Columbus Day Vignettes

Donald E. Miller is dead. Donald E. Miller is currently standing before a judge and stating that he is not dead. The judge persists by stating to him, in essence, that he is legally dead, so it does not matter if he breathing. 

Mr. Miller disappeared in 1994, deserting his family in Ohio to drift off to find work in Georgia and Florida.  In order to collect Social Security benefits for her two children, Robin Miller, his ex-wife, requested a “declaration of death”, which the court ordered.  But while Donald E. Miller is a deadbeat and legally dead, he is still alive.  The reason for the court case is that Mr. Miller would like to reactivate his Social Security number and to apply for a new driver’s license.   ”Ohio law does not allow for a declaration of death to be reversed after three years or more have passed.  I don’t know where that leaves you, but you’re still deceased as far as the law is concerned”.   www.nytimes.com 10/12/13

Welcome to America, land of the free and home of the “grave”.
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Congress is at an impasse.  Congressmen and Congresswomen continue to collect salaries, while over 800,000 government employees are currently working, but on deferred payments, or on furlough indefinitely.  While we all accept that government employees often should not be paid for the quality of work they produce, it does appear to be somewhat inequitable since the average Senator ‘s net worth is over $ 2.4 million.  It is more probable that the government worker has less ability to make mortgage payments, auto installments, real estate taxes, etc., than the average Congressional representative.  There is one more entertaining anomaly: While federal prison guards are currently working on deferred pay, prisoners on work programs continue to be compensated because their pay comes from a separate fund.  Maybe we need to resurrect Lincoln to free our government employees from this disenfranchisement. 

Welcome to America, land where very little is free and home of the enslaved.

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Did it every occur to American’s that the ultra-Orthodox members of various religious sects are creating a financial crisis in America?.  It is apparent that all of them have a genetic defect, “NO FASHION SENSE”.    The following examples are proof of this hypothesis: 

(1) The Pennsylvania Amish people have been wearing the same identical clothing since arriving in America in the 1720’s.  We cannot really be certain that they are not wearing exactly the same clothes with which they traveled across the Atlantic.  

(2) Hasidic Jewish attire is certainly fashionable.   The men wear a simple black hat, but on the Sabbath, they wear a special hat called a “Shtreimel”, the fur version being the only fashionable item in their repertoire. Traditional black suits are worn with white shirts. Underneath the men wear a prayer shawl, a “Tallis”, which has tassels (Tzitzit) that hang out, truly a fashion statement.    The women wear long, black silk dresses that go from head to the ankles for modesty.  They wear wigs (sheitels) or scarves to cover their heads, depriving the hair dressing industry of any possible profit.

(3) Let’s finish with the outstanding visual pleasure that the fundamentalist Islamic religion provides: Men with scarf like head coverings, (shumaggs) with black bands (ogals), and long white dresses (dish-dash-ahs or thoubs), resembling long sheets.  Women grace us with burqas, full length black garments, with scarves over the women’s heads, and niqabs, face coverings worn to protect them from the prying eyes of men other than their husbands.    

Please note that all three categories of men often grow long beards, depriving major companies, e.g. Gillette; Schick; & Bic, of any financial gain.  

All of the above rate truly as the dream of every fashion designer, i.e. major profit centers.  One can only imagine Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Phillip Lim drooling over the opportunity to design for these aesthetically displeasing fashion nightmares.         

Welcome to America, land of the free and home of the visually depraved.

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On Friday, October 11, 2013, at approximately 2 P.M., it was reported to me by a community member that Jack DeNichilo, Supervisor for Buildings & Grounds for the Fort Lee BOE, was sauntering around the Lewis F. Cole Middle School field.  The very fact that Jack had left his office might shock a few people, but he was not alone at the field.  He was accompanied by his maintenance and janitorial staff.   It appeared that they were preparing the middle school field for the two Junior Bridgemen Football games later in the day. The problem is that the Fort Lee Jr. Bridgemen is a recreational league, not a school league.  And by coincidence, I was informed that the same Jack DeNichilo is “TREASURER” of the Fort Lee Jr. Bridgemen.  Well there certainly is no conflict of interest there.  By the way, one more minor coincidence might be mentioned. It appears that the President of the Fort Lee Jr. Bridgemen, Joseph Surace (BOE member), was present at this apparent abomination on Friday.

At the time that this meeting of the mindless was going on between Fort Lee Jr. Bridgemen representatives, BOE employees were apparently placing yard markers in order to set up the field.  That same afternoon, a Fort Lee Junior Varsity High School soccer game was being played at the Van Fleet field, a town soccer field that is not regulation size.   I think it is a fair question to ask:  why would a recreational league football game take priority over a high school soccer game? Any takers?

Last week, it was blogged about Tammi Gil, Fort Lee BOE Human Resources Officer, whose mother-in-law is also an employee of the district.  So please let us all know, who exactly is minding the store?

Welcome to America, land of the freeloaders and Fort Lee BOE employees that misbehave.

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“I told you to stay tuned”!  Quote  from Teresa Palmer, who played Number 6,  one of the heroines of the movie “I am Number Four”.  

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Happy Columbus Day!

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