski, a police officer in Dover, N.J., said of Monday’s earthquake. “That’s it. A bang.”

Peter Johnson, a dispatcher for the Morris Plains Police department, said “I wasn’t sure what it was. It was just a shaking.”

Mr. Kim of Lamont-Doherty said that low-level earthquakes are not unusual near that area.

The location is about a 30-40 minute drive from our home. We actually have a fault that runs practically through our neighborhood here, the Ramapo Fault, and I’ve heard that we’ve had some extremely minor activity, once while we lived here, but nothing like what the people in Dover, NJ described.