New Jersey // Current TV

The labor movement finally takes a stand

It's no secret that union leaders in Washington have been loyal, unquestioning servants of the Democratic Party for decades. But on Tuesday, that relationship may have started to change -- and that's probably good news for rank and file union members.

First, some history: Since 1990, organized labor has taken a half-billion dollars worth of workers' dues and has given it to national Democrats in the form of campaign contributions. In return, those national Democrats have aggressively pushed corporate-written trade pacts that undermine unions; worked with Republicans to defund uniformed unionized public employees; failed to use their 60 Senate votes to pass the Employee Free Choice Act; embraced school "reform" rhetoric crafted by corporate foundations that deliberately demonizes teachers unions; and refused to robustly support worker protests against the new GOP assault on collective bargaining -- despite explicit promises about putting on comfortable shoes and walking the picket line.

This has happened, in part, because key union leaders in Washington have assured national Democrats that no matter how many times they undermine the labor movement, the labor movement will be there to underwrite national Democrats' campaigns. And these assurances haven't been subtle -- they've been overt, as evidenced by the behavior Gerry McEntee, the longtime president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (i.e., the union that has been among the top individual funders of federal Democratic candidates).

In 2007, for example, McEntee attacked a group of rank-and-file liberal activists (including union members) for trying to replace anti-labor Democrats with pro-labor candidates, delivering a speech to House Democrats saying, "I'm the sheriff of the incumbent-protection program, and if you need help, let me know. In Blue America, there's no room for PACs to chase vulnerable members they have differences with." He later endorsed NAFTA architect Rahm Emanuel for Chicago mayor over other pro-labor candidates and told union members critical of Emanuel to "suck it up." All this in order to back the same Rahm Emanuel whose new administration seems poised to privatize public sector jobs.
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http://bit.ly/haSyOSIt's no secret that union leaders in Washington have been loyal, unquestioning... more

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Biorhythms: Nj going solar

I took this video to show that there are good things going on in local communities and... more

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NJ Transit worker fired for burning Quran near Ground Zero will get his job back (VIDEO)

The New Jersey Transit employee fired for burning pages of the Quran at the site of a... more

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The Walk Show: Premiere

Tony D shows you around his neighborhood in Laurel Springs, New Jersey. Walking has... more

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Nearly a half-million pieces of trash litter Jersey shoreline

A bag of heroin, a 10-gallon gas tank, five pairs of underwear, a duck caller and a plastic cow were among the nearly half-million pieces of trash picked up from New Jersey's beaches by volunteers last year. It may appear that everything but the kitchen sink turned up. But that's wrong: There was one of those, too.

Clean Ocean Action, the environmental group that has been doing beach sweeps for 25 years, says in a report to be released today that an all-time high of 475,321 pieces of litter were removed from the state's 127-mile shoreline last year. The 8,372 people who participated in spring and fall cleanups also set a record.

Plastics accounted for nearly three-quarters of the debris plucked from the beaches, with plastic caps or lids topping the list at 61,895. Miscellaneous bits and pieces of plastic were next at 51,249 items, followed by cigarette filters (an all-time high of 45,903), food wrappers or bags (43,113), straws or coffee stirrers (39,029), foam pieces (22,099), and bottles (18,212). Wood and lumber accounted for 10,384 items, followed closely by cigar tips (10,328) and shopping bags (8,619).
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Clean-up crews collect 25,000 pounds of trash from Wildwood Crest island

• N.J. beach-cleaning group reports latest finds

• Long Beach Island beaches remain open despite trash washing up on shore

The report may also give new impetus to efforts to ban or phase out the use of plastic bags at grocery stores. The number of plastic bags collected more than quadrupled from 2,793 in 1993 to 12,873 in 2009. Plastic caps and lids also soared from 6,947 in 1993 to 33,551 in 2009. There were 8,611 pieces of paper found last year, and 7,723 pieces of glass.

But it is the report's "Roster of the Ridiculous" that gets the most attention each year, a list of wacky or downright yucky items mixed in among the plastics. For 2010 they included the gas tank (which, with gasoline at nearly $4 a gallon appears nearly unfathomable to throw away nowadays), a thumbnail-sized bag of heroin (which is probably worth less than the gasoline), plastic fingernails, a Home Depot apron, a scooter, human-shaped candles, a ballet slipper, an unopened Census form (take THAT, Uncle Sam!), a beer keg, a can of corned beef and a bottle of syrup (to go with the corned beef, no doubt).A bag of heroin, a 10-gallon gas tank, five pairs of underwear, a duck caller and a... more

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Advantage Bathtub Refinishing of Haddon Hts, New Jersey

A great alternative to replacing

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Patrick The Miracle Dog!!!

Support Patrick The Miracle Dog from Newark, NJ here:... more

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"UPDATE": Patrick's Owner Identified and Charged

A Newark woman has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty in the case of a... more

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Amazing Video of Patrick's Continued Recovery

Patrick, the Pit bull who was found near death by a maintenance worker after his owner... more

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Patrick, dog starved to the brink of death

New Jersey Just one day before St. Patrick’s Day, a dog that should not... more

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Mother Loses Baby for Three Years Due to Refusing C-Section Pre-Consent

V.M. has been separated from her baby for three years in the name of "child welfare." All because she didn't want to pre-authorize a cesarean section that neither she nor the hospital had any reason to believe would be medically necessary, and wasn't.

RH Reality Check reports that when V.M. showed up at the hospital planning to give birth vaginally, she was asked to sign a pre-consent form permitting a c-section should it become necessary. She refused. Had there been an unexpected complication with the pregnancy, V.M. could have consented to the procedure at that time, but she didn't want to sign away her ability to make decisions about whether or not her baby would be sliced out of her belly. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

The hospital, however, disagreed. After giving birth, without complications, V.M.'s newborn was taken away from her on charges of endangering child welfare. She and her husband have been fighting for three years now to get their child back.

There are a number of problems with this decision by the hospital, starting with the fact that the only welfare endangerment you could allege at the time of V.M's refusal was that of the fetus, since there was not yet any child. Secondly, many hospitals are trigger-happy when it comes to this surgery — this New Jersey hospital had a 50% c-section rate — which can be due to financial considerations or simple bias toward the procedure, although a c-section can have its own complications and pose issues for future pregnancies. Thirdly, there is controversy surrounding whether hospitals should even be allowed to ask for "pre-consent" from pregnant women with no signs of needing the procedure.

And finally, when it comes to cutting a woman's body open, her decision to wait and see, thank you very much, is fully within her choice. If she doesn't want to be slashed across her belly willy-nilly, that's her right. It is not the equivalent of child abuse.

National Advocates for Pregnant Women staff attorney Farah Diaz-Tello argued, "Once the door is open you can have field day with every aspect of a woman’s life." Fortunately, the courts have now agreed that the child abuse/neglect statutes do not apply to fetuses, and in a previous warning, refusing a c-section specifically was found to not constitute endangering a child's welfare.

V.M. and her husband are still separated from their child. Now they have to head back to the lower courts (if there's no appeal) to now only fight the hospital's claim that V.M. was acting irrational, hostile, and yelling — well, you would too if someone told you they were taking away your baby because you refused to pre-authorize an unnecessary c-section. Actually, that sounds pretty rational to me.

http://news.change.org/stories/mother-loses-baby-for-three-years-due-to-refusing-c-section-pre-consentV.M. has been separated from her baby for three years in the name of "child... more

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2nd Amendment is Under Attack!! Fight Back!!

A historic right to carry lawsuit is currently taking place in the state of New Jersey. The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC), and 6 plaintiffs have filed suit against several New Jersey officials for deprivation of civil rights under color of law.

The 6 plaintiffs---who are private citizens---had their gun permits denied on the grounds that they had not proven "justifiable need" to own a firearm.

One of the plaintiffs is a kidnap victim, another is a part-time sheriff's deputy, another keeps large amounts of cash in his private business and a fourth is a civilian employee of the FBI who is fearful of attack from a radical Islamic fundamentalist group.

If these people are denied firearm permits, then who can legally own a gun in New Jersey?

New Jersey courts claim that the Second Amendment only applies inside the home. Where is that in the Constitution? "The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Where does it say, "only in the home?"

The Attorney General has defended New Jersey's ridiculous existing laws and moved to dismiss the case. It is clear that "SOME" liberals will do anything to limit a person's right to defend themselves---even if it means making up a whole new clause in the Constitution.

Law-abiding New Jersey citizens have been arbitrarily deprived of their ability to defend themselves and their families for years. The law grants uncontrolled discretion to police chiefs and other public officials to deny license applications even in cases where the applicant has shown a clear and present danger exists.

Supreme Court rulings have made it clear that the Second Amendment gives us the right to carry a handgun for self-defense.

What does the State of New Jersey consider a justifiable need? Do citizens need guns to their heads or knives to their throats before they are allowed by the State to protect themselves? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6nBK7Yx2Ig

Please CLICK THE LINK to donate to the Second Amendment Foundation as we continue to defend our Constitutional right to bear arms.
https://secure.conservativedonations.com/saf/?a=5780A historic right to carry lawsuit is currently taking place in the state of New... more

Radical_Centrist
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Fracking: The Great Shale Gas Rush

The Pennsylvania homes of Karl Wasner and Arline LaTourette both sit atop the Marcellus Shale, a geologic formation that stretches from Tennessee to New York and holds vast deposits of natural gas. They also sit on opposite sides of a national debate over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. That's the process that makes it economical for energy companies to tunnel 5,000 feet below ground and remove the gas—but also poses environmental risks.

Wasner settled 14 years ago in Milanville, in the state's northeast corner, and will leave if drilling companies set up derricks nearby. He already moved away for six weeks last year while an exploratory well was drilled nearby. The noise, muddy water pouring from his taps, and chemicals that turned up in a neighbor's well drove him off, he says. "I moved to a beautiful rural residential area," says Wasner, "not an industrial park."

LaTourette, whose roots in the area go back five generations, is banking on the drilling. Her family has leased almost 700 acres of farmland to Hess (HES) and other companies to tap into the Marcellus Shale. She won't say what she's getting, but signing bonuses can range from $2,000 to $5,000 an acre, and royalty payments are about 20 percent of the value of the gas produced.

President Barack Obama enthusiastically backs gas drilling, and these days 90 percent of it is done by fracking, which involves forcing below ground chemically treated water under high pressure to smash through layers of rock, thus freeing the gas to flow upward. Along with wind, solar, and nuclear power, natural gas is crucial to Obama's goal of producing 80 percent of electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. But the drilling is taking place with minimal oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. State and regional authorities are trying to write their own rules—and having trouble keeping up.

Now, reports of contaminated water and alleged disposal of carcinogens in rivers have caught state and federal regulators, and even environmental watchdogs, off guard. Sometimes the fracking mix includes diesel fuel. Between 2005 and 2009, drillers injected 32 million gallons of fluids containing diesel into wells in 19 states, an investigation by Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) concludes. Just as it recovers its footing from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Administration faces a new threat, again involving a risky drilling technology and charges of lax regulation. Obama is "evaluating the need for new safeguards for drilling," says White House spokesman Clark W. Stevens. "It's likely that the science is going to say we need to regulate fracking," says Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program for Public Citizen, a liberal advocacy group. "But Obama's political team is going to say don't regulate, and I think the political team will win."

The Marcellus Shale may contain 490 trillion cubic feet of gas—enough to heat U.S. homes and power electric plants for two decades, says Terry Engelder, professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. That makes it the world's second-largest gas field behind South Pars, shared by Iran and Qatar. The shale gas rush is creating thousands of jobs and reviving the economy in states such as Wyoming, Texas, and Louisiana. In Pennsylvania, where 2,516 wells have been drilled in the last three years, $389 million in tax revenue and 44,000 jobs came from gas drilling in 2009, according to a Penn State report. Perhaps best of all, natural gas emits half the carbon emissions of oil.

While there have been no documented cases of fracking fluids flowing underground into drinking water, there have been spills above ground. Fracking produces millions of gallons of wastewater; some of it containing benzene has spilled from holding tanks. The wastewater can overwhelm treatment plants not equipped to handle high levels of contaminants. A Feb. 26 New York Times article, using documents from the EPA and state regulators, described how radioactive wastewater is being discharged into river basins. Sierra Club Deputy Executive Director Bruce Hamilton says Obama "has been sold a bill of goods." But even the Sierra Club has struggled with fracking. Last year it overruled New York and Pennsylvania chapters calling for a national fracking ban; now it's reconsidering that decision, Hamilton says.

The Delaware River Basin Commission, which manages the watershed that supplies drinking water to 15 million people in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, has put gas development on hold while it drafts rules. Wasner and LaTourette were among scores of people to comment at a Feb. 22 hearing in Honesdale, Pa., on a commission proposal to regulate the drilling. New York also has fracking on hold while it develops a drilling playbook. The Marcellus Shale runs beneath the watershed that supplies just over 1 billion gallons of water a day to New York City, the U.S.'s largest unfiltered water system.

The White House has sent mixed signals. "It's not necessarily federal regulation that will be needed," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson told a Feb. 3 Senate hearing, noting that many communities and states already monitor parts of the process. Energy Secretary Steven Chu seems to differ. In a 2010 speech, he said fracking can be "polluting" and that rules were inevitable. "We continue to believe that state regulatory agencies have the appropriate expertise" to oversee gas production, says Dan Whitten, a spokesman for America's Natural Gas Alliance.

Even if the EPA stepped in, its authority would be limited. A clause in a 2005 energy law—dubbed the "Halliburton (HAL) loophole" for the company that helped pioneer fracking and is a supplier of fracking fluids—exempts fracking from parts of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) says Dick Cheney, once head of Halliburton, pushed for the exemption when he was Vice-President. Hinchey's evidence is circumstantial: Fracking was endorsed in Cheney's 2001 energy task force report, which led to the 2005 law and, according to Waxman, did not reflect the EPA's initial concerns about water pollution. Cheney declined to comment. Halliburton referred a request for comment to its website, which doesn't discuss fracking's risks.

So far, the EPA has begun a study of fracking's effect on drinking water. In February the agency said final results will come in 2014, two years after its initial target—and the 2012 elections. Its emphasis is "politics first and regulation second," says Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington policy group. "It's impossible to miss the jobs power of fracking in the Marcellus."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_11/b4219025777026.htmThe Pennsylvania homes of Karl Wasner and Arline LaTourette both sit atop the... more